Burlington High School
Burlington, Kansas
Teacher: Devra Parker
Choices: Rough from the Get-Go
By Samantha Kuhlmann
12th grade
Everyday, no matter who, what, when, where, why, or how, every person on the face of this Earth makes…choices. The choices an individual has to make can concern simple ordinary activities, [such] as, what to eat for breakfast in the morning, or they could be life altering, such as deciding [who] to marry….Sometimes the choices of one person can…affect the life of another individual. Personal choices, made [freely]…can also [affect] the common good….
One may not think it, but sometimes the simplest choice affects [many] people….For example, gossip. Gossip is an ordinary event in high school …,and boy, does gossip ever get around the student-packed halls. Usually, the hot news of the day does not last too long, but every now and then there is a strand of gossip that continuously runs laps around the student body. [Sometimes]…gossip can become slanderous. Slander, of course, is against the law…. Spreading a slanderous statement…[goes beyond]…free speech.... Malicious lies, whether by word of mouth or writing, do nothing but cause harm…to other people.
Even worse…is someone not caring and forgetting about another individual. Negligence [is] also an illegal act at times…. For instance, when a mother goes into the grocery store to buy a couple of quick items and leaves her baby sitting alone in a hot, stuffy car, she has [been] negligent…. When a person is being selfish and only considering what he or she has to do, then the common good has flown out the window because of the lack of consideration for others.
Sure, everyone likes a good joke, right? Of course they do. But when does the joke go [too far]? ... When…directed at one individual the joke turns into harassment. Harassment, another illegal act in the United States, [occurs] more and more everyday. The local school bully is a great example of harassment. Picture the small, slightly nerdy boy in a class walking down the hall with an armful of books. As he passes the school bully, the bully sticks his foot out, trips the boy, and everyone is laughing as the boy [falls to the ground with] his textbooks. What was meant to be a simple act of enjoyment caused harm … [Once again] the common good [was negatively affected].
Rape; there is not much to this word that needs to be explained…. It is a horrible act. Sure, being with the person you love is considered an enjoyment by everyone. However, when someone’s…sexual [desires collide with] another individual’s liberties, [it becomes] brutality….
Choices are made everyday.… A bully [can] trip the class nerd or help the nerd carry his books to his locker. A man [can] forcefully…steal pleasure from his girl or…wait until his beloved is ready for him. Either way, [these are] choices…. The ability to be able to make one’s own decisions is one of the many benefits of residing in the United States of America. However, it can also be a person’s greatest downfall….
Answers to Questions Regarding the Required Reading
Q1-What do you think Justin Reiter meant by including the following in his essay?
“…if the people are not accustomed to the freedom they will be angered by the inequality.” Were you angered by some of the things Justin said in his essay? Did you agree or disagree?
A1 - Justin meant if an individual came to the United States, from a country where everyone was equal right down to the penny, he or she may have a hard time adapting to the United States customs and ways. Yes, I was angered by many commits that Justin said in his essay, but sadly, most of those commits are true. The American society does tend to be conceited, and each individual in the American society wants to be of importance and to stick out among the crowd.
Q2- Explain: “He felt that the common good could be served by each individual pursuing self-interest.” To whom did Chris Carney attribute these feelings?
A2 - Chris Carney attributed these feelings to James Madison, the Founder of the Constitution. Madison was contemplating how to create the government the United States has today, and he knew that a government would not be able to function unless the people of the government could see what was good for themselves individually, and that the people were willing to contribute to the general well-being of the country.
Q3- In the next to the last paragraph in her essay, Faith Doyle discuses Emperor Diocletian and his Edict of 301. Relate that to the essay topic.
A3 - The whole essay revolves around the uniqueness of people, and how everyone has a special talent. In Rome, Emperor Diocletian basically instated a form of Communism, and all of his citizens were treated equally by the government. This was supposed to make people happy, but it had the opposite affect. Everyone was miserable because no one was able to show the uniqueness of their individual self. People are different from each other for many reasons, and one reason is to help keep balance between each other.
Q4- Kelly Lanier says in her essay: “Even though everyone is born with the same rights here in America; sometimes a person can step on or take away the rights of another person.” Relate the example she gives and give us another one of your own.
A4 - Kelly used an extreme example of how American citizens have the right to bear arms as a right. However, if an individual shoots and kills someone else, the gun holder has obviously taken away the rights of the person he or she has just shot. There are other examples that are not quite as extreme though. For instance, in many high schools around the nation firewalls have been put up to protect the students from inappropriate information. Typically what happens though is the firewalls also block out needed information to help educate students. The school district has taken away the students rights to “surf” the internet for educational background on projects or assignments that the student has to complete. Also, because one student decided to abuse the internet, all the rights of the others students were taken away by instating the firewall to block out that one site. The student who violated the school internet code should have to deal with the consequences; not the whole school.
