"What If"

For decades, countries have tried to modernize and "westernize" their people and land. Western influence has changed many countries such as Japan and India. What if Reza Shah accepted the requests of the Allied Powers and joined their side, would Iran have had more opportunities and more freedom? And what if the Shah completely modernized Iran, and westernized all the people, would Iran be considered a world power today? It is hard to tell what the outcomes would have been if the past turned out differently. We always ask ourselves the "what if" question, and try to understand what could have happened differently if something completely new occurred. What if the Shah succeeded and fulfilled his goals, how would Iran be different today? Would there have ever been a revolution is this country with so much history?

NEW BLOG RULES!

• The first person to post an observation of question sets the tone for the blog.
• Each subsequent post must respond to a PREVIOUS insight or question (not necessarily the first post)
• You may (and should) add your own observations in addition to responding to someone else's post or observation.
• Responses should still be one paragraph (6-8 sentences) in length and be grammatically correct.

Since our return from Christmas break, we have discussed many different topics for the essay that we are currently writing. One of the topics that we talked about in class was about birth order in the family. Even though I did not pick this topic for the essay, I still think that it is an important pert of everyday life in a family. I, as the eldest child in the family, know how hard it is and how much your parents expect of you. Through my early years in life I have seen that the treatment of my younger siblings has been far greater than the treatment I have ever received. My twin brother and sister have gotten everything that I have gotten at an earlier age. I also sometimes feel like the Guinea pig of the family. Whatever I do seems to always lead to becoming a lesson for my younger siblings. I have also noticed that parents care more about the achievements of the older child than those of the younger. This was exhibited through my tenure in Boy Scouts. My dad especially wanted me to always do what he did not. Such as become an Eagle Scout and go to Philmont, a boy scout camp in New Mexico. Both of these achievements are meant to tech leadership and teamwork. My dad has pushed these things so hard on me that I completed them in a hurry. Yet my brother who has not received the push from our dad has not yet earned any of these difficult tasks. Although many families are different, most of the oldest siblings I have spoken to have agreed with me and added their own personal points of emphasis as I have done.

Make Up Your Minds!!!

One consistent legal age should be applied to all liberties granted to US citizens. The drinking age is currently 21 in America because our brains have not finished fully developing. This is a logical reason, why should people be allowed to cause damage to themselves and others? But then why is the legal driving age 16? Struggling to adapt to an adult word, the teenage focus is on almost everything but being good, safe drivers. People are not allowed to drink alcohol until the age of 21 because their brains have not finished developing-but sure, stick us behind the wheel of a car. Let us endanger ourselves and countless others-good plan! Our soldiers risk their lives everyday to protect our freedoms and liberties, yet those under the age of 18 have absolutely no say in t the men that are sending them to foreign lands. These brave men and women have virtually the most strenuous and emotionally trying responsibility in the world, and they can’t have a drink at the end of the day? The government says they are legally mature enough to risk their lives for our sake but not mature enough to decide what they put into their bodies? In college, some students are always going to drink-no matter what laws are placed against them, its a part of dealing with the insane pressures of trying to find who they are. So what becomes of them when they are thrown out of school? All those years of working hard to achieve their high school education and then be one of the decreasing few who go on to college, wasted-after one mistake? The government needs to decide what age they think is responsible and mature enough to be adults, and not decide you are an adult at different ages depending on the subject. Whether the legal age is 50 or 18, a consistent level of maturity should be decided and applied to all aspects of the United States government.

The Super Ego Provales

Sigmund Freud has a human thought process theory that was based on the idea of the Id, the ego and the super ego. The super ego deals with the idea of right and wrong. The Id is the instant gratification. And the ego is the mid point between the two. While sitting in chapel listening to Father Butler tell the story of a man who robbed a convenient store to help feed his family, I began to thing of Freud. The man robed the store for the sole purpose of feeding his family. The Id of this robber caused him to act in this violent way due to the necessity of feeding his family. He was concerned about his family and had to make the rash move of robbing the store to fulfill his instant gratification of helping his family. The cashier pulled out $40 and gave him a loaf of bread and didn’t call the cops. This being the mans super ego, knowing that he helped this man out, and hopefully made him think about his actions. About 6 months later, the cashier received $50 and a letter explaining how he realized what he had done. He had gotten a job and was able to support his family on his own. The conscious effort of the super ego of the cashier had save a man’s life and helped him realize what he had done. If it weren’t for the super ego of this cashier, the man would have spent a long time in jail and his family would have suffered. In the end the super ego of both the cashier and the robber provable just from this simple action of the cashier.

