(ESSAY) Morale Philosophy

Humans are all unique and different. We all have attributes and genetic attributes that set us apart from each other. But what is the definitve characteristic of humanity? I believe that chracteristic that keeps us human and apart from each other is ethics and morality. From the day we were born we learn what's right and wrong. As we get older we start living by our own philosophy. In early ages of humanity people were taught what their religion wanted to think what was right and wrong. Peoples different point of views has kept humanity constantly at war.  Moral philosophy has kept concepts of "good" and "evil" for humanity. The way we can judge people, situations and ideas makes me think that ethics is the definitive charateristic of humanity. There are different ethics all over the world that people live by provided by their culture, ethnicity, religion and government. If humanity was without ethics we'd all be mad and uncivilized.There would be nothing to set us apart from animals.

People have ethics which keep us apart from animals. We are more civilized and have more reason than animals. For example a lion doesn't know right from wrong when they kill a gazelle that could have been a baby. But humans know its wrong to kill a child and feel guilt after. If we lived like animals we wouldn't have structure and people would not have control over each other. In the animal kingdom the animals don't have ethics and do whatever they want. Being an animal isn't like the movie Lion King. When do you ever see lion's hanging out with baboons or meerkats. In real life the lion would be eating everything alive since they don't care what's the right thing to do. They just want to survive. Since we evolved from being animals we learned a way to think. We developed a morale philosophy which many people live by. We don't want unethical people running around who act like animals and don't know from right and wrong. A person without ethics is considered a wild  monster in society. People who are considered unethical are usually sent to prison or killed. Sometimes when a person who is considered a monster is killed some people still find the way they are executed to be unethical but that is an off topic debate I don't need to talk about. Ethic's has helped humanity structure itself and made people more controlled than animals are.

Religion is a big part of people's everyday living. It's become such a big deal to some people in effect's their morale philosophy. It provides a morale structure for many people. Many religion's ethics are tied closely to humanity's ethics. Religion make's people think if they don't do the right thing that their God want's them to do they won't live a good life or after life. For instance people who believe in Christianity live by the bible and practice what they preach. If they don't listen to their god it is wrong but if they are committed to their God they are doing good. In my opinion I don't believe human ethics and religious ethics should be tied so close together. It could corrupt many people's minds and prevent people from allowing themselves to live by their own ethics.

Another concept of ethics people live by is justice and crime. Since laws were made in the Greek era people had to follow rules and live by them. Ever since that people had to live by the law and adjust to the system. Basically a government to keep things in order. There is still is justice and crime but what really is justice is whatever that person wants to think. People may have different views on whats justice and crime. Take for a example  vigilante, is what that person doing right or wrong? In some cases people would say its crime but in others people call it justice. It is all in the point of view of the people. Another example is what our government is doing in the middle east. By invading their country and fighting against local militia is what we're doing a crime or justice? In some point of views we are just slaughtering people and in the other point of view we are trying to help. People who join the army decide what they are doing is right and is justice.

I've been talking a lot about how the world lives by ethics. But what if our world didn't have ethics and morality? People would be running around crazy and  mad in an uncivilized world where no one would know their right from wrongs. Humanity wouldn't be able to function. In many people's minds ethics isn't always what everyone else thinks is right. It's about what you think is right for you to move forward. An unethical world would have constant war and insanity. Any rational human being trying to live in a world where everyone cheats their way through to power would probably not survive.

Morality and ethics are a huge part of humanity. Without it the world would just be filled with animals and without human structure. Great civilizations wouldn't have been made, many ideas wouldn't have existed, and the history of the world could have not existed. Ethics and morality definitely is the definitive characteristic of humanity in my opinion. We would be no different than animals, society would just be survival of the fittest. Who knows, if humans were unethical we probably could barely think and all still be cavemen. I'd like to conclude my essay with this quotes about ethics.

 "A man without ethics is a wild beast loosed upon this world" - Albert Camus

(RE) Don't be a liar

“BE HONEST. It's the best trait around.”

 It isn’t very hard to be an honest person. But lots of people choose to lie all the time in their life. My friend Justin talks about how be honest is always better than lying. I totally agree with him even though some people would disagree. Some people allow themselves to lie to people just to get that person to like them. Lying is usually never the best choice and karma could come right back at you. No one likes a compulsive liar. Someone who continues to lie all the time people will usually to start seeing the fake said of them. Even though being totally honest could be blunt and rude it’s the right thing to do. Lying is just going to hurt you and the person you lied to.

