Thursday, April 26, 2007

1940's

War is an inevitable factor through out history. I don’t think there has been a single second of human existence when there wasn’t at least one warring country. If war is such a bad thing, why hasn’t humankind come to the consensus that war is unnecessary? Is war necessary?

In an idealistic society, everyone would sit down and talk out their issues. However, we all know that this will never happen. Personally, I do not think war is necessary. I feel that there are better ways to solve problems than killing one another. However, war is inevitable. There will always be someone who will try to start a fight. I feel that it would take a catastrophic event for the world to realize that war is unnecessary, an event so catastrophic that it’ll be too late for compromise.

Currently, America is at war with Iraq. The war in Iraq is extremely confusing, convoluted by bias media and conspiracy theories. I personally don’t know what information is fact and what is simply conspiracy, but from the knowledge I’ve accumulated, I have come to a conclusion. The Iraq War is messed up. Although I support the troops at war for fighting for our country, why the hell are they over there? Is it truly to “liberate” the Iraqi people? And aren’t we fighting in the midst of an Iraqi civil war? Bush messed up, but he doesn’t want to admit it. He has no “exit” plan, and it’s a shame that it has taken so long for the American people to realize he’s a complete idiot.

Tuesday, April 24, 2007

The 1930's

1. Honestly, I didnt learn many things that were salient regarding the 1930's. We learned about the Great Depression and how and why it happened. It was a result of several factors, such as a decline in trade, a lopsided concentration of power, and the infamous stock market crash of October 29, 1929, also known as "black tuesday". I learned that over a quarter of the American people were unemployed and the people who lived comfortably were the SUPER rich, who never shared any of their money with anyone. This was represented in the activity, where we were told that if we al wrote our first name, we'd all get two bonus points. But if three people wrote their full name, they'd get ten points. In our class, two people wrote their full names, meaning they both got ten points, while everyone else received nothing.
We also learned about the Dust Bowl, where there was a massive drought in the southwest. Almost all of the farmers in the area lost their crops. Many of them migrated west to California, were they had no choice but to compromise for hard labor for little pay. Many people also migrated North, where there were job opportunities.
We learned that people relied on sports and family to escape from the depression of the Great Depression, because that was all many people had. People looked up to sports icons, such as Seabiscuit, who represented the "little guy." Seabiscuit was the smallest, scrawniest horse on the track, yet he worked hard and became victorious, living out the American Dream.
The 1930's was a test for the American people and we succeeded triumphantly.