Act 2 #1

Power always corrupts the one who holds it

Power requires great responsibility for the people who possess it. You need to use it wisely or it can corrupt you. The people who possess power are the governors and rich people. They are supposed to use their power to help other people, to make the world a better place. If they misuse their power they will face corruption. I disagree with this statement because power doesn't always corrupts a person. Many people have responsibilities for their power.

A person that is responsible for their power is wise and can make the world a better place. Take a responsible president for example. A responsible president should put money in education, healthcare, and other benefits for citizens. Education can help the country have more smarter people, to make business and innovations. This can raise the economy of the country. Healthcare is important to all the people in a country. If all the people get sick from a disease, people won't be working and it would mess up the country. There are also other things to take care of like poverty, war, and GDP. If a president can take care of all these things he is very responsible for his power and won't get corrupted.

In the other perspective a person who isn't responsible for their power would get corrupted. Let's take an irresponsible this time. The irresponsible president don't put money in education, healthcare and benefits for citizens. He just slack off and uses the government's money on himself. The teachers in school will be quitting for low salary and schools won't have money for books. Students won't be learning if there is no teacher and no textbooks. People wouldn't be getting healthcare from the government and have to pay full price for sickness. There will be more people getting sick and nobody will be working. The country will later be in a bad situation and they will have to kick the president off.

From these two examples it shows that the statement isn't right. Power doesn't always corrupt the person who holds it. It depends on the person if their using it right or misusing it. Most people I have seen are using their powers right and responsible. Many presidents in the world are doing the best they can to make their country stronger. Business people are making new inventions and innovations to make life easier.

Act 2, #2

"It is sometimes necessary to take decisive, pre-emptive action against someone because of what you fear he or she might do later."

   Assuming and over thinking situations about another can change your opinions and views on
them, and not always in a good way. People tend to overlook the good that can happen and always think of the worst case scenario. It's different if you know something bad could for sure happen, like going to a party and everyone's doing drugs or your friend wanting to sneak out to a club in East Vancouver. If there is a high possibility of something bad most likely to occur, then take action because you never know what could happen.

   When you take pre-emptive action against someone because of what you fear  someone might do later on is wrong in my opinion. There's a difference between knowing and guessing. If you know for a fact something wrong is going to happen is understandable, guessing can ruin some type of friendship or connection to the person. For example, breaking up with your boyfriend/girlfriend because you "thought" they might cheat on you or ending a friendship because you "thought" they were going to tell others your secret. 
    
   You obviously don't know if something bad could happen in the future unless you confront the person about the whole situation, that's pretty much the solution to the whole problem, instead of jumping to conclusions. You never know what the future holds, and you've got to learn to take risks instead of trying to solve everything before hand. Others may have a different opinion and think it's right to stop unwanted things to happen to them before they occur, but possibly hurting someone in the process isn't always a good decision.
    
    In conclusion, no I don't think its necessary to take decisive, pre-emptive action against someone because of what you fear they might do later, although other people may have different opinions, personally, i'm a risk taker and I don't like changing fate.   

Act 2 #2

2.It is sometimes necessary to take decisive, preemptive action against someone because of what you fear he or she might do later.

This statement is very similar to Act 1#1, "It is sometimes necessary to do things you know are wrong in order to achieve an important goal." Both involve the justification of something wrong. However, I agree with both. Rash decision making is something everyone tends to do. Imagine you are at a bus stop, waiting in the rain. You see a big, shady-looking man with his hood over his head, shielding his facial expression from you. He's fidgeting with something in his pocket, and while concealing whatever he has, he begins approaching you. I bet fear is going through your heads right now, and you start making choices, like running away, calling someone for help, or preparing to fight back. However, interrupting your train of thought is said man, muttering something incomprehensible. Right when he is about a foot away from you, he turns to you, and, acting on instinct, you punch him in the face and run away. 

You took a preemptive action for fear of your own well being, harming his in the process. You later find out that he was a lost tourist, and was prying open a map from his pocket so you could help him find the nearest Pizza Hut. You feel guilty, and regretful that you didn't help the lad, but was it really your fault? All he got was a punch to the face, but what if he was hostile? You could have been assaulted, mugged, or maybe even killed. I think, once our options are weighed, it is OK to make a decision defending something, as long as it is reasonable. Is murdering someone who walks toward you reasonable? Absolutely not. Unless you know for sure what the outcome of his/her action is, try and make sure you know the outcome of yours.

