Rebuttal: Should teenagers be allowed to vote? YES!

 Well Amber, first of all, pigs can fly. Don't believe me? well, check this out.

Second of all, i disagree with you even though you had some good points. 

I think that you are making too much of a generalization. You are saying as if all teenagers, those in between the ages of 13 and 20, act the same way or think the same way. Like i said on my post, not all teenagers think the same way. Some think in a great way and some just, well, they are just immature. 

I do agree that voting is a very important decision, but do you really think that teenagers could make a huge difference in elections? They are probably not even half of the population of the people who can vote and since they are mostly influenced by adults as you said, I think it would almost be the same if that were the case because if an adult influences a teen on one side then also another adult influences another teen on the other side (confusing, I know). If influence is a factor, then it wouldn’t really matter because it would be the same amount of adults plus the number of teenagers they influenced which would be an almost evenly number per person or per side (also confusing, a little, I know).
 Our brains might not be developed to understand things like mature adults do, but it is developed enough to understand what is good and what is bad and to be able to choose which decision in an election would be the best. 

You say teens aren’t trusted with any major life decisions until they are adults, but they actually are. Don’t you think that going to a school like ASTI is a major life decision? It might not necessarily be one, but for the most part it is. That isn’t such a good example, but you cant assume that teens aren’t trusted with major life decisions because you cant prove that. Wouldn’t driving be a major life decision? When you drive you are risking a lot, I’m sure that the risk of killing someone could be a life decision. They are trusted to drive, but not to vote? Yup.

Politics and the English Language

Orwell’s main points are that the English language and that political writing have changed through time. We are the ones who have made these changes. Every time, we make more changes to the language creating it more confusing and harder to understand. Orwell says that political writing and the English language are not used correctly.  People have changed the way they speak through the years, they make up new words that they understand when talking but that have no meaning when they are applied in writing. We have developed language that only we understand. For example, people all around the United States have different ways of using the English language. Some people for example, might not understand people that are not from the same place as them because where they live they speak English a little differently and so it might be a little confusing for them to understand each other.

Orwell says that we use words we do not know the meaning of. He says that we tend to say whatever comes to our minds and because the way we think is inaccurate the things we say are bad. I agree with this idea that what we think is inaccurate. I think that even professional writers and professional speakers think in an inaccurate way. Writers for example, they write stuff trying to make their writing look fancy and professional. Sometimes when they try to make their writing look good, the results are that the reader ends up being confused and that there is too much analyzing to do in order to fully understand what the creator of the piece of writing means. We think in a way to impress people says Orwell, and what we need to do is to think clearly with meaningful thoughts that people could understand without analyzing instead of trying to look fancy with writing and making the readers confused. That is what happens in political writing. Orwell says that political writing is sometimes used incorrectly. Sometimes, things such as figurative language are used in political writing and it is totally unnecessary and only makes the political writing confusing rather than understandable. 

He also makes a good point that to make writing understandable, a writer has to be honest about what they are writing. If the writing is made up of, for example opinions stated as facts then there is no point really on writing. The writer must have a reason to write and what he writes should be his thoughts that are understandable and clear.

Orwell says that the English language can be reversed. I agree with him and disagree with him. I agree with him because it can be reversed meaning that people can start thinking more clearly and communicating either through speaking or writing in an understandable way. I disagree with him because I don’t think that all people are willing to make those changes since they are the ones who have some up with those unnecessary words.

In general, I mostly agree with Orwell and his “Politics and the English Language”. I think that the English language has been affected by the misuse of its speakers. It is constantly being changed and made more confusing by the people. I also agree with the idea that the only way we can reverse this is by thinking clearer and being able to share those clean thoughts with everyone so that they understand easily without having to do any kind of analyzing.

What we think is what makes this English language more inaccurate because our thoughts are foolish according to Orwell. Orwell might sound fancy or his writing works might look presentable as if he is trying to make it look great, but the reality is that his ideas are just clear and he thinks in a way other people would understand him.

Should teenagers be allowed to vote?

Teenagers do not all act the same way or think the same way as each other. Some are mature and some have no idea what they are doing and do not care about the consequences.Sometimes there are teenagers that have the capacity to behave like a mature adult. I have personally met people my age who seem to have that adult mentality where everything is serious. I think that most teenagers have the capacity to act mature enough to vote. I think adults make generalizations about us. They see one of us doing something immature, and they think we are all like that, but that is also a generalization; not all adults think that about us. I think that teenagers should be allowed to vote.

Teenagers are a big part of the population in this country. I think that if teenagers could vote, the results of politics would be a little different. It is true that young teenagers are probably not ready for voting, which is something really important in society. Teenagers start to become more mature as they get older. My point is that the voting age should be lowered to sixteen. Even fifteen would be okay. 

For example, in ASTI, we start to see freshmen and sophomores think critically in their work about things that matter in the world such as family, college (higher education), environment, politics, etc. We put our own opinion, and a lot of times people (adults) are impressed by us. We are like young adults. Teenagers work, since we can start working at that age. As said in this article, some of us hold part-time jobs,
some drive, and pay taxes, and seventeen year old teens even serve in the army. The why can't those who work and pay taxes vote?

At schools, there are school governments with the same idea of a normal government, except that they are run by students. If teenagers can vote for something like that, then why wouldn't they be able to vote in real elections? Teenagers that are sixteen or older (maybe fifteen) should be able to vote. There should be some kind of requirements for teenagers, maybe a test or something that can prove that they are ready to vote. That would be a fair thing to do. 


After all, isn't a democracy "a government of the people, by the people, for the people", and aren't we people?

