Hannah's English 105 Blog

Rich vs Poor: How Can We Help? Karl Marx was a philosopher and intellectual thinker from Germany during the 1800s. He, along with a group that shared his beliefs, published The Communist Manifesto, a book that stated their ideal government. Marx opens the paper by stating that every new form of government needs to be properly introduced to the minds of society, so that they can be informed when they make their decision on the effectiveness of the government type. He then continues the book by demonstrating two different classes: bourgeoisie and proletariat. While the bourgeoisie are the upper class and are receiving the most credit and capital from the ventures of the city, the proletariat class are workers and live only by the jobs they acquire. While the working class is being overwhelmed trying to keep up with the growing demand for their products, the upper class still moves the industry faster and further. This expansion of the world market for goods may lead to the working

Government Through the Centuries Aristot le was a forward-thinker from ancient Greece that learned from the famous philosopher Plato. He often taught on subjects such as ethics, government, and freedom. From his teachings, one could assume that he would respond to the painting by Howard Chandler Christy with questions of the type of government being formed and the priorities the new government would hold. He would also push toward forming a democracy as compared to an Oligarchy. This is because he believed in the need for variety in leadership to provide the best government for society, not just the privileged members. He would say that the only way for the country to prosper is for the rich and poor to live in harmony. This would mean that capital would not dictate if a person should be a leader; therefore, the majority, the poor, would be happy because their wishes are considered despite not being able to buy influence. During the late 1760’s and 1780’s, the Unite

            Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. is an extremely well known civil rights leader during 1950-1960’s. He was originally a pastor of a local church, and he felt moved to speak and take non-violent action against the mistreatment of African Americans at the time. He lead many non-violent protests and presented numerous motivational speeches until his assassination on April 4, 1968. One of his best known works of Dr. King is his “Letter from Birmingham Jail”. Throughout this work, Dr. King speaks of his beliefs surrounding the unjust treatment African Americans were forced to endure. He states that “I am in Birmingham because injustice is here” ( A World of Ideas, 255). By this he means that where ever injustice is the people willing to fight it should be there. In order to do the most good in a situation one must be near the actual place of the events. This helps draw greater attention to the people directly afflicted. Dr. King feels that every injustice needs to be fought agai

Thoughts on Civil Disobedience and the Mexican War             Henry David Thoreau was a citizen of the United States of America from 1817 to 1862. He was a very opinionated and passionate man. If he believed in something or that a citizen should have a right, then he felt as though everyone should know. In his work, Civil Disobedience ,   Thoreau’s main topic was his discussed with the multitude of taxes being imposed upon the citizens of the United States. He first discusses the immorality of the governments actions surrounding the various taxes. He believes that “The government is best which governs the least”. This means that he thinks the best action for the government is to leave the people alone. This would allow room for the citizens to be held fully responsible for their own actions. However, he does not think that government should be fully removed, but it should be improved upon by the input of the citizens. Thoreau believes that the current government treats any

Government Through the Eyes of Some of History’s Best Minds             Rousseau was a Swiss philosopher whose thoughts helped influence the French revolution. He enjoyed inquiring of his government because it helped him understand and even come to love it more the more he learned about the interworking’s of his government. He also believed, as citizens, everyone has rights and should be knowledgeable of the way their government operates.   Near the beginning of his work, Rousseau debates the comparison of slave to master and citizen to ruler. His main argument is that they are not similar because while the slave relinquishes his rights for subsistence from the master, the ruler relies on the people to provide for him. Rousseau is concerned with the sovereignty of the people and he believes that the individual is separate from the state. For example, in times of war, if the “enemy” lays down their arms then you should not kill them because the fight is with the country as a