Living to the Fullest

Virginia Woolf's killing of the moth is humbling in showing how insignificant humans really are. Humans, similarly to the moth, have little control over their fate, and no control at all over the universal equalizer of all life: death. Everyone has extravagant ideas of what their massive impact on the world will be, highlighted by some broad achievements of ending world hunger and achieving peace. In reality, despite massive ambition, many of these goals will simply never be accomplished. The world is simply too big for everyone's wishes and goals to be achieved. Like the moth, described as "meager" and "pathetic", the human race is only capable of so much. Furthermore, eventually all people will be forgotten. In 100 years, most of the people reading this will likely be dead, and in 10,000 years, totally forgotten. Even the most significant of people will be erased from time, as the sun burns up the earth, and likely human civilization with it. Though this all seems depressing on the surface, it really should just motivate us to live our lives to the fullest now. Instead of worrying about what other people think, or trying to become something to impress other people, it is better to use your life to satisfy yourself, and live to be happy. After all, when time passes, and memories of who you are start to fade, the only thing that will really matter is who you were to yourself, and how you enjoyed life and used it's opportunities to the fullest.

Manipulative Language

Language, while instrumental in communication, can be a weapon that, in the wrong hands, can do monumental damage. From Hitler in Germany in the 1930s and 40s, to modern day politicians looking to get re-elected, language is constantly manipulated in order to promote personal agendas. People are easily persuaded by emotional speeches and essays, and thus these have become some of the most effective tools for politicians to inspire populations to put them into power, or to enact their ideas and beliefs. These tools have been consistently used throughout history by both good and bad leaders; it's generally accepted that a successful political movement needs a skilled speaker, who can inspire crowds that their movement is genuine. Martin Luther King Jr. is a good example of a leader who used the incredible power of language for good, leading the American Civil Rights Movement into success with his passionate speeches that he was so well known for. On the other hand, leaders like Adolf Hitler and Mussolini used their skillful manipulation of speech to trick and deceive their people, causing the rise of Fascism in Europe, and subsequently, the holocaust that killed so many people. It is our responsibility as people to educate ourselves on political issues, and not let political wordplay persuade us to chose a side based on our emotions. Instead, people should look at modern political topics through the lense of an unbiased source as opposed to a politician's manipulative speech, and decide their stance on issues based on the actual issue, and not strategic propaganda.

The True Issue

It's a simple fact that the destruction of the environment is likely the most pressing and important issue that the world is facing today. Like every world superpower before us, American will not remain the most powerful nation in the world forever; eventually, politics will shift and the American dominance over the world will be nothing more than a section in history books. Subsequently, as Americans, we should focus on encouraging economic growth, and creating jobs, but protecting the environment has an importance above all of that. If we pillage and plunder the environment, leaving nothing but polluted water and smoggy skies, it won't matter how strong our economy was or how many buildings we built or how high our GDP was because the very thing that gave us prosperity will be shriveled up and dead; we will be remembered as the nation that destroyed the earth, and not for the incredible contributions that we have made to humanity. 100 years after our country subsides into insignificance, the only thing remaining will be the impact we left on the physical earth- either good or bad.

The life we are currently living is not at all sustainable. Someday, our oils wells will dry up, our clean water will run out, and the vegetation of the earth that we rely on to keep out air clean will not be able to stay alive. It is up to us to reverse the negative effects of environmental destruction, and to hold people accountable for the damage that they do to the earth.

Objective Evidence

In class on friday we discussed an essay by Deborah Tannen called "There Is No Unmarked Women". Personally, After reading the first few paragraphs, I was immediately skeptical of the claims Tannen was making. Why would she assume that a woman's style couldn't be generic and go unnoticed in the same way that a man's can? Can't a man also get ridiculed for what they wear in the same way that a woman can? Despite my initial doubts, I decided to read into it with an open mind. The point that really shifted my mindset was the example Tannen used to support her claim that "Women can't even fill out a form without telling stories about themselves", where she showed how marriage titles make women reveal more about themselves than they may want. Because of the objective and unarguable facts that she presented with her contrast of "Ms.", "Miss", and "Mrs.", I was able to understand where she was coming from. Because I am a man, I really cannot verify or relate to any of the points that feminists often make in their arguments; therefore I was initially defensive of the notion that this "marking" really existed, almost like I was feeling attacked. I think this portion of the piece does a phenomenal job conveying it's message to not just women, but also men who are willing read it with an open mind, something I've noticed many feminist essays struggle with. Because she used objective facts and evidence for examples,  instead of being rooted in perceived inequality, or things that someone might have to experience to understand, I personally was able to grasp and agree with the content of the essay much more easily.