Q5- Explain what Joshua Spencer means when he says that “individual liberty is a fragile, yet powerful, asset.” How does he relate individual liberty to dictators? Do you agree with his assessment? Why or why not? Be specific.
A5 - Joshua meant that each individual has his or her own liberties, but typically the liberties of one person conflict with the liberties of another person. This is why so many debates break out, and also why people are suing others so frequently. There is a very fine line between how fair ones rights and liberties can go before it invades and tramples on another individuals rights and liberties. Joshua relates individual liberty to dictators by stating that a dictator will provide equality, but at the same time the dictator will take away individual liberties. Yes, I do agree with Joshua’s essay. It makes a good point when trying to explain how everyone has their own liberties, and also how easily those liberties can be taken away because of someone else’s liberties.
Q6-Luck Hall asked “Will we maintain our freedom or destroy it to be safe?” How would you answer that question?
A6 - I would say that we should maintain our freedom. People should fight for their rights, and they should always fight for their freedom. Otherwise, the world would slowly become enslaved. No one would be unique, and everyone would be treated the same. Equality is good to an extent, but too much inequality would lead to a robot-like culture. The world needs to have a balance were people receive their rights, but at the same time to not over step their rights and freedom to where it affects another individuals rights.
Q7- Some people, according to which student essayist in 1999, suggested that “the Constitution's framers might have 'put greater emphasis on the protection of the community over individual liberty', had they seen the world today.”? She doesn’t agree. Do You?
A7 - Molly McGlone stated this in her essay. No I do not agree either. The Founders put tons of emphasis on individual liberties and rights. This is part of the reason why the United States has a Bill of Rights. If the Founders would not have put so much emphasis on individual rights and liberties then the United States probably would have become a noble government and a king would have been elected. That scenario was exactly what the people of had just fought against so that way they could have freedom. I really doubt that the Founders put emphasis on community liberty over individual liberty.
Q8- “Just because a
law may achieve desirable results, it should not take precedence over the
Constitution.” Do you agree or disagree? Aaron Traffas, discusses the Ban
on Smoking in Public Places and the Gun Free School Zones Act. How do you
personally feel about these two issues?
A8 - I agree with both statements. Smoking in a public place generally affects many people, and also usually only the smoker is satisfied. Guns Free School Zones help protect the future leaders of America too. Without certain laws that help protect the American public, America would be in an uproar. Laws are made to help insure the safety of the majority of the citizens of a country. The Ban on Smoking in Public Places and the Gun Free School Zones Act do exactly that.
Q9- Annie St. Romain referred to a book in her essay where “the government regulated every possible aspect of human life from profession to family to emotions.” What was the name of that book? Have you read it?
A9 - The name of the book was The Giver by Lois Lawry. No I have not read this book.
Q10- “As nations grow in size and social complexity, governments claim greater powers to restrain individuals and groups. Those who criticize this development believe that it has gone so far as to threaten the existence of individual liberty. Others believe that only if government is granted such powers, can complex problems be solved.” This quote can be found in Jessie Veit’s essay. Which side of the issue do you support and why?
A10 - I am for the government controlling certain aspects of citizen’s liberties. If the government does not control at least some aspects, then the country could become chaotic. Again, it goes back to where if an individual uses their liberties and rights to an extreme they will eventually step on someone else’s liberties and rights. This is where the government should come in, and it should differentiate where the boundary line is.
Q11- Give three examples where personal responsibility would replace the need for laws. Do not duplicate those found in Patrick Karcher’s essay.
A11 - Patens and copyright laws are not laws that stop a person from doing harm to another person. They are laws that keep an individual’s idea tied to a person’s name, so no one can steal and claim that he/she thought of the idea instead of who actually came up with it. Another example would be religion in schools. Teachers should have the right to teach whatever or however many religions that they want in school. First of all, if a student is not influenced by his or her parents about education or is not influenced by his or her school, the child will be influenced by the society around him or her. It does not matter if a child learns about religion in school or outside of school because in today’s society he or she will eventually learn about it anyway. Also, border laws are not necessary. Where someone lives does not affect another person in a harmful manor. If a person wants to cross a country border and live in another country he or she should be allowed to. There are many laws that can be replaced by personal responsibility.
Q12- It is obvious that Benji Lehman is idealistic. In his essay he claims when the founding fathers “wrote the constitution they put a great emphasis on each person having personal rights as well as individual liberties. The true strength of each and every community falls on the individual. Believing each man, woman, and child will, and can recognize the importance of good responsibility.…These were laws that gave each and everyone of us the opportunity and self-respect to do the right thing.” Benji believed that people would make choices that would serve and benefit their communities. Do you believe that? Please explain.
No, I do not believe that people will always make choices that will serve and benefit their own communities. It is human nature to be greedy and typically it is human nature to always want what is best for them individually then what is best for people as a while. While people know what they should do to help their communities and each other sometimes it does not always happen that way due to human greed.