issue99

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TOPIC: ISSUE99 - "In any realm of life-whether academic, social, business, or political-the only way to succeed is to take a practical, rather than an idealistic, point of view. Pragmatic behavior guarantees survival, whereas idealistic views tend to be superceded by simpler, more immediate options."
WORDS: 735         TIME: 00:45:00          DATE: 2009-2-13 16:19:47

The current society is of no utopia. No matter to how we raise our children, how we elect a president or how we run business, we are making mistakes. By educating irresponsible individuals, voting corrupted presidents or leading ourselves to economic predicament, it seems that we are far from a dreamland. It is true that the society should tackle those problems one after another. It is also true that the process is a time-costly one. However, it is never the truth that the human being should stop its pace towards utopia by our idealistic views.

Above all, education is my top priority. 'Education, education, education', which is how former Prime Minister Tony Blair responded to queen about his policy. And this mind that highly values education is proliferated. Nevertheless, the situation did not change much, even after Tony's political career. There are still poor who cannot afford a class and the mass majority are still enduring an 'unhealthy' education. As for the monetary part, which is quite practical, problem has aroused public concern worldwide. And it is glad to know that most countries include some developing countries such as China, have introduced plans to ensure one's freedom of getting education. Meanwhile, are we reasonable to stop perfecting our education system just because that there are still kids who cannot afford an elementary school, or since the project is too idealistic and not practical? As some of you may know that education means 'to lead out' in Latin which indicates that our education is natural to lead out human's interest to knowledge and becoming a learning people rather than learned ones. However, the current situation is just on the opposite.. We do not know to what extend and in what amount would the project of making our education a suitable one cost. The only thing clear is that without change our system of education, without transfer people to learning ones, the world of human would go from bad to worse even if we solve the monetary problem thoroughly. The idealistic views are leading people to making progress. And we cannot pay for not trying.

When it comes to the political realm, idealistic views motivated the development of the society and will always do so. When Dr. King was writing his letter from Birmingham Jail, which encouraged all the people, both colored and white, to fight against unjust laws that segregated people, he was holding the ideal minds. It is perfectly normal for him to be fearful and not declare certain opinion since he was under the control of the government that approved and implemented the segregation laws. For him, the most practical way to survive is to remain silent, while he was not. And his idealistic views, accompanied with tens of thousand people's idealistic views contributed to the current society that people of every color could study in one classroom, stay in the same bus and even form the one family. The practical views could remain the situation unchanged.

As for the business area, which is widely reckoned as a most practical field that presents human's greedy to pursue profits and is totally controlled by Adam Smith's invisible hand. However, let us take a brief look of what the practical views bring to human beings. In 1929, the New York stock market lost its control thanks to people just caring about their own profits and this economic downturn proliferated throughout the world, which eventually give Adolf Hitler a chance to utilize German's desperate minds and started the World War II. The idealistic view is that each country is cooperated with another and avoiding jingoism as well as national protectionism. Currently, when another dramatic economic mess hit the world, albeit there is still a lot to go, the modern people is witnessing a better cooperated world from the frequently meetings of presidents and Prime Ministers. It is still not idealistic. But if we remain practical views and each nation protects its own goods, there is no way out the predicament.

In sum, idealistic views reflect the nature of human beings that we want to reach the utopia where education is free while responsible, political process is just while transparent, businessmen are not only are about themselves but each others and even the economic system. We are still far from it. Thanks to the idealistic views, we are moving forwards it, slowly, but surely.


TOPIC: ARGUMENT58 - The following appeared in an article from a popular newsmagazine.

"In 1888 a stone was unearthed in northern Wisconsin with an inscription in an old Scandinavian alphabet and bearing the date 1362. Scandinavians were not, however, exploring or emigrating to northern Wisconsin in the fourteenth century. Recent analysis proves, in fact, that the stone had been buried in the spot where it was found for no more than 100 years. Moreover, the community near the discovery site was home to a group of people who had formed a club to study medieval Scandinavian culture-a period that includes the fourteenth century. The stone, therefore, is not a genuine artifact of medieval Scandinavian culture inscribed in the fourteenth century but most likely a hoax perpetrated by the group."
WORDS: 538          TIME: 00:30:00          DATE: 2009-2-13 16:19:47

The author of this article avers that it was a group of people from the Scandinavian club that buried a Scandinavian stone and reckons the stone is not a genuine artifact based on analysis and the fact that the club is formed in the vicinity. The ratiocination seems reasonable. However, on close examination it proves to been groundless and unconvincing.

A threshold problem involved in this argument is whether it is feasible for the people in the club to have done such a hoax. Since the author fails to present the date when the club was formed, it is impossible to conclude they have the time to do it. If the club was formed very recently, they actually do not have the motivation to bury the stone since the author provide the stone has been buried for less than hundred years, which could be 60 or 70 years. Meanwhile, the author also fails to form a direct link between the Scandinavian club and the coax and prove that they really want to do it. Since the author does not provide evidence that the club actually study the alphabet of Scandinavian or if the club benefits from the discovery, it is unreliable to draw the conclusion that the club buried the stone. Without justify those doubts, it is not feasible for the members of the club to have done the coax.

Moreover, another major problem the author ignores is the stone is not a genuine artifact. Even if it is true that the Scandinavian club buried it, it is not reasonable to conclude that it is not a genuine. In addition, even if the Scandinavians were not emigrating to northern Wisconsin in 14th century, the author neglects that the stone was actually brought to Wisconsin by other people such as a English or German that loved the Scandinavian culture. Furthermore, it is highly possible that the stone was transferred to northern Wisconsin about 100 years ago from the northern Europe, which indicates that the stone is a genuine one. In this respect, even if it is true that the stone was buried for no more than a century and there were no Scandinavians in north Wisconsin in 14th century, it is too hastily to conclude that it is not a genuine artifact one.

Lastly, even if the stone is buried recently and is indeed a coax, the author ignores other people that have the possibility to have done it. Since the author fails to present any other Scandinavian club in the vicinity or universities that study the Scandinavian culture, we are reasonable to doubt if they have done it. Without taking into considering these and other possible conditions, it is not fair put the blame on the Scandinavian club.

In sum, to better bolster the author's idea, studies that justify the feasibility of the Scandinavian club to have done the hoax such as the year the club was formed is required. Doubts of whether the stone is a genuine artifact or was taken to Wisconsin by other people are necessary to be justified.  The author also needs to examine other groups of people that would bury the stone here in order to find the ones to be blamed.