Enlightenment Philosopher Review

There were many philosphers during the enlightenment that have introduced new ideas to their current age. John Locke has introduced ideas for the way a government should be constructed. He believed that the people should create there own government and that government or no government at all. Democratic Government that we have today in America a government made by the people for the people. I personaly like this idea of Locke's because many countries today have a single or government controled government and the people have no right in that country and may not be able to do the things that we can do freely in America. The same thing applies to people back then, there ruler or monarch decides what the laws for his country will be and has complete control. This presents a problem because any ruler could abuse the rights of the people. Thanks to the ideas of John Locke today we have a fair and just government that gives the people freedoms and rights that not many others can have.

    Though many philosphers had different views that pointed towards democracy, Thomas Hobbes however has a completly different view towards government. His image is an extreme government that has complete control of the people and the laws that it creates. He sees human nature to be violent and unpredictable like people would kill another and if they put there gaurd down they will be shot by another. A government controled by violence will keep the peace, because if there is one ruler who has a massive army to control things then there will be peace and order will be brought. I sumwhat agree on what his idea is but the are major problems with it. People are not naturaly violent but taught to be so and if the government has complete control of the people then the laws and the citizens themselfs could be abused by unfair and unjust laws that could be changed or made at anytime. Each person wouldn't be able to choose on what they could do or what they can practice everyday. I oersonaly disagree with Hobbes idea of complete government take over and today America has proven to be a great succes and people live in peace and can do almost what ever they please. Many nations have a government that Hobbes had imagined, but are abused everyday by there rulers and I am truely thankful to live in a fair and just counry by the people or the people.

Compare and Contrast Essay

Compare and Contrast Essay

Slavery is the practice of a system based on using the enforced labor of other people. Slaves are live in poor conditions, forced to do the hard labor in, example, plantations were they receive no pay, beatings and whippings are regular. Owners have no sense of morality or equality for the human beings they enslaved.  They’re just property and possessions to the slaveholders that do their hard labor for no cost. This inhuman act was thought to have ended a long time but still continues today all over the world. The slavery back in the times of exploration is similar but different form the slavery of today.

            Today, slavery continues in every country of the world except Greenland even though the practice is illegal. Well that can’t be right because the United States is the land of the free and we banned the practice of slavery a long time ago, well that’s partly false. In the U.S. slavery still continues, people are forced in the U.S. by company owners or by other people even children to work in poor conditions and without any pay. In countries filled with poverty people are fooled by others into slavery for example; a man goes walks up to a family under poverty or a homeless person telling them if they want a job. Then those who were fooled are taken to a plantation or a work place by plane, train, automobile, and boats to do hard labor without any pay. The United Nations is trying to stop this practice from continuing. Thankfully there is a smaller percentage of slavery then from the practice of African slavery. An advance in technology has decreased the need for labor. It is hard to believe that an inhuman act such as this continues to this very day but its true and men, women, and children are slaves in most countries all over the world.

            Even though slave from the past and the present are different in many ways both have something in common with one another. Some slaves still do come from Africa to this day just like in the age of exploration and America colonization. Slavery is still a practice to this day and was a common practice then to do the hard labors needed to be done. Ships are still used to transport the slaves to other countries just like the transportation back then in small transport ship. The people who are enslaved are forced to live in poor conditions, many die because this. Along with poor conditions, slaves died by severe beatings and whippings that were commonly given out. Men, women, even children became slaves doing the hard work and dying under the harsh conditions with no pay. The two ages of slavery are much similar as they are different no matter what race or country.

            In the European age of exploration African slavery began in Portugal when they discovered life in Africa. Soon it spread to all the nations of Europe because of the need for cheap labor to do the hard labor in the European colonies. The first slaves were Natives but they died from disease and escaped from the plantations. The percentage of slaves is much higher in this age than in the modern day. Slavery was accepted as a common practice and was “legal” and was an economical need. Slavery was limited because the world was still forming into the modern world it is today and there weren’t many colonies and land conquered at that time. Slaves then were bought and sold for goods and were brought to the Americas called the Atlantic Slave Trade. Slavery then was accepted in everyday society and was a more of a business trade that what it is today.

            Back then slavery was a trade and a business, today slavery is an illegal practice. No matter what the time line slavery will still mean the same. The wickedness and inhuman of slavery divides people and destroys the lives of thousands every day.  Slavery may still continue on for a long time and may never be extinguished from humanity but if we want change in the world we all must do are part to make it a better place. I ask you the readers what will you do to help make this illegal practice be completely terminated form humanity?

Slave Trader

The Slave Traders

I feel this day is the first day of my life as a man for I have taken my fathers old boat and resumed the family business. Today I begin my life as a slave trader. I know much from my father, but I still have much to learn through trial and error on the sea.

A few weeks pass and i have found myself finally reaching West Africa. My father did not lie when he told me of the power the Portuguese have over the slave trade and it shows greatly here. I have met with a man who knew my father, he says he can help me to find some good slaves. My first attempt at the trade and I can already sense the riches that my future will hold.

After about a month I have managed to nearly fill my boat with slaves. My greed is a curse for I now feel that I could have fit more slaves onto my craft before departure. It is too late now, when I look back all I see is the shimmering blue ocean reflecting the light of the stars.

