Is college worth it ................................................................103
When is the use of military force justified? .........................105
Wonder Woman Critical Review ........................................109
Is Dating a Thing of the Past? .............................................113
American dependence .........................................................127
América es Liberado! ...........................................................131
The written word on friendship ...........................................135
Politics economy and culture of Tokugawas Japan and Ming China ..................................................................137
Cases for monarchy ............................................................. 147
The Class Room ..................................................................153
My views of communism .....................................................157
Business and Politics ............................................................ 161
Bipolar Disorder and Marijuana use in adolescents ............. 173
The red knightw .................................................................. 179
Complete citations ...............................................................183
I
The hIgh lIfe joke
As instructed by person 1, I am supposed to give this writing thing another shot with an extra twist. I have been given the privilege of being an editor of my work this time, in a sense, making a mistake would be hazardous and she will be constantly judging me however much output I make if I do not wow the audience. In hindsight, making everyone who likes to read accept that I care about the stuff I write is honestly quite exhausting.
The exhilarating form of writing comes about as one person puts the mind in a state of free fall and manages to exert a camel of an effort by threading the needle. I am not a great offensive player, but my unusual use of sly banter and shallow witticism has won me favor in court with the most astoundingly handsome ladies whose character is very questionable. I like women like I like my pineapples, sour when you eat them out too much. People say I have a sharp tongue, but they have not seen my teeth.
According to her majesty person 2, if I am to write a book, her name should also be included in it since she must be credited for her astonishing perspective and muse-like mantra. I do believe her royal highness (clever juxtaposition and lack of care here 3
Sam – pats self on back), thinks too much of herself for no apparent reason than she must be respected. The quarrel of the age has been the conflicting opinions of whether respect should be given or earned. I like the idea of formulating opinions on the spot and not making the pool of conformity murky and contaminated, by polluting it with grandeurs of civility and magnanimity. When people conform, they hide in the shadows of deception. There is nothing more beautiful than conformity, yet the soul is constantly assaulted by the radical agenda of the flesh, and by deploying wishing counteractive thoughts against the shadows, one forgets to appreciate conformity’s beauty. In simpler terms, while she is on her high horse demanding or expecting respect, her majesty (nice flippancy here too – second pat) forgets there are litigated terms towards the opinions of the common people that must be held in high regards just like her frivolous wishes of being worshiped for her unrelenting elegance.
My perverted mind always seeks solace in accepting the deep views of myself and my fellow counterparts in the expression of the hate we bear for one other. When I think about it, deep down, we hate each other to the point of wanting to tear each other limb from limb. What people get wrong is not how we manage but how we do not. The second mistake others make is to believe we are wrong. When you think about it, at least we picked a side and bear the cross of hatred than the sweet taste of love much like the teacher from Galilee points out.
4
Samuel Kebede
MajesTy splendor and forMIdable opponenTs As often as I kept saying the sentence to people, it seems my sentence regarding the crown falls on deaf ears so I will write about it instead. The crown is heavy for the one who wears it, yet for the people that see it, it glows and shines with awe and splendor. My mind was pretty much screwed the whole day today with the nagging of duty. I managed to visit a palace that stood for the better part of the century, and it hit spots much like a very formidable masseuse untangling binds in tissue muscles.
To say I was in shock and awe would be an understatement.
Whilst writing this, I have a huge headache from having to correct the political languages of my fellow companions. I had never really been fascinated by ruling until now.
I guess when you mix in sex, boisterous women, and alcohol the result is unrelenting babies that want to screw the whole world blind. I saw nothing I wanted in the people who ruled, who they were, what they achieved, nor what they desired.
I wanted nothing they had regarding the physical property.
The only thing that burned my heart to the core and made me auspiciously jealous, is time. Time is the only factor I do not 5
have that they had plenty of. It seems the day goes by faster and faster and the people I love getting older and older getting close to checking out. The thoughts of losing the ones I love to despair, and unrelenting anguish due to separation, the thoughts that I will not get to spend enough time with them burns me to the core, hotter than Hades.
On another note, the perishing words of enigmatic propaganda, displayed for the world to see, did much to keep me focused on the prize. I am not anti-government; I am anti old people who do not want young people to have fun. To say I am tired of being told what to do by old ass men is an understatement not because I am a prick and lack honor but because they take the precious time I have I could spend with ladies of all color size and age with jugs the size of Manhattan skyscrapers. Men are sturdy and always want jobs done for the advancement of civilization and forget to live much like the critics of the palace that live in it and forget to bask in its glory.
Rigid discipline always creates a strong generation until there are no more battles to fight and glory to earn. Sometimes the bliss of pure majesty lies in boobies, beer, a good garden, and unlimited time. In my conclusion, the is no absolute joy without women not only because they have holes, I can stick my dick into for pleasure but because they screw me over occasional y to teach me, I am not all that.
6
Samuel Kebede
Money, Money, and soMe More Money
Just when I thought my days of debauchery and worshiping the hedonism gods has come to an end, the world spread her legs like an unscrupulous peasant. As is custom by every individual who paid a prostitute for sex, I will take hold of this opportunity. On another slate, I understand my current monetary state is in deficit which brings me to the topic of pleasure once more. Much like a utilitarian, I have been in thoughts of whether this next chapter will bring happiness to most of the people that have to deal with my day-to-day relentlessness. I must admit I can be quite a handful to deal with. My philosophy can sometimes tend to be incongruent with the sedated population. Always in conflict with my possessively passive thoughts, the words that come out can sometimes feel daunting (disheartening). Although I constantly question others› motives for dealing with me, I do believe that is the source of my joy, so I tend not to be inquisitive and not deny people the pleasure of assessing my motives in return.
7
When I was a young lass, I used to be so shal ow and unrelenting.
As the days have gone by it seems I have not gotten any better maybe perhaps even gotten worse than before. Much like the use of my adjectives, I can also be demented. In this side of the eastern world, males are described by feminine terms which can often be a sign of respect. Staying on track with the topic of currency, I do believe respecting myself is a start to earning others hard earn funds. In this line of reasoning, referring to myself as a lad is quite difficult or unhelpful because I function much like a doughnut, soft on the inside but can take a decent pounding.
To my readers, I hope you do not get offended because this lass would rather not be inclined to an opinion that will not push autonomous individuals from making a utilitarian out of me. I have never really wanted to be a father so it comes as no surprise that impregnating the lady will not be in my favor.
Much like George Bush, the best option will be pulling out and keep her wanting more. Much like money, children tend to ruin relationships and put a permanent touch on life that cannot be erased so easily. As their numbers increase so do the decent opinions of mankind towards you. Much like the federalist bank, the procuring of money and infants should be regulated heavily by centralized governments. The world needs many sanctions and proactive embargos. I do not often understand why there is no tax on children much like money. The expensive little people tend to ruin a debaucherous hedonist’s life much like vermin 8
Samuel Kebede
on crops. That is why there are only alcoholic fathers and not alcoholic individuals. A proper term used by an exhausted wife to describe her husband’s situation which in my opinion should be thrown out the window, not the term alcoholic but marriage.
The ConservaTive PrinCe Diary anD LiTeraCy 9
law school and The dreaded golden pass It seems I am in no position to advocate for my love bearing.
I spent the better part of yesterday looking for ways to go to law school without a bachelor’s degree. As a 4th year student, standing in my way seems to be the lack of ability to integrate myself into a stable society structure/model. I have been fighting this concept for so long, yet it seems I cannot even go through the law school doors without accepting it. I cannot imagine the douchebag who invented normal marriage. Person 1 is constantly trying to drill the topic in my mind, and I think she gets scared I do not have any interest in it. Person 2 is worried let alone the husbandry; I will not even know how to be a father. Back when I was a tiny freshman, I saw people getting ready to graduate their final year with boyfriends and proud parents on the other side awaiting/expecting a bright future with grandchildren and stable jobs from their sons and daughters. I saw what I could potentially become if I stayed the course and decided against it.
11
I was happy leaving high school with decent scores to see what the university had in store for me. When I realized it was a marriage, a wife, kids, and a house with a possible dog, safe to say I went the other way. It took 1 week for me to realize I would do everything in my power to not get there. I did not even realize I was far gone until I woke up to the fact that I had to file for bankruptcy to get my transcript. I needed a lawyer, so I decided to become one. Standing where I am, I do not regret the path I took one bit but now that the law school doors are in sight, I would rather get paid the money I would pay another lawyer to do the job I want to be done for myself. My dreams of drinking and fornicating my way to an early grave that I thought was dead seemed to have been resurrected.
As is required of every person to advocate for civility and order, I must do so as well. I will make it clear that I have surrendered to person 1’s plans. The only way to get what I need seems to be through the vagina. On that line, I wil do my duty and screw my way back to the places I need to go. I have never really used the term gold digger before, but my job seems to be one now; to send my dick on an expedition into unconquered caves of all nations.
When all is well and done, they might call me the liberator. My rhetoric is constantly getting polished every day and I will use it to slay the opposition till I sit back on my throne again. May the gods ever so watch my steps as I endeavor down the golden pass.
12
Samuel Kebede
frIends on The oTher sIde
I have not been in contact with my “Irish” family for quite a while. I used to spend so much time contemplating life in Derry with decent characters I had grown accustomed to over the years.
I remember spending long hours researching life in Ireland and the grand catholic life. I was instantly hooked watching Derry girls to the lifestyle of a private school student mostly because the actors in the show are almost exactly my age and I have no friends who want to get turn up on the regular. In addition to my pre quota rebellion, I did the exact opposite of what the character James did at the end of season 2 where he stayed in Derry instead of leaving with his English mother. I suppose I cannot blame them, to be honest for not wanting to “hang out”
with me anymore.
The opposite end of the spectrum falls in the line of my subconscious brain taking it as literal school and realizing school is out for the summer… either way, I have been feeling ostracized lately. Perhaps my role and subatomic relation have been squashed when I decided to screw up my chances in Salisbury, a town built by Irish hands. Christ, I miss the Irish people of the eastern 13
shore. The only way I know I had an awesome time that is because I drank so much, I can barely remember it. Although most of my money went to alcohol, there was the prettiest lady who I used to go see to cut my hair right next to an Irish pub as a freshman. I used to scrape money even though I had none left just to shut up and look at her as she worked on me for what seemed like forever…good. . good… times…Bob Seger would have been proud. The most ironic part is although many women in the dorms and parties probably looked like her, she is the one I remember most because I was sober going to the shop and the memories are still fresh in my mind.
From the very first concert I went to in a sold-out show in silver spring and tasted my first drink at a flogging molly concert, to the chick that used to cut my hair, Irish people made a huge difference and are a big part of my life in the 21st century. The best part is not just the drinking but the chick who also drove my drunk ass back to my hotel one time after what seemed like hours in the pub. I guess this is part of the big side I do not want to be an American. I would rather be Irish. Maybe they do not know I constantly think about them but somewhere in my tiny corrupt heart, I care about them much like I do the bruins. I would get started on my adventures in Massachusetts in Cambridge but that is a story for another time and another place.
14
Samuel Kebede
The seMI-decenT rIch lIfe
I guess you can say I always knew I was rich. I always knew I was a millionaire but not to the extent of it. Through primogeniture, I will not just be rich, I would be rich…like a lot of millions and all the good stuff. Although seamlessly living my life as a peasant so far, you can say I have not learned a lot because I already had the values in place. The concept of arranged marriage has popped up a few times over the past few weeks which made me want to rip my hair from my head and chest. The hardest part of inheriting money is where you do not get to spend it as much as you wish so no one knows you are rich or how rich you are. I guess in this sense I have seen the better part of the world and I am tired of the “grand” show. It is hard to tell someone in the west my life is more like a roman prince than the average day-to-day run-of-the-mill col ege student. I drank a ton with white people, almost smoked peyote with Indians, studied with black people, got high with Latinos, smoked cigars with 15
Asians…I guess no one thought I was rich much like how the devil convinced the world he did not exist, so no one bothers to contact me anymore. Safe to say I have been abandoned by all who knew me in my college and high school years.
A few weeks ago, I was roaming a 20-bedroom house I will likely be living in depending on if I want to or not while also living in a house I would likely inherit. To humble me, the talks of purchasing a vehicle might have come across the lunch table at some point in the past fortnight… if only other rich people knew I would rather slit my wrists than drive a car. I guess that is the beauty of secret societies. .keeping things as they should be. I guess what I am trying to say is when you are 20 shots deep sleeping on your puke, can anyone tell the difference?
I have no mortgage payments, no insurance responsibilities, stellar health…in a sense I did fall into my trap between maids that will not let me do my work to guards that will not let me leave the house by myself. Four to five-month ago I was knee-deep in drugs and alcohol to sedate a small city…now I am burdened with the responsibility to carry and make respected the family name. much like the cards, I have been dealt with in the past, safe to say I am down to play the long strides except the difference between my dices and others is that mine is made of gold. To make the daylight a little brighter for those a little too blind to see, there is the 1%, then there is well…no words need be said.
16
Samuel Kebede
pregnancy and hybrId chIldren
I cannot even begin to explain how much I do not want to be a father, or a dad let alone be an instrument of civility and serve family linages by getting married. At some point, to get what I want, I know duty will give me a call but till then, I intend to contemplate and live life in a different way. Yesterday I was researching DNA coding while reading the origin of species by Darwin. He states that the best chances are procured by the diversity of genetics in a pool of the same species. This little research brought me to look to the east for answers to family matters. I have always been in awe of the kamikaze and the honor they upheld. It takes guts and hunger for glory to do what they did. Japan happens to be the center of the technology world next to Silicon Valley. What most people neglect are the traditional family values they hold and their tight-knit structure which is almost impossible to integrate into. For this reason and the fact that I have lived with white people for so long it feels 17
like marrying a sister or a cousin, the only kids I want are with a Japanese woman who I barely know. I want to impregnate someone from the eastern world, specifically Japan, to have babies with balls the size of the fat man.
To put it in perspective, the Japanese nuclear family is the bomb.
They rock and blow so hard I want my kids to be exactly like them. For the better part of my years, I have led a cowardly life so it is in my best interest to have a wife whose father or mother’s cousin took down a bomber ship with his body so that maybe, perhaps some of that courage will sap in from the other side of the family than mine into the hybrid baby. Speaking of hybrid, it seems to be the latest trend nowadays. Hybrid cars are all over the road so in the best-case scenario I will be held in high regard by my environment for being “selfless”. I am a politician so I will likely spin the engagement in my favor anyways much like Putin’s prized eastern dog or the baby panda the Smithsonian has. Perhaps I could even profit from the hybrid baby by putting it on display and charging people, pay per view. I’ll likely be elected governor and be given a humanitarian award. Christ, I cannot even begin to describe how much I hate children. How do husbands manage their wife’s vagina being out of service for the better part of the production? I would imagine much like a pre-occupied toilet; a brother must find one way or another to dump his load and, in this instance, it is a crisis created by his own doing. What a nightmare the family structure is. Good thing I have no intention of revealing this to my future Japanese wife…unless she reads this of course.
18
Samuel Kebede
The 1 percenT of The 1 percenT
My father worked hard to make himself a rich guy. I went to school and joined secret societies and officially joined the cult. I am starting to understand why people do not like me very much. Most people have bills to pay, girlfriends to marry, children to raise, jobs to work, and many other demands that do not go with my agendas of debauchery and hedonism. I worship fickle gods and they tend to make my life a bit more bearable when my sacrifices are a little bloody. I drink and have fun constantly and my body would likely reflect that. It makes sense the people I used to hang out with do not want to hang out with me. No one wants to puke at 1 pm and pass out of alcohol poisoning by 3 pm anymore, what a nightmare. Ever since the new establishment took office, every agenda has been a terrible show for better lack of terms. Many celebrities promised to leave the country if Grandfather Trump won in 2016. It is almost impossible to trust these jokers because they stayed in the United States, incited rebellions, and committed crimes of treason and sedition to take power back in 2020. Safe to say I left the wife and kids in the burning house and saved my ass in 19
hopes of drinking my gambling money away and drowning in attention from women on the other side of the ocean. The truth of the matter is people are not that special considering there are 10 billion of them on the planet. What loss is it if one loses the wife and kids. . they can easily be replaced in a matter of a month or days. What cannot be replaced are the prime youth years…
the years before 30 years old…. The years before going into the political world that has age restrictions like rollercoasters, strip clubs, and speakeasies.
Fatherhood is one nut in the box away whilst marriages can be arranged and bought like participation spots in Victoria’s Secret fashion show. One of the requirements to run for a senate seat in the United States is being of age. What a dumpster fire it is to be in a perfect position with degrees and experience but not being allowed to join the club because one simply is not old enough.
The only way to cope is to put the years to use. My gods are fickle because my time seems to be running out quickly. What if I have not had sex to my heart’s content? What if I have not tried every ale on the planet? So much to do with so little time. The struggles of others I wish were mine sometimes just so I can feel different. The truth of the matter is I am just like everyone else…
the more I try to change the more I stay the same. The feet I am being denied of achieving however is growing fast without time.
20
Samuel Kebede
The ThIrsT for Money
The past few days my thoughts have been concentrated on money and how I can get it. My mind keeps circling on the subject so much for reasons unknown…perhaps just for the sake of having it. Having money is the core/base running ground of the political party in town, and much like morning erections, I do not know the reason how relative endowment could help now.
My govern ship is unaccepted apparently so it is custom I must abide by the rules and standards set. Money however is the last thing that would facilitate my best interests. Although I know how to earn it, I would be crippled by spending policies. There would be no one to carry my mantle and way of life. My plan would collapse under obligations and redundant motives.
What I have come to realize is I might need an heir. Someone like me who would extend my dominion. My body is constantly in a fearful state of extinction. My will is getting exhausted from overriding the wishes of my body. I wake up daily fighting the obligations of my flesh to keep my bloodline alive. It is hard to stir a body in a constant search for shelter/protection from the plans the mind conceives. The more money I earn, the more 21
money I would have to spend on protection and be giving up the freedom of anonymity. My mind keeps calculating how much tole my way of life is taking on my body, so I must limit pleasure constantly. What I have come to understand is there are limits on pleasure placed by the body itself in which the body would collapse if they will override it.
Much like there are limits placed by the body on pleasure, society also places limits on how much money the average person earns because money changes the system it is found in abundance in. The human synapse can only take in so much dopamine and serotonin to keep itself in equilibrium much like how the environment can take in so much money and positions of power.
Occasional y, the environment will reset itself or col apse because it can’t handle the wealth. The human body is stupid because all it needs and wants is food, shelter, and cloth which convinces me anything beyond that is politics. It has been a long time since I secured these in abundance. My body has sold itself the idea work is unimportant along with procuring money because it feels in a constant state of danger. Why labor when everything my body needs to survive is available at my fingerprints? The conflict within myself is my mind wanting to override survival warnings and find means to please and satisfy itself. From the position I am in, I only need so little of it, but I would not have to freedom to spend it which makes it useless. If I were to go after the freedom of spending it, I would need so much of it I would need plenty of time which would limit please in itself. I would sell my soul to have a copy of myself, like a twin.
22
Samuel Kebede
The good old days
I remember the first day I stepped into St. Francis in Salisbury city. It was a quiet church will little to do with the university I was attending yet I found myself mystified by it and became a frequent visitor. By the time the semester was over, I had converted to Catholicism and was fascinated by the attendees that used to pray there alongside me. I stole beads from there one time because I did not have my own. I will always remember that church as the one where I encountered God. The second time I encountered God would not be until trinity church Boston years later where there was an orthodox service in the downstairs chamber. I met an old man who attended brown university and it was awkward because I had gone to Cambridge to visit Harvard.
I did not have the heart to tell him that, so I kept my mouth shut.
