Burlington High School
Burlington, Kansas
Teacher: Mrs. Devra Parker
Responsibility to Our Nation
By Missy Troutman
12th grade
If you are driving in a city, chances are high that you will see a homeless person. What are you going to do? You could give them some money or just pretend you never saw them and keep driving. This question is becoming more and more debatable. … When is it right to provide aid and will it benefit the majority?
Our government is basically divided into two groups: Republicans and Democrats. The Republicans tend to lean to the right and believe in a more traditional form of society, while the Democrats bend towards the liberal form and believe that change is always a good thing. One major topic that is heated between these groups is that amount of government aid that should be provided to America and as well, other countries. The liberal side of the United States believes that the government should always lend a helping hand and provide help for the poor to get back up on their feet. Conservatives argue that the people who are homeless now should get a job and learn how to support their family just like the rest of the country.
I believe it’s the choice to pick to lend a hand to someone who needs it, but I do understand a major argument that the Republicans have on this topic. The opinion that our conservatives have is that if we did happen to provide aid to the less fortunate, they might wrongfully take advantage of these systems we have in our country and continue to keep using them.
Personally, I believe that each person makes his or her own decisions in life. I’m entirely aware that some people are born into terrible homes and are treated horribly. I also know that children who have the worst possible lives can go on to live prosperous lives. It is entirely possible for these individuals to become doctors, lawyers, or [other professionals]. My belief is that each person can decide what kind of life he or she wants to lead when grown up. Each person can decide to either follow in their parents’ footsteps, live off of welfare or they can decide to make something of themselves by working hard.…
In today’s society, most people have the attitude that they only want to do what will make them look good and benefit them at the same time. Our people are becoming more and more self-centered. More of us are developing that attitude that we can slack off on our jobs because someone else will do it. This is bad for many reasons. Most parents are unaware of the effect that can have on their children. Unknowingly, we tend to push our attitudes off onto our children. This is only going to cause this destructive attitude to continue on into further generations.
Today in America, our debt grows 1.63 billion dollars every day. Only if each American citizen…paid $26,941.12, would our debt be gone. Most of the people in our country are entirely aware of the amount of debt we are in, but still we continue to have the attitude that we shouldn’t worry about it because the next generation will do something about it. This negative attitude is becoming more and more common in other areas involving our country.
I believe that each person in this country should have to provide for his or her own family but it doesn’t hurt to provide a…hand [to others] in times of need. The only problem with this is that some people take advantage of the care they receive and refuse to work on their own after they’re back on their feet.
The only way to make our country a better place is to follow God’s will and think of others. This would involve people stopping and helping someone when they need it. This would make it so the chances of the poor taking advantage of the government aid programs are slimmer.
Thus, if we want our country to remain to have the reputation as paradise, we must put ourselves aside and think of others first. We must put a stop to our negative attitudes here and now. If people quit having the feeling that someone else will do it or “let’s let the next generation worry about it,” and, instead, do something now, then this country will continue to prosper. It isn’t something that one group or organization can do on its own; it will take the whole country. I believe if we are willing to try, then our efforts will be seen.
Answers To Questions Prompted By The Required Reading
Welfare State on the Street Where You Live
(Tibor Machan)
Q1- Why does Machan use "steal" in his statement: "Private property solves this
problem, but was abandoned a long time ago when taxes reached the point where we
can steal our way to being provided with all sorts of things we desire, never
mind thinking about paying for them or long-range budgeting."?
A1- Machan used “steal” in his statement in order to explain that instead of being fair in working for what we want to receive that we are greedy and just take what we want.
Q2- Machan said: "For that which is common to the greatest number has the least care bestowed upon it." Give two examples of this from your personal experience.
A2- One example of this in my own life would my family. I don’t have a lot of relatives so the ones that I do have mean a lot to me. I truly cherish the moments I get to spend with them because my time with them is little. Another circumstance where I don’t have a lot of something would be my true friends. In high school it is almost impossible to find a person who will be there for you through thick and thin. I put great value on these people in my life because they are the type of people who I want to be like.
Q3- Do you agree with Machan that "...everybody is more inclined to neglect the duty which he expects another to fulfill; as in families many attendants are often less useful than a few."? Give an objective example of this.
A3- No, I do not agree with Machan. For example, when I am cheering or stunting with my fellow cheerleaders everyone is expected to know her part. We especially expect each girl to know her own part when we are stunting because if one person messes up then everyone messes up. At the end of last year we had tryouts to see who would get Junior Varsity or Varsity. Those who didn’t get Varsity told themselves they would try harder next year. The girls who did get Varsity knew what was expected of them as a whole and they work hard to maintain their spot on the team. Everyone knows that we are a team and that if there is one person not doing their job then it conflicts with everyone else.
Are
We Going the Way of Rome?
(Lawrence
Reed)
Q4- State Kershner's First Law. Do you agree or disagree and why?
A4- Kershner’s First law explains that any self-governing people who are given the ability to take from people and give to others will inevitably continue to take until there is nothing more to take. I do not agree with this in most circumstances because I believe that this people would be smart enough to know when to stop because I believe they are probably educated in that circumstance to know the consequences.
Q5- What industry was the first to be taken over by government in both ancient Rome and the USA?
A5- The first industry to be taken over was transportation-shipping.
Q6- Is cheapened money the cause or the outcome of inflation? Explain.
A6- According to the article, the more cheaply made money has caused inflation. Because money was made with less or no silver, the government was able to produce more. Because there was more money in circulation, the value of it decreased.
Q7- How did the Edict of 301 affect Rome's economy?
A7- Diocletian imposed rules that regulated prices and wages, and if someone disobeyed the edict, they were punished by death. At Markey places, people began to stop bringing items to sell, because they knew that they would not get a good price for them. This slowed the economy, obviously, and the law was put aside.
Liberty and Individual Responsibility
(Dwight R. Lee)
Q8- Lee claims that individuals could be "entirely independent of others" except
for what? Explain.
A8- It’s very difficult for a society to survive if everyone were separated. Competition cooperation is needed for goods to get to everyone. Scarcity is something that individuals cannot survive with. A society is made of different people with different responsibilities. The society, as a whole, needs there people to take on the different jobs for it to survive.
Q9- Describe the dilemma concerning rules as discussed by Lee.
A9- Rules are needed in a society. Without rule, chaos would reign.
Q10- Why is the concept of private property crucial to freedom?
A10- Private Property enables everyday people to have a hand in their lives and the lives of the society by making decisions for them. It’s very liberating and freedom-possessing to be able to sell and buy objects because two parties agree to it.
Lawrence Reed's testimony before the U.S. Senate Budget Committee.
Q11- Argue both
pro and con that in his testimony Lawrence Reed was advocating compassion and
aid for the poor.
A11- Reed argued numerous points about compassion and aid for the poor. One way he agreed with compassion and aid for the poor is the fact that some people don’t have as many capabilities as others. Another example is that we should help them for ethical reasons, since that is what our country is about. On the contrary he also argued that somewhere along the line that some people may be where they are in life because of the decisions they have made. These decisions could have come from laziness or no willpower. Also, he insinuated that if we show too much compassion the poor would become too dependent on it.
Q12- "If people are free, they will not earn equal incomes; conversely, show me a people who have equal incomes and I will show you a people who are not free." Explain in your own words Mr. Reed's meaning.
A12- To me this statement means that people who are “free” will have the job that they worked for. Some people will have jobs that don’t pay as much because they didn’t work as hard as others who did and now earn more. I also believe that it means that if everyone in the country had the same job and had the same income then this country would not be free. Freedom is having the choice to decide. If everyone worked the same job this would not be true.