                

Being honest isn’t that hard. But even those in those situations where you think lying would be the best choice and think about it before it could make the situation worse. Sometimes being honest could be difficult and blunt but in the end it’s the best choice. Lying could lead a person into something wrong and it becomes your fault. To be honest I’ve lied a lot of times but I’d like to say I’m getting better at being honest. I’ve lied in some serious situations and I paid the consequences but like Justin said we all make mistakes and we learn from that. No one likes a liar.

(CE) Troubled America

The US military policy doesn’t allow homosexuals to be open about their sexual orientation. In 1993 President Clinton created “Don’t ask and don’t tell” policy which allowed gays to enter the army if they kept it secret. Over 35,000 people lost their job because they were gay and recently a woman was kicked out of the army for it. Finally President Obama lifted the ban of gays from the army. I’m really glad that they are removing this ridiculous policy. I don’t see why the government and military made such a big deal over it either. We have so many more problems going around and this is something we should even have to deal with even before.

The policy prevented many people from continuing their occupation in the military. Why the government would not let people serve its country whether they are gay or not? Sexual orientation shouldn’t be such a big deal. So what people are gay are lesbian. This isn’t just a problem in the military it’s also a problem in society itself. Being openly gay shouldn’t be a problem in society but it still is. People are harassed and sometimes have disadvantages. I’m pretty sure even though people can be openly gay in the army they are still going to be harassed. Basically people can’t even be open about. There’s always going to be people who are fucked up and are against gays. It isn’t even just being gay. Society still has problems like racism, sexism and the rest of the bullshit that people continue to debate about. I wonder when the day will come when people will just stop making such big deals about race, sex, and sexual orientation.

(BC) Laughter in the Dark

He falls into the room after being pushed. The door slams shut. Darkness consumes the room. In a panic the boy tries to open the door pulling as hard as he can. He realizes he has to find another way out. A stale smell of air fills the house that was probably abandoned decades ago. With each step he takes the floor creaks feeling as if it could collapse any second. Sweat drips down his face. He breathes harder in panic. His heart beats faster than a Kenyan sprinter. The fear of never finding a way out enters his mind which makes him pour into tears. Eerie creaking noises fill the house. He feels as if he isn’t alone. He can hear laughter from his so called friends outside of the house. His body collapses from all the anxiety onto the dust filled floor. Lying on the ground he brings himself together and gathers the courage to find a way out.

Determined the boy continues to slowly navigate through the house. Running his hands over any surface he could find the boy comes across a stair case that leads up. Hoping to find a way out from above he takes his first step. His foot presses against the wooden step cracking the wood. His foot almost falls into the termite infested wood but he runs as fast as he can up. As he reaches the top, the final step collapses causing him to fall into a whole. Screaming the boy grabs the metal railing of the stair case. His hands become extremely sweaty as he looks down the whole in which he is hovering above. He can see nothing but darkness but in his mind it looks like an endless drop into hell. Using all of his strength he climbs onto the second floor of the house. He brushes the dust off of his clothes. As he looks up he notices a small crack allowing light to peak through. He gives off a sigh of relief and rushes towards the crack down a hallway.

The small light had come from a slightly opened door. The door had been rusted and screeches as the boy tries to pry open the door. The room was filled with mold and cobwebs. Across the room he finds a window awaiting his escape. But before he could leave he examined the room. He assumed the room had been the owners’ daughter. The walls were covered in faded floral wallpaper. Many of the belongings had been left behind. Old creepy dolls were left on the shelves, books, a bed, and next to it a large cracked mirror. The boy went towards to mirror and found an old medium sized chest. Out of curiosity he tries opening the chest. He smells a horrid odor seeping through the small’s cracks of the chest. In fear he avoids opening the chest and then realizes blood stains on the bed sheets. Scared out of his mind he sprints towards the window to only find out the windows have metal bars. His thought of finally finding a way out was crushed. Bawling in tears the boy becomes distraught.

