We've Got the Power to Change the World!
It is a daily event that students contemplate spending their hard-earned dollars on everything ranging from necklaces and lingerie to DVD players and video games. Perhaps it is time to reconsider the value of $1. Each student should take a moment to ask him or herself, ''How far can $1 go?'' or, ''What can $1 buy?'' In answering such a question, I expect many students to respond that a dollar has little or no value. Call me the extreme optimist but a dollar can go quite a long way, even in today's world.
My grandfather, who was born and lived in New York City nearly his entire life, taught me a valuable lesson. Once he said, when I was merely a tot, ''Kids today don't even pick up change because they don't understand the value of money.'' And although this comment revisits my consciousness every time I see a penny resting on the ground and compels me to pick it up, the wisdom contained in this short quotation also represents a way of thinking that speaks volumes about the under appreciation of money by our society. If we could individually and collectively realize what potential each one of our dollars has, we might be able to conquer the vast majority of maladies that our world now faces.
Whether you are celebrating Christmas, Hanukkah, Kwanzaa, or some other holiday this December, you likely feel compelled by generosity, compassion, guilt or the media to spend considerable sums of money on gifts and charitable contributions. Televisions and newspapers are full of commercials advertising the newest gadget that will bring pleasure to you or someone you like. Hordes of organizations also take advantage of the season's spirit and bombard mailboxes, phone lines, and store entranc...
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...mbined strength of our individual dollars can reshape the world. Certainly, there are people locally and internationally that aren't getting basic human necessities -- i.e., heat, clean water, immunizations, etc. -- and at the same time many of us have a dollar (maybe more) to spare for the benefit of humanity. Perhaps the world would be a more peaceful place if fewer members of our species weren't so deprived. Remember, $1, often thought to be a mere pittance, has tremendous ability to make our community and our world a happier, more harmonious place.
Works Cited
Khan, M.M. & R.A. Yoder. (1998) Expanded Program on Immunization in Bangladesh: Cost, Cost-Effectiveness, and Financing Estimates. Special Initiatives Report No. 6. Partnerships for Health Reform.
Miller, G.T. (2001) Environmental Science Working with the Earth. Pacific Grove, CA: Brooks/Cole.
Throughout the past decade, costs of everything have skyrocketed. According to Source C, America used to have “five and dime stores;” now its a dollar store. In addition, no one can buy anything with just a penny anymore. The source also made a fair observation that these worthless zinc disks are, “behind chair cushions or at the back of sock drawers next to your old tin-foil ball. Quarters and dimes circulated; pennies disappear because they are literally more trouble than they are worth.” According to a New York Times article, “it takes nearly a dime today to buy what a penny bought back in 1950.” The penny is still stuck in the 1950s while America just keeps moving on. As stated by Mark Lewis in his concept of establishing a bill, “the bill would not ban pennies, but merely discourage their use by establishing a system under which cash transactions would be rounded up or down.” (Source A) This motive will help keep the America exceed and
The graphic novels Maus and Maus II by Art Spiegelman possess the power to make the reader understand the pain and suffering that takes place during the Holocaust. Spiegelman uses animals instead of humans in his graphic novels to represent the different races of people. The use of visual mediums in Art Spiegelman’s Maus enhances the reading of the narrative. The graphics throughout the novel help the reader fully understand everything that is happening.
François-Marie Arouet, or Voltaire was an Enlightenment thinker, whose ideas are portrayed in his satiric novel, Candide. In this short novel, Voltaire critiques French society of the time, and attacks Leibnizian optimism through his sarcastic representation of Professor Pangloss, one of the optimist philosophers. Throughout the book, he describes the reality of society, which is that of misery and pain. This novel was written in 1759 during the Age of Enlightenment, when Voltaire was already a known writer who was famous for his satirical wit. Enlightenment thinkers were mostly philosophers who invested their thoughts in reasoning, or people who applied the ideas from the Scientific
Christmas has consumed itself. At its conception, it was a fine idea, and I imagine that at one point its execution worked very much as it was intended to. These days, however, its meaning has been perverted; its true purpose ignored and replaced with a purpose imagined by those who merely go through the motions, without actually knowing why they do so.
"Immunization in Children." Medindia . Medindia Health Network, 20 Sep 2010. Web. 20 Sep 2010.
Voltaire was the youngest of five siblings, and had very high expectations. His father wanted him to be a notary after college, but he wanted to be a writer. After being caught pretending to be a notary, his father sent him to study law. There he got a job as a secretary, and continued writing. Voltaire also developed a tense relation with the authorities of the time. Through his critical views on religious intolerance and the governmental practices in general, cost him several imprisonments and exiles. In one of such imprisonments, at the Bastille, he wrote his first play entitled Œdipe. Also, during his imprisonment, he received his pet name “Voltaire”.
"A penny saved is a penny earned" is a beloved well-known saying, along with "A penny for your thoughts?" But, let me tell you: your thoughts are worth more than a penny, and so are most things. The penny debate in the United States has gone on for years, accompanying the continuing inflation of U.S. currency, the decreasing value of the penny and U.S. dollar. Pennies are currently produced at a loss. According to the U.S. Mint Department of Treasury, at the end of 2012, the cost of production of a penny was 1.66 cents. The U.S. is losing money while making money. I know that pennies are bad for the economy and impractical in 2015. However, when I see a penny on the ground, I will undoubtedly go out of my way to pick it up. The time it takes handling pennies is literally not worth my time, assuming my time is worth between minimum wage and the average wage in the U.S. In my head, I know all the facts: pennies are generally bad. Even so, I have such a strong connection, rooted in my love for Abraham Lincoln and my affinity for all coins, to the copper coin. Therein lies the problem: what should we do with the penny?
