What is Power?

Power is a word that can, and does, mean many different things to many different people. A quick Google search of the definition of power came with the result that power is “the possession of controlling influence.” That definition branches off into many different subtopics, for lack of a better term, as you can have “controlling influence” in different aspects of life. Over all, from what we’ve learned in class, power can exist through political ways; by holding government and enforcing rules to a group of people, power can exist through economic ways; by having the most, or better known as being the “richest”, and power can exist through personal ways; by standing up for your own ideas at home or in the work place.
In my opinion, power is most noticeable in politics. Politics is basically just an easy way for people to gain and hold power. Two different examples of power in systems of government are dictatorships and democracies. In dictatorships, one man holds power. One man decides what happens to a big group of people and how the people of a country’s lives will function. Dictators often suppress peoples’ rights of speech, rights of freedom, and rights to religion, as is strongly evident in North Korea. With dictatorships, that one man, the dictator, holds all the decisions of a country in the palm of his hand, because he holds the strongest “possession of controlling influence”. In democracies, a country has a right to vote on who they want to lead. The citizens of a country usually choose their leader based on the ideas and opportunity that the candidates are willing to give. In democracies, the people have more power at the start as they have the power to decide who “wins”. After the winner or next leader is selected, he/she usually holds the power along with those who stand by the ideas of the leader. In government systems, it’s easy to see who holds power and who doesn’t.
Power also exists in the form of economical power. Through history, it’s always been the rich having more power. During slave times in North America, it was always the whites who had power over the blacks, and mostly because the whites had more money. During the Industrial Revolution, those who had money were the ones who were getting more money as ideas began to form into reality, such as Andrew Carnegie. Now, during our day and age, it’s still obvious that those who have more money are the ones who have more opportunity to move forward and thrive over those who don’t have much money. Mr. Coyle always used to say, “As the rich get richer, the poor get poorer.” This is extremely true in places like India, where the rich are the ones who get the good jobs and better opportunity to get more money, whereas those who live on the streets are usually bound to a life of under paying jobs. Through this, those who have more money simply have better opportunity, causing them to rise above those who don’t have much money. Economic power is also very easy to see, whereas personal power isn’t.
To me, having personal power is the ability to stand up for what you believe in, and being able to get others to listen to your ideas. Personal power is also being able to make the right decisions for you and yourself. Often in families, it’s the parents who hold power, as they are the ones who are making the decisions for the family as a whole, trying to determine what’s the best for everyone. In the workplace, it’s the boss who holds power as they are the ones who are trying to do what’s best for the company as a whole. At an individual level, you are the one who holds power. You decide what best for yourself, and you do what you know is right for yourself. Personal power can exist in many different forms.
It is very apparent that power exists in many different ways, through politics, through economy and through personal ways. Power is everywhere and many people hold it in different ways. Power is often the basis for many people’s lives. I believe power is one of the most fundamental things in the world today.

Net Effect of Globalization

There are many pros and cons to globalization. For pros, the spread of culture has somewhat benefited various countries and brings in new ideas so the whole world can move forward together, instead of countries moving forward part by part. It helps create a lot of new jobs in countries where finding a good job is often hard. ALso, it helps take technology through the world and help improve various aspect of everyday life. Globalization also helps the consumer get good quality products for a cheaper price. Also, companies have sent many jobs to other countries around the world so that people could could kind of rise out of the poverty cycle. Sometimes though, out sourcing jobs is seen as being bad, which brings me to the cons.

Though globalization helps people get out of poverty in certain occasions, it also takes away jobs from many people, such as people in the US getting laid off so that people in India can take the jobs for less pay, as we saw in the thirty days video. This is a big problem in the US. Also, because of globalization, asian countries are becoming more western and are slowly losing their culture.

Overall, I believe that globalization had a good net effect, as the pros outnumber the cons.

Feedback.

I would post the cartoon I was asked to analyze, but my blogger is being very weird.

The overall main visual elements are the family eating dinner and the caption at the bottom that says "Well yes, we could read your blog, or you could just TELL us about your school day." The child in the family is in a high chair, so its kind of saying that everyone, young and old is using technology for everything now. I don't think the cartoonist likes the way technology is taking over, because it says "or you could just TELL us." Kind of like, there are so many other ways of doing things, but we always just resort to technology. This cartoon is ironic because the kid is like three, and thats actually just kind of stupid for a three year old to be using a blog instead of telling his parents about his day. We talk about how common technology is now and how much people use technology in class all the time, and this cartoon shows that. I think this is a pretty persuasive cartoon.