A sound of laughter fills the room. But this time it wasn’t the sound of little boys outside of the house. The sound had come from inside. His muscles become tense. Frightened and confused the boy yells out “Who’s there?” and gets no response. Again he becomes curious and remembers he has to again find a way out of this hell. Gradually the darkness consumes him as he walks into the darkness again. After being in the light his eyes haven’t adjusted to the darkness. He grazes his hand against the hallway door hoping to find a doorway or anything leading him out. Again he hears laughter and freezes in place. A cold chill brushes his skin. A cold sweat drops into his lower back which causes him to shiver. The girl’s voice then echoes across the hall saying “Over here”. He follows the voice hoping it would lead him into a way out. As he follows from where he heard the sound he comes across a door knob. He notices that light had also been peaking from under the door. An even brighter light enters the hallway which also blinds him. Slowly examining the room he notices a opened door. “Finally”, he says to himself and returns to the outside world.

(FREE) Exhaustion

It’s been a long shitty day. After a drawn out day at school in the blistering hot weather I already felt exhausted. Then right after school I was sort of excited to hop into the pool for water polo practice even though I felt tired. For some odd reason I pushed myself pretty hard at the end of practice and I have no idea. I know regret my idiotic decision. Now here I am, unwillingly trying to get my weekly posts out of the way. My eyes are droopy and blurry from the large amounts of chlorine they pour into our school pool. I feel tired as fuck.

                I really have nothing to talk about today. No ideas have been lingering around my mind. I can barely make out the words I am typing with my horrible vision. My mind and body are worn out from regular days of school and practice. I have no idea how I’m going to survive waking up for water polo morning practices when I start next week. And to add more excitement for this extravagant week I have back to back games on Wednesday and Thursday against American High and Piedmont High. Whoop-dee-fucking-doo. You could say I’m excited but trying to get my homework done after the games is going to blow big time. I’m trying to vomit out words like what Mr. Sutherland taught us in class with our quick writes. So basically this is a bullshit post but at least I’m writing something. Oh look at that, I passed the required word limit finally. 

(RE) Insecure

“Words like these seem to constantly repeat in our minds: become stronger, become skinnier, eat less, wear more make up... because if you don’t, you will not be considered beautiful/handsome or you won't be accepted by your peers.”

               
               I completely agree with Casandra's post about how the media has changed the way people think. People are completely absorbed with materialistic lifestyles now. They all have the mindset of oh you have to buy this to be that or you have to wear this to fit in. I’m not saying having a sense a style is a bad thing but over doing it and saying you HAVE to have this is a complete waste. The media has some people so sucked into you have to skinny to be beautiful which has a lot of girls thinking they’ll never be as some photo shopped bitch on a cover of some dumbass magazine. At a young age girls are pressured to be skinny because of magazine ads and models on magazine covers. It’s even gotten some girls to think that being super skinny is what everyone wants which isn’t true. Another thing the media has done to girls is that they made girls think they have to wear makeup. I’m not saying that wearing makeup is bad but to the point where the girl cakes on that powder because she feels insecure without it is ridiculous. The media has totally mind fucked girls to feel insecure about their looks.

              
               The media hasn’t only gotten girls insecure about their looks but it’s also guys. It’s all about muscle toning now or if you have a good sense of style. Guys are sucked into thinking they need to be buff and shit to get the ladies. I’m not saying working out is a bad thing but some people get so pressured into working out they end up taking illegal drugs like steroids just to get where they want faster. But it isn’t just the media that has people feeling insecure about their looks. It’s that feeling that you’re going to be judged on how you look by your peers. I’ll be honest I’ve felt pressured into getting sports just because I didn’t want to be a scrawny little Asian kid anymore. I got sick and tired of being called scrawny. Even to this day I’m still bothered being teased and called scrawny but I try not to let it get to my head as much anymore. All this media and peer pressure bullshit is all in peoples head. You just can’t let that shit stress you or it could even kill you. 

(CE) It's just business.

“…given how easily it has been discovered that many of these companies have been supplying equipment to countries which used them against their own populations during the Arab Spring.”

Recently in the UK there had been one of the largest arm fairs. Information that the reporter shares tells that many of the companies had sold them to countries that use them against their own people. Some companies even were asked by the British government to supply Libya with arms. All these weapons are sold to murderous regimes that the countries use against their people. I don’t understand why the hell the companies would supply and basically support those corrupt countries. The British government knows where the weapons are going but to keep a good business they continue to sell them to places like Libya and Saudi Arabia.

