Blog Reviews!!

Jessica,
(For your Nov 2 post) I liked that you stated how extreme opinions promote close-mindedness and rigidity because I completely agree! Also, the way you incorporated that statement into your thesis was very well done and I do agree on some levels. I also agree that there should be a more-defined middle ground and that that is where government belongs and my boyfriend heartily agrees with your emphasis on state power. Throughout the piece you make strong statements and each one is supported by easily understandable evidence. In general this was a super! powerful post and I think it is a great basis for an essay. I can really feel the passion in your discussion regarding the power distribution and it makes the piece as a whole more interesting. I also really liked how you brought current issues into the piece and perhaps if you do decide to extend this into an essay you could delve a little deeper into how your proposed form of government would alleviate or fix our current issues. Great job!
Regarding your Nov 4 post, I think you did a great job summarizing and explaining the history and importance/ influence of finance and was actually a good deal more interesting than the actual article. I don't really have any critiques...it's still a sore subject XD.

By the way, I thought exactly the same thing when I was writing 'the greater good' as well! I just re-read it too XD! Sooo excited!!!!

Lauren,
I love! your title 'Rollin in the Benjamins!' The introduction was very absorbing and I think you did a terrific job of breaking down the monotony of finance and explaining it in a way that was actually somewhat exciting. Good job! One thing I noticed was a typo I think: Luckily, I have to choice of what I would like to do and that I can hire someone to deal with all of this because to me it is all boring ans makes no sense.  The sentence didn't quite make sense, but I understood what you meant. Overall it was very informative and much more enjoyable than the actual article! :) Regarding the Nov 4th post, I thought it was really interesting how you related 1984 to your idea and post. I also enjoyed how you explained the history of your opinions and how you described them in general, even if I don't quite agree. It would have been interesting to see some specific examples, but overall it was interesting :) Yay for November!

The Evolution of Finance

Finance, is an accepted, acknowledged degree option at most (if not all) accredited institutions and has existed as so since the 1960's. Yet the evolution of the 'science' of finance began hundreds of years earlier with great mathmeticians such as Pascal, and the work of many physicists, including Einstein. Surprisingly, numerous equations that describe the flow of money exchange, arbitrage and risk developed from Physics equations describing similar phenomenons concerning particles instead of money. In essence, finance has always been a science, yet it was not considered to be in the realm of Academia until shortly after WWII, when an economic boom prompted huge advances in the field of finance.
Presently, finance focuses upon how humans behave when faced with uncertainty, essentially the study of behavior regarding risk and risk management. In the past, the study of finance was most often characterized by the creation of equations, or the application of physics/math equations to the movement of money and the prediction of how an investment may change over time. Numerous famous names in other fields participated in the early work of finance: Einstein, Pascal, Pierre de Fermat, Bachelier and Gordon.
However, it was not until the 1980's that finance as a solid science and career was recognized. During this time, six Nobel Prizes were awarded to those who have advanced the progress of the current state of finance.  Differential equations, probability theories and derivatives all form vital components that describe the current state of finance, which includes most notably, the stock market, which first opened in Chicago in 1973. The flow of currency within the stock market is radically different than the flow of currency in the past, especially considering that the majority of cash flow is rather abstract. This may be one reason why the equations that describe this phenomenon are also utilized in physics and abstract mathamatics.

sorry it's not so good...it was REALLY hard to write because it was REALLY hard to read.

Centralized Government: the good, the bad or the ugly?

If you search the internet for quotes and popular ideas regarding government, you will find that the grand majority of such ideas concern the unnecessary placement of government and in general, negative aspects of government and democracy. “If human beings are fundamentally good, no government is necessary; if they are fundamentally bad, any government, being composed of human beings, would be bad also” (Fred Woodworth), is one example. While I do not believe that humans are ‘bad,’ I do believe that some form of greater power or control is necessary to procure and ensure harmonious living.

