Money Matters

Many people agree that society values money too much. Money is an essential part of our economy and has made the trade of goods and services easier, but it has the potential to ruin our lives. We might even base our own lives on things we don’t like just because money is an incentive. For example, there are many cases in which people pursue a career that they don’t like just because they will earn more money. It brings us to the famous question “Does money really bring you happiness?” The answer to this heavily depends on how you define happiness. Although if you define happiness as having good friends and family, the answer to the question is no because a wealthy man may seem to be able to do whatever he wants, but he can’t buy happiness(friends and family) with money. We also use wealth as a means of defining a person’s importance in society. Why is it that richer people are treated better than poorer people in society? This is the true absurdity of society’s beliefs in reputation and wealth. People should follow their dreams instead of following the crowd or money. The one that is truly rich is the one with the most sincere happiness and that is not driven solely by the desire for money.

What We Still Have

We all want something we don’t have. David Sedaris discusses his wish to have lived like his partner Hugh did. Although he lived an average, American life, Sedaris draws parallels to Hugh’s very different lifestyle in Africa, but also describes the obvious contrasts between the two. It is odd that he uses examples that portray Hugh’s life as one full with conflicts to express his desire of living this life. Normally, people would opt out of living in a place where you “find a dead man hanging from a telephone pole” after you watch a movie about a talking car. It seems that Sedaris’ only motive to desire this lifestyle is to have something to talk about at parties. I agree that people always want what they don’t have, but we should also acknowledge aspects in our life that only we have. For example, Sedaris should be content with the secure lifestyle he lived and Hugh should be proud of the numerous challenges he conquered and the exotic lifestyle he lived. This may seem ridiculous, but it is an important step to be truly happy with your own life. Comparison and contrast is a great way to show what others have, but sometimes it is important to focus on and be proud of what you have in your life.

Society's Fault

One major problem of modern society is that we are too dependent on technology. Imagine a world without technology—a world that existed on the same Earth not long ago. Of course, life would get difficult especially for newer generations who are born into a society where people are constantly making phone calls, checking their Facebook or Twitter account, or playing Flappy Birds on their iPhones. These things we can do with technology aren’t really bad, but its threat lies in the risk it holds to be bad. 

In his piece “A Measure of Restraint,” Chet Raymo points out the two-faced reality of progress in technology through his examples of human casualties at the hands of scientific research. Genetic engineering, a topic currently being researched, holds the risk of taking away the natural quality of organism reproduction. The importance of genes to life and their “potentially immortal” characteristic should be enough to keep us away from tampering with nature. It could benefit society by making a completely new breed of crops that can grow in any environment, or it could harm society by making us into something very different from humans. 

Even though these scientific achievements were intended to benefit society, it was society’s misuse of it that led to harsh consequences. In other words, technology is completely in our hands and we hold the power to either bring mankind to a whole new level or destroy countless human lives from our ignorance.

Puzzle Paragraph 2

Racial profiling is an important issue that has somehow woven its way into society. While others might say that they don’t notice the impact of this problem, it is true that everyone is both a victim and a culprit to racial profiling. It seems that the only place where profiling doesn’t exist is outer space; however, the fire of this obstacle can be quelled. One day people will be able to live free of this profiling—as free as Jimi Hendrix was when he sang his version of “The Star-Spangled Banner” in front of a crowd of hippies. Kids won’t have to go through the experiences Jeannette Walls described in her book The Glass Castle and the racism that reigned over her father’s hometown Welch. Although, the answer to this dilemma is something even Brent Staples doesn’t want to propose—he is aware that racial profiling has infected the core of society and won’t be so easily extracted from society’s habits. People will continue to be victims and culprits of profiling and feed this fire with their fear of the unknown.  It is clear that even the opponents leave it to the fates to extinguish this fire of racial profiling.