Leaders and Corruption

I think that political power is seen and used different by different people. It really depends on who the person with power is to determine how they will use that power. I believe that if someone with a corrupt mind has a lot of power, that person will use their mind to do bad things and use the power in a bad and unfair way. Power is much like an addiction.I think of power as money. Money is something that when it is unlimited, it becomes addictive to get and to use. On the other hand, if a person with a great and humble mind, like the president of The United States Obama, they would most likely use the power for good. Just like i believe he is right now.
I think that people who use power for corruption are selfish people, they only of themselves and what everyone else thinks does not matter to them. I think that power is a very easy thing to become addicted to, and i have heard of people who seem to be good but once they gain power, they change to evil people. Power is really strong and can change people.
I think that George Orwell would agree with me, i think that he would say that it depends on who the person with power is. I have not finished the book, but from what i have read so far, i think that the different leaders have different ways of using power, some use it for the benefit of the whole farm and some do not.
Political power is a big thing in America, and all around the world; people want good leaders who know how to use politcal power correctly, at least that is what i would want.

What am I going to do this summer?

I have been thinking lately about what I will do this summer of 2011. I will probably have to take a college class again. I am interested on an art class, but I'm not sure about what I will take. I want to travel a lot. That is what I want the most. My parents are thinking about sending my brother and I to Brazil for a few weeks but we don't know yet. I'd love to go to Brazil, plus now that I know a little Portuguese and I can undestand it almost perfectly would make it good. But we are not sure about that yet, so maybe this summer or in 2014 for the world cup which will be there. I can't wait for that. I like Alameda, but last summer I spent 99% of the timehere and it got boring. I wanted to go out of Alameda badly. I'm excited for summer because we don't have school, but I am not excited about the annoying hot weather; I hate it. Summer is not my favorite time of the year, but unfortunately that's when I get a long break from school. Not when it's all nice and cold.
Um, I also want to hang out with friend and with Amber too! She won't be here most if the time though, she will be far away all summer, again. I want to play soccer. I want to spend more time with my brother too. I want to go to my grandma's house in Santa Cruz. I love it there, it's beautiful. I love the ocean.
I don't want to do community service stuff. Even though when I help others it makes me feel good about myself, I do not want to do anything like that, simply because it is boring. I don't like doing boring stuff when I don't have school.
Oh! One thing I don't want to do this summer is homework. I don't like homework during summer. It reminds me of school. If it was only, for example, a day of homework (3-5 hours) I would do it. When we have to do homework at least one day per week, that is annoying. I know it is good for us to practice for school and critical think but I just don't like it. So I'm not looking up to that this summer...
I want my summer to be fun, I want to remember this summer. Traveling would make me happy :)

Does it matter where you go to college? Does that shape your future?

My favorite response was "What You Do vs. What You Do" by Martha O'Connell. Her response post was really convincing in my opinion. She wrote saying that it does not matter where you go to college or university, or if that college or university is elite or not. She discusses that why matters is one's ambition for education. I agree with that. I think that if someone who really wants to succeed and get ahead in life can by going to any school. Success is something mental, if you want it, you get it. At least that is what I think and that's what i think O'Connell thinks. I think that the idea of people who attend elite schoolshave more chances of having a better future is partly true, but it does not apply to everyone who goes to elite schools. The people who have the money have it easy. One thing is having the money, and other thing is actually learning. I do agree that if you lean a lot from an elite school, you will probably have higher chances of having a "better" life than any other person who attended a non-elite school. The other thing is defining "better life". People think different ways, some similarly, and some conpletely different. Better can just mean a simple life, or it can mean lots of money, business, etc. So that means that it doesn't matter how much money they will be making in the future (some people). It all depends on who it is and what they like to study, and how much effort they put on their studies. People should have that mentality to succeed so that in the future they really do succeed.
My least favorite was "Skip to the Admissions Game" by Kevin Carey. I thought everything he said was crap. It's was all about how only the people who go to elite schools succed and people who go to cheaper schools get bad education. I thought he only cared about the rich. There are lots of people that can't afford going to such expensive schools and that they have no chose but to go to cheaper ones. I think that if they really work hard, Thayer can succeed.

Winter is the best!

I don't know how Cheunga could have said so many bad things about winter. She disappointed me. She said on her post:

          I dislike any characteristic of winter. On a typical winter day the sky is abnormally gray, with pale clouds hovering- preventing light from the sun. It is like the light from a lamp is turned to the lowest possible level and a morose feeling comes to me. The volatile whether is annoying and picks the worse time for a storm. Whenever I am wearing a puffy jacket, the clouds agreeably make way for the sun to shine on my heated jacket. When I strip off my jacket, the clouds close up and send the winds to further the discomfort....There is no point wearing anything nice because the rain would ruin it anyways

Cheunga, um, there is something called an umbrella so you can cover your nice clothes and not get it wet. Anyways, Winter is the best time of the year. I totally disagree with you with everything you said, except the sweater part which was a little weird. Haha. Well, I think that when it is cold, it is better because it is not annoying. Comparing winter to summer, summer is horrible; you always feel hot and you sweat and it's all gross and it is annoying being so hot. When it's cold, you may feel something else but never annoyed! Rain is so cool. I don't understand why you don't like it. Rain makes my day so much better. I love the smell of wet soil. I know that sone people like it too, but the reason why I love that smell is because it reminds me of home. Days that look gray do seem sad, but it seems so peaceful and quiet when the sky is gray.
I just think that being cold is better than being hot. Because when you are cold, you can just sit next to the heater, put on 20 sweaters, drink a cup of hot chocolate and everything feels nice. On the other hand, when you are hot, if you sit next to a fan, or the AC, it takes a while to get that annoying feeling out of you. It's all bad.
Nothing is like the cold weather, the rain, the winds and the gray sky. That is why winter is the best cheunga. ;)