Long before my encounter, I was raised protestant. I went to religious services and did everything necessary to attain salvation from whatever wrong was with me I was told off. Safe to say I was not considered as part of the group, not due to the lack of zeal but being one of the only university students in a bunch of 10,000 members tends to ostracize few individuals. I did try and 23
make other protestant friends in college, but late-night parties, constantly hooking up, and being associated with drugs to sedate cattle does not say I am a purist just like you. Christianity is very interesting because not only is it divided into sects, but it also sings of the history of the world. In all aspects, there is not much with the denominations because the priest and the preacher will likely tell you the same story as the reverend, except they will tel you what they want you to believe from what worked for them in their personal lives.
To be honest, I am not sure I am a Christian anymore. Not because I do not believe in God, or I have lost faith but because I kind of feel left out of the party a bit. The good old times were the struggle days when I could not tell right from wrong and was constantly being subjugated, being shut out, held captive under the mercy of clementine/divine women. If anything, I would say I am more Catholic than anything but would be rejecting the history of my conquest, discovery, and adventure. It is very confusing. In the religious world, I want to be and am a Roman Catholic, a Quaker Protestant, and a Russian Orthodox. These are very sophisticated ways of saying a prince/king. In my life, I have come to realize they are the same thing. There are no other ways to describe the function and the divinity of a Christian other than referring to these. Life has been interesting. The only thing that I will not forget is the times I spent searching for myself.
24
Samuel Kebede
parTy days
The very first university party I attended was a fraternity party in Tampa in 2013. I was admitted as a student there, but my high school counselor told me to take a full scholarship opportunity on the eastern shore. There was a huge kegger in the middle of the house and I was given the benefit of the doubt of being a freshman and was not charged for entry (thank God for my obnoxiously charming, good looks). My shark tooth necklace was my good luck charm and I do believe that was the first time a girl acknowledged my existence. I was hooked instantly.
I tried my best to go against the better judgment of my advisor, but I was completely overshadowed by her. She used all sorts of leverage to put me in my place.
Safe to say I was shipped off the Salisbury the next month with a fat bank account and a possible lawsuit if I did not take the money. The first party I went to in the dirty bury a supposed friend shacked up with a tramp in the woods and got poison ivy rash all over his ass. You would think that would not interest the girl he had a crush on, but she brushed the incident like the flu, and they were in each other’s arms the next week. The 25
best part of freshman year was scouting the frats I had hopes of joining with a 0.6 GPA. I tried hard but safe to say answering initiation questions with honesty got me rejected faster than I could say spring break. For a student with decent grades going into college, it was stupid of me to not realize there is a 2.5
minimum requirement to join fraternities.
Even the sober parties were an adventure, yet nothing short of disastrous. I remember going to a barn with a bunch of sober prods upon invitation from a couple of Christians that lived in the dorm who would not stop judging me for having all the flavors of Samuel Adams in my closet. Chicks are chicks so I went dancing the whole line thing with food and everything after…I stuck out like a sore thumb. I do not know if I miss those days or not because it was simply a different time. The first time I hit a joint was right in the woods across the street. The guy tried to pass me the joint, so I put my lips on his fingers and took a drag. The girl I was with could not stop laughing. She dumped me a week later for being a total nerd. I would love to go back and do it all again, but I am simply too old. At 26 with no ambitions, I might as well go to high school all over again. No, the next part party venture is with middle-class wives and high-class prods who drink wine in glasses and cry watching the notebook. The next party venture is with lawyers whose noses are itching from the line of coke in the bathroom. Duty has cal ed me to the high-class life, and it seems that also starts with a line.
26
Samuel Kebede
ThIng’s Money can’T buy
Today gold is trading way over 57,000 whilst a 3-carat diamond is trading at a little close to 40,000. The reason I mentioned these is that anyone can work as hard as they can and purchase these products however there are certain things money cannot buy. In 2016, I worked to become a person of value to myself and failed because of a lack of leadership. My main interest was skewed because I trusted not in a grand vision or agenda. The most important point I am trying to make here is among all the things money cannot purchase, money cannot buy money.
The second thing money cannot buy is the action of barter. Way before a centralized government was instituted and a currency system was placed/input, people traded products to get what they wanted but the value was difficult to determine. The people who had the information became very wealthy and decided to institute places to educate others with little payment. In the world now many people are very rich who lack knowledge, and many smart people lack wealth. The meeting place for these 2
worlds is the universities. The two worlds are in constant conflict with each other, and a college degree seems to unite these two.
27
Lots of poor people send their kids with lots of knowledge to great schools by money earned with labor through the skin of their teeth while a lot of rich people try to pass their wealth to their children with very little knowledge. There are no middle grounds to start on because college degrees are bastardizations of the world. I can give you a million dollars and you would not be able to bring me a college degree right away without the time and even if you could, you would need to work and earn it or you would lack the ability and knowledge to use them in the long run. I joined the republican party under the leadership of Donald John Trump in January of 2016 and col ected col ege degrees like KitKat. Under his leadership, I saw the world as I had never seen it before, and I had more fun than I could imagine.
I learned it is hard to earn money, but it is easy to gain knowledge.
The most impossible thing however is to follow. There are lots of leaders in the world and everyone not only wants to become one but knows they have the innate ability to lead as well. The hardest thing to do in this world is to follow because it requires humility and denial of self. In January of 2016, I was standing by the gates of Harvard on a cold winter night at Cambridge when I was thought this lesson and I will never forget it, and this speaks volumes to how great of a man I am and my ability. I am not ashamed to point it out. The challenge here is to be humble and point out how humble he was to offer me lessons I would never forget. To say the man is great would be an understatement because he knows that value does not lie in money or information, it does in human beings.
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Samuel Kebede
The Terror of debauchery
I have had quite a lot of times where I ran around all over the place seeking pleasure and spending wild money very wisely.
There are however a few nights that terrifies me, the very few wild nights where I lost things and had to retrace my steps back because of the occasion. Out of the handful of times, I lost inhibition/control, there are 3 that stand out. The first is my night in a Cambridge bar in Boston where I almost slept with a guy after a wild drinking night where he took me to another hotel.
I do not drink usually above my limit and that night specifically I had no plans to go all out especially since I had room service back at the hotel ready with a bottle of wine for my dinner but the guys, I met at the college convinced me I might as well have a night to remember while at Harvard. God knows how I ended back at my hotel that night, but I had lost my debit card, which was in my pocket all along, so I wasted hours running around all over the place including a police station to pick up my second phone which happens to have been lost. I never really looked at Harvard and Boston college the same way again because to say that state is liberal as hell is an understatement.
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The second time is when I spent a wild night drinking at Catholic University after a friend of mine passed away. I was at the bar killing everyone’s mood until I decided to drag my drunk ass all over the place and explore the school where I ended up in a library. I checked in my bag full of liquor and cash at the front desk and followed a sexy minx to the book halls where I read all sorts of books till my heart’s content, but lost track of my bag so went home only to have to come back the morning after to find my bag turned into security with my alcohol confiscated.
The third was in Salisbury. I wanted to tell the friends I had before I will be getting accepted as a full-time student again to start school with them very soon in the coming year, so I prepped for an all-out time with tons of drinks, but they had no interest in the things I wanted to say. I was in talks with the advisor who told me if I got decent grades at the college, I was at, I would be back at Salisbury in no time. I was doing well in school so I could not hold in the excitement to tell them, yet no one listened or was interested in talks of moving in together because they were too interested in a Clinton and Sanders debate. I ended up back at the hotel with my phone lost and no way of accessing my bank account or ability to call my usual drivers who would have charged me a whole lot less. I have never real y embarrassed myself more than I did on these occasions. Looking back, they terrify me. I wake up at night sometimes and spend several moments collecting myself before going back to sleep because of remembering these times.
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Samuel Kebede
The ThrIll of The kIll
I do not know if most people notice this but right before pulling the trigger or finishing the job, there is a moment of pleasure that cannot be felt any other way. The feeling is better than any drug.
There is an overwhelming feeling of power that all hunters keep chasing and it has been that way since mankind were gatherers and hunters. There is something manly about hoisting a huge game and taking it back home to the wife or person of interest to clean and cook. Now that sensation has been overshadowed by jobs that require hours of service to even get the fatty cash prize.
I have a huge fever for humongous games. There is nothing more exhilarating than prey that can think for itself, so I do believe it is a crime to even mention killing people so ill jump of that train and focus on animals that we eat for food.
There is a rush of overwhelming dopamine that gets the person high which makes me believe that that is the real reason humans are created to do. There is nothing more thrilling than conquest and the ability to take down sophisticated opponents. When I was in high school it was hooking up with the prettiest chick in town. When I was in col ege, it was scholarships and assignments.
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Now that I am in the real world, I am constantly seeking the thrill of hunting big game for food. Something about wielding large weapons, taking down meat and, bringing it back home after killing it kind of gets me heated.
I have never really killed anyone before, but I doubt there is any pleasure in murder. I have yet to meet anyone I want to snuff because I am not an envious person. I do not want the things that people have and the whole point of killing is to destroy and take.
Man is capable of reasoning so after really defeating someone else in any form of combat, there is no pleasure in going all the way. Animals are different because you get to eat them, and they become a part of your flesh. Through all the sophistication, the real thrill is the hunt but not one capable of forming thought processes. I love meat so much but now that I have a little bit more time than I did before, I kind of want to go hunt, kill it and bring it back home instead of purchasing pre-cooked meals at the local mart. The capitalist system is partly to blame because it has made everything so predicated on an organized structure.
I do not understand most of the time why scientists classify animals and plants into kingdoms but fail to submit to monarchs and kingdoms while understanding the whole process more than anyone. I guess it is because e of their socialist agendas. They go into their labs and schools to study classification while teaching it also but go out into the human world and vote to take down or put up officials who would put more currency in their pockets.
They kill the thrill when it should be a thrill to kill.
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The ThIng ThaT Makes Me happy The MosT
As of a month ago, I have learned that I have traveled over 200,000miles in my lifetime all over the world. I have experienced a lot of things and have quite a history of flaunting wealth here and there. I know there are a lot of things I have yet to accomplish but when I look back and think, the thing that makes me happy the most in winter. I have never been happier than when the weather is frigid as hell. All the happiest memories I have are during the coldest month of the year. The best travels and places I have ever experienced are during cold times when rain, ice, and snow disturbed the tranquility of the environment. Not a lot of people recognize this, but everyone forgets about race during winter for some reason. The apartment my family used to live in was full of different races individuals with different properties. Everyone used to forget they spoke different languages when they helped each other defrost their cars or went sledding on the mountains with their kids. Political correctness usually goes out the window when your tongue is stuck on the roof of your mouth.
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The romanticism of the light reflecting on the white ground is sex. There is nothing more satisfying than listening to the hal ow wind while frost and icicle rain drifts in the wind with foams of soft cushioned snow wraps your body tighter than a high-class call girl does money when you fall to the ground. I remember having to drop what I was doing just to surrender to the beauty of winter which feels like eons ago. Beer just tastes better when the can is frozen to your fingers because you forgot to keep drinking while your mind is wallowing with thoughts of sweet, sweet bitter freezing temperatures. The light of the cigars I used to smoke used to go out for minutes at a time because I used to forget the purpose of why I went outside in the first place.
Winter has a way of making everything feel like the first time.
The first date I went on with a blonde girl whose name I forgot was in wintertime and although my knee was busted, she made me chase her in the snow for some reason and I fell. I remember just sinking there and how much it felt so amazing to be held so tightly from all directions. There is nothing that pleases me more than watching it rain in the winter while the ground is stil fresh and soppy from the glittering snow because deep in your heart you know there is no one walking the streets for miles at a time. When you look outside your window in the winter you can surrender to the experience of a true republic no matter however short the experience is because, in a world where monarchic governments are constantly being forgotten, no one in their minds will wake up to the fact that they are being conquered with the spirit of winter. Much like monarchs, winter does not 34
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discriminate or ask for permission, it dominates and expands dominion wherever it pleases and all we can do is take it all in and be mesmerized by its elegance for until we do, we would have never known if we should have.
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I would be lying if I said I do not remember the barking dog bar in Bethesda and my high school years spent wal owing in my own shadow because my first kiss took place at a party there. My first kiss also happens to be my second kiss because right after I made out with a girl at the party upstairs, I also made out with another girl on the same night. I thought myself a legend for several days after that. I tend to be honest to myself when I approach matters of love, but that night was a complete fluke because to say I was sober as hell was an understatement. I was barely even 18 and I left the bar feeling like a champion. Sometimes would pass by before I turn into a different person and the same girl who I hooked with that night ended up making out with my little brother at another nighttime event I went to, so I walked up to her and asked her if she was down to go all the way. Disgusted by my frank request, she belittled my blind efforts of self-sought hedonist value and cut me loose from her life. It would be a lie to say that I was as excellent. My lips probably tasted like wild 37
coconut and vanilla protein shake because I was getting a nice pump at the gym before I left to party my night away. I guess from that point on I had to implement strategies to hook up and get numbers.
What I remember most about that night is the fact that it was effortless. I did not have to strive or even look for someone to kiss me because I did not even know that was what I was looking for. I did not even know what kissing was like or felt like. It was an event that just happened out of nowhere and I remember it being very dramatic because in my head I was thinking “oh my god I can’t believe this is happening, a girl has her lips all over mine while her tongue is in my mouth, and I like it a whole lot. I wish it would never stop”. I doubt a lot of time had passed when I felt thirst, so I went downstairs completely baffled by what happened to grab a drink.
When I went back upstairs whilst thanking the gods for my success, the same thing happened again except with a different girl. Her lips tasted like grapes, her hair was pink, and she smelled like a flamingo. I was mesmerized by her…if only I had known she would be sucking my brother’s face a month or two later. I don’t know if kissing is an activity, you get better at the more you do it but I surely know one thing, different people have different ways of expressing themselves in your mouth or on it. Some lips taste like garlic bread, while other lips taste like 38
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strawberry cigars. I would say I am proud of my exploration, yet my mind keeps going back to that night where I knew nothing of strategies or the right moments. The greatest thing about the first kiss is the lack of anticipation…at least for me.
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The anTI-chrIsT, saTan, and The devIl The devil has been used to represent all things evil and the stuff people despise for centuries and millennials. I have three of those devils that I despise more than anything in my life that seem to constantly stand in my way. My devils are cotton candy, strawberry jam, and zucchini. When I was a boy, I grew up left-handed, so my mother used to hit me when I wrote with my left hand instead of my right since it was not the proper way to do things. What I remember most about those times is it always followed strawberry jam. I guess my mind seems to put these two things together so every time I see strawberry jam all I think about is the top of my left hand being spanked for not using my right. I cannot begin to describe how much I despise the taste of strawberry jam. Much like my hate for it, the same thing applies when I think of the dreaded penis-shaped fruit that smells and tastes like goblin vagina. I would rather jump in a pool of acid than have zucchini in my mouth. There is nothing that says I am from the upper socialite class than a father putting zucchini on the table for his family members and the mother force-feeding her children Satan’s nugget for lunch. What I hate 41
most is how shrewd she had to be to deceive us into putting that hell plant in our mouth. I cannot blame her for the hate that I was impregnated with mostly because I did not keep eating it when I grew up. Much like strawberry jam, there are moments that light up in my mind like the first time I stepped on a slug and how squishy it was under my feet, and when I think of the texture of zucchini that is what comes to mind.
Cotton candy is different because I did like it at first. I liked it so much I kept eating it to the point I woke up the next morning and felt like hell. Much like Lucifer, cotton candy is pretty and appealing. For a child who had never tasted something so sweet, it was the prettiest melody that could ever be heard, the thrill of drinking at a bar all night and believing driving home is completely safe. I knew my parents felt I was happy whilst eating it and it made them happy that I was happy, so they kept buying more at my sudden request.
I do not despise a lot of things but when it comes to these three, certain spots rapidly fire in my brain that compels me to accept that certain items are not good for the human body much like the devil. Athletes treat their bodies like temples and constantly have the urge to stay away from substances that reduce performance like trans-fat diets that slow down metabolism. As a person interested in pursuing a job in government, I plan to keep my body from substances that trigger wild memories of hate. cotton candy, zucchini, and strawberry jam are normal 42
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foods when you look at their chemical compositions. It is the taste that triggers memories and takes me back to places I never want to return to again. They represent moments of hell I wish to never experience.
The ConservaTive PrinCe Diary anD LiTeraCy 43
cocaIne, draMa, or The gIrl When I was a stupid freshman in col ege, I came upon crossroads that made me realize I was truly human after all. I went to a party where much like the past few months, there were going to be choices to be made. I was offered a driving position while drunk that night which I politely turned down. I doubt there was a way of saying yes without a license. I did choose the girl in the end, but I will let you know how I came down to make the choice. I have never done cocaine but if I had the chance, that was it. I had also never had a girl come on to me as well.
That night I had a choice of saying yes to a girl who wanted to jump and eat my face or turn her down and snort white sugar down my nose just to go back downstairs and practically do the same thing I would have down, drink and try to hook up with a chick. In high school, I learned men had to always make the first move in the dance of love, but I found my world completely flipped that night.
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I had a choice to make between having to sit down and one day and tell the story about how I shoved a mountain of drugs up my nose or how a girl grabbed me by the throat and made me her toy for the night. Up to that point, I used to wake up in the morning and brag about my nightly adventures. I saw an opportunity to flip the script and all I had to do was submit to a pretty little thing wrapping her twisted fingers all around me and doing whatever she wanted. My mind was liberated that night because I realized I never have to show off to anyone again. I was free of having to ever tell stories because I got the satisfaction I wanted so badly. The best part about the past is sometimes it tells its own stories. The man who completed the 4-minute mile never has to tell himself he can do it again because he knows he had already…all he must do is look back and reflect.
There are moments we prepare for that must not be missed that shoot like stars in a brittle night that change the course of our lives. A president’s moment comes before being sworn into office.
Some conversations take place in the mind of the individual that will never happen again. Before any state sport competition finals, there are encouraging family or friend voices that will never facilitate again because once the event happens, they become unnecessary. The potential to become the bait was offered to me on a silver plate that night and I could not be happier to be the one to be chased instead of the other way around. I guess you can say I know how chicks feel now constantly. There are constant adrenaline rushes in being the one chased after, and it comes at 46
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no cost. I do not have to lose my health, money, or my reputation because there is no such thing as men adulterers. There are only women adulteresses in society and sick drug addict men. Thank God for the American capitalism system.
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how I haTe beIng respecTed and IT
alMosT pracTIcally ruIned My lIfe
I grew up rich so there are only so many opportunities to experience poverty other than college. The people who almost ruined my life did it out of respect thinking that it would be good for me. The only time I got kicked out of school for whatever reason, the cops and the office of student affairs did it thinking they are doing it for the sake of the common good as well as my thinking it would discipline me, to put me in my place and make a grown person out of me. Out of respect for me and my future, my mother had my mental health tested at hospitals thinking she was doing society and me a future. People want to put me or sell me a position I practically grew up in because most do not have the understanding of the ability to rationalize that when I put myself in certain spots of loss, it is because of my devious nature. Some women refused to be with me in Boston thinking I was a charity case at Harvard under government scholarship so I thought when I returned to Maryland, the opposite would happen if I purchased Harvard cloth and advertise myself in a different light, but the complete opposite happened.
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People were respecting my overachieving ambitious desire with the knowledge that I would potentially never go to Harvard.