Power and the Giver

The theme of power is very evident in the novel, The Giver. The Chief Elders are believed to hold all the power at the beginning of the novel; from assigning people their jobs, to matching people with their mates and children. They decide what happens in the community, they set all rules and hold all rules. The Chief Elders were, in my opinion, basically like dictators, but referred to in softer terms. As the novel progresses and Jonas receives his assignment as the Receiver, it becomes somewhat apparent that the Giver has a lot of power as well. If the Giver was to run away, or apply for release before giving Jonas all the memories, he would burden the community with the truth. As the story further progresses and Jonas begins to receive the memories, he has as much power as the Giver. If Jonas was to allow the memories to pass to the community, there was nothing that could stop them. The Chief Elders would have no way of holding back the memories, and all the information lies in the hands of Jonas and the Giver. I believe that though the Chief Elders make all the decisions for the community, Jonas and the Giver are the ones who hold the true power, because they are the ones who can make or break the community.

Feedbackk;.

I cannot manage my time at all, and PoP taught me a little bit more how not only important time management is, but also how to do it right. I had everything done with about a day or two to spare to double check except my data analysis, because I had no idea what that was about. It also taught me how to organize essays better, and how to plan essays out better. And lastly, I learned how to be more patient, because at times the printers wouldn't print, and teachers would be talking to someone else so you couldn't talk to them, and sometimes the computers would stall, all when you're under this big deadline. It drove me crazy, having all these things not working when I was trying to get PoP done, but in the end I learned that if you wait and be patient, it goes a lot smoother than worrying and freaking out about things not working.

PoP Feedback

Tuesday, the 14th.

• Do more research
• Start organizing information

Wednesday, the 15th.

• Finish organizing
• Put into outline format

Thursday, the 16th.

• Start first draft

Friday, the 17th.

• Edit draft
• Get someone else to edit
• Start second draft

Weekend, the 18-19th.

• Finish second draft
• Edit

Monday, the 20th.

• Start and finish final.

Feedback

1. What is technology?
2. What are the 5 most and 5 least important technologies used today?
3. How do you feel about the amount of and use of technology at AES?

1. Technology is usually something that is developed and uses electricity.

2. Most Important
Computer
Telephone
Automobiles
Clock
Light bulb

Least Important
Self-powered floor vacuums
Coffee Makers
Electric Toys
Christmas Lights
IPod speakers

3. I think we use a good amount of technology, as its usually incorporated in every class. I think it's important for us to use technology as in the future, its quite possible that our entire world will just be based on technology.

Kurt Vonnegut

“Do you know what a Luddite is? That’s a person who doesn’t like newfangled contraptions. Contraptions like nuclear submarines armed with Poseidon missiles that have H-bombs in their warheads, and like computers that cheat you out of becoming. Bill Gates says, “Wait till you can see what your computer can become.” But it’s you who should be doing the becoming. What you can become is the miracle you were born to work—not the damn fool computer.” - Kurt Vonnegut

I understand what Kurt Vonnegut is saying, but I don't know if I completely agree. I can understand why someone would believe that computers can hold you back from growing up, especially with kids who spend all their time in front of the computer. But at the same time, computers and technology have moved our earth a lot further, and had we not had technology, we would be living in very hard times.

Quarter 4 GOALSSSS !

Quarter Three Goals:
1. Start reading at a higher level, and I'll do that by reading more complex books.
2. Develop my geography skills, by spending time looking at maps and such.
3. Turn in my homework with a higher degree of effort, and I'll do that by spending more time on it.

I accomplished 2/3 three of my goals. I did start reading higher level books, as well I spent more of my own time learning about the landscape and culture of different areas in the world. In terms of my last goal, the homework I did turn in ( :) ) was usually pretty good, but I didn't turn in two assignments, which brings me to my QUARTER FOUR GOALS !

My quarter four goals are :
1. Turn in EVERYTHING. (I say this pretty much every quarter, but I will do it this time)
2. Meet all my own personal deadlines for UBD such as for research that needs to be done in our own time.
3. This quarter, I would also like to speak more during Socratic Seminar, which was my second quarter goal, but I could not work on it as we didn't have any Socratic Seminars.

WWIII?

Do you think there will be a World War III in your lifetime?

