A Word on High School

According to Jennifer Senior's essay "Why You Truly Never Leave High School" the majority of Americans did not even graduate from high school until relatively recently, specifically the Great Depression.  Although the idea of "everybody" attending high school is relatively recent, I believe that the social dynamics and order developed in high school are not a reflection of an adolescent sub culture, but a result of more primal human nature.

Some would argue that the typical "jocks" or "popular" kids don't necessarily have power later in life.  However, the traits the propel jocks or "populars" up the high school social ladder are the same traits that our society values, such as athletic prowess, good looks or even humor.  Professional athletes, models and even actors and comedians reach super star status based on their athletic abilities, physical appearance or sense of humor.  This is not any different from high school, just on a larger, more societal, scale.  Perhaps high school is a recent development, but the interactions there are evident of larger human nature. Although adult society is clearly different from a high school environment, many of the social interactions and hierarchy found in a high school environment can be seen as a microcosm of the social order of society as a whole.

Ditching Your New Year's Resolution, There's a Day for That!

Celebrating the coming of the New Year is a tradition dating back nearly as long as civilization itself.  The Babylonians celebrated it in March, but the Romans moved it to January, which they named for their two-headed god Janus, who said to be looking backwards to the old year with one head and forward to the new year with the other.

Both the Babylonians and Romans practiced the tradition of adopting New Year's resolutions, however, when the Romans converted to Christianity, they replaced their resolutions with prayers and fasting.  This tradition continued for many years.  Although Puritans practiced prayers and fasting, they also adopted a similar tradition resolution type tradition.  They used the coming of the new year as an opportunity to reflect on the previous year and contemplating the coming year, often setting goals and making moral resolutions.

Today, it seems that New Year's resolutions are meant to be broken.  In fact, January 17th has officially been dubbed Ditch New Year's Resolutions Day.  Whether it be eating healthier, working out more often or just being kinder to others, it seems that nearly all resolutions end up getting "ditched."  With an official day dedicated to abandoning resolutions placed just 17 days after they were supposedly set, it seems that resolutions are meant to be broken.  Perhaps the tendency of people to break resolutions is evidence of humanity's perpetual hopefulness, or maybe it's laziness.

Although a little off topic, I though this was fitting and amusing.

9/11

Even though I was only in first grade on September 11, 2001, I have some vivid memories of changes in security (in airports and other public venues) as well as American culture as a whole.  When I was young, especially in kindergarden and first grade, I traveled quite a bit with my parents on business.  Before 9/11, traveling by plane was significantly less stressful, not to mention time consuming.  Family and friends could walk you to (or meet you at) your gate and arriving at the airport an hour before your flight was fairly reasonable.  I went to Chicago with my mom and grandmother just a few weeks after 9/11 and still remember the stark contrast between the world before and after the terrorist attack.  On my trip after 9/11, security was not only stricter and more time consuming but there was clearly a climate of fear and anxiety that I had not experienced before.  Nevertheless, there was also a climate of greater national pride.  I distinctly remember the cabin bursting into applause when the plane landed safely and routinely.

Even so, reading these essays ("Everything Isn't Racial Profiling," "The FBI Is Reading Over Your Shoulder," and "How the USA Patriot Act Defends Democracy") expanded my view on the pre-9/11 world.  As a very young child, I was quite unaware of issues of national security or international relations.  Until recently, I never thought much about the reality of living in a world where the government can inspect so many of your day to day actions, nor did I really care.  My view was, and to some degree still is, 'sure the FBI can see what I search on the internet, or even listen to my phone calls if they truly believe I'm a threat, if they really care that much about my life, then they're just wasting their own time.'  Nevertheless, reading the essays defending and attacking the USA Patriot Act altered my view a little.  They cast a new light on the erie, slightly Orwellian and 'Big-Broter-esque' power our government possesses.

Interestingly enough, reading "Everything Isn't Racial Profiling" actually convinced me of the preponderance of racial profiling in our security systems, exactly the point the author was trying to argue against.  Although well meaning, to me, the measures seemed excessively discriminatory. I firmly believe that strong national security measures are necessary, however, I think that many of the ways our  government goes about achieving that national security are sometimes ill-conceived and can even be downright discriminatory,