I once went back to this pretty girl’s house I went on a date with the night before to explain to her parents that the reason the night went too far was that we lost track of time along with drinking way too much. The father went on to tell me how much better I was than her current boyfriend who was upstairs waiting for her to be back in his arms because considering what she was doing to me and I was letting her do, he should have beat us both to death instead we were forbidden from ever seeing each other again. He ruined my relationship with her because he respected me enough. I went there to take it like a champ but ended a chump. I have not seen that girl since much like the dudes that jumped me outside a majority-black club once because the friend, I went with took his time explaining who we are after insulting them. He respected me so apparently, he had to defend me but not my physical body which had to throw hands for itself.
During my junior year of college, I struggled financially more than I could have any other time in my entire life. Whenever I asked anyone to help me earn money, they gave me a cold shoulder because they respected me enough to tell me what I need is a job to not struggle while I was carrying a full credit course load, working in student government, and working for the school paper at the same time. Some who gave me money practically asked me to pull teeth and put up the request because 50
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“I will be graduating for the third year in a row, please give me money” was not a solid argument. I hate being respected because it doesn’t sit well with me, and people keep thinking they are doing it for me and the common good.
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The aMerIcan and The eThIopIan When I look and think back on my life, it can be likened to that of a monarch. I am not exaggerating when I point out I have massive demands and shoes to fill so I will try to expand and explain as much as I can. In reflecting upon the man that constantly inspires me, you would be in awe of how much we are not alike. Francis Scott Fitzgerald was not a great man, but he was a great writer. I am not a fan of his writing at all, but I am a huge admirer of the way he lived his life. He lived a life everyone will remember and died so young you would think it was a curse. His grave inspires me to live life to the fullest but not to work. When you read the Princeton writer’s work, he shows you visions of a life he thinks cannot be sustained without the love of a woman, yet he was in constant lack of it. The real woman he fell in love with was the version of himself in college which explains why he frequently visited yale and had more friends there than he did anywhere else. He always loved to look at himself from the outside not because he disliked it, but he was in search of a woman like a daisy, floozy and able to handle his life in the low and high.
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When I travel outside the United States and live life in eastern Africa, I cannot help but try to find a version of myself here that I see from the outside. I am in constant search for myself which I cannot see or find in the mirror. I was born in the 1 percent yet when I travel overseas the whole script flips over and I end up in the bottom. The best part I keep realizing is I never change.
What changes is the demands of my application in society so whenever I act, the lack of security in the western world pushes me to constantly work hard while the lack of freedom in the eastern world makes me appreciate the version of myself in the west.
To be frank, I would have sex with myself if I found myself that I thought was myself that looked like whether he was he or she because I have not changed. What keeps changing is what I do to meet the demands of society that require my input. Fitzgerald could only put a daisy in the Great Gatsby because she does not exist anywhere else in his life other than on the inside. She was a character caught up in the demands of the social struggle between the person she wants to be and is. I understand this because as a person who has been writing for years and has lived where he has, I see why he would want to find a reflection of himself. I hate to say this but there is no such thing as alcoholic writers, there are only people who love adventure and are denied that reality in their society, so they paint it with words instead.
There are no depressed writer wives. There are only wives who cannot find their husbands in their literature because they lack the desire to pursue the person they love to the fullest.
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The greco-roMan advenTures When I was in high school, I had the great pleasure of joining the wrestling team. Wrestling thought me a lot of things among them the life of Romans. As an elite fighting force, the Romans used to travel for days to fight their opponents in fields. Their training consisted of large chunks of their life devoted to constant conflict so when they died in battle, they would be remembered for the lives they lived as warriors. Most of my time training to become a varsity wrestler was devoted to increasing my capacity to breathe during high-stress moments. What sucks the most about preparing for the mat is the rookie mistakes I used to make. I trained constantly with weights in a local gym I lived a couple of blocks away from. Before I started training with weights, I used to drink a lot of calories – high caffeine pre-workout substances to prep my body and get me heated because the 2 minutes rest periods during lifting heavy weights bring the heart rate of an athlete down quickly so it was important to stay warm from the inside.
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The mistake was believing weightlifting and wrestling are the same things because during high-intensity movements on the mat what I needed most was for my heart rate to go down, but I was so used to the uppity feeling of pre-workouts I kept forgetting to regulate my heart rate. Looking back now, it was a huge mistake to not know the extent to not push my body because I only saw a vision of myself as a roman during those years. The only times we were able to wrestle in Greco-Roman form was during practice but there is something about freestyle wrestling that pushes you towards understanding yourself from the inside. During freestyle, I used to want to go back to Greco-Roman, and during Greco-Roman, I wanted to get back to freestyle. Between having to spit in cups to maintain constant weights or running in full gear warm cloth, the taste for food disappears and what peaks through are the desires to please through radical movements and passionate actions. I used to get jealous of the top-tier athletes and the foods their mom and pops used to pack for them during long tournaments but after a certain amount of time and hellish weekend training, even that goes out the window.
What I remember most is not the pain of training or the good feelings of winning matches but the mistakes I used to make.
There were times I had to borrow wrestling shoes because I could not bear to ask my mother for money so I could go to the mat and practically fight people in her eyes. I should have explained it to her more so then perhaps she also could have taken an interest in my venture towards physical sports. I should have cut back on training with weights much more so I could have focused much 56
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more on technique training. I should have focused on the love of the sport than friendships that came out of it because the sport is still around yet the friend I had then are gone. Much like the Greeks and their knowledge, I did not hold on to wrestling tight and focus on implementing. The biggest mistake I believe I made however was focusing on the sport itself rather than the women that came with it. I was a very decent wrestler, but I still can’t believe I did not have a single girlfriend while the whole thing was going on. I was a decent varsity wrestler with no pretty thing wrapped around my neck and it kind of grinds my gears I never took advantage of that.
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how I Managed To sTarT My sororITy
and fraTernITy In coMMunITy college
“It is so simple anyone can do it” were my exact words to people who lined up to sign up at event day to what seemed like a very discrete club, but I practical y laid down all that was expected on a simple little paper for everyone who wants to join. There were very few who did not like the idea, but the very unpleasant part was having to lower the standard of the club to make it appealing to the general faculty. The hardest part was having to haze individuals publicly because the coronavirus was rapidly taking over the whole school and many of the cities all around the state were starting to close. I had to do most of the acceptance and challenges online which was a lot of work, but the results were very nice. I had fun teaching freshmen and sophomores in community colleges what life was like in universities especially going Greek. I had a lot of adjustments to make and lay down ground rules on how to function as a unit were important initially. I was limited in my instructions specifically on how to party and how to make friends. What broke down barriers 59
was the ability of my work to communicate the clear division of church and state within the organization they were going to partake in. Although I will not get into the intricate design of the hierarchy, I can paint a clear picture of my general audience.
They were students who were not happy with constant work that amounted to little profit. They were students who wanted to see a bigger picture than the ground they were standing on. The last thing that was on their mind was getting involved because they wanted to taste basis from different clubs until they found the right one so my job was easy in that regard because all I had to do was pit them against each other to see if they could eliminate one another and decrease the desire to pursue a fraternal agenda.
Painting the picture, they would be too old by the time they got into universities, and they would miss the whole thing helped a lot. I exposed them to different religious ideologies as well as philosophies of leadership and pushed radical agendas of animosity. I gave stringent power to some and took a lot from others. I showed them how they had no hope of individual Greek success unless they work cohesively so they started dropping out until a very tight-knit group was left. My final strategy was to instill desires of leadership by favoring individuals over others.
My plan was a complete success because it was no more necessary for them to do the things I would normal y do. I showed them to compete for blueprint and got myself out of the way very quickly after splitting them into girls and boys. I’m sure one day I will likely pay a whole lot for the initial hazing, but it was a wonderful semester filled with wonder and fun.
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how I caMpaIgned and was elecTed To The sTudenT councIl
Point 1. I had never been in a position of power to rule up to that point. When I first was getting signatures from the student body, the promises I made were not predicated upon the interest of the school or the students but my own. I had no intentions of benefiting the general population whatsoever because all I cared for was for myself and my wellbeing. Politics is a very depressing world and the ones who survive must look out best for their interests. I made it plain and simple and showed people will function like corrupt politicians in a jokey way, so they bought it. I was telling the truth of course but when you tell students the truth the way they do not expect it they believe you will do the opposite. You could say I was praying on the minds of the innocent sheep in a way that made my boisterous political career much predatory.
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Point 2. In the second round of elections, I only won by one vote, my own. The best thing to realize sometimes is your vote counts.
Most people that ran for the position did not even realize they could vote for themselves and so they missed the opportunity to put themselves up in the hunting runner class who want the prey/position so bad they would do any indecent action to win favor. I degraded myself into the ultimate self-sacrifice of helping other students’ study for a little price, yet it was safe to say the idea was worth less than the flyers it was printed on.
Point 3. I played the antagonist the entire time. I was not in it to help people. I was in it to win the position so I could write it down on a resume. I cared so much about my reputation in how the faculty saw me in classes or outside classes, but I did not give a rat’s ass about how the student body thought my actions would affect the school. If I was elected, I was willing to say and do anything to get to where I wanted. I was the teacher’s pet in class. I was the kid who always had the right answers ready to get attention from the high achieving students and I made speeches that appealed to both sides of the political spectrum so unless they cared, no one dared to ask me what my position was of my running topics. I made it difficult to see past my façade which helped put me in a perfect position to win it all. Explaining to the student body I was a full-time student on the school paper, with a fraternity leadership position was easy. Convincing the crowd, I would barely have enough time to do the job I would be elected to do was hard so I sidestepped the issue, and none even 62
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remembered to ask me about time management. Being the bad guy is fun because all you have to do is sell people on a dream even you do not believe and get what you want and proceed to destroy everything. I love being an antagonist.
The ConservaTive PrinCe Diary anD LiTeraCy 63
whaT do I wanT?
I have lived on this planet for well over 26 years now, but I have not struggled to go after what I want like I have this year.
There were a lot of things I desired in the past such as a good school, a great community, and a stellar physique. Nowadays, I simply do not know what I want. I sit for days at a time trying to come up with ways to occupy my mind. I walk in circles trying to contemplate the secrets of the universe to find something I missed or a fact I overlooked. Sitting now writing this, my life is filled to the brim with everything I could need. I do not lack any factors that could facilitate life. I am a person who goes after the things that I want but lately, those wants have practically become moot. I look around wanting to party and realize I have done that already. I look around wanting to travel then my mind cuts me at the knees because there would be no purpose in going anywhere.
Although my life is very rich, my wants are in poverty. I am like a battleship anchored but there are no wars, so no one wants to spend money on gas or direct the ship by taking control of the helm. The last cause I believed in and wanted to support was 65
the “keep America great” motto yet that ship sailed when the democratic factions overrode the system in thirst for power. To paint that picture as a coup would be an understatement but the person who wanted to study international relations and go to law school also no longer exists. I am the leaf tossed here and fro by the wind now. I simply do not know what I want or how to discover it. From where I see it, I can be likened to a train on a course that was derailed by bandits who were seeking gold but found none so they left it abandoned. I spend my time contemplating life and the plethora of metaphors available at my disposal to describe myself and the state I am in.
At some point I know I would have to get married but I doubt I would ever do it for love. I do not want to marry the person I love. Love is an instrument for fun and games. Love is a pistol out of an arsenal that you could pick to make a marriage work. I do not understand why the cannons and sabers are left out along with the spears and mortars. Why don’t people marry for the sake of care? Why don’t people marry for the sake of faith? Faith and care could substitute the place of love just as easily. I have no clue why people would ever marry the person they fall in love with to save my life. Marriage to me is a business contract that people get in an agreement with to procure infants and integrate into society.
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There are a few times in my life I have given into despair. I doubt I will ever have time to get to all of them so I will start with the one fresh on my mind. I took a photograph with my mother in the largest and most expensive hotel in the country when I was 9 years old. Figuring out and making sense of the events that were unraveling before my eyes were quite easy because I knew my life would be different from that point on. Sometimes words do not need to be spoken because the environment will reveal the secret man does not want to utter.
Life was normal and we did well in life compared to the average person, but I did not hear it from my mum and dad. I understood that people were living on the streets who were poor and there was my family who could afford to stand with top-tier individuals regarding social status. For a few moments that night, I did give into despair because I realized in my lifetime the highest, I could ever manage was the spot I was standing on. I understood that no matter how hard I worked or the money I earned, I would inevitably return to that spot, and it would still be the same level of height I reached when I was a wain. My job from that point on 67
was to maintain the social status that was achieved because there would be no other peak. The Obama children could never hope to achieve anything higher than the white house and their father has already achieved that. They could only hope to maintain and remain on the top.
The person who climbed the top of Everest can never hope to go up any other altitude unless he goes to space in an aircraft since there is no higher point on the planet. The best he could do is remain at the top. I gave into despair that night because it was hard to accept that fate. I had to abandon hope from a young age, the moment I knew what hope was because I realized I had no use for it. I like George Carlin’s dark humor because I resonate with his words. He speaks to the enlightened and the disheartened both. I sit on my ass for hours sometimes and think how different life would be if we did not know the things we knew or for the simple sake of discovering a side of ourselves that was ignorant to the status quo. The reason I could never be a democrat is that I do not like change. I hate it when things are in constant flux because stability is secure and liberating. If doubt is a wolf, then despair would be its cousin because if you do not doubt you can never understand despair. It just happens to be a different color than its family member.
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why I sTarTed lIfTIng weIghTs
When I think of the best years of my life, I cannot imagine them any other times than I spent in the library. When I think of the worst times I spent, they must be at the gym. I despise the disciple it takes to shape a physique along with the amount of money it requires to chisel the muscles hours at a time for months and years. There is no simple answer to why I started lifting. I guess initially I want to look like Johnny Bravo. I am a huge fan of the blonde menace. I used to watch a lot of cartoon networks when I was a wain. The chicks that Johnny would go after were top notch and nothing is more exhilarating than when he gets rejected constantly by the fine honey. The top build along with the tiny legs was something to marvel at for a kid who could not tell his left hand from his right. I spent somewhere close to 10 years working at the body I wanted then it started getting boring. When it comes to bodybuilding and body crafting, there is a certain level you reach when the opposite sex starts to notice how great you look. Once you start swimming in the deep end, it will be the guys who start miring your sexy physique. One
“damn bro, you look great” and I was done for.
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All the pent-up frustration from the lack of attention went crashing down like Hindenburg. To say I could care less about lifting weights anymore would be an understatement. It has nothing to do with the sexual appeal. It is all about the money.
I am not going to be spending any more money on myself to get a “you’re fine as hell” from a dude. After a certain level of build, no woman wants a 400lb mongoloid subjecting her body to physical labor. Whenever I picture myself as a chick who wants to get nailed from sunup to sundown, I do not imagine having a mountain climbing on top and crushing my brachial capacity.
I have reached a point where I would have sex myself if I saw myself. My experience has not been contaminated with vile urgency to copulate with every person yet due to my success in building a body I like. I think all shapes and sizes fit the mold if they get done whatever job the person wants to be accomplished.
The only people I judge are the ones who are incapable of doing what they want because they are handicapped by their own hands…and mouth.
The real accomplishment in the gym is reaching the point where you constantly get cat-called by the opposite sex and wake up to the fact that any more than that is social and economic suicide.
Thanks, bob but I would rather have my ass admired by the 120lb blonde who wants to do sadistic things to me than have you tell me how much potential I have for growth.
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The reason I haTe suMMer I cannot begin to explain how much I despise summer and all that comes with it. For starters, the temperatures soar to unbelievable numbers and the term “summer bod” is thrown around like a pigskin in the fall. I hate the beaches more than anything because they are occupied from sunup to sundown by people who cannot distinguish the color burgundy from crimson.
If someone leaves the house and returns to get something back, they instantly smell like dog poop because the boiling sun will have done its job well in a nick of time you would think it’s clutch. Stupid kids are running around all over the place and the days seem to be longer for some reason even without the help of daylight savings. I sometimes wish I could go far far away just to avoid the blazing heat. The only option is to stay inside but the parents or roommates would complain about bills and the number not to mention the air conditioner does not hit the spot just right. When the house gets cold, it is easy to put some cloth on to get warm because layers get the job done. When hell is rampant outside regulating the weather is almost impossible to make it feel right.
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I cannot understand for the life of me why anyone would ever want to go outside the house in the summer let alone the comfort of their room. Even drinking alcohol is a disaster in the sun. I once went to clearwater beach to live it up and almost died of dehydration because I was inspired by Lil Johns’s “shots” song.
There are only so many shots you can take in the summer while the sunshine is bright enough to blind lucifer. I passed out for a quick minute in MacDonald’s my face down on the table and did not know where I was. The whole place was twisting and turning like a chubby checkers tune. Nothing is appealing about sweating profusely and suffering constant exhaustion while exasperatingly breathing in a puke bag due to dehydration and panic attacks. It is almost impossible to enjoy any uppers like coffee or tobacco without hating life while your face is melting as well. I cannot begin to imagine how many years I have spent hiding in the shades hating every fiber of existence under the torment of the cosmos in June and July.
The most soul-sucking part of the summer is how the parks are filled to the brim with stupid parents dragging the small militia they call their family all over the place. The little people are in the constant movement without a care in the world as if the government has outlawed school in the summer. The whole option of peace goes out the window the minute spring ends.
The second is realizing I have no other options other than to complain about it because I was once the little person running around the whole place. It just happens to someone else turn.
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My experIence of peace
I would not say I am a fighter. I have never fought for anything in my entire life. The last time I almost had a girlfriend, she wanted me to fight for her or something for God knows whatever reason, so I just decided to bail. I hate taking a position and defending it unless I must which Is why I rarely get along with club promoters who want to take advantage of a good time by wanting to profit from it. I try to avoid conflict like a bad habit, so I rarely get in fights unless I am forced to engage in it. Most guys puff up their chest to defend their women as if half the world is not filled to the brim with the woman. Like most guys, I also puff up my chest but to protect my dignity. I would rather stick my dick in an oven than stand up for a woman I am “with”. Women are terrifying half the time. I have no idea why anyone would risk his well-being to defend anything other than himself. I have never heard a funnier line than “my girlfriend” because I have no idea what people look for in using that term to describe someone else.
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I love all of creation and the pleasures that come with it. I do not understand why people are in constant conflict when they could eliminate points and conversations that would start the war. I like the idea of leaving all the problems to the next generation.
Why not sweep all the problems we have under the rug and get the next generation to do the dirty work? I have been preparing for war all my life because it is a manly thing to do but when you look at it, the only thing war is profitable. I see no money in “defending” my “wife” or “girlfriend”. I do not know if it’s because I have seen more savage and strong-willed women in my life or not, but I have found nothing in my life so far worth having to attack or kill for. If war does not put the bling in your pocket, then you are living in a time of peace deceived by your mind. The whole point of war is to deceive and connive opponents to get what they have or are in the way of what you want. War is constant agitation without a minute to appreciate the beauty of it.
Soldiers miss the point when they think that war is the absence of peace so when they come home, they suffer from images they experienced without having prepared for it. No country would ever send a legion across seas without the need to procure something they want. The average soldier does not even question the objective of the mission they are sent to retrieve. They think the money swells the government will pay them after they have done their job and gone up the ranks. I have yet to meet worthwhile objectives worth having to kill or attack another person for, even for a woman.
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a Man fIlled wITh secreTs I have a lot of secrets. I have so many secrets they could fill a whole ocean because everything I know right now is a secret.
I have been wanting to start my consulting firm in the future for some time now and I have yet to tell anyone about it. I learned an interesting lesson from the joker in batman and as the saying goes, if you are good that something, never do it for free. I twisted that around in my words so my saying now is, if you know something, never tell it for free. Secrets are secrets because people chose to hide certain information so what secrets are in the end is just information worth a lot to some and worth nothing to others. If there ever is a way that I would become rich when I think about it is through selling information or being a professor. I have always thought professors are too cool for this world.
