Good and Bad

Do people only change after something bad happens? I don’t think so. Yes, people do often change when something bad happens, but not exclusively. Also people can change for good or for bad. If some thing bad happens, such as a boys father is murdered, he could change for better or worse. He could fall into depression, and get into drugs, or he could become a police officer in an attempt to keep similar situations from happening to others. There is also the possibility of changing when something good happens. People could change for better or worse in this situation as well. For instance, an intelligent young woman gets a full scholarship to a prestigious university. She could use it to the fullest by getting a degree and going out into the world and making something of herself, or she could get involved with the wrong crowd, get into drugs and get busted, and kicked out of school. Both good things and bad things can cause people to change for good or bad. Its up to each person to determine how they will change.

The US Getting Involved

Should the US get involved in other countries’ affairs? This question has been raised many times about various situations. I think that in the case of some of these situations, the US had absolute right to get involved. I say this because some of the time these “other countries’ affairs” had a lot to do with the US. Take WWI for example. The US was trying to stay uninvolved. Then, the British intercept a message from the German Secretary for Foreign Affairs, which was to be relayed to the Mexican Prime Minister, asking him to attack the US if it seemed like they would enter the war. It also promised Mexico the states of Texas, New Mexico and Arizona. This was a threat directed towards the American people themselves, so the US got involved. Then there was WWII. Again the US was trying very hard to stay uninvolved, but then the Japanese attacked Pearl Harbor completely unprovoked, and without warning. Again, “other countries’ affairs” very much had to do with the US, and so the US got involved. I think that in situations such as these, when the affairs of other countries would largely affect the US, that the US has every right to get involved.

Getting Involved

When is it ok to get involved in other peoples business? When I was about eight, I was living in a neighborhood with a house whose owners were rather well known for having the police called on them for things ranging from breaking noise ordinances, to three a.m. drag-racing. One day I was playing in my front yard with my neighbor Tyler, who was just a little older than me. As we were playing we heard yelling, and looked up to see men running from the infamous house. Three of these men jumped into and drove off in a sport car that was pursued by the other four men in a truck. They chased each other around the block twice. Tyler ran into his house and told his dad, Mr. John. As the cars were finishing their third high-speed lap, Mr. John walked into the middle of the road and stopped. The sport car swerved around him and the truck stopped within ten feet of him. One man jumped out of the truck and started trying to explain that the sport car belonged to him and that the three men in it stole it. He was soon silenced by Mr. John, who burned in the reality that they were chasing each other in a residential area with children present. I think that it’s ok to get involved in someone else’s business if it creates danger for you and or those around who aren’t involved. I think people should mind there own business when it involves things that don’t causes danger to people, because people have a right to privacy and to go about things in their own way as long as it isn’t life threatening.

Letters of the Gilded Age

Growth
Industrial
Labor
Delinquent
Emigration
Dishonorable

Assimilation
Greed
Eager