Power always corrupts the one who holds it

      Lord Acton once said, “Power tends to corrupt, and absolute power corrupts absolutely.” This famous quote clearly expresses the idea that power corrupts the one who holds it, but does it ALWAYS corrupt? I think the answer certainly isn’t a simple yes or no since there are always exceptions. Throughout history, we’ve seen many rulers attempting to become a dictator which definitely isn’t the best way to govern a country. Of course, some monarchs have understood the needs of the citizens and have used their power to build a secure country where everyone is happy. Therefore, power can corrupt quite easily if being abused.
     
     Power has a great possibility to corrupt someone. It is a lure for people since absolute power can mean doing anything by their wish. Many greedy people, especially those who have a high chance of becoming a leader or president, yearn for power and they are willing to do absolutely everything in order to gain that power. This results in illegal actions, such as assassination towards the rulers. In addition, when they’re in position of that power, the rulers tend to forget their original goals of helping others and building a better country for the citizens. They become too conceited because the citizens often admire and respect them.

     Henry VI was one of the worst rulers of England. He abused his power as a monarch by choosing favourites to help him rule the country. Even worse was the fact that he wasn’t interested in his duties as a king. Under his rule, the citizens’ lives were not secured since he wasn’t interested in war either. Soon, he was defeated and captured. This is a common ending for monarchs who only want the absolute power as a ruler instead of taking on the role as a ruler seriously.

     In contrast, Steve Jobs has successfully done his job as the director of a company. Even though, he has been a dictator in some ways, he led the company to a great success and created popular inventions, such as iphone. He had total power over the whole company, but he used his power correctly by choosing the talented people to work with him and working as hard as anyone else even though he was the director.

     In summary, don’t forget your reason for being in the position where you have absolute power. Power can lead to corruption when one abuses it and uses it for illegal activities, such as using the tax money to buy personal possessions. It could also lead to success when being used accurately. Whether or not power corrupts, it all depends on the person who holds it.

Act 1 #1

“It is sometimes necessary to do things you know are wrong in order to achieve an important goal.”
This statement is absolutely true for most of mankind, and has been proved countless true countless times in history. I think something that pertains to this statement is cause and effect. If I kill someone, I will face negative consequences, such as jail. However, there are usually external factors to our decisions.
I’m sure every one of us has done something punishable as a child and has had to face the consequences. For example, stealing money from our parents. In our mind, buying that chocolate bar was very important, so we had to do something criminal like steal to achieve it. Of course, wanting some candy doesn’t justify stealing at all, but it does give us an idea of why the crime was committed. Another great example is assassination. The killer has a specific motivation for the killing, usually for political purposes or money. While money won’t really help anyone besides the killer, exterminating someone due to politics can change an entire country. Take the situation in Libya. Although the current situation is awful, a major incident that has affected an immense amount of people is the assassination of the U.S Ambassador Chris Stevens. Stevens was travelling in his car when a rocket was fired at him and his embassy staff, killing all four. The reason for killing him was probably because: a) he was American; the major enemy to most countries especially the Middle East, and b) To cause further panic and rebellion.  The people who killed Stevens were probably the same ones who support Al-Qaeda. Their mindset is that if they kill half of everyone and scare the rest, the can rule and do as they please. Do they enjoy the mindless deaths? Probably not, but something they would definitely enjoy is the power obtained by it.
Something else that relates to this question is moral integrity. Say you saw someone on the street brutally attacking a group of people. You could choose to intervene and save the group, but the only way you could stop the attacker is by killing him. What would you do? Some people might not do anything because of fear, but others might think that killing him would serve no purpose; doing the same thing he is. However, there is a massive difference between slaughtering a random group of people and killing someone who has the possibility to kill many others. Of course slaying the attacker is a bad thing, but would you rather have a group of innocent people dead or someone who is capable of killing? Sometimes we need to take one backward in order to take two steps forward.

Act 2, #1

"Power always corrupts the one who holds it."



     Power and Control, such strong words that can change a life of someone who possess it. Obtaining power and control is a big responsibility. An example of people who possess these are the past and present Presidents. Others uses their power to bring peace, order, and to make a country, or a group better. But some uses it for themeselves, to make them feel good, to abuse it for their own good. Many will say that they agree and disagree about this statement, because not everyone who posses power overuse it or gone corrupt.