There is no one in this world I respect more than the professors who thought me all that I know. It might be a little ridiculous for me not to express any gratitude to them, but I think about them often even the fictional ones. My favorite professor of all time is Professor James Moriarty. He is a man with a lot of secrets who 75
chose to use his knowledge to liberate the world through justice.
If it were not for the crafty Holmes and his homeboy Watson, the war on a global scale would have been paramount. I admire him so much it is almost impossible to deny his swagger while you read the work of Sir. Doyle. The production and skill input in the movies is stellar work as well but nothing speaks louder than the character himself.
I have always wanted to be a villain but never knew what kind of villain I wanted to be until I met the professor. Knowledge in this world is so valuable humans are willing to build an institution for it just to pass it along. There are lots of secret societies that come to mind who have tons of knowledge hidden from the world. I prefer the ones who do not have any secrets because there is nothing more than being overt you become covert. The argument secret societies would not be so secret without information others, but the club members know is flawed because they can be likened to a nursery where no normal person would want to know the topic of conversation or lesson during that day other than the once paying for it or are part of the school. The most interesting thing about villains is there are always going to be heroes who would want to save the world but seeing what the “heroes” do to the villains, barely any villains carry on the mantle. Perhaps much like my favorite professor, inspiring others through education is the only way to go about passing the secrets/knowledge passed down from my lecturers.
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The arT of My polITIcs
I have been in education for almost 23 years now. I do not even remember the last time I took a year off and contemplated my place in the universe. I do not know if anyone can ever refer to me as a leader without pointing out my history of running away in times of difficulty. I am the last person you want to call when disaster strikes because I would not be the person to save you from the burning fire. I am the guy who will tell you “It could have been worse, you only lost two kids”. I am not a coward perse. I am more inclined to care when the circumstance I am intends to bring me more satisfaction in the long run which Is why I have no hope of ever being a firefighter or a policeman.
I can indeed dictate the terms I live by making sure I get the most pleasure out of life. I am the guy who would stay idle and keep drinking at a party if I witness rape because it would be so much a problem to defend the rights of the underdog/oppressed somewhere far away in a court of law. I am the guy who would watch crime happen in cities and would refuse to report it to the 77
authorities because it would be a drag to go through a process.
Is it evil to not get involved in matters of state if you saw no way it would increase your own hedonist life? You can say it is my religion, so I do have the liberty of worshipping anyway I please.
I do not want to be remembered in life. I want to be forgotten as one great actor once pointed out, to be the “hand under Monalisa’s skirt”, “the little guy” no one sees coming. I do not judge people, nor do I ever say a word against anyone to discredit them of any deed or profit they may come across. I am not the kind of person who would ever facilitate evil as well. I tend to whisper into people’s ears to help them achieve their wildest desires. I tend to give ideas and advice to others on what they ought to do to feel better no matter how costly the price is. It is not my responsibility which direction anyone wants to take their own life, I just like to participate in setting the stage. I do not cross the line because I wait till people come to me. I do not cheat or connive. I do not bully, taunt, or agitate. I just tell the truth. Subtly. This is the price of leadership everyone must pay to get their followers to where they need to go.
Last, of all, I never play both sides. I tend to pick a side in conflict almost 99.9% of the time. I just tend to take my time to weaken my opponent which Is why I do not have a problem with old people. . all you must do is just wait for them to die. There is a lot of pleasure in outliving people and time can be a great asset I confess I do not have now.
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how I have always wanTed To be In The navy I guess you can say I have a thing for boats. I like the oceans and I admire sailors. The only problem is I have no desire to climb in the ranks. I was born rich and almost practically had everything I ever asked for. I want to go on an adventure crossing seas and oceans just for the pure pleasure of it. I can take orders and I can work from dusk till dawn. Much like college fraternities, however, nowadays, all the good sailors want to recruit freshmen.
I have never really distinguished myself in any other way than academics as well. I am a book worm who spends almost all his time seeking the smell of a freshly printed book, or the odor of one stained from years of being put aside. I like how some books smell like India. . (although I have never been there). Something is fascinating about taking life in the masses on oceans with no hope of going back especially considering the birth rate of the world is taking over the death rate constantly in large numbers.
People have a problem of being engaged in sexual intercourse constantly all over the place and multiplying by the millions, yet no one wants to sit down and talk about taking it in the ass because it is not the norm. I do not understand how people 79
could ever be shy to talk about sex and plan for sex, yet the porn industry is booming, and the world population is rising by the minute. I can point fingers and name names of individuals who should have ended up in their mother’s throat than the cervix.
I have no hatred for mankind, nor do I wish the destruction of the race. I just think all of us have grown fat sitting down and reproducing without ever considering our children will eventually end up eating each other for space.
I do not know how many times I have read and watched stories of Napoleon (although the man never fought on water). The man knew how to throw down the gauntlet and get things done along with his grand army. I have poured over the tales of Columbus and the conquest of Cortez. I have been inspired by the British Indian trade companies. Every single day, the world seems to be growing smaller and smaller. Soon enough, the only parts of the world left unconquered will be the deep oceans and the high seas. I cannot begin to express how much I hate driving.
The roads are constantly filled with a billion cars that go 10mph.
the only locomotive I would ever want from now on is a huge battleship so I can mow down and conquer to my heart’s content because there will be no more land to live on in a century or two.
Good job.
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sweep Me off My feeT
Yes, I did grow up on Disney princess stories, but I have never wanted to be the hero who saves the girl, I grew up wanting to be snow-white or the sleeping beauty waiting for her knight in the tallest tower guarded by a terrible fire breathing dragon. The only times I have ever been successful in my love endeavor is when a chick picked me up at a bar or a club. I grew up daddy’s little princess and I am not ashamed of it. I do not fancy men, nor am I attracted to them. I just find the whole exerting effort into perusing women annoying. I am prim and proper. I am well disciplined and well educated. I deserve to be swept off my feet by a sweet little thing who is after my heart. I grew up on the fine things of life and I am a man of exquisite taste. Considering all the anarchists blowing things up and fighting on the streets are women nowadays, I might as well look at a career of being a househusband. Over the past few months, women have taken the higher seats of office, are burning down diplomatic ties, and 81
being put in prison due to gangster proclivities and bribing their kid’s way into high-tier colleges. I am not spreading my legs for one-night stands anymore just to be wined and dined and tossed back into the sea like a sports fish.
I have a standard that needs to be respected and special day gift requirements that need to be met. Where is my prince, my knight in shining amour? It is nice and all to be cat-called occasionally, perhaps the occasional slap on the butt…but enough is enough.
I am putting my foot down. I refuse to be a call boy to the chick who wants to brag about it to her girlfriends in the morning. I do not want to be shown off just to prove a point that she can pick up hot guys whenever she desires because she is a hard-working individual. Lastly, I am tired of the walk of shames that must be endured in the morning under the terrible limelight. The next Sperry shoes I lose I am going to charge them on her credit card.
Just because I am a frat boy, does not give any woman the right to treat me like trash. I get it, Cinderella’s sisters did not appreciate her value. They mocked and ridiculed her. Who is going to pay my support group fees? Who is going to pay for my emotional damages and trauma? I am tired of seeing therapists and doctors because all women are the same who only look out for their interests. Where is she… my perfect one…my light in the darkness that will sweep me off my feet and carry me into happily ever after? I am dead sure if women can burn downtown halls and courthouses, burning flags, rioting on streets, and shooting people with intent to kill, riding my ass into happily ever after should be as easy as cooking pecan scones.
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My obsessIon wITh counTry MusIc I am a huge fan of country artists. I like how chill the sound is along with the cute tunes and melodramatic drops. I guess you can say I am in it for the chicks. There is nothing hotter than a country girl rocking to some Tim McGraw on the way to Sunday mass. Ever since my catholic adventure started, I have been meaning to mix it up with a little banger twist…or in hindsight, southern class comfort. I am a huge admirer of the south and its culture. The more radical the idea they present, the more entertaining it is the butt heads with the person. I once read a story of two men who took turns shooting each other in bulletproof vests after a few drinks on their porch. Their wives turned them in, and no one will take their cases. These humans are legendary in my eyes. They bring me so much joy and happiness more than I could imagine.
Country music has recently been a little different to some due to its modern tinge, but I do not think there is anything to complain about there. Much like cowboy hats and jorts, it is just the latest addition to the pool of joy that is country music.
The tricky part is to admit the sound is a little white much 83
like hip-hop is on the chocolaty side. I kind of do not care because all my family members are black, and I lived with black people for the better part of the 20th century. A little different tune occasionally is very fun because staying one-sided and not understanding different arguments from the opposite side has a lot of downsides. When it comes to race, I like to take the approach of the native Americans where no one mentioned them in books and the role they played during the civil rights movements because they are smart enough to realize some stupid people in this world do not know anything. They were likely in the background smoking peyote thinking how silly as hell the racial conflicts were…especially on their land. I have fun with how they built and own casinos. They were probably betting on the conflicts on who would come out on top.
I just really like the irony of country music because people here and there are fighting on integration topics on land conquered by their ancestors. Considering it is better to eat than be eaten, there is nothing wrong with joining the winning side on this matter. I will not shut my ears to nice songs because some loose end has the problem with the skin color of the writer or the crowd who favors listening to the music. If a relative decided to join the music industry in whatever field, the only reason I would choose to not listen is not because of the genre of the music or the skin color of the writer but whether he is a dick, and the music sounds nice or not. Much like I need to get on a high horse to judge people even though I should not, some need to be shot off theirs much like a Johnny Cash song just to be thought some manners.
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The reasons I wanT To be a senaTor
As an aspiring politician, if the gods deem me worthy, I wil have the opportunity to run for the United States Senate in the future.
As a redundant conservative, I am sure I can influence some policies that would work in my favor. The first one is introducing a bill that would al ow any naturalized citizen the opportunity to run for the presidency. With enough backings and a ton of arms being twisted, I am sure this law will hit the curb much like the issues of the Jim crow laws. I am a law-abiding person but there are only a few laws that are in the way of my aspirations. The senate is plagued with old age now, and I think it’s about time the clear youth take hold of liberty by the balls. I am a huge admirer of the position. Nothing turns me on that the thought of achieving that status along with an on-demand vanil a ice-cream dispensing fridge. At a prime age of 26, I am light years away from hitting the g-spot and pleasing the majority considering the average age of the senate body is 62.9 years. Years of toga parties and kegger nights have thought me there is nothing more pleasing to the gods than a man who takes government by the reigns and rides her good in the night.
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May the gods have mercy on my political opponents considering I have every intention of winning a seat as soon as I am eligible.
I cannot believe they will not let me run because I am not 30
years old yet. This is unacceptable. .well by me at least. I have every intention of serving the represented individuals very well.
I cannot believe I am not allowed on the roller-coaster because I just do not measure up. I am every bit vile as any of them and I do not even drive my cars. The nerve of these pricks.
In hindsight, I am a huge fan of their work and their accomplishments. I even degraded myself to the ultimate reality of associating with white fraternities for years at a time. .can you believe the shallowness of these people. I am not a deep person perse, however, I am trying to differentiate myself with the hopes of standing out. Considering I will likely outlive most of the people in congress, I feel it is not right to get attached to them, but their memory and greatness will remain in my heart of hearts. I have always wanted to be corrupted. What better way of achieving that goal than joining up with the pigs of congress. They will likely elect me president. In all fairness, I love every fiber of their being. There is no better class of people I look up to. They are beautiful and amazing in every bit of the definition. I have gotten to know them over the years in my pursuit of an International Relations degree and it is safe to say they are nothing short of spectacular. When I read some of their publications, it reminds me sometimes of a distressed and wounded animal with a predator jaw on its neck gasping 86
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for air. .other times, it reminds me of the poor kid I was willing to sacrifice everything wanting to get into a good college in high school with deep desires to make an impact in the world, possibly change it.
All men must serve
I believe every person in this world must serve. There is no escape to this clause in life. The rich little humans, including myself, even though we live on our daddy’s hard-earned money, must represent our fathers well. We have the duties of going to school and meeting certain demands such as getting a ton of a’s or join in the student government and make an impact in the school that will benefit the general population. The man living on the street also must serve a purpose even if it is himself or he/she would not be able to feed himself/herself. I find it interesting that man has come to a crossroads where there is no reality without accepting this little, tiny word. I do not think there are any other ways of earning money. Money can only be earned through service provided and my time on this earth has convinced me I have the responsibility to let others know. As I said before, I am not a deep person, but I do have deep things to say. I came across it while studying the life span of humans on earth. I wanted to find uniting factors. I searched for hours to points that would make sense and would destroy divisions across continents. I found out that just as much as all men must serve, they must also be proud.
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Pride is the second uniting factor I found. Our humanity depends on our pride. Not a kind of pride that comes with hate and malice but the kind of pride that comes because of accomplishment. All service leads to pride in one’s work. This is the gift of the gods that they have given us after deeming us worthy of our work on this earth. We must frolic and have fun as much as possible with the substances of our labor along with the masterful craft of our hands. Animals will not stand around and gossip about how magnificent the statue of Andrew Jackson is on Pennsylvania Avenue. Animals will not be able to comprehend the magnificence of the man and his accomplishments by reading history nor will the plants feel liberated by it. I relish art as much as I can with every opportunity I get because I like the simple things in life much like the complex. I feel pride and I am proud of how far I have come not only when I compare myself to others but when looking to the future and what it has in store for me.
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how I caMe across love
I am not a hopeless romantic nor am I an ardent Casanova. I am an anarchist when it comes to the art of love any form of expression. I remember repeatedly failing my philosophy class freshman year in college because of my inability to understand Socrates in the symposium. I did not quite understand it, so I peered through his work long after I had failed the class and it started making sense to me. I started to understand love mostly due to Pausanias rhetoric. I tend to take my time with matters of the heart because I have seen a lot of people fail in due haste.
I have also failed countless times due to acting as the rabbit instead of the turtle. Love as I mentioned before is one of those toys a kid reaches in his toy box to play with. In the toy box are a lot of other toys that make the marriage work like beauty, faith, prudence, loyalty, and hope. Love is one of those toys which can be used for entertainment for a long time, but you must be careful because it could break, and repairing it might cost a fortune. You must be careful not to wear out the gears of you 89
may overuse it. I had to repair my love a lot of time because I was overworking it. I cannot begin to tell you how much I used to love to get what I wanted just to realize I did not need it, so I put it back.
I have never really had a girlfriend before, nor have I ever been married. I have fooled around here and there but never really made anything official with anyone. In all my 26 years the most I have ever sustained romance was for no more than 3 weeks.
I have also never managed to maintain multiple relationships at once not because I could not but because it is exhausting to explain why I was having dinner with Mary’s parents when I was supposed to be playing golf on Sunday with Katie’s uncle. I guess you could say the women in my past only wanted to play with one toy, love, which I must admit I did not quite possess until my college years. Now that I possess it, I kind of want to save it like the good wine you wait to pull out once all the guests are gone. I kind of want to put it in a savings account for my kids to use during their college years. Ever since I have managed to get love, it has broken down on me once or twice but after oiling it in the right places it was good as new. My new playmates are smart and awesome. They do not abuse my toys and they want to have fun without having to destroy my property. We played with faith the past few months and our favorite hockey team went all the way into the playoffs. We are playing with hope now in constant anticipation that the people will elect the right representatives.
There are some toys we cannot play with without supervision and standing at the top of them is loyalty, because if it breaks none of us want to be liable.
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I do not know much about the world of entertainment other than the next guy sitting on the bus on his way to work. The reason I do not know is by admitting that I do know, I will fail in knowing anything. I am not a wise person, but I occasional y say a lot of dumb stuff that is uncal ed for which pushes me to accept I do not have much hope in Infront of live audiences. I have not addressed a crowd in ages. I do not have stage fright; I just think being a shining star is not the card that will work well in my political ventures. I will likely turn out to be a tyrant if I stood on stage. The crowd-pleasers I painful y regret to admit I admire are Stalin and Mussolini regarding speeches. I do not need to be told they are terrible people; however, I am not going to sit here and not admit they were great orators. I like to paint with words, and they have the elements I so crave in their speeches.
Considering my party is also against any kind of tyranny over the mind of man, I will likely be sued for sedition if I spoke as plainly as I pleased Infront of a crowd.
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I also like my peace of mind. I cannot imagine how much life would be different if my name starts to pop up on cereal boxes.
I would not be able to walk down the street with the kind of mantra I always have. There is sweet pleasure in being unknown.
There is no pain of expectations raining down from a crowd.
There is a lot of difference I believe I could make from being unknown than the person always popping up on tv, all you must do is not ask me how. When I reach that point, I will likely write about it. There are certain libraries and book shops that I like which I go to occasionally that would be a nightmare to explore with the same vigor.
Sometimes, there is nothing more fun than blending with the crowd, the unknown guy in the back making as little wave as possible. I do not like change and there are a lot of factors that go wrong when change is rapid and constant. When school is in session, I am a man of order. I tend to stick to rigid schedules and sleeping patterns unless the night before gets the better of me. Considering I have been in education for over 23 years, the school has not been out of session for a long time. This summer is probably the only time I had off in a long time to sit down and take a breather from constantly being a law-abiding, disciplined student. I preferred being a fraternity president over the student governor or the news piece writer because if I do not screw anyone’s girlfriend, I would not get a call from any parents or angry boyfriends to express their distaste, life is fun in the dark.
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I hate upsetting the people that care about me and the people that I care about. I could care less about their feelings. I care about what I must do to return things to equilibrium. There are a lot of questions that must be answered on behalf of them, and you cannot pay me enough to dodge those questions. I tend to avoid comfortable conversations like a plague or missiles. I am a person loyal to my party and would avoid any form of unwanted drama to the best of my ability. There are lines I do not cross and as the saying goes, there is more than one way to skin a cat.
I like what Donald J. Trump said once when having a battle of words with Hilary Clinton. He promised to be on Pennsylvania Avenue one way or another if he lost or won. It was a pleasure to hear those words because they reminded me of my thought process when I was a kid. Those kinds of speeches and that kind of zeal get the job done and If I were to get on stage, I would likely adopt his style much more than any. I do not love the spotlight because it backs up a person against a wall regarding statements and words from which unless a person comes out swinging there is no way of winning.
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a faIThful arguMenT To why I should becoMe a sTudenT aT harvard unIversITy Every morning I wake up, I look at the Harvard banner in front of my bed. I am not so sure as to how the day might go so; I tell myself I am indeed proud of the person I am becoming day today.
When things turn out for the best, I tend to sit back to take the moments in as if they might be my last. Confidence although seems to escape my being at times, I find it hard to tell whether it is I who brings about the good things in my life because of my actions or whether it is I who ceases to have faith to pursue the things which I desire. Am I a rolling stone? A centrifugal force that is spiraling down a mountain in which the axis must always aspire to stay centered as if the connection between the item itself and the object must exemplify the dissertation? Likely not. I am a human being just like everyone else, complete with a brain heart and lungs, two feet, and eyes with a skin color the likes of Jesus would have. I am crazy though. The word has 95
been used so many times in popular culture that it has lost its meaning. “Crazy in Love”, “Crazy about you”, “I want crazy” ...
terms used daily to describe a condition that has been sanitized and radicalized to the point bad means good.
When is a time a person escapes the indefinite reality without drugs and booze? The first 5 minutes of waking up perhaps.
Realizing another day has been granted with grace and mercy by the hands of an eternal being who transcends all understanding.