While I do believe that ‘Big government’ is a mistake, I do feel that some things should be under the jurisdiction of a central government agency, such as health care, many laws and regulations and the penal system. Health care and access to health care is a basic human right and needs to be exercised by all individuals in a population, with the aid of the federal government if necessary. In the case of the United States, I strongly believe that access to health care is in need of supervision and modification by the federal government because the current state of health care access and regulation is unacceptable. An estimated 50.7 million Americans are currently uninsured or have not had health insurance in the past 12 months (USA Today, 2010). The CDC reports similar numbers a one year earlier: an estimated 46.3 or 15.4% of all Americans reported being uninsured in 2009. This is a growing problem that I believe can only be solved by government intervention.

Laws are a vital element in human society and evolutionarily have played a key role in the development of modern societies. These laws only remain ‘laws’ if there is an authority by which to enforce them. In this case, while State Governments may play a part in the enforcement and creation of these laws, I still believe that the federal government should retain some control over the laws of this country. However, if federal control over this particular issue was diminished, but not completely eradicated, it could be argued as a beneficial alternative to the current state of things. For all intents and purposes, laws are one more rationale as to why our society requires some form of centralized government.

While there remain many explanations concerning the malaise of governments and ill-effects upon human society, I must abstain from jumping on the internet bandwagon. I understand that centralized government is far from perfect, but I do believe that it is necessary to intervene when the people deem it necessary and to uphold our laws and ensure that the basic human rights of its people are met. Also, as a personal note, arguments and ideas concerning this topic are extremely difficult for me to form a concise, simple argument for or against. There are entirely too many variables to consider, firstly, and when considering human nature in general, I feel that it is practically impossible to decide what is best for ‘the greater good.’

Citations:

Reynolds, Denise. “CDC: Number of Americans without Health Insurance Coverage Increases.” CDC, June 2010. Web. Accessed November 2, 2010.

http://www.emaxhealth.com/1506/cdc-number-americans-without-health-insurance-coverage-increases

Wolfe, Richard. “Number of Uninsured Americans Rises to 50.7 million.” USA Today, September 17, 2010. Web. Accessed November 2, 2010.

http://www.usatoday.com/news/nation/2010-09-17-uninsured17_ST_N.htm

Blog Reviews!

Lauren,

Your introduction to Thursday’s post was very interesting! The beginning of the second paragraph was funny, but I think the paper might have been stronger if you chose a couple of the examples and expanded on them and described exactly how they are incorrect instead of just naming the multitude of stereotypes. As far as grammar and punctuation go, you may want to look into adding commas in places where pauses are or where they are grammatically needed. Also, just as a simple way of making sure the piece is at its best is to perform a quick review or edit before submission – that will catch things like forgetting a letter in a word J I usually catch 2 or 3 when I edit.

Overall, your idea was very interesting and I enjoyed reading the post (it made me laugh!)

Your introduction to the Tuesday post was awesome!! I was really pulled into the piece immediately and I enjoyed your usage of quotes. I also liked how you included personal experience in the piece as well as your direct opinion. I enjoyed the general point of the entire paper and thought that overall it was a strong idea and a good post J.

Jessica,

Your piece regarding Native Americans in the U.S. and their economic influence was spectacular! I really enjoyed the fluidity and authority of the piece. I learned a lot. Everything you stated in your initial argument was supported by some citation or fact and your word choice was excellent! I also enjoyed how you put yourself into the post by explaining your connection with the subject. Great job!

Your post concerning materialism was also very interesting! You made a strong argument overall and I think you made very good points throughout. I liked the organization of the post as it was very easy to follow and straightforward. I agree with your statement that materialism breeds competition within the market and that it is a good thing and that materialism creates waste (and that is negative)! So much waste!  The first paragraph was interesting because it was so short and possible for an essay you may want to expand or create another introductory paragraph below (if the two sentences at the beginning are artistic intention). Either way, great post! J