I thought Meanwhile was an interesting book in the way that it lets you choose your own path through the book. The path I chose first was the vanilla ice cream path, which shortly ended by the boy going home to his dad. So I gave the book another try and chose the chocolate path which I ended up getting lost at after three pages. I must have gotten the colors mixed up. After I got lost I completely gave up on the book because I got frustrated. I never knew I could get stumped by a picture book is probably the main reason whyI stopped reading. Overall I liked the idea of the book but I did not enjoy it because of the complexity of the lines and where they go to next. Do you just follow them? or do you flip the page and go from there? Those where two main questions that I was asking as I was trying to follow the book. I later found out how to read the book when we went over it in class.
I Think the moral of the book Meanwhile is that you choose your own path in life (like the lines in the book) and you face, deal with, and overcome adversity. In class we argued that about how people were born into less fortunate families and how that made life nearly impossible to succeed in because of where they started. We also said the more fortunate people who are born into wealthy families where money is not an issue have a life on a platter so to speak and do not need to work as hard as the less fortunate. I strongly disagree, my out look on life and success is: success is loving what you do and being happy and thankful for everything you have, every single day no matter how much money you make. Success is your personal enjoyment of life and everyone who is involved, like family and friends. Just because you were not born into a more fortunate family does not mean you cant be successful in life. And to say that the people who were born in less fortunate families with not a lot of money are content with a low income job because they believe that they only have that job because of there families wealth during their upbringing? That is completely false. Every single person has the chance in some way or another to prosper in life, the only hard part about this is having the heart, motivation and the "never give up" attitude to find how to too. "there are no secrets to success. it is the result of preparation, hard work and learning from failure." Colin L Powell
Personally, I think it would be difficult to be happy in life living in poverty. And while success isn't defined by income, it is often understood through happiness. Happiness is often correlated with capabilities. A person who is unemployed or living in poverty does not have the capabilities and freedoms, which can generate a lot of utility, as a person not living in poverty. "The usefulness of wealth lies in the things that it allows us to do- the substantive freedoms it helps us to achieve," -Amartya Sen
ReplyDeleteDo I believe in hard work, ambition, and dedication? Of course. But I believe the ideas you present are a perfect manifestation of the "just world phenomenon" which is the tendency for people to believe the world is just and therefore get what they deserve and deserve what they get. Such a belief is false and can be very dangerous and is commonly seen in the western "individualized" world.
Peter, I'd have to disagree with your very first sentence. It's not about having the best in life, it's about making the best of what you have in life.
ReplyDeleteI agree with Sam. But in response to the blog, I also managed to get lost rather quickly.
ReplyDeleteI am not arguing money makes you happy but rather in the modern world it is a necessity for substantive freedoms. People romanticize the poor and while it may be true some (few) people can be happy living in poverty, they will not have certain freedoms; many of which are crucial to be able to make the best out of what you have in life (Imagine yourself a parent with children telling them "money doesn't make you happy" as they starve at your table).
ReplyDelete"Do not romanticize the poor...We are all people, human beings subject to the same temptations and faults as all others. Our poverty damages our dignity."-Cesar Chavez
I am not arguing money makes you happy but rather in the modern world it is a necessity for substantive freedoms. People romanticize the poor and while it may be true some (few) people can be happy living in poverty, they will not have certain freedoms; many of which are crucial to be able to make the best out of what you have in life (Imagine yourself a parent with children telling them "money doesn't make you happy" as they starve at your table).
ReplyDelete"Do not romanticize the poor...We are all people, human beings subject to the same temptations and faults as all others. Our poverty damages our dignity."-Cesar Chavez
I do agree that the moral of the story means you can choose your own path in life
ReplyDeleteTATY SYAS: I think that what you say here makes more sense than the discussion we had in class. I do agree with your statement that success can be measured in our love of what we do.
ReplyDelete