The push and the pull, the breaking up and making up, the suffering and joy that has been granted by the sacrifice of so many lives across the world. In a time where modern civilization has reached its peak, felicity and bliss become fleeting and capturing them to become prisoners of hope, faith, and trust serves the American empire good, just like it does me. I love this country and what it stands for. A divided church and state, a declaration of freedom from an unjust rule, a place where self-discipline and medical science are guided by justice and dignity. America is the people, the land, the air we breathe, the passion that fuels our flame, and, in a way, the only country in the world that has accomplished world domination employing culture. People speak of the Mongolian empire, the British empire, the French empire, the Spanish empire and, the Portuguese empire as being the best at what they do, they certainly do not hold a candle in any form to where this one is headed. I have been let down in the forms of the torture and unpaid labor that was capitalized on by masters on my people during the times of Jim Crow, so 96
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it is difficult to love others without the act of sovereignty and divine intervention. The clashing of worlds, the ignition of hope, and in the words of Ralph Waldo Emerson, “the earth laughs in flowers”.
I love Harvard. “The cost of liberty is less than the price of repression,” says W.E.B Dubois. Tough words from a man who understood what it means to linger in the deep end of love. I do not hate the idea of growing where I am planted yet there is a burning desire in my heart, a longing for a place far far away yet very much close to my heart. This place is Harvard. I know Harvard is not heaven. Harvard is a place I wish to be second to Heaven. When I was at Harvard in 2016 while visiting Boston, I realized to whom much is given, much is expected. I have been given much and the way I can repay those who have invested in my journey from my mother’s womb to the tomb is to lead them by the help of the abundance of love that flows from my inner being who is Jesus Christ. I believe my king lives in me guiding me towards my destiny that is him.
I no longer doubt Harvard is a place I can call my home because life has a way of pushing people aside and beating me to the ground until it becomes impossible to stand up and move forward and only when I realize there are people like me to help me withstand the pain and go on this journey with me, I find everything makes sense. Life is worth living not for self but others. Therefore, I strive every day to make myself a better man than yesterday, knowing I have a family who cares for me and loves me with every fiber in their body. My dream is to help The ConservaTive PrinCe Diary anD LiTeraCy 97
them realize I love them with every fiber and cell in my body as well even if it means not going to Harvard. God has blessed me more than I can imagine and bestowed his glory so every day I can manifest him.
The challenge here is not whether I should become a student at Harvard, the challenge at hand is to face the question “what would he do with the degree that he gets from Harvard?” The simple answer is to wait and find out to see. The flip side I can write about. I wish to eradicate the law that prohibits people not born in this country to become President. It’s not an easy dream to want to become a President. Many chal enges lie ahead and in the pursuit of power, many lose themselves, sacrifice good values, betray comrades, take lives, and more. In many ways, better it is to not want this burden. I refuse to lose myself which is why I will succeed and become like my heroes, JFK, Reagan, Lincoln, Roosevelt, Obama, and Jackson. If I try by myself, I will fail.
With Jesus Christ holding my hands, anything is possible. I can look at myself in the mirror and love myself and the person he is making me be. I will not stop moving forward, which Is why I should become a student at Harvard.
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II
FOR – CRITICAL ARGUMENTS FOR THE
FAITHLESS AND THE SCIENTIFIC-MINDED
Whether or not a college education is worth the money is a controversial topic. Some people believe that getting a college education is a road to liberty that would help escape the clutches of poverty. Others challenge this position, calming those institutions that are holding on to secrets and charging money for something that should be free. They believe that the God-given freedom they are given has been pol uted by the system and capitalized on henceforth; they believe it should be eradicated.
However, I believe that there are constant misunderstandings that become a blockade for the people who don’t believe college education is not worth the money, the first one believing that it wouldn’t help them, to begin with. They can’t seem to wrap their heads around the idea that there is a future for them in there, so they stay frightened to explore the abyss that is education.
Although both sides of this issue have merit, it seems clear that a college education is a worthwhile investment because those who are educated have seen the light of the industrious future.
In the allegory of Plato’s cave, we learn something big. It is the 103
responsibility of those who escaped the darkness to enlighten those who have yet to realize they are trapped in a world they cannot escape from. In this sense, they have a responsibility to show them the way to a better life.
It is not very hard to understand where the other side is coming from but the hard part is to be able to understand how they are feeling about the subject on a personal level. There have been many successful people without going through the turmoil that comes with traveling the path of a student. Some to name a few are rappers like jay-z, movie stars like Arnold Schwarzenegger who have never finished college but still turned out successful.
Bill Gates and Steve Jobs proved you do not even necessarily have to finish col ege to achieve the wealth and all this world has to offer. In a competitive world where different countries have different wages for the same work, the political systems seem to heavily influence the outcome or the income that goes into the individuals’ pockets. This is why a little knowledge of Politics can go a long way in going up the ranks to rack up more money in an Academic institution. No one lives on this planet forever. Time is a crucial concept/commodity that we can’t afford to waste.
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when Is The use of MIlITary force jusTIfIed?
The use of a military force is justified to conquer. First, I would like to talk about how important the military is. To understand this value, we must first address the underlying issue which is whenever there is warfare, people lose their lives, and we must care about that. Once we have understood that people’s lives are precious, we can then go on to talk about the main topic of this paper. A strong Military force is vital for the survival of any country that wants to sustain itself for a generation to come.
Military might be a valuable topic for the public to know as the wel being of the whole universe is dependent on it. Nations must absorb the dismal inside disagreements while restructuring the system to evade any sort of criticism from opposing threats to protect the invaluable resources that are in the country. Attacks can come in kind of ways whether cyber or on land military mobilization. The military is responsible for implementing strategies that will protect domestic interests which can be the 105
heartbeat of society. Rome was destroyed because it thought the senate was enough to keep people in check while letting the people stay undisciplined which came forth the decline from a force that can be reckoned with to the statement of Greece.
The timeline of justice is of utmost importance. The military should be incorporated into the daily lives of people as much of us the next person on the line is there to grab food. Power is not only the means of control but keep intact what was and is as it is. It is paramount that the military is employed in a state of chaos to calm it or to instigate it in the first place. This is because the first principle of warfare takes place. What I must have you know is that even if you do not understand the value of it, it must appear to you, you would not have been able to be here without the sacrifice of the many who wanted to protect the nation to preserve it, they laid down their lives because there indeed is no greater honor. You must understand the value of it even before sending out troops into enemy territory.
When the Japanese wanted to take over China, they first talked with the Americans about how to divide the spoils into even pieces. China was a backward nation then but no matter what, the Japanese wanted to colonize them anyway since they wanted to implement their way of life as the sole and only method of a way to live. The toughest part is I do not think that was right whatsoever, America should have never gotten involved because that was a completely wrong time to mobilize troops. As a free nation, it makes the country look bad in terms of commerce with the rest of the world because that is one of the main reasons, 106
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we are having trouble dealing with China now, by we, I mean the Americans. Let us not get distracted from the fact that we should have attacked them with love instead of military force.
We should have invaded with love arrows, not bullets.
Try not to become a man of success, but rather try to become a man of value said the great Albert Einstein once. This is he alludes to the general society in a way proclaiming to the rest of the world that values and lives are what make a man. He might not have said it that way but I’m sure that’s what he meant. He loved his country and he wanted them protected but although nowhere close to a kind of fight required by armed forces, his heart was drawn to what you might call the right side of morality.
The aim of the military should not be to just win and leave. It should be to also clean up afterward and have sure things stand their ground for the sake of the good. The great philosopher Plato instinctively believed that we are indeed good at heart, and we become bad when we lose our conscious right by the actions that subdue our immaculate minds.
The use of a military force is justified to conquer. Even if we have established the importance of the military, we have yet to understand the significance of its dominating nature. If we have the strongest military, if we use it recklessly all the time it would only set a bad example for the bearers of truth that stand before us. This paper is not about what the right thing to do is in that The ConservaTive PrinCe Diary anD LiTeraCy 107
manner, it’s about how we should value what we have before we lose it. By staying strong and doing the right thing a military force can show its power in a way the inspires the people that are right before us.
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wonder woMan crITIcal revIew Wonder woman is directed by Patty Jenkins. The whole movie comes strong initially and has one of the highest reviews in the whole industry now with the budget being at $149 million and box office at $223 million. The characters play out well in the whole movie. As the captain of the United States Air Force, Chris pine did a marvelous job at portraying Steve Taylor, the person who is romantically involved with Diana, who is the protagonist in the whole movie. Their relationship blossoms dramatically. The whole story takes shape around World War 1 and how critical it is the good guys end up coming out on top since the movie is a melodrama. Wonder woman’s main purpose is to invite criticism of the film industry’s partiality on the artwork of men and women.
Diana left her hometown to help Steve set order in the chaos that arose because of conflict. Not only did the scenes look good to the audience, but every moment also seemed captivating to everyone who was watching the movie at the Silver Spring Regal cinema. The movie is produced by Charles Raven, Deborah Snyder, Zack Snyder, and Richard Suckle. The world is not ready 109
for the whole combination between Gal Gadot and Chris Pine together especially by a woman director since there is a stigma around the whole concept of women in leadership roles. The Director wanted the production to adhere to the philosophy of Aristotle, so she stuck to her guns and balanced out virtue. She input ideas concerning the conflict between men action stars and woman action stars into “Wonder Woman” to teach women and young children that moving forward as they are by embracing the ability to let go of the past ways where they were portrayed as weak and inferior to men is the best option. She wanted and I quote, Wonder Woman “to be hot as hell, fight badass, and look great at the same time – the same way men want Superman to have huge pecs and an impractically big body.” She inspires and motivates young women by empowering them. She is the star of the whole movie in general at least according to me.
Wonder woman is a very fantastic beast. She is radiant, mighty, and captivating to watch on the big screen. We should not get past the fact that World War 1 did indeed happen yet by introducing a magnificent hero into the scene, the movie just got better progressively. The director is not like Michael Bay, but I can pretty much confess that what was in the movie is a very tight action-packed cocktail of physical fighting. The time captured in different scenes expresses loyalty to the Arts. There could not be any more explosions or love to make the fighting scenes or romantic accolades better. Most of the language spoken 110
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is English and there was German here and there but what can you expect? They are fighting against the Germans! The plot is one of the most interesting DC heroes’ stories since it thickens rather very quickly.
Diana wants to be an Amazon warrior, but her mother does not allow it, so she trains with her aunt Antiope behind her back instead. Her mother after finding her daughter in training decided to allow it to continue because there was a predominant fear going around that Ares might return to attack the Amazon.
So basically, she decided to train hard which resulted in her getting strong and she beats all the bad guys. The music was great because it magnified the fighting scenes rapidly very clearly in the background. Rupert Gregson-Williams composed the Wonder Woman theme song called “Wonder Woman”. The Australian musician named Sia’s also contributed to making the whole movie a hot topic to be reckoned with. The supporting cast David Thewlis as Ares and Robin Wright as Antiope were among my favorites, and they did a magnificent job at portraying the bad guy and the favorite person in the family, respectively.
The movie was worth doing. There need to be more women superheroes just as there should be black superheroes. There are only a few in the industry including Black Widow. More is expected from DC in what they would do regarding their women superheroes. As for the time, in some scenes, it was The ConservaTive PrinCe Diary anD LiTeraCy 111
condensed, whereas, in the beginning, it seemed very expanded.
The action suits seemed very life-like and were believable. All in all, it was very memorable, a movie I would watch again when it comes out on DVD.
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Is daTIng a ThIng of The pasT?
No one does it anymore, or to be frank, nobody wants to. This society has created an impotent definition of the word making it unparal eled and unacknowledgeable by reducing its value. No one knows what it means to date. Whether it is going out to the movies, or holding hands, everything has been commodified as a plot for the new world order that we live in now and we have George Bush to thank for that. I believe we have come to a state of realization that hopelessness seems to envelop everyone when they think about a significant other. As a result, nobody wants to try it or indulge in understanding what it means. I, on the other hand, may do know. I do not believe it to be my responsibility to educate the people on this matter. The people being whom we call our companions or comrade in arms. This time for sure I hope and believe the skill and remedy of God will have revealed the truth, the truth to the ones who wish to understand the depth of this matter. Love should never have been a given. It was always a privilege. They have come to abuse it to the point it does not seem to make sense anymore. But why does this matter, I cannot hold myself too far from the torch and say all is good 113
and well. Innocence was always the price of slavery. When the lashes and metal prongs entered through the messiah’s backside, nobody was there to be the intercessor on his account. In the same way, when something starts to disappear from society, a culture or a relatively foreign concept enters the mind of the new generation, it becomes corrupted. It becomes evil. It becomes distorted. The love I have for others never diminishes nor do I think it ever will. The hatred on the other hand you can have for free. As you may have heard, there is nothing free in this world dear reader. I would have to take the higher ground and say yes!
Dating is a thing of the past.
We have all seen movies. My personal favorite one seems to be titanic when it comes to romance. I can watch that movie all night long and cry every time, very deeply. And I would wake up in the morning, watch it again, and cry, again and again. It helps me deal with the fact that I had a distant childhood. Away from my parents, I was raised to be something else. A thing to be used by society. A tool of the heavenly kingdom of God. Well, if that were the only case then That would be all the time when I am alone or need to be a part of something larger than I, A longing seems to ignite deep inside my chest. A lump of burning coal will spur my spirit and erode my bones. This desire to live makes me conscious that something is missing from the everyday living that we lead. It must be a desire to connect. A desire to be together and never be apart. A desire to never let go of the thing we are because we see it in somebody else. This leads us to the instinct of mankind to copulate and make for the sake of bringing offspring into this world.
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Why does it matter? Why do we need such a barbaric ritual some might say? I have the answer to that. Although science can explain it, the aurora that we all share, the longing to never be apart comes from what we perceive reality to be. We can shed light on the matter but what gives. This is life. We must admit to ourselves that the kindness we show to others must be relentless.
It must be sweet and pure. It must be a free identity of the image that we absurdly have of ourselves. In a roundabout manner, we have gotten to the same level of wanting to reproduce ourselves in someone else. We all want to continue our lineage. A lifelong line that helps us comprehend what is to come. The next person who understands you might just be your last. The next person who believes in you might just be there to leave you without your heart.
When we think of Shakespeare’s writing, Romeo, and Juliet, we all love and adore the good tragedy. What is it about this that breaks our hearts and just wants us to be taken away into some other reality where love flourishes above all? This needs to exist, that is what makes a man. When Romeo risked everything to go into the other side of town, by that meaning the family or the great lover he hopes to possibly mate with, we see in his road, a lot of challenges come up. The first and foremost being that many kinds of people interpret a text in all sorts of different ways. As must as we love to disagree on certain matters, on this broadly unique understanding gained from studying the works of the great Ralph Waldo Emerson, our belief should not be The ConservaTive PrinCe Diary anD LiTeraCy 115
shaking. Let us continue with this train of thought for a while.
So, establishing that we are on the same subject, the dance then begins. The last time we went for it all, was the last time they drank poison and died together.
The last time she and he kissed, was the last time she was ever able to feel herself truly alive due to the bondage of the curse that was laid on her by her family. He was the spell breaker if you may. He untangled her from the death of the sea, from the top of the mountain, the depth of hades, and the locks of the Kraken.
She was his delight, and he was hers. They enjoyed the moment like it was their last because every time they held each other they knew that that was it. That was indeed the last time they would ever laugh. What makes a man? Is it his sturdy built? Is it the amount of hair on his chest? The risk he takes. The number of women he has loved. Shakespeare answers all these questions delightful y, with all due respect, he was a naughty beast. He tore our hearts with machetes. He carved away at our heartstrings, yet we still love him for it. What makes a man is a passion and the arts he dedicates himself to. The way he expresses his love.
The kindness he shows and the mercy he accepts. Romeo’s sin was his inability to realize that trust weakens the knees. It makes you lose the passion and aggression that you should have put into the work. Moving forward, we must realize that a poor boy and a rich girl were far from the story. Romeo and Juliet are much like the notebook or Titanic in many different aspects.
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Let us talk about the deeply misunderstood topic of all, age. The time comes when a man must look past the screen of life and behold something else takes its place. He learns to see the depth of the matter. Most artists or rappers talk about this subject in detail because as people who attract so much crowd, they must always be cautious of who they bring into their close circle.
A paper would tell you that I do indeed have a grasp of what comes because of delving into ideological beliefs that constitute the greatest nation of them all. Let us try and see how this life of ours is but a mere pint. A grown man can gulp it down in one sitting: swirling it all down his mouth. A recently turned 21-year-old who got a taste of alcohol for the first time might not have the right idea of what he is doing. The drink will be too harsh for him. In the same way, that is what happens when working in the darkness. The law is there to protect and serve those who are willing to imitate its perfection to the brim.
When Michelangelo painted the walls of the Sistine chapel, he pears towards the stars to get an understanding of what life may look like when the stars are looking down upon us. Would they smile? Would they cry? Would they be proud? All the answers were for him, but the right questions he could not ask. He failed to imitate his understanding, but he got close to it. Although I have never been to Rome to look at the church and be mystified by it, I can never understand what it was like to be the painting on the walls peering and watching those who came to the works of my creator. That is what pictures are. That is what the reality of the matter is. Delving In, we must understand one thing. He who has been given much, from him much is expected. Charles The ConservaTive PrinCe Diary anD LiTeraCy 117
Dickens, writer of the great expectations regressed all his words into it. The book is a clever understanding of what life is like when it is lived to the ful est. Age, also a relic, there seems to be a common understanding between fellow men who embrace each other despite commotions that result by the way of the hunt.
Wolves and bears, although independent, love to pack more than anything in times of need. Nature shows us to tackle this great beast, we must consume it whole and spit it out like yesterday’s bad cold. The rule of law, half your age plus seven. I am 22 years old. Therefore, I can date anyone older than 18. Half my age is 11, plus 7 which is 18. A 44-year-old man, 22 plus 7, which is 29. This socially acceptable way of standard came into society long ago by Apollo himself. The great son God. He loved the world so much that he game. Gave us the ability to comprehend literature and the ability to materialize love. Aphrodite was just there to assist in the matter.
When a general leads his troops into the battlefield he must realize first and foremost that dangers have to occur in the beginning.
There are conflicts of ideas that arise when a misunderstanding occurs that decimates the whole thing from the inside out. Leave it up to them to deal with it is something he must never say.
The actions that arise from this course of way, neutralize the victim if used in the right sense. Currently, when a concept like dating is starting to perish from our culture, we realize first and foremost, it is a result of the generation that came before us. Even if they are the ones that thought us everything we know, It was always their responsibility first to make and help us understand that the light in use should never disappear. It must 118
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never be swallowed by the snake of pride. Pride is the venom of the beast of revelation according to the bible. It is his weapon.
Of all things, we must never relish it or adopt it as our way of learning. We play it.
We play him because the devil cannot stand scorn according to C.S Lewis. We all understand the demons that work in this world never want us to have a good time with our other half.
When Zeus separated the great man of ancient time who had 2
sexual organs, 4 arms, and 4 legs which walks about the earth circling with its hands, He feared eventually that they would climb up to Mount Olympus and take them down one by one.
For this reason, he split it in 2 and turned its head over its body cursed to roam the land in search of its other counterpart.
When he took mercy on them and finally switch their body around, they would hug each other after they find the other piece and never let go. When one body passed, the other will go to find another body to lash itself to and the whole cycle would repeat itself repeatedly. This is what we must fear. When external matters are in control of the circumstance that led us to delve into spirituality that we know not of, we will be misguided and will stir away from the path of truth. Dating in this day and time has been contaminated with the poison of barbarism.
VERITAS, the goddess of truth, is the light. The guider whom mankind has sought after but was never able to find. Which conflicts with the Christian view of addressing this disagreement that arises between the believer and the conformist of this world.
