Unite and Conquer?

by Nicole Gunter

Grade 11

Everyday, society wakes up and asks itself the same question. How did we become so corrupt, and what can we do to fix the problem? The answer to the question is where the solution lies. Divorce, murder, poverty, lost hope, and unemployment are the problem. So, we simply answer: create tougher divorce laws, punish criminals, and supply more jobs to the unemployed. That is where our answer ends. We, as society, simply close our eyes to the problem. There are many ways we can come together and solve the problems. I feel that a majority of our problems start right in our own homes.

Your lifestyle reflects upon you and your attitude toward others. If you grow up in a one parent home, with no one to raise you, except for yourself, you [might] turn to a life of crime for attention. We need to learn to love and care for our children. If you are a single mother, with a son, have a male relative spend time with your kid. Show your child that they can trust other people. Your child needs to know that he, or she, is loved. This leads to teenage pregnancy. Children are having children, just so they know that someone will love them. Kids have babies, and then they are unable to care for them. Now, the baby will suffer. Teenagers need to be taught that a baby will only add to their worries, not take away their worries.

Criminals often feel locked into their life of crime. Many criminals have no one to turn to, or they have no family to support them. Once they enter a life of drugs and murder, there is generally no turning back. Many other criminals are homeless. They have no friends, no home, no family, and no money. They desire to go to jail, because it is a home. They have food, clothing, and a roof over their head. What more could they ask for? We are all to often to critical. If we were to walk in a criminal's shoes for one day, we would have a whole new perspective on them. Sure, there are homeless shelters. But 99% of them are filthy and run down. We need to give the homeless and criminals a chance. We need to let them know that it is not too late to turn their lives around. We need to build better and healthier homeless shelters. We need to help criminals and the homeless to find jobs. What we need are volunteers for the homeless. What is it that prevents society from working together? Much of it is our own ignorance. Racism, Sexism, prejudice, and pure hate prevent us from helping others. We worry about our differences, and do not concentrate enough on our similarities. When others need us, we can not be there for them because we can't put our differences aside and work together. Going on the streets and talking to the victims of poverty is made impossible, because we are intimidated. We have to get trained volnteers on the street, and tell the homeless that the government willl help them. We need to help them find jobs and find a shelter.

The government helps play a big role in our quality of life today. We are controlled by the government. (Especially considering that we are the "land of the free"). Our freedom is not freedom. Our taxes are poorly spent, our government bothers with irrelevant issues and they do not show enough concern for important issues. For example, they spend our tax dollars on improving life for prisoners. They now have colored t.v.'s, cable, and fitness rooms. Shouldn't the government be more concerned with preventing teenage pregnancies and drug abuse? They are quick to preach but they are the first to go against their own word. If it is okay for the president to have an affair, it appears okay for everyone else to do it, too. Is our government to easy-going when punishing criminals? It seems to me that they are. Murderers are back on the streets one year after they murdered. Drunken drivers serve a term of twelve months before they get their license back. Yet, they worry about teenagers out past curfew, and underage smoking. People are constantly being killed, and yet, the police are to preoccupied to take care in that. And we have the nerve to ask what's wrong with society?

In order to improve our quality of life, we need to get an image of society as a whole. Not just the problems, and not just the solution, but both of them together. We need to realize that one person can make a difference. And if just one person can make a difference, imagine what the whole world could do if we worked together. It is about time we come together, overlook our differences, and turn this world around.

Answers To Questions

1. In America, marriages are based on love. In Manus, it is based on finances, and wealth.

2. a)(1 marriage-4 years)- Always be faithful to your wife.

b)(2 marriages-1 yr. & 19 yrs.)- Marry for love.

c)(1 marriage-23 yrs.)- Be able to tell your spouse anything.

d)(1 marriage-23 yrs.)- Never let your wife have the checkbook. LOL.

e)(1 marriage-17 yrs.)- Honesty is the key to a good marriage.

f)(3 marriages-2 yrs.,7 yrs., & 1 yr.)-No comment.

g)(2 marriages-6 yrs. & 16 yrs.)-Always be there for your family.

h)(1 marriage-16 yrs.)- Children are the key to a good marriage.

i)(1 marriage-52 yrs.)- Never go to sleep while you're angry at one another.

j)(1 marriage-52 yrs.)- Always respect your spouse.

3. We need to dematerialize society with out reducing the quality of life.

4. Our local communities goal should be, to not let simple differences come between

people of different classes. We should all just get along.

5. I feel that society overly aware of what causes motherhood problems. We need to simply let our children know that they are loved. We need to stop replacing emotional needs with materialistic wants.

6. We get an equal opportunity to defend ourselves. In other countries, you are punished without a trial. People of a low social status have a chance against the wealthy, due to lawyers.

7. I feel that regulations are better than punitive damages. Everybody makes mistakes. And, it would not only prevent one person from damage, but possibly hundreds.

8. Gray workers are one benefit from baby boomers. Retirees start their own businesses, and hire other retirees. They can offer services to the next baby boom. Finally, they can care for their parents, and elders.

9. The presidents welfare idea would not work, in my opinion. There is to much poverty to eliminate, we have a short budget, and we don't have enough jobs to hire the unemployed.

10. Both Cathy and Lewis are similar in a couple of ways. Neither of them are open on Sundays. Both of them never gave up while achieving their goals, and they both sponsored programs to help children in need.