"Brave New World" vs "1984"

In "Conclusion: The Two Futures" from The End of Utopia, the novels Brave New World and 1984 are discussed and compared as to which would be more probable to occur in today's society. I have to side with the author and say that Brave New World is a more likely utopia, or dystopia for the world we live in now. I know I personally would go along more with a society who rewarded me for nothing than a society that punished me for everything, and I like to think I'm among the majority in that opinion. The article mentions that "more than any other novel of its type, Brave New World is continuing to approximate the social and political whole truth as the present turns into the future almost one might say to the point when this novel will express the whole truth of a lamentably truth-empoverished time". In other words, this novel, more so than other dystopia novels-including 1984- speaks to a future that is increasingly approaching until a point where the world predicted by Huxley could come true. "Test tube babies" are already increasingly popular, not to the point where they are manufactured in bulk and not raised by parents, however in vitro fertilization shows the potential for that to develop. The world Huxley envisioned is not only more likely to happen, but more efficient. As opposed to Orwell's world, which the article points out is "simply not efficient and all other things being equal efficiency leads to stability as inefficiency leads away from it". 1984 has too many opprotunities for failure within its system, regardless of the extraordinary cautions the government put into place. The majority of the population consists of a subclass, the proles. While the proles did not realize their power in the novel, the potential for an overthrow by them is still very plausible with the society they live in. Also, the practice of releasing "brainwashed" prisoners back into society is on that lacks efficiency. A potential lies in that practice for a person that still believes everything they used to before "Room 101" to go back into society with the knowledge of where they went wrong before and start rebelling all over again. Huxley sent his rebells off to Iceland, where they could think freely without influencing anyone else. Being high in society in Brave New World, one receives endless pleasures, and those who are low in society were born with out the understanding or really knowing their position. Being high in society in 1984 still holds the same fears and worries that those low in society have, and those low in society can't even think about the fact that they are low without commiting "thought-crime". The article states "the power of pleasure has the advantage of being more stabilizing", which is evidenced through the more effective government put in place in Huxley's Brave New World.

Funding for Arts in Education

The cause I am strongly in support of is funding for the arts in education. Because of the fact that subjects such as music and fine arts are not "testable" subjects, the funding in them has been greatly decreased under the No Child Left Behind Act. Schools who have subpar grades on tests and are losing funding as a result make cuts in the budget of art programs because they do not improve upon test taking skills. However, I don't believe that a life can be measured in the tests that are taken and possibly failed. In an increasingly scientific and mathematical world, creativity is hard to come by. If all the classes which encourage creativity are eliminated due to cuts in funding, very few inspiring new creations will exist. Education is supposed to prepare students for life, and life is not tested by scantrons or essays, but by experiences. Art creates for more valuable experiences than math or science. However, math or science can easily be converted into questions for a standardized test, so therefore they are more important than art. At least, in the eyes of education policy makers thats the case. I do not believe that because music and theatre and drawing cannot be graded through a scantron they are any less important. In fact, that makes them more important. The purpose of those fields is simply to educate- not to prepare for a test. Students participate in arts because they have a genuine enjoyment or will to learn. In order to remain a society of independent, free thinkers who follow what they want, the arts need to remain well-funded and supported.

Designer Babies: Where is the line?

In the 21st century, the role technology plays in life is ever-increasing. Through genetic engineering, that role could evolve to include not only how we live, but how that life is created. Intelligent people on both sides of the issue argue the pro's and con's regularly. So, the question becomes: are the many negative sides to genetic engineering worth risking in order to acheive the positives that could result?
There is a line that is fairly blurred between where genetic engineering should be and where it should never attempt to go. Many can agree that on one side is the elimation of autism and downsyndrome, the lessening of risks for cancer and other genetic diseases, and numerous other hereditary mental and physical illnesses. However, even those things toe the blurry line a little too much. The average cost of this kind of genetic engineering is much more than an average couple could afford, let alone a lower income couple. A rich family, however, would have no trouble paying the bills that would come along with designing their own children. Because of this, autism and the other related diseases would not be completely eliminated in any way. They would just be less prevalent in upper class America. The rich generally choose causes which in some way are relevant to them to support and donate money to. If the rich could genetically alter their children to be disease free, all the diseases they no longer have to deal with would have much less funding for research. In the long run, even the biggest positive genetic engineering has could potentially be a negative that seperates the classes even more than they presently are.
On the opposite side of that blurred line, where the obvious negatives reside, is where much more can be found. Not everyone in the world is fit to be a parent, and even less are fit to design the child they would be a parent to. The term designer baby conjures up images of a factory spewing out blonde haired, blue eyed beauties by the bus load. They would all be disease free, with great personality traits, and the best genes money can buy. Except of course for that one child, with the crazy parents, who created a sociopath. That, and much worse, could be possible as a result of genetic engineering. As if parents don't live vicariously through their children enough to begin with, they now get to create the perfect child. They get to make a baby that is, essentially, what they've always wished they had been. The role of a child could change over time from a human being that requires love and attention to a thing that is required to live up to the expectations put on it at design. And while the designer child might not have disease or physical flaws or personality traits that make life more difficult for them, the pressure to be the perfect creature they were created to be might end up too great.
There is a blurred line. However, even the blurriness cannot hide the dangers genetic engineering poses. The cons outweigh the pros in a large way, and even the pros have their flaws. In order to perfect genetic engineering, boundaries must be set that prevent some of the great threats it has.