Weight Lifting Area

The weight area of the gym is a place that a woman would be brave to enter. The grunts of the burly men doing their daily reps is complimented by sharp breathing of much smaller, "less-experienced" guys who aren't in the best of shape, trying to build their muscle mass so that they may someday too be a "lifting veteran". Simply put, the females of the gym generally use the machines, partially because they are expected to stay away from the "real" weight lifting equipment and stick to the elliptical, and partially because they don't want to be in the sweaty, smelly, and noisy mess that is referred to as the free weights. Similarly, one would be hard pressed to find a man willing to use the machines, as they are seen as a feminine luxury that they are too proud to touch. After all, "No one is as fragile as a woman, but no one is as fragile as a man". The occasional women working out with her weight-lifting fanatic boyfriend will stumble into the weight lifting area, only to leave promising to herself that she won't be caught dead in there again. However, on one particular day, I saw a women walk confidently into the free weights area, accompanied only by a water bottle and a gym bag. Though they tried not to, all the men stared in amazement out the corners of their eyes, as she laid down her stuff next to the bench press and began to load two forty-fives on each side. Surely the men must have thought the woman to be mistaken, but were blow away even more when they saw her easily bench press the weight, and even continue to add more. The men that day, especially the scrawnier ones, were shaken by what had happened that day; they had been outdone on their own turf by a woman!

Consumerism

In the modern, ultra-competitive time we live in today, businesses are willing to use whatever is at their disposal to draw in customers and sell their product or service. Often, these companies exploit the impulsiveness of consumers in order to draw them in. We all know that companies strategically place items in a certain orders to sell more product, or play particular music, but some even go as far as making the store smell a certain way to make the shopper feel happier and therefore willing to spend more money. All these strategies to get the buyer to spend more money than they really should are the business's effort to exploit the impulsiveness of human nature. In "marrying absurd", Didion mentions how the chapels who are advertising weddings are acting on the impulsive nature of their consumers using in-your-face advertising, and trying to persuade people to get married with "Free License Information", as well as offering incentives such as "Free transportation from your motel to courthouse to chapel and return to motel". These chapels do not actually care about the people getting married, but rather, selling their "product" to as many people as they can. Unfortunately, this is one of the consequences of living in the very competitive time that we reside in. Businesses today don't really care about their consumers, as they would like them to believe, but really about making profit, and they will gladly exploit the impulsiveness of their customers if it means they will make more money.

Cultural Tradition

Often, people (especially Americans) tend to think that other cultures who practice different traditions or "rituals" are foolish. One great way to contrast the traditions and cultures of two societies is Europe and America. Because of the close political relations and similar government styles, Europe and the United States are bound very closely together, and the two cultures seem very similar. Even in these incredibly close societies, however, many discrepancies still exist between the two. One example is the system of measurement used, as Europe uses the metric system while America is still stuck with the standard system. Even through the metric system is clearly superior in the modern world, we stay with the same system we've used for centuries because of tradition (probably also because of cost too). Surely, European countries must look down on us, saying, "They'll have to replace it eventually, why don't they switch to metric?". For Americans, the metric system seems so familiar and logical, that we don't even give it a second though. We don't think of ourselves as "dumb", for using a system that is strange and illogical, but yet we consider other cultures that do illogical things in the name of tradition to be just that. We don't think of ourselves as "ritualistic", we just have, as some people might say, "a different way of doing things". In "Body Ritual Among the Nacirema", the person observing American culture notes that, "Man's only hope is... powerful influences of ritual and ceremony", showing how even though we don't see it as ritualistic, which often has a primitive connotation, many of our traditions could be perceived that way, and the same thing is true with the traditions of other cultures.

Family Bond

Often, the bond between parent and child is much deeper than words. When people live around their families for a large part of their lives, they seem to become indifferent to their family, and just treat them like people that they live with. For example, I know in much of my life, I would prefer to be with my friends over my family, and when I was with my family, I was far from enthusiastic. If they weren't my mom and my dad, most people observing our interactions would think we were distant acquaintances, and and my friends at school were the people who really cared about me. Looking back, with just over a year left with them, I regret how distant I always was from my parents, and how I treated them like strangers much of the time. Even though they were never as close to me as my friends were, there is something about a bond between a family that is different than friendship. I know my parents will stick with me and support me, no matter what. Funny enough, even though I felt much closer to my friends than family, it is my family that stuck around when my friends weren't there. In the excerpt, "Arm Wrestling with My Father", Manning talks about how "Love was a rare expression between us", but in his father's time of ominous bad news, Manning and his dad come together and are able to understand each other. This showcases the way that a family's bond isn't always clear, but in their time of need, they come together despite their differences, and they will always be there for each other.

Out of Sight, Out of Mind

Many people tend to be uninterested by the topic of disability. Often, those who aren't affected by a disability or aren't close to anyone affected by it, can't find any interest for a topic that doesn't matter in their life at all. But what many people don't think about is that becoming disabled could happen to anyone at any time. I remember once a conversation with my dad when we were talking about social security. He was telling me what I should do to make sure I would be eligible to collect social security as soon as possible, such as working for a certain period of time, ect. I was not too interested in the topic, as it had never really crossed my mind, so I asked my dad why I should even care.

My dad then told me the story of my Uncle Ted.

When my Uncle Ted was a teenager, he was just like any other kid his age. He had a job, loved music, and occasionally got into trouble. He, like many other teenage, never gave his good health and youth a second thought. Unfortunately, when he was 19, his liver failed on him and nearly killed him. Luckily, the doctors were able to save him, but he would be unable to work or do any sort of strenuous activity. He was able to get social security, but I took away from the conversation was that I shouldn't take my good health for granted. As Nancy Mairs said in her passage about disability, "ours is the only minority that you can join involuntarily, without warning, at any time" (Mairs 15).