I have made my way to the Americas after quite a long and painful month. Storms have set us off course and we have spent too many a day on the ocean. I now i fear that i myself may starve. Many of the slaves have already starved to death and they have made quite a stench. I now more than ever look forward to seeing green on the horizon, signaling that i have found the land of the new world.

I feel that i made a decent deal with the colonists, but when i tell my stories to other traders many laugh in my face. It seems the plantation owners took advantage of me and i feel like a fool. I guess there is still much for me to learn about the rules of the slave trade.

As i travel from Africa to the Americas a storm rolls us over. A large wave crashes and weakens the restraints of many of the slaves and fighting has broken out atop the deck. I hear screaming as the revolting slaves and many of my men as well are taken by the ocean to never breath air again. I write this knowing fully well that i will most likely never see land again.

You're Always There for Me

You’re Always There for Me

When the world comes crashing in
And chaos rules my mind,
I turn my heart to you, Lord,
And pure, sweet peace I find.

You lift me out of trouble
You comfort me in pain;
You nourish, heal and cleanse me,
Like cool, refreshing rain.

In times of joy and bliss,
When things are going right,
You lift me even higher,
And fill me with delight.

You listen to my prayers;
You hear my every plea;
I’m safe because I know
You’re always there for me.

By Joanna Fuchs

Footprints in the Sand

Last night I had a dream. I dreamed I was walking along the beach with the Lord. Across the sky flashed scenes from my life. For each scene, I noticed two sets of footprints in the sand: one belonged to me, the other to the Lord.

After the last scene of my life flashed before me, I looked back at the footprints in the sand. I noticed that at many times along the path of my life, especially at the very lowest and saddest times, there was only one set of footprints.

This really troubled me, so I asked the Lord about it.  “Lord, you said once I decided to follow you, You’d walk with me all the way. But I noticed that during the saddest and most troublesome times of my life, there was only one set of footprints. I don’t understand why, when I needed You the most, You would leave me.”

The Lord replied, “My son, my precious child, I love you and I would never leave you. During your times of suffering, when you could see only one set of footprints, it was then that I carried you.”

The Art of War

Book Review #3

Niccolo’ Machiavelli

The Art of War

          I liked this book because I enjoy tactics and strategies on wars and battles and I recommend it to anyone who does also. I looked at the cover on the book and I first believed that it would be interesting. I was however wrong and it bored me when I came towards the middle of the book. I was hoping for the book to be more exciting was it explains tactics and strategies in a more enjoyable way. Nevertheless my excitement fell like listening to a dull boring war speech for 4 hours and in the beginning you looked forward to be influenced by the words, but you end up sleeping. This book was boring, still had some good tactical strategy and it was different than expected.

          To start it off, the book had a more advance vocabulary level that to some, may have only begin to grasp. This factor can make the book harder to understand and read holding you back from the ingenious tactics and strategy that the author was trying to project. The way the entire book was molded was more of a 1^st person view, which may seem pointless and unnecessary. It also seemed he was talking to his friend and not to the people reading it. Each chapter wasn’t “to the point” and was a long explanation of Greek words and over explained every detail in battle formations and strategies. This made each page more tedious and you would soon lose appeal in the book and stopped reading the book in the middle.

          Secondly, the tactical genius when discovered can be applied to the strategies that Europe still uses to this very day. Even Voltaire, an enlightenment philosopher, quoted “Machiavelli taught Europe the art of war; it had been long practiced, without being known.” Although some of the strategy of modern day has changed to adapt to the weapons and advance in technology much hasn’t changed. The change in the formation for an army, described in the book includes pike men, Calvary, officers and others in higher command, and a large army in a close formation. The units can connect to modern armies and can be used in somewhat the same way, but advance in technology has changed that and now armies are spread out and each group of units forms its own army. Even though the time has changed tactics are still used but are adapted for modern combat.

          Also, the way the book was written was different than others like the 1^st person view and the fact that he seems to be talking to a friend of his. How he connects to what he is saying to things that seem unrelated. Like Greek terms and words that he uses in his teaching and the explanation for using them is something that you may have never really seen in a strategy book. The very fact that today they are still being used is remarkable because not many strategies are still used today. He teaches more than just military strategy, he shows diagrams of how army formations should look and how a fort or a base should be shaped. He takes the time to explain in much detail the use of each type of unit and how you can use it in many ways. He explains many other things like positions of power and how to use your recourses in and out of war. This has what kept me on my seat reading it for longer than I wanted to.

          The Art of War is an ingenious, unique, but a bit boring book and I recommend it to those who have a great love or interest in military strategy and a higher vocabulary. I rate this book 2 out of 5 for the strategy. This book’s uninteresting extended explanations really hide the pure idea of his strategy in a big explanation. What really mystified me about the book was how much the strategy is used today and how it affects the outcome of wars in the modern world. The fact that Voltaire spoke about Niccolo Machiavelli was unique in the way that his art of war must have really affected the world so greatly for him to be noticed. The book makes you think of the modern battles and wars and how greatly it compares to those of the past.