Week 11 Blog Reviews

Victoria – Both of your blogs from last week were great. You provided good detail when you discussed Italian immigration. Your blog was informative and interesting and I loved how you were able to write about your grandmother’s response to this issue. I also liked your thoughts on materialism. You made exceptional points by stating that materialism is really on a individual basis because what might be viewed as a material thing to someone may be different to another. Great job!!!!

Megan – Your blog on the issue of immigrant workers was great!!! You really did your research and provided your reader with incredible detail. I liked that you discussed the Irish and everything they brought t o America. Your materialism blog was just as good. You brought up points referring to the countries debt as well as how we define others by what they have. I liked that you summarized your overall idea by concluding that we need to find a happy balance between having things and depending on them. Great job!!!!





Directed Free write –



For centuries the role of government has been a constant debate. There are those who view our system of government as a necessary part of life and are convinced that without it our society will cease to exist. On the other hand, there are those, like Sameer Parekh who is identified as a “libertarian of a new sort” (435). Using what is known as cryptography or “the science of scrambling messages so they cannot be read by prying eyes” (435), Sameer attempts to challenge Washington’s authority. “For the libertarian set, today’s encryption technology is the best thing to come along since the right to bear arms” (437). This libertarian thinking involves the idea that with cryptography, there is no paper trail. “Bad news, of course, for the Internal Revenue Service and its 3,570 page maze of a tax code” (437). Libertarians, such as Sameer, are thrilled that they have managed to hide from big brother and that they have the freedom to operate without paying the U.S its cut.


Bottom line, people like Sameer Parekh see the government as an intrusive hassle. They want citizens of the U.S to truly be free from the strains of the system and think “all government control should be stripped away” (443). But like any controversy, there is another side to this argument. Some argue that government is the only way to maintain society. With government comes rules and with that comes the enforcement of these rules. So these same people proclaim that a society lacking government would consist of utter chaos. They feel that a system of government has been put into place to act as a protector of the people not to intrude on the lives of individuals.


Seeing as how I am currently taking a justice theory class, I found this article to be particularly interesting. A major issue constantly discussed among theories, is the concept of too much government. How much is too much? Where do we draw the line between the government serving a purpose and being a nuisance? It is my personal belief that we do need and always will need government. In order to maintain a sustainable atmosphere there must be a central power of some sort. People being able to go and do as they please would ultimately wreak havoc on everyone. It is human, more often than not to act responsible if there are consequences for our actions. Take away these consequences and you are left with a lot of problems.