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Jesus Christ, the teacher, the Jew, the prophet, the king, the heart of mankind according to some, cal ed and testified himself to be the truth the way and the life in john 14:6. When man strays away from the path of righteousness, he finds himself in deep conflict deep inside. We understand the universe right before us, but we never use it. We can know each other in a way it should not be wasteful but the despair of kindness it causes on the giver might sometimes be too much to bear; however, this might be different in a communist society. Everything can be purchased and sold but nothing can be taken away unless we let it. I understand I am responsible for my belongings; therefore, I should keep them safe with all my might but in a capitalist state. The leash gets loose, and the dogs come out barking.
Ready to devour the carcass of the dead, to return to their vomit and be who they are. Let them bite and see the world of what an animal tooth can do and compare it to losing someone you love. It becomes easy. It becomes what the thing must be to the revelation of his deepest power which was bestowed upon him because of his work. This is the major difference between the work of Karl Marx and Adam smith. No one wants to know but it’s counties like China or Russian whose government seems to utilize the kind of market that is the opposite of the free market, economics becomes a difficult topic to talk about on dates which leaves out a whole chapter of life close to. The doors are closed. There is no way back from the toxic evil of politics and its children.
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The other side of this is to say dating is a thing of the future.
The artists whom I happen to so love and adore are called the Offspring. This rock band is composed of a very optimistic lead singer who sings a song called “The Future is now” in their most recent album which if you ask me has been a long time. He talks about the common misunderstanding of this nation. America, he believes, is indeed in its prime. Born and raised in the Red, white, and Blue the nature of his surroundings shaped him to be as agile as the next person except, he was sharper. Dedicated to his work and got a college degree, unlike other mates who happen to have not in his career of choice? The last time I heard this song it inspired me to look deeper into the opposite side of the spectrum. The liberal in me says to lock down this life with a fawn, a hen of my delight, and forever live on free from the shackles of mankind coursing this world the wind under the pinion of my wings.
If only that was the right answer to the question of what is the right kind of peace in this world? We are all after it. We seek it with our heart of hearts. We want this eternal sunshine to last forever, but it is merely a figment of our imagination. It can happen, or to be rather frank it must not. A rabbit lives its life on the run, always expecting itself not to be caught by the shackles of the enemy. When Bob Marley wrote “three little birds” he understood that life would be short because he knew what choices he would make because of his devotion to his art. Art helps us see. It lets us look deeper into the realm of unhappiness and find a solution. For the person on this bright side of life, I do have a nice compliment and complain about him.
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He must realize there is no love in it, simply duty. It is a matter of getting things done but good job for getting this far anyway.
What have we to give to make this moment last forever you might ask? The simple answer is this. We cannot. It constantly changes. Watchmakers have a hard time keeping up with the times. (No pun intended). Watches are losing touch. People have smartphones now. The walls are decked with clocks.
At Christmas time, every year of a new mood and a new gift, if we are ever live that long and by that, I mean to the next one. Life itself changes; we age. Smoking ages us at the rate of burning the other side of the wick. We are happy today, sad tomorrow. A building is built, another one is torn down. The sun comes up, the sun goes down. The great and wise Job after everything was taken from him, the Hebrew text explains in all this, Job did not sin with his lips. (Job 2:10) What must the wise man do when everything he Owens and holds deer gets taken away, he stays true to himself and trusts his heart no matter what. The light may fade but it is always cloudy before the sun rays break through it. He did not know when everything would be alright. He never understood why it was happening to him, yet he kept moving forward. He realized his friends were not dependable enough even if they were there for him. When all hell breaks loose, he stood strong and battled his way forward to finding the treasure that was taken from him by the accuser Satan. So, what can we learn from Job?
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We learn that he was not a leader but a moralist who understood how life worked. His wife told him to curse God and die yet she was not ok with doing it herself. I have not read anything that says she did. It must be tough to lose children. It must be tough to lose all your property at once because there is some God in the sky playing checkers while you’re jumping from one foot to another torn between which path is the right one. Dating, in the same way, is what the life of Job is to the agnostic and the Atheist alike who thinks and believes it is a fairytale. It’s not here, it’s not there it’s everywhere. If we are in the same library together; we are dating. If we see each other on the bus; we are dating. If I see you in Antarctica holding an ice cream just for the giggles, we are dating. If we are in the desert Sahara dying of thirst even though I knew not you were there, dating. I do not wish to put my subjective opinion on the matter, but I can tell you this is literally where we went wrong. The future to this person is something that is here and gone the next day. Which makes it difficult to comprehend because we need a taste of purity of mind, soul, and spirit. On this little topic, I can agree on even if it is an outdated concept far from reality.
College sex and the life of debauchery is the epitome and the bane of the existence for the students, but don’t look at me, I like the way she does it, the rap song by 50 cents and I quote “She a super freak, the freak of the week I give her something a suck, she gives her something to eat”
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Condoning prostitution is another thing but the only state it is legal in is Nevada, California. Why not relish in this for quite a bit. The stigma that catapults the life of hooligans to the top-of-the-line normal state is the junk the media allows us to delve into. We are blinded by the mass of information we are constantly exposed to. Mohamed the Muslim prophet who is accredited to writing the whole Quran, understood a very special message as he experienced life while he lived it. He believed that the time we die, we are to leave everything behind to the only person we have produced as offspring. Allah said: “…and do good (to others); surely Allah loves the doers of good”. (2:195) what more can we expect than this? What more can we expect that to love one another the same way they love us? This concept is also what makes religions one. In Ethiopia, there is a place in Marcato, the city of merchants and traders where the walls of the Christian church and the Muslim church are one. An artist by the name of Teddy Afro sang an ode about a Muslim man from far away who loved a Greek Orthodox Christian woman.
She was mesmerizing and delightful. He was head over heels for her. There is no moral to the story but here is the great kick of them all; we don’t know whether they ended up together or not because he talks about not being able to handle it.
In conclusion. I do not dwell on the past, but I keep moving forward. This is the destiny of every man that is a man and not something about a storybook. We love the hand that feeds us but to turn and destroy it is our innermost desire. Dating is a thing of the past. It does not exist. It lies hidden in the depth of Sheol, crying for an Achilles for victory to come and rescue her.
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She stands at the top of the mountain screaming “help me, I am guarded by a dragon”. She cries on the rooftops with her hand in her eyes wishing for a knight to conquer the beast. She wants someone to try, to say “it is I! Your savior my queen, my dove, my heart”. He would tell her of her kindness and she, about her life as an enemy of the state. She loves the quiet window for she can lay her head on it. When her rescuer is there, she would mount his stead and they would be off to the land of his father, her motherland; to spend eternity together. She wants nothing more than to be taken away, ravaged by the might of the son of a king.
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Confine yourself to the present
Life is neither good nor evil, but only a place for good and evil.
Marcus Aurelius
Being alive in 2016 was one of the most monumental feats of accomplishment in human history, I think. Not that being alive is any special but just the mere fact that no author could ever write something so juicy of a tale like the one that took place. I love the fact that we are still talking about it to this day as if it never happened because it was unexpected. Ladies and gentlemen, the Martians have landed from plant not earth! Donald Trump has become the president of the United States! These two sentences can go hand in hand but let’s get to the straight fact that a simple show such as The Simpsons seems to have predicted the outcome of it years beforehand. Although how they did it is a mystery, of course, no one took them seriously because it is satire for Pete’s sake. It is Ironic when the joke of the town gets the last laugh in the whole grand scheme of things. The tale signs were there all over the place. Whenever this suave businessman was interviewed, he gave comments on was partially about how 127
the people who are running the country are not doing their job like it is supposed to be done. He revolted against corporate media that contained, jailed, and abused truth while holding her captive behind bars. The bard spoke like no other yet surely he was walking straight up to the plank to lay down his career for the country he loves. A hero stepped up.
The world has never seen anything the likes of our president now. Everyone is sure he will change things and that is for sure.
I have nothing but admiration for the guy but it is hard to see SNL rip him apart just to see if there is something there, but the man can handle himself. It is none of my business who gets in or leaves the country as long as I don’t have to do anything about it. I believe war is profitable as well as peace. I am studying patiently and hard to become a lawyer so I can cure this world. I realized that although the road is long and hard, the need must come before want. . That is pretty much why Hillary Clinton lost on a large scale.
As an old lady, she has no business running around with politicians who do not care about what is going on around them as long as their pockets get fat. It does not matter whether she is a woman or not. The United States of America has been propelled into the future with the aid of the former president. Although the progressive growth is monumental, there need be regulations to slow down this gigantic ship taking us to the promised land.
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We the people are responsible for keeping the land sane from the massive infestations of liberalism that are going on around the country. Freedom is good. Too much freedom is like honey to the mouth; it gets sour over time.
Donald Trump is a crucial winning piece for the American people. Mike Pence and his ideas are equally if not more necessary. It is a scary thought to assume the President to be anything like Adolf Hitler. I love Muslims. I dislike the religion, Islam. If the president wants to put bans and restrictions, our role is not to question him but to try and see the bright side every moment. If a wall is to be built, we should riot the streets in disagreement because as it stands, the only visible human-made object from space is the great wall of China. Things will never be like Berlin in the 1940s. Walls are there to shelter the need of the many. No socialist would have fixed the problems of today as they are now. The land is ripe for the taking. Peace can be established with another great powerhouse of a nation.
We should be building on the past not tearing it apart to start over. These next 4 years will ring out through history as the time America gained its independence once again from a treat that is itself.
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A counter-argument to facts of Climate Change
“The conservative character of nationalism is maintained by an appeal to tradition and history; nationalism thereby becomes a defense for traditional institutions and a traditional way of life.
(P. 629)” Is climate change a Hoax? As a conservative, I would argue it is. The climate is fine. What is not fine is the population increase in the world which has brought about the end of the world. Human beings are reproducing at a rate where one day, there will not be enough oxygen in the air since we would have cut down all the trees to make space for ourselves. I have nothing against evidence that shows that temperatures are rising and the polar ice caps melting, nevertheless, it is not the climate that is changing, it is us. We are changing and growing. Imagine how much food we consume all around the world and how much of that is an animal product. Do you have any idea of how much space is required to raise cattle? Hectares can’t even cover it. No pun intended.
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“In the modern period, nationalism has become an article of faith for most conservatives in most parts of the world.”
I would argue that supposing the reports are true, we must utilize the resources that we have as a country to adjust and shape our attitude towards just expenditures such as capitalizing on the wind, solar and, water-powered generators. Although Nuclear energy is mighty useful, it can become unsustainable in aspects concerning jealousy. Other nations will be taking into consideration that we are swallowing a camel and exerting a gnat. What then can we conclude as a nation? Think of the war in Syria people wanting to run away to Germany to escape.
Think of the children who have no idea what is going on in war-torn countries because their parents are fighting in a war they cannot win simply because both sides have warriors that would die for the survival of the idea that their nation is. I am not an idealist. I have suffered defeat at the hands of the ones I love. I have suffered betrayal. I have suffered abandonment. Nothing compares to the promises I have in the hands of the Almighty however, how many have assassinated lives under the banner of a God? America got torn apart because simpletons decided to invade a plane and run it down the world trade building. Many lost sights of hope, many lost sights of a unified America united under the banner of justice. If Islamic states can tear us apart so easily, what more can fascist ideas do like the likes of KKK who have defiled Catholicism? Climate Change isn’t our problem, the problem is like the humans that we are, are starting to lose what being human means because, in our Universities and Colleges, we aspire to be something different than what we are, human.
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A Republic is “a government which derives all its powers directly or indirectly from the great body of the people and is administered by persons holding their offices during pleasure, for a limited period, or during good behavior (FP. NO. 39).
When reading the papers, I realized the federalist papers are not just famous for the contents of the subject, but a writer is also a sophisticated person who was admired by the founding fathers. I have always admired him because of his ability to put into words the simple fact that liberty is not just for people who can afford it but also for the ones who fight every day to preserve the peace, the ones struggling to make a living to support a family, the ones supporting a whole economy by their labor providing service to the majority as well themselves. Alexander Hamilton just liked I used to love to write about liberty in a modern context, wrote about the forms of freedom at the time because, at the time when the declaration was written, the founding fathers wanted to establish the Democratic Republic, especially Thomas Jefferson.
When John Adams asked TJ to write the declaration, Alex did not have a problem with them, but he did have a problem with the content since it disagreed with his ideals and the funny part is, I am not on his side.
“Sparta, Athens, Rome, and Carthage were all republics; two of them, Athens and Carthage, of the commercial kind. Yet were they as often engaged in wars, offensive and defensive, as the neighboring monarchies of the same times (FP NO.6)”. I think he wanted to shape America just like Rome in a way that would The ConservaTive PrinCe Diary anD LiTeraCy 133
suit the little guys at the bottom. Since Alex came from the bottom, he wanted American Citizenship to mean something because in Rome. . Ancient Rome at least. . it meant a whole deal.
“The wealth of nations depends upon an infinite variety of causes.
The situation, soil, climate, the nature of the productions, the nature of the government, the genius of the citizens, the degree of information they possess (FP. NO 21) “. As avid students of Adam Smith both Alex and I agree that the sentiments of the people should not be taken for granted. There is a certain amount of load people can carry before they crack. The wealth of the nation isn’t just the property and minerals of the earth, the people the big as the Spanish would say “caudal”. I believe the biggest investment anyone can make is in humans much like a symbiotic relationship.
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The wrITTen word on frIendshIp St. Thomas and Aristotle have a very close conception of what good means. They both believe that good should be the striving point of every virtuous person however they differ when it comes to tying a knot in the matter. St Thomas is a theologian as well as a philosopher unlike Aristotle who is purely a philosopher, so he is not influenced by the teachings of Christ. “The purpose of human law is to lead men to virtue not suddenly but gradually,”
says St. Thomas while Aristotle says, “to act in conformity with the right principle is common good”. St Thomas talks about how to lead a man to be virtuous while Aristotle talks about what to aim at in pursuit of goodness as well as why the reason is to act in accord. They bounce off each other flawlessly as if one is building on the other much like Jenga but in this case, the whole thing does not col apse when you take out a piece, the arguments stay still like a perfectly built castle brick by brick. For example, Aristotle did not believe in a higher power unlike St. Thomas, so he would say things like “the good of man must be the end of the science of politics” which completely clashes against the beliefs of St. Thomas because, the good of any Catholic/Christian is 135
to follow in the teaching of Christ and one of the teachings of Christ is to believe that there is no greater honor than to lay one’s life for a friend, therefore, the good of man is to risk everything for the one they love. Later in the book (I read the book in the past), Aristotle talks about friendship and how the value of friendship comes close to even becoming a virtue of its own. In this sense, even if we were to remove religion from the subject, Aristotle’s Ideas would not be in direct conflict with St. Thomas’s because they would both say, “good is that which al things aim”.
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polITIcs econoMy and culTure of Tokugawas japan and MIng chIna
Politics economy and culture of Tokugawas Japan and Ming China were vastly different but had their similarities in aspects of worship and leading the nation. In Politics, the difference lies in the philosophies of life. China’s military was the most essential from the time sun Tzu wrote the Art of war, so they based their power on their ability to mobilize troops and conquer territory while also using their massive vessels to horde new merchantable products from all over the continent “The Imperial Ming dynasty in unifying seas and continents . . . even goes beyond the Han and the Tang. The countries beyond the horizon and from the ends of the earth have all become subjects (P.207)”. Japan has always sought to sustain itself by the means of staying put at one place and governing its citizens through shogunate rule up until Takanawa where the king was just a puppet and power lied with the commissioners. Through an exchange of information, they would later adopt each other’s religions and ways of ruling such as feudalism.
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The similarity in culture lies in Confucianism and Feudalism.
They both loved to have power wielded by a class system that put the rich above all others in terms of status. “Peasants and artisans were essential producers, although of low status, but merchants, despite their obvious accomplishments, literacy, often cultivation, and wealth, were seen as parasites and put into the lowest social order of all (P.235).” They both lavished in their wealth and Japan especial y produced children that would inherit their properties and continue the lineage putting family first above all others and following a rigid discipline. Indifference, To sustain beauty good enough for the emperor’s orders such as foot-binding were established to “increase” the beauty of women in China. This became the political order they followed for centuries and influenced their culture. Japan had class struggles such as the Daimyo rising to tear apart the Ashikaga in Japan.
As for the economy, both had the means but only China used their resources such as their Junk ships to accumulate wealth.
Matteo Ricci reported early in the seventeenth century,
“Everything which the people need for their well- being and sustenance . . . is abundantly produced within the borders of the kingdom.” “China was indeed the most productive area of comparable size anywhere in the world, especially its great river val eys and floodplains” (P.207). Japan had always struggled with money and had constant uprising by the farmers in earlier times.
Through tight-knit political control and policing, the Takanawa was established and over time, Mito (northeast of Edo), Nagoya, 138
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and Wakayama (south of Osaka) became the central cities in Japan for commerce to the whole country till now. They both had struggling classes at the bottom because they did not have enough money and food to eat.
Both the founders of Ming China and Tokugawa Japan had similar personal and political characteristics. Both the Ming dynasty and Tokugawa shogunate were able to maintain political order, control, and develop economic prosperity. They both experienced feudalism, civil wars, and were ruled by local warlords. They both gained their political power from an environment of rebellion and civil war where the incumbent rulers were unable to deliver order and prosperity to the people.
The Ming dynasty was founded from the emergence of a strong rebel leader, Zhu Yuanzhang, the first Ming emperor. The first emperor was also known as, Hongwu. The meaning of his name is “great military power” and reflected his leadership style. He arose from numerous rebel leaders and established the Ming dynasty by the control of two important cities that were the centers of the political and economic gravity of China at the time, Nanjing and Beijing. Similarly, Tokugawa Ieyasu was the third great military leader in a succession of strong leaders who managed to gain political power and leadership. Ieyasu because of his strong military leadership qualities and his ability to ensure the succession of power to his descendants, established himself as the Shogun. As the Shogun, Ieyasu was effectively the ruler of Japan. Ieyasu gained control of two principal centers of political and economic gravity in Japan, Kyoto, and Edo. Ieyasu effectively emerged as the Shogun and ruler of Japan because he was able The ConservaTive PrinCe Diary anD LiTeraCy 139
to maintain political order from a landscape characterized by feudalism and civil war during the Ashikaga shogunate era.
Both Ming and the Tokugawa rule was characterized by highly effective, structured, and layered government administrations that maintained order and ensured the control of the ruler. Both administrations effectively collected taxes and revenue for the state. The Ming and the Tokugawa governments relied on a foundation of Confucian ethics and a rigid social structure that controlled power and the people. Both maintained political power centered on a strong ruler. The Ming established the Grand Secretariat and employed imperial censors to administer regions. Similarly, the Tokugawa established the Bakufu and a strong secret police force to administer and control regions.
Both the Ming and Tokugawa political structure relied on the warrior class to serve in important political positions. The Ming had established elite military guards and placed them in places of strategic importance. Military officials were placed into prominent political positions. Similarly, the Japanese had the samurai warrior class. The Tokugawa maintained control over the daimyo who controlled their respective Hans. The samurai maintained powerful political and military positions in support of the ruler. Both employed a system of arranged marriages between feudal clans to help maintain political power and influence. Both political systems had a very small percentage of the population serving as the ruling class. The Ming and Tokugawa political structures failed when the ruler failed to effectively lead their administrations and failed to deliver order, stability, and prosperity to the people. Political Differences. The 140
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Ming maintained an effective political bureaucracy that relied on the Confucian system of civil-servant class based on merit to administer the affairs of government. The Tokugawa rulers did not have a distinct civil servant class based on examinations to achieve positions. The Ming political system was plagued by the eunuch class of administrators. As a result, in general, the Ming political system experienced significant corruption, intrigue, and in-fighting for power. The net result was the wider erosion of the centralized power of the Ming rulers. In contrast, the Tokugawa shogunate did not have eunuchs or a distinctively Confucian civil servant class.