Outside of the arms fair were protestors who have been against the military international complex for selling weapons to people like Gaddafi. I strongly agree with the protestors that selling arms to those countries is just wrong. The British senior defense minister backed up the arms companies in case they were nervous to keep selling their supplies. The British government is basically supporting these innocent killing regimes. If the British are reassuring these weapons get sold then they have to be the dumbest fucks in the world. How could you let all those innocent civilians in Libya get killed by weapons they supplied to the governments that are using them against their people? This shows how the international business works and how fucked up it is.

(FREE) Crude Humor

So I’ve just recently started reading the average American male: a novel and so far I’d like to say that the main character or nameless narrator is a total man whore. I hope this topic is appropriate for my class blog. Oh whatever I don’t care I’m reading this book for the class anyways. Surprisingly the first chapter starts with the narrator describing a fat old lady eating a cup of yogurt at the Chicago international airport. I found it quite amusing and hilarious which others would probably think it was incredibly vulgar. This guy talks about having sex on the daily and masturbates way too much. From what I’ve read so far no matter what age the woman is this guy will rate you and create a mental image of the woman well naked and what not. The main character is basically a sex-obsessed douchebag.

The main character is supposed to portray an average American male. Well I sure hope this doesn’t apply to all American males. Even though I’m pretty sure there are plenty of men just like this asshole. He is a pretty entertaining guy for an asshole though. I’ve only read a couple chapters and I find his commentary quite hilarious. The main characters days so far basically consists of playing video games, watching TV, masturbating, and sex. What a fucking bum. I hope I don’t turn out like that. Oh and he treats his girlfriend like shit. Well she isn’t that great sounding the way he describes her anyways. I just hope all the sexual humor doesn’t get old and his life actually gets interesting.

(RE) What future?

"Where do you see yourself in ten years from now?" This question is constantly asked and I honestly never have an answer.

This is from my best friend Peter’s blog and in his free write he talked about how he has been thinking about where he will be ten years from now. I totally agree about never having a legit honest answer to these types of questions. People always ask “So what are you going to do when you grow up?” and usually I haven’t really thought about that. Nothing really sparks interest into me. Now that I’m in high school I guess I should really think about my future since college is only 3 years away for me. It’s actually kind of scary to think about how in 10 years we aren’t going to be carefree teenagers anymore.

Parents always tell you to think about your future and I always tell myself that I have a long while to care about the future. But now is the time to actually think about my future. I do know I want to go to a good college to make my parents proud. The only problem is, what do I want to do after that? I have to agree with Peter and the stereotypical Asian parents wanting you to get that “real” job. To them that’s usually whatever the most stable and best paying job is. I know that they only always say that is because they want the best future for us but it is our duty to figure out what we want to do with our future. I’ve spent a good thirty minutes thinking about what I’d want to do in the future while writing this. I’ll be honest, I have no idea.

(FREE) Bueller? Bueller? Bueller?...

Ferris Bueller’s Day Off is by far the best movie ever made in my opinion. It was written and directed by John Hughes who also made The Breakfast Club another one of my favorite movies. The movie starts out with Ferris Bueller a senior in high school who decides to take a day off since it was such a nice day in Chicago. The slick Ferris Bueller eventually gets his girlfriend Sloane Peterson and best friend Cameron Frye to join him on his school skipping adventure around Chicago.
You’re probably wondering why I would love a movie that’s a decade older than me. I think the classics are the best and Ferris Bueller is the greatest of all. There is plenty of humor and the insane risks that Ferris takes throughout the movie keeps you on the edge of your seat. At times I wish I could be as daring and insane as Ferris Bueller. For example Ferris faked having a serious illness tricking the school into thinking he was dying which led them into creating a fund raiser called "Save Ferris".
The movie isn’t all about three kids causing trouble when they should be in school. It’s a great movie to bring up your mood. I think John Hughes is basically showing through the movie how you shouldn’t be afraid to do anything or have a good time. Ferris basically symbolizes a person who isn’t afraid to do anything and lives life to the fullest. While his best friend Cameron symbolizes a person who is scared to take risks, have fun or stand up for themselves. After the movie progresses Cameron finally conquers his weakness of not being able to take a risk and stand up for himself. So what I think this movie is trying to say is you shouldn’t just be sitting your ass down at home doing nothing wasting your life while you could be doing something fun and worthwhile. Basically enjoy your life to the fullest and take risks. I’ll end this free write with one of my favorite quotes.
“Life moves pretty fast. If you don’t stop around and look once and a while. You could miss it.”-Ferris Bueller

(CE) No Mosque?