How the Grinch Almost Stole My Christmas

During the holidays, Freud's theory came to mind when my mother told me the horrible news of Christmas this year. The bad news was that my grandfather decided to be a Grinch and have all of the parents only give there children two presents. In huge rage my Id came into play. All I could think in my head was I want more presents. All my other relatives were sneaking away later, while my grandparents took a nap, to open the rest of there presents in hiding. My parents on the other hand decided to stick to the rule. I had already given up my bedroom and my entire house so my 15 relatives could sleep there. I had to sleep on a tiny Styrofoam sheet on the back house's wood floor. Bummed about my Christmas, my Id was telling me to just go buy stuff for myself or disown my family and run away. After a long day of church the day before Christmas, we all went to rock and roll sushi. Amazed at how much fun we are having, my Id was tucked back into the back of my mind so I could enjoy the family. That night we all drank hot chocolate and watched Elf. During the whole night my conscious helped me to come out of this selfish state of being long enough to enjoy the holidays. The selfish little devil had been kicked of my shoulder. After all the Christmas celebration the next morning, I was satisfied with my two gifts. My subconscious made me come to the realization that the only gift I needed in the first place was my very large and loud family. My selfish thoughts were put aside by the angel on my shoulder, resulting in a exciting and cheerful Christmas holiday.

Whatever Get's me There

I believe one of the the most crucial themes in life is choice. Whether we take one road or the other, choose a diet coke over regular, or wear black socks instead of white, we decide which one will benefit us the most. I think a lot of what I'm dealing with right now in high school is directly related to decision-making. as we got to studying Freud's theory of the Id, Ego, and Super-Ego, I was entertained by the recurring image of the devil and the angel on my shoulder. Yet, I went on to look past the childhood image and got to dig down deeper in to what choice really means. As I live my life, I have a vision of where I want to go, then I pick the best way to get there. I have been aware for quite some time that the easy road in life almost always turns out to be the hardest. I have always been taught that the right thing to do is almost always the hardest at first. And I'm not saying taking a short-cut isn't right, but it can often be deceptive in its predicted benefits. On and off, I have been a sucker for the easy road, but most times I have fun doing the right thing. On Christmas eve, I got the oppurtunity to spend the day at the Salvation Army, cleaning and serving food to the homeless, so I took it. I usually spend Christmas eve with my family, but this year I thought I'd get a kick out of helping out at the Salvation Army. So I stayed down there the whole day by my lonesome and got to talking with a lot of interesting people. All of them were sent to clean up the cafeteria as a part of their rehabilitation program. So I cleaned the cafeteria with them for a couple hours. I met one man who had been addicted to crack, another who had been involved in robbery, and another who had been selling drugs. They all had different stories about troubles they had experienced and horrible things they had seen. One man told me about how his brother was shot and killed, and another told me about his decisions to use cocaine. The whole time I couldn't stop thinking about the word choice. I thought about what these guys must have been through, and why they did what they did. And it all narrowed down to it: choice. He chose to live life high so he wouldn't have to face his life problems and he chose to rob a convenient store so he could take food back to his family. It all struck me so fast. The reason why all of these guys were in this place is because they made poor decisions. As a kid living a sheltered life-style in a nice private school, I've had limited opportunities to see how choice can affect me in the long run. But for a day, I was able to see a clear, non-tampered picture of what making the wrong decisions can do to one. These men decided to listen to their Id and disregard their super-ego. I think that through their bad decisions they lost sight of where they wanted to go in life, and now they are trying to get back on their way. I have high expectations for my future, and I have a deep yearning to find the best ways of getting there, so I'll keep on trying to take the high road whenever I can manage to fight against my childish desires. I'll take whatever road gets me there.