The Tokugawa leader, Ieyasu established the Sankin Kotai system. Ieyasu maintained control of the local warlords or daimyo. He required the daimyo to maintain their residence at the court in Edo in alternate years. When the daimyo returned to their regions, their families were kept in the Edo court as hostages. This was an effective system of maintaining control over the daimyo. The resources required from the daimyo to meet this requirement were enormous and made the daimyo less likely to fund a rebellion, even with their family as hostages in the shogun’s court. (Murphey, pp. 200, 205, 207, 212, 216-218, 231-241; “Chinese Civilization (17) The Ming, Part 1.,” film.;
“Age of the Shoguns,” film.)
Both the Ming and Tokugawa maintained rule and order that allowed for the development and growth of their respective economies and populations. Both systems relied on an agricultural-based economy. The political order brought by The ConservaTive PrinCe Diary anD LiTeraCy 141
their respective rule and administration allowed for agricultural productivity to grow and subsequently al owed their populations to grow. In both Ming and Tokugawa societies, due to their Confucian foundation, commercialism was not the focus of government rule. However, in both, taxation was an important aspect of their economies. Both established efficient fixed-rate systems of taxation and from those systems devised ways to support the ruling class and their respective administrations.
Both the Ming and Tokugawa viewed the merchant class as lowly in the social structure. However, the merchant class was contributing to the increasing wealth of the economy. The merchant class helped to change the culture of society as their wealth continued to grow greater influence. Economic power in Ming China centered around the Nanjing area with an effective infrastructure that transported agriculture and products via a road and canal network. Eventually, Beijing to the north was the capital and became the seat of political and military power.
Similarly, the Tokugawa shogunate control ed the regions around Nagoya, the center of Japan’s economy. Eventual y, the Tokugawa controlled Japan from Edo, centrally located in Japan. Both the Ming and Tokugawa economies had advanced technology that they used to make finished products.
The Tokugawa were renowned sword makers and had advanced metal technologies. Similarly, the Ming used their advanced production technologies to develop their textile and silk industries. Both Ming and Tokugawa exported their goods to foreign markets by the use of a maritime capability. Tokugawa Japan had established a wide network of trade via sea routes to 142
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many Asian markets as did the Ming. Both the Ming and the Tokugawa experienced the rise of the commercial and merchant class as their economies grew. Economic Differences. The Ming economy was much greater in size and scale than the Tokugawa economy. The population and geographical size of Ming China were substantially larger than in Tokugawa Japan. The vast infrastructure of roads, the Grand Canal, the agricultural development, and the industrial development of Ming China were much greater than those developed by Tokugawa Japan.
Both Ming China and Tokugawa Japan established trade with foreign nations. However, the Tokugawa leaders were much more restrictive in their trade and exposure to foreigners. The Tokugawa government placed many restrictions on foreigners, their trade, and their spread of religion. The Tokugawa government expelled foreigners and isolated Japan from foreign economic and cultural influences under strict controls. The Ming Chinese were much less restrictive in their commercial enterprises with foreigners. The strict Tokugawa social structure impacted the economy. The out-of-work samurai class was not permitted to become merchants. The impact of this strict social structure caused the peasantry to suffer the most.
The Tokugawa ruling class had to squeeze more out of the peasantry in taxes. This caused more discontent and revolt in both the countryside and in urban areas, ultimately destabilizing the economy. However, the economic growth and the wealth of the merchant class under the Tokugawa rulers developed a
“Floating World” of amusements, arts, and cultural growth.
This growth from urban centers, coupled with the Sankin Kotai The ConservaTive PrinCe Diary anD LiTeraCy 143
system eroded the feudal system. This developed for Japan what would become a national economy centered in Edo. (Murphey, pp. 205-215, 232-243; “Chinese Civilization (17) The Ming, Part 1.,” film.; “Age of the Shoguns,” film.) The Ming dynasty and Tokugawa rulers believed in the superiority of their respective cultures and viewed all other civilizations as barbarians. Both cultures had a foundation of Confucian morals and focused on the filial system, respect for elders, and ancestors. Both cultures maintained local order through the self-regulation of society based on elders and family.
The Ming and Tokugawa culture developed a wealthy merchant class that patronized literature and the arts. The Tokugawa grew cultural life around daimyo castles and developed a growing urban culture and sophistication as did the Ming. In both the Ming and Tokugawa cultures the expanding wealth and financial influence of the merchant class gradually eroded the feudal system. Cultural Differences. The Tokugawa culture was significantly more restrictive in their interactions with foreigners.
In contrast, the Ming rulers were more open to the ideas and influences from the western foreigners. This allowed the Ming more interactions to develop more technologies. The Japanese people were much more homogeneous with a common language and culture compared to China. The Tokugawa culture allowed for a more unified identity in Japan and consequently evolved into a more centralized government.
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In contrast, the Ming were unable to maintain a culture with a unifying national identity and became more susceptible to erosion due to nepotism, internal fighting, intrigue, and corruption.
(Murphey, pp. 209-213, 236-241; “Chinese Civilization (17) The Ming, Part 1.,” film.; “Age of the Shoguns,” film.) Examining the differences between Ming China and Tokugawa Japan, if Zheng He were employed by the Shogun Ieyasu, the approach to maritime expeditions may have been different. Did the geography of Japan compare to China play a major role in their approaches to maritime development? Bibliography: Murphey, Dr. Rhoads.
A History of Asia, 7th ed., Pearson, 2017, pp 200-243.
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I remember the events that shaped the United States and I saw it unravel on TV. I remember the devastation on my mother’s face and my dad’s utter shock when the world trade collapsed, and the light almost left his eyes with horror and grief sitting in the living room by the fire in Ethiopia on September 11, 2001. I remember I was 13 years old when I saw my mother jumping up and down screaming “Halleluiah!” at the top of her lungs at 4 am when Obama got elected as the first African American President of the United States in the dimly lit living room my father built from the ground up. I remember the tales the community talked about their encounter with Americans in the US and how someone will tell them to pick up the trash if they saw them drop something on the ground. I remember learning about American Football on a spreadsheet at the private school I attended and being captivated by it to the point when crossing the 100-yard line with a football in hand felt like a wet dream and I imagined daydreamed every night for the next two weeks when I will get to play football.
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At 15, I attended Northwood Highschool briefly and was surprised I was the smartest person in the room. I saw the most ambitious people and met with sturdy students, but I learned what they lacked was heart. Reading “Coming of Age in Mississippi” in Ms. Washington’s class, I saw the true beauty of a black woman and the potential she possesses. Just like Ann Moody “I had found something outside myself that gave meaning to my life” Anne Moody, Part 3, Chapter 21. I read that book overnight and was consumed with a brief hatred for government and figured there must be something wrong to oppress and vilify a minority to produce the maximum outcome. I had no white friends then except a Jewish lady named Margo. She was a lady above all ladies who dressed modestly and kindly. I used to get lost in her green eyes when she told me about her day sitting in the lab on the second floor at Northwood. I soon started to realize I was being drawn by her feminine beauty. My eyes would not stop looking at her breasts and the smell of her hair was captivating, sometimes intoxicating. All my expectations about White people were shattered when I met a person named Eddy.
Eddy was the first white person in that school who had heart.
He sympathized with the stories of Emmitt Till and how his mother wanted an open casket to show the world she has not a moment to hate the world for what white men did to her baby boy. He thought about my aesthetics and culture.
Soon after I transferred to Bethesda Chevy Chase high-school to finish out my last 3 years in high school prepared to take on college. I barely went to any games, nor do I remember any teacher that left an impression. I never got to meet the President 148
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of the school but had an encounter with the government. My lunch was being paid for as well as application fees for colleges by the government. The government also paid for my education as well as my SAT classes during my junior year. I did not know why these things were happening but every time, I felt distant from everyone else. The cool kids would go to Chipotle and buy lunch as well as the middle class that followed their heels and spent their time in the MacDonald’s or A1 nearby. I would sometimes eat lunch in the music room or the cafeteria but here in Bethesda, the government was not the problem, it was the people. I did not have a hard time throughout high school, but I did have a boring experience of repetition everything. Waking up at 6 am, getting dressed and feeding myself at 6:30 am, heading out for the bus at 6:45 and getting to school at 7:10, attend class until 2 PM and coming back home hungry, not for food but the democracy I saw across the street at the Catholic School nearby. I was hungry for their union and their ability to work closely as a cohesive unit.
In college, I started studying the causes that compelled the founding fathers to declare their independence from the clutches of tyranny under King George III and one strain called out to me in the Declaration of Independence, “Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness. — That to secure these rights, Governments are instituted among Men, deriving their just powers from the consent of the governed, — That whenever any Form of Government becomes destructive of these ends, it is the Right of the People to alter or to abolish it, and to institute new Government, laying its foundation on such principles and The ConservaTive PrinCe Diary anD LiTeraCy 149
organizing its powers in such form, as to them shall seem most likely to effect their Safety and Happiness”. When 53 people signed the constitution, none of them agreed on what kind of a government should be established, not a Democracy, not a Republic, not Anarchy, not a Tyranny, not a feminist, nor an Oligarchy. The declaration states, “NEW” government under the pleasure and desire of the majority vote which can be anything.
This is why standing here today I would like to say, “One For All, All for One”. The words, out of many, one, are written on the walls of the capitol by an Italian painter to represent the dawning of a new age as George Washington capitalizes on his success of defeating British troops under the sword, liberating the United States, and turning a new page. In the words of President Reagan, “the goal is world peace, we are the leaders of the free world whether we like it or not” and here in the United States, the people are given the opportunity whether black, white, yellow, or brown the choice “the burden to maintain the peace of the world falls on us” continues Reagan.
The ideal form of government is a Kingdom, a Kingdom led by a Lord, a King, and a Master. When I kissed the first girl, I ever loved in Rockvil e at 10 PM a few blocks from her house, it wasn’t hatred that was in my heart. It was a dream of a family, a dream of holding our son in our hands and pushing towards a better life and a future. The students of Northwood failed because they did not know what they could be individually and missed out on the relationship with their teachers. The government of Bethesda 150
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Chevy Chase failed because class left a huge hole blank leaving out the valuable upper middle class, forgetting the American history of the Vanderbilt’s, U of Virginia, and Carnegie’s of the world, and without lordship, their soul is up for grabs, for sale.
There has never been a King like Marcus Aurelius where even Jesus said “Very truly I tell you, whoever believes in me will do the works I have been doing, and they will do even greater things than these because I am going to the Father. 13 And I will do whatever you ask in my name, so that the Father may be glorified in the Son. 14 You may ask me for anything in my name, and I will do it (John 14:12-14)”. There have been no accounts of Marcus Aurelius being a Christian because there is no such thing. Jesus never said become Christians nor did Mohamed ever say become Muslims. Buddha never said become a Buddhist nor did the Taoist philosophers say become Taoists.
We are the creators of our destiny and at this moment, we can choose to because Kings, Lords, Masters of our fate under one God who is who he is, living under the wings of the Almighty and create a just world where kindness overflows. “Do you need help with your bags mother? “Father, can I wash your feet?”
“Brother, let me show you the way!” “Sister, let me protect your heart.”
In a Kingdom, Laws prevail and just as much as the seed has the potential to become a forest, mankind in the United States can be abundant as the starts in progress, working towards a new deal with Iran, negotiating peace treaties in Palestine, and ending the “War on Drugs”. The Just citizens should not be The ConservaTive PrinCe Diary anD LiTeraCy 151
tied down by autocracy but reined in by the lasso of love and prosperity. The American Dream then will no longer be a dream but a reality where our Military in Arms will come home to drown a Jack Daniels in peace under the shade of an Apple tree lighting a foreign cigarette thinking about their next endeavor in life.
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The 2019 democratic debate kicked off hot and candidates did not hold back on sharing their position regardless of disagreements in ways of implementing policies as well as ways in meeting common democratic goals such as Immigration, gun reform, and education. What most of the arguments made did not have in common is the means of meeting the end goals. While Senator Harris held back on targeting other candidates, the former Secretary of Housing and Urban Development Julian Castro did not hold back on prying the promises of former Vice President Joe Biden which started a roundabout of candidates calling each other out on their past failures. One thing was for sure, there was a unanimous animosity and hatred towards current President Trump in the entire room where the term “racist” was used quite often to describe his character. Senator Sanders at some point eloquently said that President Trump is “the most dangerous President” for the American Democracy in which none even raised an eyebrow. Senator Sanders, a member of congress for 153
the past 30 years, seemed poised and articulate the same way Senator Warren was especially standing up for their prime goal of eradicating all or 95% of the 1.3 trillion-dollar student loans in the country.
The whole debate can be summarized as “the classroom”. Clear respect was paramount among the candidates. They raised their hands before they spoke and answered questions enthusiastical y.
United, their goal is to beat President Trump and bring stability to middle and lower-class America through debt relief, health care reform, and easy access to education. All candidates have at least a bachelor’s degree and five are Lawyers. Six candidates have attended Ivy League Schools. Each came from a different background than the rest. The son of an immigrant, Entrepreneur Andrew Yang, a graduate of Brown and Columbia University, wasn’t shy to mention his failure concerning starting a business that flopped at a young age. What stood out however is his plan to give 1000 dollars a month for a year to 10 random families across the United States in support of “The Almighty Dollar” that could make the “country work for us”. Everyone was in unanimous agreement with Senator Warren’s belief that immigration makes the United States strong. Regarding the recent shootings in El Paso Texas, his hometown, Candidate Beto O’Rourke captivated the voters in the room by putting his foot down taking a hard stance that AR-15 and AK-47’s will be bought back on all account from citizens once he steps into an office which resulted in a massive standing ovation. Bookers take all in all regarding mass shootings however was to take the fight 154
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to the NRA because the low-income neighborhood he came from was plagued with gun violence and made his resentment and ambition to fight big on behalf of those who died of gun violence very clear.
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“In its alternative version, post-Marxism consists of an attempt to salvage certain key Marxist insights by attempting to reconcile Marxism with aspects of postmodernism (Page 433)” I think that Marxism is not dead. It has just changed forms and moved out of its parent’s house to Russia and China. I always thought I liked the idea of bringing down the house from the top down but once I started studying the French revolution things changed.
Let us face it, the King and the Queen were living like Gods but what makes Communism different from Anarchy is that it maintains the established government/the system for long periods whereas anarchy can just be a state. I would put it that a brother to Communism is Socialism and although they have their differences, my problem with them is their cohesive structure. I do not know how much I would like the government telling me the limit to how much money I can make and keep sustaining my family, but I might be wrong. Some people in eastern China who do not feel the heavyweight of the government might not feel 157
too bad about it since they can regulate free labor and production under their family laws, their confusing culture. The thing that bothers me about this is when do they get to say enough when government officials come to take their property away?
“By 1991 the Soviet Union, the model of orthodox communism, had ceased to exist (P. 433)”. When the USSR fell in the ’90s, the whole world rejoiced. I have never talked with anyone disappointed that Russia fell apart. I on the other hand feel some type of way about this. Putin was originally in the KGB
(Komitet Gosudarstvennoy Bezopasnosti «Committee for State Security)”. In a way, the USSR is still alive in him because he represents everything that they did. . at least In my opinion.
Marx once said, “History repeats itself, first as tragedy, second as farce.” We saw it through the history of Russia all the way down from the Romanov’s down to Putin. Lenin and Gorbachev represent the ode that the original writers of the constitution wanted to point out as the mistake that would arise eventually and soon enough. . everything changed when communism emerged as a substitute for Kingdoms/Monarchies… I would put it as “bringing down strongholds”. I think people take it as a joke when Kingdoms fall which is wrong. What makes America different is the Kingdom overseas that claimed dominion over the land did not fully colonize it. When I was reading the bible, I learned that God told the Jewish people to get rid of the whole occupants of the area he promised them before they started living there but oops…they did not. Now they are waring with Palestine all the time. I think King George made the same 158
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mistake. “There is, nevertheless, considerable debate about the implications of the col apse of communism for Marxism (P. 433)”
and this brings me to my final point. I do not think Kingdoms should be decimated. Others believe that Marxism is completely gone with the fall of the USSR. I guess more study is needed at a point because I think that Ideas like energy are not destroyed, I know they change forms.
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Businesses can survive without politics and vice-versa. It has been a long tradition to uphold values and virtues when it comes to business and politics. They are both independent, yet we see them daily colluding and working together to bring us the world as we know it. It does not mean that they are dependent on each other. It simply means they co-exist in this world. We first must define what they are. Business is the exchange of goods between two separate entities. The exchange can be information, products, money, etc. businesses are affairs as well as commerce.
Business can also be looked at as a person’s occupation or what he/she does to earn a living. It can be heard often when people say, “stay out of my business!” or “business is booming”. Politics is something quite different from business. Politics is about leadership and power. Politics happens when governments are involved in governing countries and the affairs of the state.
Politics also has to do with the relations between countries. To put it simply, although Business and Politics have always coexisted, they are not dependent on each other, and here is why.
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Trade between the United States and China can continue without the president getting involved. Trade is the exchange of goods between two individuals or corporations or organizations.
The president is the presiding governor of a republic sometimes called chief executive or head of state. The president has a lot of powers but is constantly in check from the Judicial and legislative branches of the government. The judicial branch of the government includes judges who rectify the final word on cases or policies. The legislative branch includes the senate and the House of Representatives who are responsible for making laws that govern the country. Looking at the current residing president in the white house, we can see that he is taking many actions that most think a president should not be able to do.
The president is already flexing his commander in chief muscles sending out missiles strikes against Syrian militants who are abusing the sanctity of humanity by attacking the citizens with chemical weapons. Now let’s take away politics into a world where free trade exists, and people are left to fending for themselves with the property that they have. Even in an anarchic state, if my family and I were to secure a water hole yet we do not have any meat to eat, that might be problematic for us since protein is an essential nutrient that the body needs to recover. Kwashiorkor is a disease caused by the lack of protein in a diet. It causes poor concentration and trouble learning, muscles and joint pains, low energy, and constant fatigue and if left untreated, the condition can lead to coma, shock, or death. Imagine now if there exists a family somewhere out there in this world that we created that 162
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has a ton of livestock but lacks a waterhole to draw water from for themselves and their livestock. One option is we could go to war and the winner would win both the water hole and the livestock however, there may be a lot of unwanted casualties along the way.
The best thing to do for everyone, in this case, would be to settle things humanely and peacefully by the means of trade. Family number 1 can say, “I will let you use my waterhole that I secured with my labor in exchange for some of your livestock that I can raise for milk and butter, so my family can survive.” Family number 2 has a choice to negotiate or take the deal because it benefits both families. They may even settle and coexist together in the same land mutually benefiting one another. A scenario like this is what could happen between the United States and China without politics getting involved. Without politics, a business can survive because America needs the ability of China to mass-produce products. According to World meters, a world population counter, China has approximately 1.4 billion people. Amazon, Apple, Microsoft, Toyota, and many other high-profile companies have bases located in China in need of cheap production prices, fast production times, and mass production to asked time. Shanghai is the commercial capital of China, maybe even Asia. China is an economic superpower.
In 2010 it became the second-largest economy. When you look at the global market, you can see the hand of China in almost every product from textile to food and bottled water. Chinese economy transitions from an export-led investment economy to a domestic consumption economy. Xiaoguang Huang, a CEO
of ANZ China believes that this transition from exporting to The ConservaTive PrinCe Diary anD LiTeraCy 163
domestic consumption could take about 15 to 20 years to be ful y complete. Foreign companies are mainly using shanghai as a springboard into greater China as a result. Shanghai’s free trade zone is also being established to trial new rules and regulations to keeping business afloat.