      Everyone is different in their own unique, and special way, and we all know that. Such as past and presidents of different countries. They have their own way of using the power that they have obtained from their position, and they rule differently. In the past, a former filipino president, Ferdinand Marcos, has used his power that shocked everyone in the Philippines. He declared martial law, and the law very strict that if you get caught wandering around the streets during the night, they will either put you to prison, or you are going to end up in a coffin. In other words, he abused his power. He made filipinos suffer during his ruling and everyone wanted to get rid of him as a president, which they were successful to do so. This is an example of person who became corrupt because of the power that he possessed. He was blinded by power which caused his nation to become against him.

     But power does not always corrupt an individual. Some have used to bring a more peaceful, and better country. An example of this is the current president of the Philippines, Benigno "Noynoy" Aquino III, who is the son of Corazon Aquino, who fought for democracy during the ruling of Ferdinand Marcos. It is believe that his father, Benigno Aquino Jr, was killed by the men of Ferdinand. And now that Noynoy is the current president, he is ruling the Philippines almost the opposite way of how Ferdinand. He made peace with a certain rebelion group in the Philippines, who brings war in Mindanao, and made Filipinos happy. Though he is currently struggling to gain money to make Philippines a better country, Filipinos think that he is doing a great job so far. He is an example of someone who did not become corrupt even when he has Power and Control of the country.

     In conclusion, everyone uses their power either for good or bad. We cannot force them to use their power for the better or for the worse, because we are not them. We do not know what it feels to hold that kind of power, and it is a big responsibilty no doubt. We just have to hope and wish that they are the right President to lead the country to have peace and to be led to a brighter future.

Act 1, #5

   

" Are their positive and negative consequences for being too loyal? "

   Being loyal to another person is a great attribute to have, but being too loyal can have consequences. There are positive and negative effects to almost everything, not everything will turn out the way you want it to, there are always pro’s and con’s. Loyalty is faithfulness or devotion to someone in particular, which everyone should have towards another. There are many good things about being loyal, but there are also things that are aren’t so good as well.

   There are many advantages and disadvantages of being loyal. First of all, the positive effects of being loyal can result in an amazing relationship between you and another; it could be your best friend, your family, or your spouse. Knowing that the person you’re in a relationship with is completely devoted to you and won’t cheat and having a friend or a sibling who are completely honest with you, trustworthy, and keeps your secrets makes a strong and healthy relationship.

   Loyalty is a commitment that must be mutual among two people if you expect the relationship to work, otherwise you may be cheated on or taken advantage of. That’s where the disadvantage’s come in. If you are too loyal to another, it can also result in having your feelings hurt. If someone to too honest it could hurt your feelings, causing a fight between one another. You could also be taken advantage of, which is a big one. If someone is aware that they’re best friend is totally loyal, they could end up using you, taking your things, always asking for you to lend them money, etc. That’s why it takes two loyal people to have a great relationship. The more invested you are into another person, the harder it may be for you back down.

   All in all, loyalty is a good attribute to have, but don’t abuse it because when it’s not acknowledged or respected, you’ll be taken advantage of. A trustworthy and honest friend is the perfect amount of loyalty in my books, being a loyal person will always make you a better person.

Act 1 #3

You can't have power without making dangerous enemies

My topic is you can't have power without dangerous enemies. I think this is a very true statement because I have seen examples of it. There is never perfection in the world today. There has to be enemies when you gain power. Even people without power have enemies. The people who have power in this statement are probably the political leaders and rich people. They have the power to control a country or a business so they are powerful. The reason why there are enemies is because of either jealousy or hatred.

The first example of you can't have power without making enemies is of a new president for a country. Some people don't agree with the things he's doing to the country. So a group of people decided to assassinate the president. They paid a person a few hundred thousand dollars to kill the president and made it look like an accident. Then later there was another election for a new president that most people liked.

Another example is of a rich business man. He is doing very well in his business and making millions of dollar. A competitor is very angry because he is not doing as well and thinks the rich business man is stealing his business. He later hired a spy and sends him in to work at the business man's company. The spy collected data and secrets about the company and then reports back to the competitor. The competitor used the data and secrets to make his product better and later surpassed the business man.

Last example is about a king living in his kingdom. The king is always lazy, he orders people around to serve him and never do anything good for the kingdom. The kingdom's finance isn't going well and they are an easy target for attack from other kingdoms. His people are tired and angry of serving him because he shouldn't deserve all this. The people have decided to overthrow the king. They put sleeping pills in his drink and at midnight they went in his room and slit his throat.