What I should have been thankful for once.

I was having a really hard time trying to figure out what I was thankful for. It's not that I have nothing to be thankful for, because I have so much. It's that I take everything and everyone for granted. Which is why this isn't really about what I'm thankful for right now, because I'm going to go out and actually thank those people, or things- which may come off a little crazy if anybody watches me talking to my car telling it how thankful I am for its safety features that have kept me alive these past months. This is going to be focused on the people I should have thanked once upon a time but never got around to it. Whether by good or bad means, these people all changed me for the better. And that deserves all of my gratitude. This may take a really long time. Sorry. And also sorry if you happen to be one of these random people I'm all about showing late gratitude for. Because its so late, and also because its so random. I know it has been a long time since I've been friends with some of you, but I'll never forget the friends who led me into kindergarten, adolescence, and whatever now is.
Thank you, to the girl who told me when I was two years old I was good enough to be her friend. Who was my sister, both through friendship -and blood after we cut our fingers and dropped our blood in apple juice, and even though we decided it was too gross to drink we knew our blood would always be intertwined somewhere deep in the sewage system below her house. Who tried to keep our friendship alive through phone calls and sleepovers even after I moved and switched to public school and stopped playing basketball and started playing traveling soccer instead of on the team your dad coached. Who knew when we no longer had anything in common but a past. Who could let go.
...Thank you, to the neighbors who welcomed me into their world once upon a time. Thank you for making it easier for me to leave my old best friends behind and start fresh with new ones. Thank you for being the new ones then and the old ones now. Thank you to the neighbor I always fought with, and the one with whom I've never had a fight. I'm sorry that it never really balanced out. Thank you for putting up with me as long as you could when even I'm willing to admit I was an unbearable friend back then. ..Thank you to the girl next door who almost always forgave me for the drama I caused, and who laughed with me about it later on. ..Thank you to the girl across the street who explored the woods with me and built forts and sat with me on her roof and made me realize what a best friend truly was for those few short years. Both of your houses are currently occupied by young children who I can only hope will one day have half as much fun on that street was we used to....Thank you to the friend who still exists in so many of my stories. Whose remembered whenever I'm asked about my most embarrassing moment or how I got the nickname Mimz. Thank you being involved in so many memories and thank you for everything you did way back when. You always knew exactly what I needed to hear, even if it wasn't what I wanted to hear. ...Thank you to the two girls that I always tried to get rid of but always found it way too hard. Thank you for making me laugh even when I was sure I could kill you. Thank you for pushing me to do my best even if that wasn't really what you intended. Thank you for being both convenient and comfortable despite the fact that "best friends" for us was never really more than the heading on top of a photo booth picture with the three of us in it. ...Thank you to the boy who spent everyday pointing out my flaws and still somehow managed to be my most durable friendship. Who taught me to laugh at myself, and although I'm sure it wasn't the intent: to be confident. Who I hope I taught something to along the way, but what I can't say. Whose friendship, despite my many efforts, I can't live without. ...Thank you to the friend who let me crash into a million pieces on his hardwood floor and then convinced me it was time to move forward. Who held my hand as I confessed everything. Who never judged or assumed but always listened. Who took me, baggage and all and called me his sister. Who was my brother for our too short lived friendship. ...Thank you to the girl who took me down the wrong path. Who understood me and let me make the mistakes I needed to make. Who taught me what a mistake really was. ...Thank you to the friend that told me what I was doing wrong. Even if that was the only thing she ever said that I really heard. ..Thank you to the boys that let me hurt them and never even thought about hurting me. And thank you to the few that did. ..Thank you to the friends that have slipped through the cracks in my memory after all this time. I'm grateful that every single one of you passed through my life. I learned from every last one of you what it means when somebody says "Don't take things for granted". I'm sorry it took me so long.

Social Classes in "The Glass Castle"

Imagine you grew up dirt poor, barely scraping by, constantly trying to find a way to make ends meet. Now imagine you grew up in a upper class family, always having your needs met and then some, never having to wonder about where your next meal will come from.

The effects of both these social classes would have a vast impact on your life. The effects of the poor social class she was in certainly had an impact on Jeannette Walls in "The Glass Castle".

From the first page, you can see how Jeannette's life improves from her childhood. When she comes across her mother picking through trash, and then proceeds home to her upper class apartment filled with unnecessary items, you see the huge difference between her life and the lives of her family. Growing up jumping from place to place, and home to home- sometimes not even having a clear home- can really change a person.

It's a common debate whether the life a child lives in a lower class can be considered beneficial or harmful for them in their adult years. In the case of the Walls' family, all but Maureen seemed to have positive outcomes in their lives stemming from their underprivileged childhoods. I know I'm going out on a limb here, saying that the good in their adult lives was caused by the bad in their childhood, rather than in spite of it, but the mere fact that the book exists supports that theory.

As bad as it sounds, the fact that Jeannette lived such a terrible childhood is what makes The Glass Castle an enjoyable read. The book wouldn't be worth reading had she grown up in an average middle class home, or even an upper class family. While her parents could still be bipolar and alcoholic, the lack of struggle to put food on the table each night would erase the biggest issue in the memoir. Living in a lower social class is what lead Jeannette to start writing in the first place, as an escape from the lack of everything her family needed.

The biggest effect the lower social class had on the Walls' children was a determination to strive for so much more in their lives. It wasn't in spite of the obstacles that they succeeded, it was because of them.