A Tribute to Contruction

A Tribute to Construction

I go to a school on Winnetka Avenue
Surrounded by land where trees and flowers grew.
We have two campuses full of thousands of students
But one is under construction to make some improvements.
They'll spend millions of dollars to cover the excuse
They're working on things we won't be able to use.
They said it will be done in a couple of years
But I know it's not true and so do my peers.
Some hallways are crowded because others are shut down
Now the main hallways will become even more run-down.
On a beautiful day we'll try to open the windows
Just to be greeted by the noise coming from below.
The revving of engines, the falling of stone
We'll just shut the windows and rely of the air conditioning alone.
While I'm taking a test, I can hear the noise outside
I would put my hands over my ears and close my eyes.
They always remind us of
the future to come
But I can't remember while the noise is pounding in my head like a constant drum.
We are always surrounded and trapped in this cage
I'll flip through the pages of renders that fuel my my rage.
The new school will be great for both of my younger brothers
But what about me? What about all of the others?

No Morality

Today this post will center around Louise Erdrich's book, The Round House. Just in case you haven't read the book, it follows a thirteen year old boy named Joe who lives on an Indian reservation. One day Joe's mother is violently raped and she ends up suffering severe depression and refuses to leave her room afterward or talk about the crime with anyone. Now a vital part of what will come next will spoil the book for people who have not read every page. If you continue, I cannot be held responsible. You've been warned. As I was saying before, Joe's mother is tormented by the idea that her attacker, a white rich man named Linden Lark, is walking free, untouched by the law. To escape the constant danger that he believes his family, friends, and especially mother, to be in while this man is on the loose, Joe decides to end the fear. He stakes out Lark on his favorite golf course and kills him with a gun with the help of his best friend Cappy.

Now Joe seems to be a consequential thinker throughout the book as he worries about the future and not necessarily the actions it takes to get there. He kills Linden Lark to protect the people that he loves. Lark is a dangerous man who had already attacked his mother and could easily do it again if he was not stopped. I would like to imagine myself as a consequential thinker like Joe. I strongly believe in receiving punishment for wrong actions that were committed. I assume that many other people feel the same. While I do believe in punishment, I don't necessarily know if this punishment should be death. For example, if there was a serial killer  who was arrested and put on trial, I would most likely would not be compelled to spare their life. I feel like they would deserve to die for causing so much suffering. The difference with Linden Lark is that he didn't kill Joe's mother and yet still Joe killed him. I am not completely convinced that the outcomes were equal. Now if Lark continuously threatened Joe's family or friends, and even attacked someone again, then maybe I would reconsider, but this didn't really happen. I guess that one could make an argument that Lark actually killed his romantic interest Mayla, but Joe doesn't really connect to Mayla. What I'm trying to say is that Lark should have been convicted of her murder and then killed by officials rather than having Joe murder him and not really considering Mayla's death, but his mother.

I know that these thoughts are a little confusing and not straightforward, but that's how my mind is perceiving these situations. I don't think that I will ever be completely convinced that Joe killing Linden Lark was the right thing, and maybe that makes me a categorical thinker. I  mean even Joe wasn't even sure if what he was about to do was the best idea: "Murder, for justice maybe. Murder just the same. I had to say this a thousand times in my head before I said it out loud" (280). I guess this makes him a categorical thinker as he tries to convince himself that murder is the only answer, but is clearly not sure by his decisions.

Overall I think that you could be both a consequential and categorical thinker and that it always depends on the situation. I feel like people are always arguing that immoral actions should never be performed, but what if the other person isn't innocent.

Run Joe Run

As of now, the Democratic race for presidency is continues between candidates such as Lincoln Chafee and Hillary Clinton. As of recently, these politicians were seen as the only possible candidates for this Democratic portion of the elections. Little did they know that Vice President Joe Biden had a few tricks up his sleeve. On September 7th, 2015, Biden marched in Pittsburgh's annual Labor Day parade and spoke to a crowd of thousands. Here he was greeted by cheers and chants of "run, Joe, run."

"Run, Joe, run." What does that mean? This could obviously mean that the chanters wanted Biden to the create a presidential campaign. Or what if this meant something else? Let's say that there were people in the crowd who didn't support Biden and were chanting the slogan for another reason. Could the phrase "run, Joe, run" be seen in a different way? It is possible that some chanted to Biden that he should get himself away from any idea of joining the race for president. Run is a physical action that has more than one definitions and could be portrayed in more than one way.

Nevertheless, it is extremely possible that Joe Biden will strive to become the next president of the United States once Barack Obama steps down after his eight years. He makes claims that "the wealthy aren't paying their fair share" and to make the United States whole again. While many support the idea of Biden running, it is in the end up to him to decide to do so. He has claimed that he isn't sure if he and his family had the "emotional energy" for yet another campaign. After all, this presidential campaign could end up not succeeding like in '08 when announced his candidacy for President of the United States.

Until that moment happens. all we can do is wait for Vice President Joe Biden to make his move, that is if that moment ever happens. Personally I think that Biden should run as it would most likely be the last chance he has and the worst that could happen is that he loses. So, like the Pittsburgh union crowd cheered, "give it a go, Joe."

Read more about this topic here or here and stay informed on who is running here