• If you don’t think WWIII will occur please explain why you feel this way. What structures are in place that will prevent WWIII from happening?
• If you do think WWIII will happen what will be the causes? Which nations will be on each side? Where will it be fought? What will be the net effect?

World War I began due to political and economic reasons, and World War II began due to ethnic as well as economic reason. I think there will be a WWIII due to the economy, which is declining quite quickly, as well due to differing opinions about various things, such as religion, as well as a battle for natural resources. I also think that the unrest in Israel will add to it. I think the war will be fought between the larger economies, such as the US and against China with European countries on the side of the US and the Middle East on the side of China. I think the war would be fought through the desert areas of the Middle East, as well as in Africa, as there is barren land there. As far as technology, I think it will be mainly aireal warfare, and not so much naval warfare or trench warfare.

Anne Frank Discussion Question

In The New York Times the writer Anna Quindlen asked, “Would our understanding of the Holocaust be quite the same if Anne Frank had not taken a small plaid diary into hiding with her?” Respond to this question and explain your answer.

My answer to this question is yes and no. To the extent of understanding the events of the war, no, because Anne didn't go into much detail about what was going on outside of her "home". Yes, she talked about the air raids, and about a few occupations, but not very much. But on the other side, she gave the world a deeper understanding about what it was like to live in hiding during the war, and the things they had to go through on a daily basis. Without her diary I don't think people would have known how difficult it was for her family, and the families like them. So in conclusion, I think Anne Frank's diary has and has not helped the further understanding of the war.

WWII Recipe Poem

Throw a can of fascism into a big bowl,
and make sure you throw away the treaty of versailles.
Sprinkle in some failure of the league of nations,
and grate some Hitler, Stalin, and Musolini right on top.
Crumble in some appeasement,
to taste.
Place on a pot halfway filled with hatred,
put on medium heat,
and bring to a boil;
and allow to explode.

Feedback

Of the characters in Animal Farm, I believe I'm most like Benjamin as I have a very cynical attitude. Also, I believe Benjamin knew that the whole plan of taking over the farm wouldn't work, but he didn't really say anything, or do anything about it , which is something I would do. I usually stand to the side, as I'm not much of a leader. I think Benjamin kind of knew that the commandments were changing but he did nothing to fix that, which is something I would do as well. I just let "nature take its course".

Feedback Januray 27th

The word tyranny means the rule of an absolute ruler, which is kind of what Farmer Jones is. Farmer Jones takes the animals' milk, and kills them for his food without thinking about them, he does it for himself. Which is also injustice. Injustice means to be unfair towards other things or people, which is how the animals see Farmer Jones as being. The animals want self-determination, which means to run things as you want, according to your own needs. I think these three words all relate to the overthrow of Farmer Jones, as the animals all wanted to be self-determined and live their lives as they wanted, and they saw Farmer Jones as a tyrant who did things based on himself, which could also be considered self-determined. The animals also saw Farmer Jones as being unjust, which ties it all together.

Feedback

As on July, 2007 there are 538,128 people enlisted in the US army. The US army is all on a volunteer basis, so you only have to join if you want to. The only reason I would join the army would be for financial assitance for college. if my parents were unable to pay for me to go to college, then I would definitely find it a necessity to join the army. Also, if my country were to face a shortage in soldiers, then I would also find it necessary to join and defend my country.

Cartoon Analysis

The main visual elements in this cartoon are the various countries, illustrated through people in uniform. I think this image shows how alliances are made, but also broken. You can see that almost everyone is shaking hands with someone, but the Netherlands to the side is crying, possibly because an alliance was broken or they could not make an alliance with anyone. Also, Germany and Austria-Hungary are in the center, shaking hands with the most people, but not each other, which shows that the illustrator felt they were the key people in the war. Also, the two countries in the center do not share any allies except for Italy, which also shows that Germany and Austria-Hungary are against each other.

Second Quarter Feedback.

My three goals for second quarter were to 1. get better at Socratic Seminar, which I couldn't work at because we didn't have any Socratic Seminars. 2. Understand what we do and talk about in class, and I feel I did achieve that for the most part. Lastly, 3. pay more attention in class, which over all, I kind of did, as I definitely didn't talk as much as before for the most part.

My quarter three goals are;

1. Start reading at a higher level, and I'll do that by reading more complex books.
2. Develop my geography skills, by spending time looking at maps and such.
3. Turn in my homework with a higher degree of effort, and I'll do that by spending more time on it.