I think this kind of situation won't really happen in real life. The situations I have seen all came from books. You don't see people getting killed for having power in real life. Although there will still be people that have hate toward the powerful people. But if the people are using their power correctly, there won't be as many people that have hate towards them.

Act 1, #5

"Are there positive and negative consequences for being too loyal?"

      A coin has two sides. Likely, every matter has both negative and positive consequences; therefore being too loyal also has two different effects. Having loyalty is a virtue, but too much of something is never desirable. So being too loyal is the same. One of our first instincts of being too loyal is that it’s a good virtue to have since having faith to someone or something could help building a better relationship, society, etc. There may be many positive consequences from one perspective; nevertheless, there are negative consequences as well. For instance, you could be tricked into doing illegal things because you took the advice of the person that you have loyalty towards. Hence, being too loyal could have the following outcomes.

     First of all, a positive effect for being too loyal to your friends could mean that they would trust and respect you, and they could count on you which could create a good friendship. Loyalty is important in a relationship since it creates strong bonds between you and them. Also your friends could rely on you to keep their secrets. They could be assured that you are there for them to find comfort whenever they’re facing and struggling with problems in life.

     Another advantage of having loyalty in a relationship is that no one cheats on one another. Of course, being loyal to your spouse is essential in a marriage and it could result in a happy marriage without having to divorce. Your children would also be satisfied since they’re not being forced to choose either their mom or dad to live with. Being loyal is essential in building a joyful marriage.

     However, there are many disadvantages as well. One of the major negative consequences could be blind loyalty. In this case, you might listen and agree to everything the person says while disagree with any other opposing ideas. You would become very stubborn and hard to negotiate since you’re too narrow minded to accept other concepts. You could make many enemies due to this reason.

     In brief, nothing is always good or bad. Certainly, being loyal also has two sides. Blind loyalty could result in unable to differentiate what’s right and what’s wrong. Although there are negative consequences, being loyal is a great way to earn other’s trust.

Act 1, #5

"Are there positive and negative consequences for being too loyal?"

     We live in a world where positivity and negativity exist. Everything we do have consequences, an outcome, and not everyone will all have the same result. Loyalty is very important in our world. Why? Because it is what makes a relationship strong. Having faith and trusting someone is never easy. Mostly, we will have to earn their trust and respect, and show them loyalty in order for them to give those back to us. Loyalty is very fragile, and sometimes we tend to break it a lot. It is very hard to put those broken pieces back together, and things won't possibly be the same again. Being loyal to someone is never easy, and it is a huge commitment to do so. Is being too loyal a good thing, or is it bad thing for us to do?

     Being too loyal does not always have a terrible outcome, nor does it always have a good result. An example of a positive outcome of being too loyal is earning the trust and respect of a certain individual or so. If you want to earn someone's trust and respect, then showing them that you are loyal is very important. If you become too loyal to your friends, they will show a positive feedback in return. It will strengthen your bond with them and perhaps it will develop to something better. They may show you that they care for you now and that they will be there for you in times of your sadness, pain, or struggles in life.

     Another example of a positive outcome of being too loyal is the commitment between you and the person that you love. Couples who are married definitely know that loyalty is important, otherwise their relationship with their partner will go downhill. The more you are loyal to your husband or wife, the better and the happier your relationship will be. Even though there are no guarantees, the percentage of you and your partner to cheat on one another will perhaps be lower than other couples who struggles to have faith and commitment to one another in their relationship.

     Not everything is always a good thing or always has positive outcome, which means that being too loyal could also lead to horrible or negative outcomes. A negative consequence for example is that, if you are too loyal to someone, there is a possibility that they might take you for granted and even use you. It is very important that you are not too loyal to them that it is up to point where you will do everything and anything, as in anything that they tell you to do in order to gain or earn their respect. There are some things that are limited, such as loyalty. Make sure that you do not overboard or else they could make a fool out of yourself and betray you because at the end, you are the one who is going to end up as a clear loser.

     It is true that loyalty is important in life, at least for me it is. And it is also important that we have to make smart decisions when it comes to trusting someone. Being too loyal is never a bad thing, but it is not always a good thing either. We have to make sure that when it comes to being loyal to someone, they won't abuse us and use loyalty against us. Because at the end, you will gain no trust.

Amanda Todd response

     I think the Amanda Todd's video really highlights some of the flaws in society. Lets start with the guys who told her to flash. It was her choice to, and it was a mistake on her part, but taking pictures of it and threatening to send them out is blackmail. Even worse, the group did send out her pictures, which is libel. One thing I don't understand is why the police came to her and told just told her that the pictures were sent out, instead of actually doing something about it. If the group who did this to her was discovered and charged, she wouldn't have been in such a bad position, and I think she would still be with us. 