Despite such documented success we are still witnessing the deadly impact of vaccine preventable diseases. Millions of preventable cases of disease and death are still occurring in low and middle-income countries where disease burdens are often the highest. The time lag in the introduction of new vaccines between high-income and low-income countries has been a major issue. Some vaccines are introduced in high-income countries a full year before they are introduced to low-income countries where disease burdens are rapidly growing.
A penny saved may be a penny earned, just as a penny spent may begin to better the world. Andrew Carnegie, a man known for his wealth, certainly knew the value of a dollar. His successful business ventures in the railroad industry, steel business, and in communications earned him his multimillion-dollar fortune. Much the opposite of greedy, Carnegie made sure he had what he needed to live a comfortable life, and put what remained of his fortune toward assistance for the general public and the betterment of their communities. He stressed the idea that generosity is superior to arrogance. Carnegie believes that for the wealthy to be generous to their community, rather than live an ostentatious lifestyle proves that they are truly rich in wealth and in heart. He also emphasized that money is most powerful in the hands of the earner, and not anyone else. In his retirement, Carnegie not only spent a great deal of time enriching his life by giving back; but also often wrote about business, money, and his stance on the importance of world peace. His essay “Wealth” presents what he believes are three common ways in which the wealthy typically distribute their money throughout their life and after death. Throughout his essay “Wealth”, Andrew Carnegie appeals to logos as he defines “rich” as having a great deal of wealth not only in materialistic terms, but also in leading an active philanthropic lifestyle. He solidifies this definition in his appeals to ethos and pathos with an emphasis on the rewards of philanthropy to the mind and body.
Overall Voltaire is successful in promoting his ideas and beliefs. It is clear he wants to see a drastic change in religion, politics and morals in the pre-modern period. Throughout his novel Candide he is able to criticise society with a light hearted mockery but also with a seriousness using extreme examples to address his points and concerns. It is arguable that his ambitions were far too high at a time of hope and debate in the 18th century.
The Holocaust is one of the most horrific and gruesome events in world history. It took a great toll on millions of lives in one way or another. One person in particular is Vladek Spiegelman, a Holocaust survivor. Maus, by Art Spiegelman, consists of two main narratives. One narrative occurs during World War II in Poland, and the other begins in the late 1970s in New York. In relation to each other these two narratives portray the past and present.Throughout the novel, we often see Art Spiegelman questioning why his father acts the way he does. Although the war is over, the events of the Holocaust continue to influence the life of Vladek. Why do we allow the past to effect the present? Vladek's personality is largely influenced by his Holocaust experience. In Maus I and II, Vladek was stubborn, selfish, and cheap because of his experiences in the Holocaust.
Voltaire was born on November 21, 1964. In his life he published over 50 stories, including one of his most famous novels, Candide. Voltaire is a big satirist. Satire in the dictionary is defined as, “The use of humor, irony, exaggeration, or ridicule to expose and criticize people's stupidity or vices, particularly in the context of contemporary politics and other topical issues”(New Oxford American Dictionary). The story Candide is filled with satire against optimism, although, this is a target among many others. Voltaire also satirizes religion, politics, and war. His religious satire is present throughout the entire work. There are several examples of this mockery along with the reasons for Voltaire’s sarcasm.
In Voltaire’s Candide, we are taken by the hand through an adventure which spanned two continents, several countries, and to a multitude of adverse characters. The protagonist, Candide, became the recipient of the horrors which would be faced by any person in the 18th century. But Candide was always accompanied with fellows sufferers, two of which our focus will lay, Pangloss and Martin. In equal respects, both are embodiments of different philosophies of the time: Pangloss the proponent of Optimism and Martin the proponent of Pessimism. Each of the two travelers is never together with Candide, until the end, but both entice him to picture the world in one of their two philosophies. Throughout the story there is an apparent ebb and flow from Candide on how to think of the world. By the end of his journey, Candide will be presented with evidence to lead to his agreement of either Optimism or Pessimism. But I submit, Candide does not become a firm believer in either philosophies but rather retains a philosophy in between Optimism and Pessimism, somewhat of a stoic mentality. Thus Voltaire’s opinion on philosophy will be predicated upon his character, Candide.
Both the arts and the sciences have completely different methods to create knowledge, thus the effects ethical judgments have on the arts and the science are different. Ethics limits the production of knowledge in both the arts and natural sciences, however, in the arts ethical judgments do not limit the methods available in the production of knowledge, rather it limits the propagation of knowledge. On the other hand, ethical judgements do limit the methods available in the production of knowledge in the natural sciences, because ethical judgments are self regulated in the natural sciences by reason because of the role of ethics in the methods.
The invention of money was a major improvement in peoples’ lives. In the past, people usually had to travel all day to find the person who is willing to exchange their goods. In addition, the goods people want to exchange did not have the standard value of measurement. This led to unequal exchanges. Furthermore, it is not convenient to carry heavy goods from one place to another for an exchange. To solve these issues, money will be the only solution. Later, people tend to develop money from cowry shells to credit cards for the convenience and to improve their society.