Arab Springs

The Arab Spring has been popping up in many countries in northern Africa and central Asia. But many people have started to question whether or not the revolutions created by the spring are for the better good. There are many positive effects coming from the Arab Springs. But the biggest one is that the citizens of those countries that has gone through or are still going through the revolution get to start over. New governments mean there are new choices to choose from, new leaders who have a different way of looking at situations. With those new leaders comes justice for those who did wrong and laws that only hurt the people are removed. With the older and outdated laws being removed, a better life is possible for everyone. The citizens can now make their own decisions on how they want to live, and they are given their rights back; including the right to freedom. There are many negatives effects as well but it all starts with the person in charge not wanting to give up their power and giving themselves more power until they control everything. After some time the people disagree with the dictator and start protesting, the government fights back and you get violence between the two groups. That Violence leads to deaths and families torn apart, and along with all of that the economy goes bad. Which only causes more trouble for the people who are fighting for freedom. With the economy down, prices go up on everything and people can’t take care of their families with all the money being lost. Now other countries d get involved because they’re being affected as well. Most of them side with the people, the angered government tights it grip on the people with more rules and regulations. That only leads to more fighting, then after the people win and the dictator finally stands down, the people still have to deal with the biggest effect. It will take a really long time for the process of getting the country back into order and where the people want it to be. All in all we’ll have to wait and see what happens. Then and only then can we decide if the revolutions were for the better.

Cutlural Universal

There are seven cultural universals; basic needs, beliefs, family, technology, arts and leisure, government and economy, and communication and education. All of these different things affect many lives; however some of them have more affect than others. I believe the three cultural universals that have affected my life the most is family, beliefs, and government and economy. Family is the most important thing to me, so why won’t it affect the way I live my life. The cultural universal family is all about courtship, marriage, and kin groups like friends or adopted family members. In my opinion family is supposed to help make your life better, but in some places that’s not so true. In the article “Marriage or Else,” by Rod Nordland and Alissa Rubin I learned that in Afghanistan girls have no say in who they are going to be with for the rest of their lives. It’s really their father’s decision, and usually the father gives his daughter away to settle debts or he’ll being feeding one less mouth if he gives her away. Learning about these facts made me feel grateful that I have the power to choose my own husband, and when I do choose him it’ll be for love and not for money. Family can affect who you live your life with but beliefs affect who you are. My beliefs and my opinions are important to my life because they show who I am. The cultural universal beliefs is all about religion, political opinion, funeral rites and how you take care of your body. In my opinion beliefs shape who you are because you are free to choose them. However I learned that that’s not all ways the case in other countries around the world. In the article “The World’s Newest Dictator,” by Patricia Smith I learned that in North Korea there is no freedom of religion like there is here in the US. In North Korea the dictators force the people who live there to worship them like they’re a god, and the citizens have no choice but to do so. Some of them may believe in a different religion but they have to worship in secret. Just thinking about how those people are forced to do something they may not want to do is scary to me. If they are not able to choose their beliefs then they’re just puppets because they have nothing to say about who they are. I thank my lucky stars everyday that I live in a country where I can choose my religion and opinions. So everyday I’m not afraid to tell others my opinions and beliefs, without being rude of course. Beliefs may show who you are but the government and the economy show you how you can live your life within the laws. The government and the economy both affect people lives a lot because of the laws laid down and how those laws affect the health of the country. The cultural universal government and economy are all about the country’s structure, laws, property rights, division of labor and status differentiation. In my opinion the USA’s government has laws in place to not only protect its citizens but also to keep them happy. However after reading many articles I learned yet again that that’s not always the case. Take China’s One-Child Policy, it was made to protect the country from being over populated but now a days it’s just hurting the country. The policy has created a huge hole between how old people are and some people are worried about who’s going to take care of the elderly in the future. It’s also making a lot of citizens angry because they want to have more than one child, but are afraid the government will take it away. I’m glad that every day the USA’s government is here to protect me but that it is also run by the people so that everyone is happy. Now the other four cultural universals affect my life as well but not as much as these three do. There are a lot of things that affect how you live your life, but sometimes you don’t have a choice about what affects it. But to all of you who live in other countries and don’t have the same type of government as I do, just remember that for the most part your life is affect how you want it to be.

I believe

As essential as oxygen is to life, I believe friends are a must in order to live life to the fullest. Without friends life is boring, and if life is boring how is it life? How many nights are you away from your house? What are you doing? Are you at a practice? Or are you at a school activity? That usually happens to me Monday through Thursday nights. But weekends are when I’m hanging out with my friends and there’s nothing the world can throw at me to stop it from happening. Weekends are known as my friend nights, along with other breaks from school or extended weekends. That time belongs to my friends and I to hanging out and having fun. There have been lots of research studies done about the effects of friends. In my opinion it’s kind of obvious what the effects are. People with friends are 100 times more likely to live a happy, healthy life with a husband or wife, children and a good job. In fact one study shows that people who look at friends as a must in life and not as a “don’t really need them” sort of thing live longer lives. Another study shows people without friends usual are more likely to be sick or depressed. Then for some people that depression turns into angry. Which then somehow twists their mind so they become a psychopath, which leads them to go on a killing rampage. At their trial their lawyer says not guilty by reason of insanity and the jury agrees with him. They end up putting them in a mental hospital in one of those special rooms for special people. The room is all white including the floor. They have to wear the straight jacket, so they have to be hand fed for the rest of their life. So people make friends, it saves lives. It doesn’t matter how many friends you have, you just need one to get started. Then that friend will introduce you to their friends and so on and so forth. Every day you have a chance to make friends, but you also have the chance of losing them. Think about how many friends have you lost? How did you lose them? Did they move away or were you the one who moved? Did you transfer to a different school or did they? Where they a friend you made from being part of a team and one year they didn’t play or you didn’t play? Were you friends at work and one of you switched shifts? Did you have a big fight and you never really got over it? Did you forget about them after having a long summer break without seeing them? Or did you simply just grow apart? I just named about twelve ways to lose a friend. I know there’s a really obvious way, but hopefully this hasn’t happen to you; they died……obviously you can’t be dead otherwise you won’t be listening to this speech. Or maybe you are and you just think its fun to listen to high school speeches in your after life or where ever we go after we die. Getting back on topic, there are millions of ways to make or lose a friend. Now a lot of you are probably thinking that I missed one of the newer ways to make a friend. Go online on Facebook or Twitter or some other social network. You can make friends online. How much do they know about you? Yes a few of your friends online may be people you know in real life, but some are people you’ve never met. In other words they could say whatever they want and you wouldn’t be the wiser. So they could say they’re a girl when they are really a guy or that they’re 15 years old when they really 42. I believe sites like Facebook and Twitter were made to keep in touch with old friends who have moved away from you or you moved away from them, or just people you don’t see very often anymore. I believe in a statement I learned when I was really little and still in Girl Scouts, “Make new friends but keep the old; one is silver and the others gold.” I have an Aunt who lives in Thailand, so I am friends with her on Facebook. We keep in touch that way, along with all the other family members that live outside of Wisconsin. Studies have shown that it’s harder to make friends the older you get, so start now. Some of you may be freaking out that you don’t have a lot of friends in high school. Don’t worry about it!!! One friend from high school will stay with you through the rest of your life, so it really doesn’t matter how many you have as long as you’re happy. So practice, be ready and most importantly be friendly. You never know when that special person or friend is going to come along.