Self-Reliance and Society

Raplh Waldo Emeron's essay titled "Self-Reliance", talks about how being a non-conformist is the best way to live. He also talks about society and what role self-reliance has in it. Emerson defines society as, "Society is a joint-stock company, in which the members agree for the better securing of his bread to each shareholder, to surrender the liberty and culture of the eater. The virtue in most request is conformity." Clearly Emerson thinks society is totaly against his idea of self reliance because he says people who rely on society fall into conformity. He also thinks when people live and rely on a soceity, their liberty and culture is lost. Emerson thinks a man shouldn't rely on soceity or even be an intrical part in it. In fact, it seems He thinks a man should not define soceity, but live as his own man and make his own decisions.

Quran Burning

Tomorrow there is a possibility that the Quran, the holy book of Islam, will be burned near ground zero. Despite pressure from multiple sources, including the Federal Government, Rev Terry Jones says he will go through with his plan. This just one day after he said he was not going to do the burning. I am all for freedom of speech, but when that speech endangers not only me, but an entire country, a line has to be drawn. He also will endanger our troops in Iraq and Afghanistan. When Al Qadea gets word of this, our already terrible reputation will get even worse. They might even respond, and what they do will be a worse then burning a couple of Bibles or Torahs. If they take action, it will most likely be violent, something like 9/11. 9/11, a day we all remember. I remember I was across the street in my neighbors watching the TV. I was too young to understand the full effect of what was going on, but I knew it was bad. Rev Terry Jones could bring that day upon us once again. He is making America look like the bumbling idiot everyone else seems to think we are. If he goes trough with this, this country might suffer major consequences.

RE: The American Crisis by Thomas Paine

The passage I just read was the American Crisis. It lays out the arguments of Thomas Paine on why America should be fully independent from Britain. One of his arguments is that God himself wouldn't let America lose. "God Almighty will not give up a people to military destruction, or leave them unsupportedly to parish, who have so earnestly and so repeatedly sought to avoid calamities of war, by every decent method which wisdom could invent," (pg. 52 AR). Before the war started, America had done everything to avoid the war. Patrick Henry wrote about how America did everything to please their lords. They petitioned, supplications, and even prayed. But everything was ignored by the British crown. But Paine didn't want a select few to join his argument, he wanted everyone. "I call not upon a few, but upon all: not on this state or that state, but on every state," (pg. 52 AR). It's interesting that Paine thought if everyone didn't join America would not win the war, because he previously stated that God would not let them win. If God truly didn't want, or wouldn't let America lose, then not everyone would need to be behind the idea of independence.