Reflection Paper

For our reflection paper assignment, I am having trouble coming up with a point to argue or question to answer through my own personal experiences. I can think of a lot of points in general that may bother me but not necessarily stories that correspond that I can reflect on. On the other hand I also have a lot of topics and stories that correspond with my ten years of sleep away camp experience, but no specific points or questions that I can think of.

I think I am an expert on my camp. I have been going there every summer since I was seven and have gone through every age group from the youngest to the oldest and on to the staff side of things. I think that I would be able to answer any question about my specific sleep away camp and the general experience of attending camp. I know all the inner working details of how my camp is run and could probably run it myself at this point. My dream job is to run a camp just like the one I grew up at. I believe growing up at this great get-away location has shaped me into the person I am today, and the family I belong to considering we all have had great experiences there.

I have infinite stories about my experiences as a camper and my days as a counselor dealing with my campers. I was also picked to lead one of the two teams during color war, and I won! With all of this experience I must have some point or question to argue but I cannot think of what it is. If any of my readers have questions about my camp experience or camp experiences in general, do not hesitate to ask!

Fallacies

A fallacy is "an argument that involves faulty reasoning," according to The Norton Field Guide to Writing. Obviously this is something one would want to avoid when attempting to argument a specific point. Fallacies decrease the amount of authority you portray to your readers. There are many different types of fallacies, including bandwagon appeals, false analogies, and faulty causality.
An example of a common type of bandwagon appeal, that does not necessarily have success although we have all done it: "Mom and Dad, I need an iPhone because Lauren, Casey, and Jamie all have iPhones."
An example of a slippery slope fallacy would be an argument that tries to say that if children watch too much TV, the future generations will become illiterate.

An example in my research had to do with the article I found that opposed my thesis. The article says Facebook boosts users' self-esteems. They back up this argument by saying Facebook users have the ability to edit and alter any detail on their profiles and by doing this, they can make it look the way they want and that will make them feel good about themselves. The problem with this hasty generalization is that everyone alters their Facebook appearance and then feels good. No matter how much you alter your information, you will still compare yourself to others.

Rick Santorum

This week I looked at Rick Santorum’s presidential candidacy. He is second in the running right now for the Republican candidate to face Obama in the election this fall. He actually graduated from our prestigious Pennsylvania State University and is married with 8 children. He opposes same sex marriage and birth control. He did support tax cuts and was a leading role in the past welfare reform.

In some of the debates and documentaries I looked at I gathered he is a strong believer in sticking to the American Constitution. He mentions how he feels about the current and past leaders of our country and how they do not seem to follow the details in the constitution and freedom that our country has promised to the citizens. Santorum states how he feels it is wrong for our kids to have to pay for social security and that it will run out by the year 2014. Making us pay for our elders’ care and retirement loses its meaning when we know that we will not be reimbursed or supported when it becomes our time to retire.

Rick Santorum says we will lose hope on our country’s goal to “leave this country better than what we found it” when our younger generations with less authority are left without the same care that their money is going towards every day.

Santorum is very proud of his past experiences in government positions and has accomplished a lot in the past few decades. Someone with this much experience is a good candidate and knows how to handle issues we need to deal with. He remarks on how he has beat out multiple democratic candidates for past electoral issues, even when the majority of the voters were democrats and he says this should help when democratic issues need to be dealt with. He is a great candidate, although some of his positions seem controversial.

Foreign Policy and Ron Paul

This week I watched a YouTube video (http://www.youtube.com/user/EndorseLiberty?v=AwbBWEljyYE) that drew out the details behind our foreign policy, foreign aid, and the aspects involved in the September 11^th attack on our country. The video taught me a lot about what really happened and how the fight developed with Iraq. It seems that this information was kept from many American citizens probably in an attempt to keep us from fighting our own country. It’s not to say that this information was a secret, but it certainly was not publicized.

