Obama and Romney Arn't the Only Candidates?

     Today my American Studies class talked about how nobody watched the third party debate last night. Just like most of the class, I didn't even know there was a debate. However, unlike most people I didn't know that there were four more candidates in addition to Romney and Obama.

Do you recognize any of these people,
 because they could be your next president?
(image found through Google)

     In class we also talked about how the third party candidates hardly get any publicity. I can now vouch for that statement. When trying to do a little research for this blog post I had a hard time even finding the names of the other candidates. For everyone's information though the third party candidates are Gary Johnson, Jill Stein, Virgil Good, and Rock Anderson (you can click on the names to be taken to each candidates website). The best information I could find was each candidate's website but I still can't even find Rock Anderson's website.
     People say that the competition is Obama vs. Romney, so why do these third party candidates run? Do you think the candidates have hope in becoming America's president?

   

The Naughty or Nice List

Found through Google 

     In class this week, we were talking about how our society still has some Puritan values. The Puritans used to believe that if they did enough good they would be rewarded by becoming a saint in the town. So, the idea was kind of genius because it was a way to keep the town in order. Most people wanted to become a saint so therefore they behaved and didn't "sin".
     An area where I see this same value in our society is with kids and Santa Clause's naughty or nice list. All around, parents tell their children to act nice because then Santa Clause will bring them presents. On the other hand, if the kid's act naughty then Santa will put coal in their stockings. Most kids would prefer presents over coal, so this a way to make sure children behave.
     Is this tradition of the naughty and nice list only in the U.S.? If not, how has it spread to other countries when the Puritans lived here? Also, are you on Santa's naughty or nice list this year?

Feeding The Hungry

     This post is in response to Mr. Bolos's post on the physical and mental heath of homeless people. The lack in physical health that Mr. Bolos describes sound like people are buying the cheap food that is high in sodium instead of the more expensive fruits and vegetables. I remember hearing about an old women living in a poor area of Chicago who had to walk over a mile to the closest grocery store if she needed something. Even when she had time to go to the store she didn't always have the money to pay for her expensive food. This makes me think that Chicago needs more stores where homeless or poor people can go to buy cheaper groceries. 

     There should also be more services like Meals on Wheels or the Night Ministry that travel to the places where there are high populations of poor and homeless people and give out free meals. These meals also need to be healthy though in order to make a change in the physical health. This situation would be ideal because this  way people could get healthy meals brought right to them. Also, on the Night Ministry bus there is also doctors that give free check-ups. Maybe if there were more doctors and volunteers willing to give free check-ups the homeless people who are mentally ill could be better taken care of.  I actually think that New Trier has a service like this as well. If I am not mistaken it is called Food Taxi. I love how even our high school is helping out with hunger problems. 

     Mr. Bolos also mentioned how he wanted to talk to the people he was serving. Sometimes, I volunteer with my church at a soup kitchen in Evanston. Like Mr. Bolos I find myself wanting to talk to the people I am serving. I bet they all have really interesting life stories, but all I and the rest of the volunteers will know them as the homeless people we served. How can we make better connections with the people we are helping? What are other ways to help the physical and mental health of homeless and poor people?

Isn't there ever an unhappy ending?

Kurt Vonnegut's good fortune chart found through Google

           I went to the movies the other day and saw "Pitch Perfect". It was a really good movie, but in the end it was predictable: (SPOILER ALERT) the guy gets the girl and the girl's team wins the big competition. The movie got me thinking what if the guy ended up alone? What if the team came in last place? Right now, I can't think of one movie that ends with only unhappy events.
           In class earlier we read a packet called "Here Is a Lesson in Creative Writing" by Kurt Vonnegut. It discussed different shapes of stories. The "good fortune" graph shows the stories that start off with good fortune, and then has some ill fortune in the middle, and they always end with good fortune. After discussing that shape we saw another graph for stories that start with ill fortune and just get worse from there. While talking about these tragic stories, one of my teachers said that these types of stories are not written by American authors. Why is it that Americans don't write these kinds of stories?
          I think it might be because the American public wouldn't respond to them well. Stories with happy endings have hope and stories with unhappy ending just make you sad. So, it makes sense that people would want to feel happy over feeling sad. However I don't understand why that characteristic isn't universal. What is so different about the American authors or the American public?

Choice vs. Destiny

    In class we have been discussing different peoples' lives. I have noticed that their is a vast difference between each person. Obviously everyone has their own unique life, but the difference between someone who lives a life working at a fast food restaurant everyday and another person who gives up all their possessions and moves away to a live with monks in the mountains is almost too different. Thinking of the differences in these lives made me ask the question do we really have a choice in our lives or is our life planned out from birth by something/someone else? Their are many books and movies where people living the first life, the one with the same job forever, dream about doing something more, like living with monks. However, if they really wanted to have that life, don't you think they would? This brings up the argument choice vs. destiny. Do you really have control of our lives? Are there some things we can control and others that we can't? For me I believe that that we don't have total control over our lives. The stuff in our lives we can't control I think is from the effects of the choices other people make. It would be really cool if we could know how our lives end up, but I don't believe that our lives are predestined. What are your thoughts?

Brad Schneider's Bold Move

     While watching TV the other night a commercial came on for Brad Schneider, who is running for Congress this year. In the commercial he promised to work with both Republicans and Democrats, "as long as they have a good idea". A week or two ago we talked about how careful politicians had to be about what they say in their speeches. Even though what Schneider says sounds like a good idea, I don't know if people who actually know about politics will agree with me. Brad could have just shot himself in the foot with this commercial. Although I think that Brad's idea sounds like it makes sense I can see why people who are very into politics would not like it. Brad lists himself as a democrat but what does it mean if he thinks the Republicans have good ideas too? If he is willing to work with both Democrats and Republicans does that mean that he does not fully believe in Democratic values? People want to fix our nations problems, but will they want a solution from someone with different political values than the ones they have? Do you think this will help or hurt Brad's campaign?

READ THIS POST AND GET FREE STUFF

     I was at a Northwestern University football game and at the end i was walking out and saw a huge group of people by the locker rooms. I asked what they were there for and found out that they were all waiting for the visiting football team to leave, because then they would get to go in the locker room and keep anything the team had left behind. Used socks, dirty football gloves, and sweaty towels, why would people want to keep these things. Then I thought about why so many people were waiting, FREE STUFF. People, I think especially Americans, are obsessed with getting free things. Think about it, at a business fair what is the most appealing booth? I know for me and others that I have seen we love the place giving out free pens or free candy. Even when we don't need a pen or the calories from the candy, we still pick one up.

Picture from Google 

    I think this highlights how Americans just want more stuff. We think subconsciously that the more possessions we have the happier we will be. When we don't have to pay to add to our collections its even better. Americans need to take a step back and stop focusing on material possessions and wanting more and more. Instead they should focus on what they have and how fortunate they are.
    By the way the free stuff you get from this post is some perspective and a chance to read my thoughts. You are welcome.