#1: Be Nice

I remember learning "The Golden Rule" in elementary school: treat others the way you want to be treated. It seems simple enough, yet once we grow up and see the way things really work, that concept becomes more difficult to apply to everyday life. This idea goes along with how Americans view Islamics as terrorists. Although the people that crashed the planes in to the World Trade Centers were of that religion, it does not mean it should reflect that community negatively as a whole. I'm sure most nations view the United States as greedy but not all of us are money-hungry hounds. We are all a part of the human race and each individual on this planet desereves respect and happiness. Clearly not everyone receives respect, but we're all here trying to get by through life, so why not make it a pleasant experience and work together to build unity with other nations?

I agree with the author's statement about how "we see and know what the world needs us to see and know." If we hear of something we don't know about, it makes us second guess what we previously felt was true. Once we realize we may have been wrong about one thing, it leads us down a path of uncertainty. Being wrong is difficult for our ego, which makes us defensive and put up walls toward foreign concepts. I've heard before that ignorance causes fear. We are kept in the dark and that is exactly what the people in charge want. I've realized lately that we literally drive between the yellow lines that the government has painted on the ground for us, and we don't go unless that light turns green. So much for all of this freedom we have.

The author wrote that "workers can never become wealthy working." Though that may be true, the idea is quite bothersome. What is the point of going to school for years to get a degree so you can have a better paying job if working can't make you wealthy? If that statement were broadcasted to Americans in the workforce, there would be millions of people lining up to protest because everyone wants to be rich. We have been trained to believe that the more we have then the happier we will be, and that is pretty sad to me. There is so much more to life than constantly working to make another dollar. No one appreciates what they have anymore, just always looking for the next best thing. Wealth should not be measured with money, it's only paper in the end.