Even though this video is a year old I think it is still relevant to our 9/11 situation now. It’s been ten years since the 9/11 terrorist attack. In this video they talk about how a mosque is being made near ground zero but it’s being prevented because of US citizen protestors. This type of ignorance against religion is sickening to me. These protestors are just making themselves look ignorant and stupid to realize how being Muslim is just the same as being Christian or catholic and so on.

It has been a ten years since 9/11 and some people still have the mindset of if he or she is Muslim they are probably promoting terrorism or something. There are plenty of good examples in this video that a Muslim person is the same as anyone who practices their religion. Isn’t our country about freedom anyways? People have the right of freedom of religion and shouldn’t be attempted to be brought down because of it. The fire fighter in the video who even answered the call to help on 9/11 is Muslim. This should make it clear to the ignorant people against the Muslim religion that it shouldn’t be a problem. He also had stated that “It says it in the Quran, a good Muslim is just as equal as a good Christian...”

(BC) Hola chico

My name is Cody Le. I am full Vietnamese. I was born in Oakland, California. I moved around a little bit a eventually ended up here in the most exciting town ever, Alameda. I’ve basically lived here all my life and I’ll be honest there isn’t much to talk about. I attend Alameda High school which I hate since its school. People tell me that I’m hilarious and I guess after hearing that so many times I like to believe it. I’m not trying to sound conceited but I laugh at my own jokes on occasion.  I don’t exactly like to make new friends since I hate being with too many people. I find it quite annoying. I’m finding that being less social at school is actually enjoyable.

Academics aren’t really my favorite but I give them my effort. I kept an average 3.0 GPA my freshman year which I find pretty pathetic since it is the easiest year of high school. Hopefully I get my shit together this year and work harder. Surprisingly history is my favorite subject since I actually like to listen in lectures unlike whereas in math I could care less what we are learning. English is more of a meh. Writing is probably one of my biggest weaknesses overall. I actually find free writing one of the hardest things to do in my opinion since I find it really hard to think of things to talk about or I just find it awkward that someone is going to read what I am thinking.

Since I was young there wasn’t a sport that I really enjoyed until I joined the high school water polo team my freshman year. I mean I’m not great at all. I think I actually kind of suck but whatever I don’t care I think it’s fun. I’m not that athletic since I have pretty bad asthma but that’s also my great excuse for when I’m lazy as hell in practice.

I’ve been a pretty musical kid all my life. I started playing piano when I was around 7 or 8. You could call me a typical Asian boy I don’t care; I actually found it quite enjoyable when my father wasn’t forcing me to practice. I really enjoy listening to music and probably couldn’t live without it. Music helps me concentrate, pumps me up my adrenaline, allows me to ignore people and it’s just really enjoyable I guess.

Speaking of my father I forgot to talk about my family. I live with my pop, mum and brother on Bay farm Island. My family isn’t those stereotypical Asian families who slap their kids across the forehead if they don’t A’s, thank god. Surprisingly my parents are pretty chill and hilarious compared to other families in my large family. There is nothing too interesting in my family.

I used to be a real social guy. Usually people always love making friends and being the kid who knows everyone. As I’ve gotten a little older, not saying I know much but I’m starting to hate people more and more. I guess I just find staying at home, never answering my phone and just watching movies all day better than trying to make plans with people I barely like. Speaking of movies, I’m kind of a movie fanatic. I love Ferris Bueller’s Day off and it’s probably my favorite movie of all time. Oddly its older than me. Basically on the social aspect. I dislike most people.

Well that’s enough of talking about my fabulous life.  Time to talk about all those high school academic goals. Since I slacked off like a dumbass last year I hope fully will approve a lot academically. I really hope I can focus on school and do a lot more. I’m sorta looking forward to see if I don’t totally  fuck up this year.