     After the first incident, and after moving schools, Amanda hooked up with a guy who said he had a girlfriend. I think she made another mistake, trusting a guy who was very much willing to cheat on his girlfriend. However, I don't know why the guy made it out as though Amanda had solely initiated their hook-up. Maybe he was close to getting caught and had to lie again, or maybe he already knew about Amanda's first incident, which would make the whole thing much worse. It would take a really horrid person to ruin a girl's life who had already had it ruined before, especially being the one person she trusted.
     

     Amanda Todd's death should have been stopped long before it happened. Authorities should have intervened as soon her private pictures were distributed along. I know for sure that that's child pornography, and possibly libel. It is especially saddening given that she's from Vancouver, knowing stuff like that happens so close to our city. 

Amanda Todd Response

    I knew this girl, and I had no idea about her story until now. It completely breaks my heart because if I knew, I would've helped her through all her rough times. Amanda didn't deserve to be treated like that in any way at all. Yes, she made mistakes but who doesn't make them? We all learn from our mistakes, but apparently Amanda had to be constantly reminded of them day after day. It's not okay to make someone's life hell because of their mistakes and it's not okay to ruin someone else's life to make yours a little better. It's not okay and it never will be okay. There's no such thing as an easy way out, it's someone's breaking point, suicide occurs when you believe there is absolutely no way out, when you are so completely shattered that you see literally no way of putting the pieces back together. Everyone keeps ranting on about how she took the easy way out instead of facing the consequences. What consequences?! Getting bullied everyday and being diagnosed with anxiety and depression? 

    Moral of this response, nobody deserves "hate" because of mistakes they've made that aren't irreversible, nobody deserves "hate" in any way as a matter of fact, especially something they can't control. Rest in Paradise Amanda Todd, and Rest in Paradise to all the others who have ended their lives due to bullying, and to all the kids being bullied currently, remember to put your hand on your chest and feel your heartbeat, that's called purpose, you're here for a reason; don't leave without one. 

                   

Amanda Todd Response

My opinion on Amanda Todd is that she shouldn't have faced all this bullying. She made her mistake of putting the picture online and it was her fault. But she really didn't deserved the bullying. I think she wouldn't be bullied in our school because the people are nice. I know how it must have been for her because I have times when I was depressed. She should have stood up for herself and asked help from teachers and parent. Many people like her have suffered bullying. She shouldn't have made the decision of suicide because there could be a better future for her. People who bully should think of what they're doing and think what it would be like to be the on bullied. I am surprised that nobody have helped or been there for her before she died.

Amanda Todd Response

 

    The story of her life made me feel sorrowful and shocked. I felt sympathy for Amanda Todd who was the same age as us, and got bullied to an extent that forced her to drink bleach and, eventually, commit suicide. In this heartbreaking video, she wrote, “I have nobody. I need someone.” I could feel the extreme loneliness that she was experiencing and how desperate she was to find a person that she could share her feelings with. Of course, she did not deserve to be bullied to death just because of one stupid decision. Maybe things would have been better if people cared more about others around them and fully understood others before judging and excluding them.

   It seems ridiculous that bullying is still happening today since where’s the respecting others that we’ve learned throughout our education. Why would you bully others when you wouldn’t want to be treated the same way as you treated them?

Amanda Todd Response

What Amanda Todd did (suicide) was understandable, at least for me. It may not be the best decision for her to make, but most teenagers may do the same if they were in the same position as her's. It's true that you can press charges, but some people are afraid to do so because they have this fear that the person that they press charges against might threaten to kill them or hunt them down and ruin their family. It is true that Amanda have done a stupid decision, but I do not think that she deserves to be bullied and that they took the picture and used to threaten or blackmail her. Bullying is unacceptable, it causes people to react, think, and to deep depression like what happened to Amanda. It makes me sad and upset of where our society is now, how did students end up bullying and treating other students like trash? It really makes me sick of what Amanda's former classmates have done to her. All of us should stand and rise up against Bullying. No matter what type of Bullying even if it is Physically, Verbally, Indirect or Cyber Bullying. 

Design

I'm going to change the design sometime this week to give our blog a little more "Swag"/Style. Post some colours or what guys would like to see in our blog. Have a good evening :)