What I learned from this documentary was that Iraq did not attack us for a dumb or non existent reason. Initially, we were allies with Iraq, for they had the second largest oil reserves. We helped Osama and supplied him with information and weapons. Things became difficult when we though Osama was going to invade the largest oil reserve country, Saudi Arabia. We sent protection to be stationed there and Iraq did not approve. They were not okay that Saudi Arabian government was letting America ally and defend against Iraq. They attacked America because we were, in their mind, traitors. We were selfish and should have stayed out.

This problem seems to be a repetitive offense on our part and it leads to blowback. America needs to take events like this into extreme consideration because it led to years of war and expenses. War leads to debt and leaves us in our current trap. If we had avoided upsetting Iraq, we would not be suffering from as much debt. Compared to other countries, our war and foreign expenses are astronomical.

As this video ties to our current situation of the upcoming presidential election and needing a positive change, the video votes for Ron Paul and states he is the only candidate who takes our history into account. Another point the public school system has made clear to me, is that history repeats itself if were not careful. The troops share opinions of their support for Ron Paul and how he shows hope for a safe and successful future. They fight for our country; it’s their job, their lifestyle, and their choice. They chose to be informed, and would only want what’s best for their country, right?

Mitt Romney This Week

According to 2012.presidential-candidates.org, Mitt Romney is the favored Republican candidate. Followed by him is Newt Gingrich with 32.4%, Rick Santorum with 13.5%, and Ron Paul with 7.1%. What do all these statistics mean? Whoever wins the Republican vote within the United States becomes the Republican candidate against Obama in the official 2012 election this fall for the new president.  This past week was the Florida primary. Each state votes for their favored Republican candidate. The primaries started in January with Iowa and continue until June with New Mexico, South Dakota, and Montana.

Why is this election so important? Our country is in need of change. We are currently suffering from a bad economy, immense public debt, and a lack of confidence that we can reconstruct what is causing this crisis. 

Many people in our society seem to think Mitt Romney could be the solution to our problems, but why? He lost his race in 2008 when Barack Obama won the presidency and he has been working on his campaign ever since. Mitt Romney has pledged to make an improvement in the economy by saying, “My number one job will be to see that America is number one in job creation.” Out of all the problems our country is facing, maybe people do not see how this could be his priority nor is it a promise for successful improvement in other areas.

One article states that the reason Mitt did so well in Florida was because of the negative advertisements toward Newt Gingrich. Statistics in the area showed that more negative advertisements recently were directed toward Newt and not nearly as many were directed at Mitt. The article mentions that these tactics are also planned by Obama for his campaign against the winning Republican candidate. mitt also rides on the health care reform he started in Massachusetts called RomneyCare. This seems good but not good enough to cover the whole country. He seems like a good candidate but many people seem to believe he won’t cut it, so who will? We will have to just wait and see. 

Worse Than Not Voting Is An Uneducated Vote

            Never have I ever written a blog. Although this is my first blog entry, I hope that throughout this assignment I learn a lot especially about our government and the upcoming presidential election. No that I, and many of my peers, are now eighteen, we have a wonderful right in our United States of America to vote and share our opinion. From the several history classes I have taken over my public school education, I have learned that taking advantage of this democratic system is a novelty I should not let slip by. In many other countries I would not have the opportunity and it would be a shame to not participate.

            Another wise piece of information I learned from a mediocre history teacher junior year is that the only thing worse than not voting is an uneducated vote. So as part of my new years resolution, I am determined make an educated vote for our next president.

            So how does one go from having no education of our government system and politics to being able to choose a party and vote for a future successful president? I am not sure.  I assume reading the newspaper is a good place to start, maybe. And I can talk to people who think they know what they are talking about. But at some point people’s knowledge turns into opinion. I am not looking to be influenced by other people’s opinion. There are so many helpful factual websites and throughout my blogs this semester I am confident I will develop a more educated opinion all by myself.

            When will I be ready to vote for myself? Hopefully by the fall. Will I want to keep Obama? Who knows. Will someone new be a better choice? Maybe. All I know is at this point I can’t possibly be less educated about our political system and there is only room for improvement.