Wall Street stands firm by itself without the government.
Bankers and stockbrokers have ruled wall street in the center of the business world in New York. Some have made mil ions while some have lost their homes and withered away. Every business day more than a million shares are exchanged at wall street. It is a place where a company can raise millions of dollars by offering ownership to a lot of small owners. The trading floor is where someone can enter and exit an investment. One day you can be in the automobile business while the next day you can be in the next best thing. 40% of families own stock one way or another in the United States. People wake up every morning eager to be the next Warren Buffet. 100’s of years ago investing was chaotic.
Investing can be traced back to ancient Greek. Ship captains would take an all-or-nothing approach when it came to leaving town and coming back with riches. The Romans also sold stocks when a single businessman could not handle the expense of the buildings. 1600 Hol and was capital of trade at some point where stocks were sold some not worth anything at all, but the value would increase nevertheless because they would advertise it as something out of this world. Some traders got fooled into buying shares where the company claimed to turn chickens into sheep.
As time went on stocks make Europe the economic capital of the and eventually, America becomes one too.
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Wall Street remains in New York whilst Congress is in Washington, they coexist. Wall Street got its name when New York was a small town and pilgrims put up walls to keep out Indians. Eventual y, the town would become an economic capital where slaves were sold, and public humiliations were helping.
Stocks eventual y started being sold there. If you wanted to sell or buy stock, you had to hire a stockbroker to do it. Only reputable stocks were traded. Many people were afraid of stock because it was an all-in or out kind of business. The reputability brought in a limited amount of success for stockbrokers and disputes were settled with fists. Technology would eventually speed up the whole process more than anyone could ever imagine. Wallstreet was no place for amateurs ever since its founding.
It was a jungle since there were no rules. There was no federal government involved as well as very minimal state involvement if any. American railroads were known throughout wall street. The stocks were needed because you need to assemble a large amount of money to start building. The network stock exchange found its new site on the wall and broad. It was modernized which gave its way to a free for where ruthlessness took over the playground (the trading floor). Washington D.C is the nation’s capital. The national mall is a grand open space that is a symbol of American democracy. It represents the ever-changing culture. 29 million people visit it every year and there are many moments there that went down in history as the most memorable ever. The national mall, also known as America’s backyard, is where people from around the world come to know about what the country is all about. George Washington himself was the person involved in The ConservaTive PrinCe Diary anD LiTeraCy 165
choosing the site of the national mall for the new capital city.
A Frenchman named Piere was given the glory of dissecting the land and making something out of the farmlands. He was looking way ahead into the future when he planned out where the president’s cabinet was going to be along with the placement of the statues and monuments. The tal est free-standing structure exists right here in Washington D.C. Over 500ft tall, it weights over 90,000tons and the weight is the only thing that is holding it in place. A 5.8 magnitude in 2011 made over 150 cracks on the monument where it had to be repaired or chunks of it were to fall out. It took 2 years and 15 million dollars to repair the monument. As a result of a divided country, 6 years into the construction of the monument, civil war threatens to collapse the construction, but President Lincoln would not have it.
Along with the Washington capital, he could not bear the thought of an unfinished country as well as a divided one. In 1878 continues the construction as America was once again united under one banner. Once finished the monument displayed the power of the United States along with its strong democracy.
Henery Beacon credited for being the architect of the Lincoln memorial made sure the design is interactive and goes well with the rest of the monuments. It is important to remember what lead to congress sitting in Washington. As much as the people in congress (house of representatives and senate) are important, they only live up to 100 years whereas the civilization and monuments would last for hundreds. This is why the monument, the memorial, and the white house are important.
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Wall Street deals in money in the center of the financial world.
The bulls and bears are one of the most important aspects of wall street. The bulls are investors who think the market will go up, the bears are the ones betting against the stock who are ready to cash in when the deal flops to the ground. The concept of bull and bear struggle made wall street dangerous. Every week people would be all over wall street waiting to see if the stocks have gone up or down and panic would settle in. World war 2 did not help the cause since the exchange was forced to close for days eventually leading to the closure of wall street for 4 months. The telegraph in 1832 led to the revolutionization of the stock exchange. It helped the news spread like wildfire through town and in a place where information is power like wall street, the telegraph seemed like a device that was sent by God himself to advance civilization. The telegraph took over the whole town soon afterward making New York the center of the stock exchange world. This is where the most powerful man at that time came to be, JP Morgan. He established the first billion-dollar stock by combining 9 companies that dealt with railroads. He cared about every stock he sold. Investors respected Morgan however he was not liked very much by the public. JP
Morgan as we know it today as a commercial and investment banking company is one of the most well-known and respected companies around the world.
Congress deals in and with power at Washington, DC. Congress is a bicameral institution. They operate directly from the capital and are composed of the house of representatives and the senate.
The house and the senate do not have the same set of rules. When The ConservaTive PrinCe Diary anD LiTeraCy 167
you look at the house of representatives, it is a requirement that you must be a minimum of 25 years old to become a member.
The person must have lived for a minimum of 7 years in the United States meaning it is not a requirement to be born in the United States to become a representative. Every 2 years the entire united states house is up for election or reelection.
There are 435 house members and every two years if people are dissatisfied with the actions or representation of the house, they can ALL be replaced. In the senate a minimum of 9 years stay in the United States is required to take a position. The person must also be a minimum age of 30 and the term a senate serves is 6 years. The reason the founding fathers did this is that they wanted the people to be represented well with fresh minds and ideas. Both the house and the senate make laws. The senate however is the one that sets appointments for the cabinet. The United States Senate has the power in choosing which official gets elected for office.
The house has no role whatsoever in the appointment process.
The Senate is also in charge of foreign treaties like ending war for example. When World War 1 ended in 1918 Woodrow Wilson put together to put a peace treaty together to punish European countries, but the senate is the one that voted down the treaty of Versailles. There have been two presidents who have been impeached. Andrew Johnson and Bill Clinton. The house of the one that impeaches the elected official. They have the power to charge for the crime. Most of the United States Senate must find you guilty to be impeached. The senate has 100 members. Size is always going to matter. There is something known as a filibuster 168
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in the senate, when you have the podium in the congress, you can speak as much as you want. The house however has limits in how much they can speak and how long since there are a lot of people which means things might not get done if they can filibuster.
Congress does not need bankers to implement policies the same way bankers and stockbrokers do not need politicians for stock trades, they are not dependent on each other. It’s not just the location that is different but their function as wel . As mentioned before, congress is a bicameral institution consisting of the senate and the house of representatives. They deal in policies. For a bill to become a law an idea comes first then a senate introduces the bill to the committee. The idea can come from an interest group or the executive branch or even from congress. Once introduced, it is written in formal writing or markup which is the language they are familiar with. The Senate version of the bill is sent to the house. If a bill receives most of the vote, 238 or more of the votes, it passes. The same bill must pass both houses to get to the president, but it seldom happens. The president can either sign or veto the bill. Congress can avoid all this by signing the bill and if the president waits too long, the bill becomes a law without the presidents’ signature.
Policies go through politicians for approval, not stockbrokers and bankers. When we think about major issues such as gun control or same-sex marriage. The first thing that comes to our mind is not banking or money. We think of the people, the laws, and politicians. Same-sex marriage was not approved until Obama The ConservaTive PrinCe Diary anD LiTeraCy 169
took office. It was not Jeff Bezos, the CEO of Amazon, or Warren Buffet, CEO of Berkshire Hathaway that helped pass the bil that made it possible for same-sex marriage to be legal al around the United States. Even when we come to current issues such as the Iran nuclear deal, we do not see the CEO of apple signing the withdrawal from the Iran nuclear deal that Obama signed back when he was commander in chief. Politicians take over matters involving the state or governing and that’s the way it should be because if money was involved in the matter, the system would be corrupt. Money has a way of making the strongest-headed people blink.
The same way Donald Trump, the president of the United States, an elected statesman by the people, is dealing with the Iran Deal, stock trades go through stockbrokers and bankers, not politicians. The hardest thing for people who want to invest in the stock market is getting started. Where is the right place to start? If you jump into the market without knowing what you are doing you could lose a lot of money. It is first critical what kind of trader people want to become. Sometimes some people go into stocks for weeks or months since companies often put up shares that are short-term which is why being a short-term trader is an option. It is also possible to become an options trader, but it is not recommended for beginners since option traders usually know what they are doing when it comes to the market.
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successfully. The most common kind of shares is held shares where people don’t go in and out of the market, but they stay invested for decades or more. This strategy is more noticed when the focus is on how people like Warren Buffet trade stocks.
The business invests in everything including politics. My father is a businessman in Ethiopia dealing in coffee imports and exports.
He owns farmland deep in the fields of the bore, roughly about 300km from the capital of Ethiopia, Addis Ababa. He makes money dealing in coffee however he tel s me he makes a living by investing in a lot of things. Businesses invest in education, bridge constructions, stock market, oil importation, and exportation, etc. He owns a couple of shares in the construction of sites and buildings. He said he put some in my name a while ago and they are growing year by year, who knows, maybe those shares would one day make me a millionaire. The point is, as a businessman who has money, he can use it to buy shares in a certain company that looks promising and once that company starts making money over the deficit, shareholders start getting chunks of the money. The amount of money shareholders make is directly proportional to how the company is performing.
Businesses give money to political campaigns and their preferred party as investments. My father is a democrat. I consider myself a conservative. Although he is not happy with many of the policies approved by the democratic party such as same-sex marriage and the legalization of marijuana, he still makes contributions to the party by giving as much money that is allowed for a political campaign to accept. The reason he is not happy about some The ConservaTive PrinCe Diary anD LiTeraCy 171
democratic ideals Is that they seem to disagree with his Christian beliefs. As for me, I think he should change sides become the conservative party could use a person like him nevertheless, the point I’m trying to make here is that investments are accepted by businessmen by politicians.
Politicians raise money on their own. Campaigns and fundraisers are not just tools for businessmen and women, politicians use them all the time without depending on anyone. Although there is a limit to how much money a politician can accept per person, the work it takes to accumulate wealth is not easy. It is illegal for workers to contribute free service for a political campaign.
Money is vital for politicians. Politicians raise money using printers, phone companies, radio, television, etc. which are not free. They use these means to spread out the word on what they can provide for the public. A politician first and foremost is the servant of the people just as much as he/she is a representative.
Politicians throw parties to attract investors who would support them financial y. What better way to make everyone feel welcome than to throw a party for everyone to come and enjoy people who share the same ideas as them. People are more likely to support the cause when they know other like-minded people also support the same agenda.
In Conclusion, business and politics do not depend on each other because they are distinctly different in the way operations are carried out, money is dealt with, and who has the power, which is why they co-exist in this world without any dependency on one another.
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bIpolar dIsorder and MarIjuana use In adolescenTs
There are many reports and peer review journals that study the correlation between Bipolar disorder and marijuana use.
Among all of the articles, there are many common similarities and differences. In all, there is always a control group that has never smoked marijuana or has bipolar disorder and there is the experimental group that has bipolar disorder and uses marijuana.
Even with the massive political war going on right here in the United States, science and research seem to be the only way to confront the issue of whether cannabis can be used for medicinal purposes to treat different health issues. There are many names for Marijuana such as weed, blunt, airplane, Kush, ganja, etc.
but our interest lies inside the plant, the chemical that causes a high for the user, THC. 9 states including Nevada, Colorado, California, and Maine have legalized recreational use for adults above the age of 21 and sates such as Maryland, Pennsylvania, Ohio, and Florida have legalized medicinal use. As time goes by, more and more people would have access to cannabis including minors who want to experiment. From the wave of change that 173
the nation has been experiencing, it can be said that the positive effects of marijuana are starting to stand out for lawmakers and legislators, however, how much can be said about the effects of Marijuana in growing individual brains, especially if they have mental disorders? Can marijuana affect brain growth and development?
To understand the effects of Marijuana in adolescents with bipolar disorder, it is necessary to study bipolar disorder and marijuana individually. Marijuana does affect the brain from the point of consumption since it is mostly smoked. It can also be ingested after being baked with food which not only means less detection of use but the likelihood of higher dosage than expected. Most young people who use it recreationally don’t understand the substance much. Even science is just starting to understand cannabis in this day and age since it is a schedule 1 substance like cocaine and heroin which means fewer opportunities for trial.
Marijuana can act as a depressant, narcotic, and hallucinogen.
As a depressant it mimics the effects of alcohol, making people feel relaxed and putting them in a parasympathetic state. As a narcotic it helps prevents pains and as a hallucinogen, it makes people see illusions.
Bipolar disorder is considered one of the most debilitating mood disorders, is the sixth leading cause of disability in the world according to the World Health Organization according to the studies. It can cause dramatic mood swings between manic episodes that makes the patient feel on top of the world and depressive lows that make the patient feel sad, helpless, and 174
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hopeless. There are drugs (antipsychotics, selective serotonin inhibitors) that treat bipolar disorder which puts the person feeling normal and be mixed with everyone else to continue normal day-to-day activities.
There are also therapies such as support groups and family therapy. No one knows what the cause of the bipolar disorder is other than the need for immediate treatment after it has been detected since it is not easy to diagnose.
Many research shows that bipolar disorder and marijuana do not go hand in hand especially when it comes to teenagers.
The best thing to do that most recommend is to wait as long as possible to start smoking marijuana, preferably late in the twenties or thirties. I agree with this because marijuana can be a distraction for most of everyone who uses it. That is why people are told not to smoke and drive the same way they are told not to drink and drive because the cognitive part of the brain is not functioning properly. It’s not the same when a teenager gets high on marijuana vs. an adult getting high on marijuana because a teenager’s mind is not yet fully developed.
It is bad enough that marijuana impairs the minds of teenagers who do not have mental illnesses, think about how much it affects those who do have disorders. There is much study yet to be done on this substance yet the ones that we have shown otherwise. Study shows those who stop using marijuana who have mental disorders and those who do not have an equal chance of recovery. This is not to say any of the people in any parts of the experimental group should keeping using marijuana.
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It is the opposite. Marijuana use recreationally should not be encouraged (advertised (in some states) in anyone but adults who have a developed mind for it, those whose judgment and reason will not be easily affected. The hippocampus is the center of emotion, memory, and the autonomous nervous system. cerebral cortex, nucleus acumens, and basal ganglia are all affected by the active ingredient THC.
The positive side is pretty much subjective at this point. Some people feel a sense of relief when they use any kind of marijuana product, one that mimics euphoric feelings. The plant is categorized into two, Indica and Sativa. Sativa is a head high, while Indica is a body high that produces the stoned effect. I selected this part separately because this is one of the similarities that recreational marijuana use and medicinal marijuana use have. In retrospect, the amount and frequency of use are also a factor. To keep all results stable, sex and age were used as variables in most of the peer-reviewed journals. In the discussion section, the research pointed to elevated mania and depression in patients with bipolar disorder compared to patients with just bipolar disorder.
Do the results of these findings justify the war on drugs? It’s impossible to say so. Some swear marijuana helps their symptoms although in the research when they took tests, the results of the marijuana smokers decreased.
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In conclusion, marijuana use affects the brain especially the minds of adolescents. When it comes to people with mental disorders, it affects them more so. Therefore more studies still need to be conducted because the same way the wave of the LGBTQ movement swept across the whole United States and other countries like Australia, the same might happen with marijuana. The more studies that are conducted, the faster legislation would pass in favor or against al owing everyone over/
under the age of 21 to use marijuana. According to the president we have in the US, it is less likely the process of allowing the use of marijuana in any form will be delayed until there is another president in the office. In the end, it all comes down to science and what we find in the future.
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Upon the many stories that come to mind, there is a certain tune that always gets me moving. The story is about a man who decided to pursue his goal of achieving total control of his environment through the means of going into government work.
The times were tough, and the sweet smell of cherry blossoms filled the air as he walked the long haunting trail of the D.C
street right down below the Lincoln statue. Upon seeing the beauty of the nation, he turned towards preserving it exactly how it is and resurrect the forgotten leaders of old. Upon a quick reach to a little, small town in the northern state of Indiana, he turned his face to the first commander he could trust. Mr. Pence was reluctant to listen but decided to join the case because he saw the precious citizens of the nation struggle to keep ahold of their inner fire along with the drive to move forward. Throughout his life, people have always treated him as a nonchalant leader because he smiled and waved at all his troubles like the penguins of Madagascar. It was a heated moment when he first announced his candidacy for president and doubt crept in the Republican 179
National Committee because no businessman had ever pushed forward ahead of the race to represent the party since way back in the 80’s the gunslinger Reagan beat all odds and achieved status and wealth by steamrolling younger candidates.
When I first held the campaign promise in my hand on the cold weekend night in Harvard – Boston, I felt a gut-wrenching drive that enabled me to move forward to make sure the people in Washington understand not to mix their previous picture of a true political candidate to what is in front of them, and I had to find a way to get the message out. Upon realizing the Democratic National Convention had chosen former Senator Clinton as their champion, I realize it was not my responsibility to paint the picture but something to be proven by the actions of the leader.
I took the first flight back. I learned later Marco Rubio was held in high esteem to push forward the political agenda because of his youth and Mr. Jeb Bush his high-class experience and family ties. Some other gunslingers like Carly Fiorina bulldozed their way into the rat race by paying off high-quality advertisers in the west mainly concentrated around Silicon Valley but the man who is to become president was way ahead of the curve. He acted by reverting the political strategy and streamlining the silly and ubiquitous motions of the distressed candidates.
While others were concerned with managing people’s affairs, he was making sure he put the liberty flag higher and set the stage by taking the bar to the sky (metaphorically speaking), thread on his deep roots, and uphold the constitution. In a game of chess, all 4 knights can move 4 steps each to reach a point. Little 180
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did the other candidates know that in a Republic, philosopher King’s rule, not the knights, and a King was standing in their midst, however, no one knew it not and he was only moving one step at a time. President Trump not only rewarded the struggling southern states by closing off the borders, but he also advocates for the civil rights of naturalized citizens and has made the United States prosper more than any other country in the world. The unemployment rate reached under 4.0% for the first time in decades. There is more money in people’s pockets that they can convince to imagine their expenditures and the coat in arms warriors have food on their table. There have been more initiatives signed by the current president to help the low-income communities than all others combined. The ISIS organization does not exist anymore because he crushed them. He kept true to his promise, and he has led the country to prosper. I have never had so much fun in my life because I had to privilege to witness the first woman go to the moon in my lifetime.
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Andrews, D.L. (2019, Summer). Lecture - Module 2, Topic C: Social Class, Habitus, and Physical Culture. KNES 287, University of Maryland: College Park, MD
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DeLuca, J. R., & Bustad, J. J. (2017). ‘My baby and this mom body’: Examining post-partum bodywork through stroller fitness. Qualitative Research in Sport, Exercise and Health, 9(1), 133-148.
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Jones, C. J. From poverty to prosperity: a ghetto exit strategy as a rite of passage. Raleigh, NC: Pendium Publishing House, 2012. Print.
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Citations
Shakespeare, W., Barnes, S., & Coleman, A. (2011). Romeo and Juliet. St Kilda, Vic.: Insight Publications.
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“Us, Chinese Economies Likely to Get Even Closer.” States News Service, 8 June 2013, www.highbeam.com/
doc/1G1-333206219.html?refid=easy hf.
Zorril a, I., Aguado, J., Haro, J. M., Barbeito, S., López Zurbano, S., Ortiz, A., & ... Gonzalez-Pinto, A. (2015). Cannabis and bipolar disorder: does quitting cannabis use during manic/
mixed episode improve clinical/functional outcomes?. Acta Psychiatrica Scandinavica, 131(2), 100-110. doi:10.1111/
acps.12366
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