Category: x Archive Assignments

Stone Money—Splash

P1. When I was listening to the story of about the island of Yap in class I thought to myself he was making this story up. Why would people take the time to make such large limestone coins to be their representation of money? It seemed absurd to me because you couldn’t even move them easily or use them for little things life food for the house, it had to be spent on something big like building a new house or as said in the Planet Money Prologue if one of your warriors died in war you could use that stone to buy back the warriors body. It was also crazy to me to know that only if you had one of these stones it would make you considered to be wealthy, which was weird because you could have tons of gold and other forms of money but you weren’t ever considered to be as wealthy as someone who owned one of these stones as stated in the story of stone money. Also, something else I found interesting was that there was no form of documentation on this island of Yap, they have such a strong faith in each other’s word. Someone could say they wanted a house built, a contractor would come out build a house with no upfront pay but know that the fei was his once the house was completed. Even while reading Friedman’s essay the thing that stood out the most to me was when he talked about the magnificent fei that was being delivered over sea. A big storm aroused and the fei sank to the bottom of the ocean, and the people on the island of Yap were perfectly fine with that. They said that even though it is at the bottom of the ocean it still has its value, just as if it were leaning against the owner’s house. To me this is ridiculous because if that were my fei that sank I wouldn’t be as calm about it as they are and it wouldn’t seem valuable to me anymore.

P2. Then that has me go into thinking why is money so important to people, and what is the point of money in the first place? The NPR broadcast I was listening to talks about all the stages of money and how it has changed over the years. It first started as the stone fei, then to gold, and bills, off to checks, and now it is as simple as just a number appearing in your bank account. I really enjoyed how they were talking about the differences in how payments work now a days, they said that when they pay their phone bill it’s not like someone goes and delivers a hundred dollars to their phone company. It is almost as if they are just sending numbers back and forth to one another and it is a game that doesn’t even feel real. They even said in the NPR brodcast that most of the money that exists is just the idea of money.

P3. Which then brings me to the Lie That Saved Brazil, and what they had to go through. When I was listening to the story it made me feel so bad for the people of Brazil. I couldn’t understand why people had to be living the way they did when there was so much money in the world to be shared. I say this because there was apparently no money for the people in Brazil and they were really struggling to get by. Chana Joffe-Walt talked about what the stores were like and how the prices of things would go up or change every single day. How there would be a sticker guy that would go up and down the aisles changing the prices each day, people would even try to get in front of the sticker guy so they could pay the old price. It was sad when she told us that even when people would get paid, they’d have to spend it before their money wasn’t worth anything anymore. She said you could put your money in a drawer and each day that went by the clock would be ticking on the value of your money. There was even a point when the government just threatened to take everyone’s money, people went into panic and some she said even committed suicide. But then one day four men came along to help Brazil’s situation so they wouldn’t have to live like this anymore. Hero’s was what she described them as, they proposed a way to make people think their money had value again. Not long after things started to change because this new idea seemed to make such a difference in the way people just “lied to themselves” so to speak. Even though there was no physical money all they needed was for people to believe there was and that made all the difference.

P4. This story just easily helps me flow right into Weekend at Bernanke’s, listening to this story just gets me thinking about all the different ways the Federal Reserve could have helped let’s say Brazil for example, because in the brodcast they said the Fed can create money at and given time. Why they wouldn’t think to give some to Brazil during that crisis, I don’t exactly know. They were saying that the fed can just make money out of nothing and just lend it out and if they should do this. The process is so easy as they explained, all you do is add a few numbers, click a mouse and alas money is created. Also on top of that they even exclaimed that banks don’t just like to sit on load of money they like to lend it out, so why not use all of this money to help countries in dire need of it? It is interesting to think if the Fed screws up then the people stop believing in the dollar and the dollar loses value as they explained.

P5. Thinking about all these different ways money is transferred and the money people have and how much they have can put them in the category of being wealthy, but why?  Some things these days don’t really have a good representaion of money, the an ATM recipt for example. What is the point or meaning of money? Money is just something that holds value, but there are so many different things that hold value to different people and if you really think about the dollar and how it is just a piece of paper with a guys face on it, it doesn’t make sense why people go so crazy over it. For example with me I have a ring I got from my grandparents and I wear it every day and it holds so much value to me, but to someone else it would just be some old ring. Money is just another materialistic thing that people think they need to be successful in life when there are far greater things, like knowledge for example. Now a days with how high tech money as gotten it’s just a game of sending numbers and not physical money, so it’s as if the money isn’t even real to begin with.

Works Cited

Friedman, Milton. “The Island of Stone Money.” Diss. Hoover Institution, Stanford University , 1991.

Joffe-Walt, Chana . “How Fake Money Saved Brazil.” NPR.org. 4 Oct. 2010. 30 Jan. 2015. <http://www.npr.org/blogs/money/2010/10/04/130329523/how-fake-money-saved-brazil&gt;.

“The Invention of Stone Money.” 423: The Invention of Stone Money. This Is American Life, WBEZ. Chicago . 7 Jan. 2011.

Stone Money—Yoshi

P1. In the little island of Yap there were the wealthy that would travel 400 miles to get these big limestone discs, also known as fei, to exchange as currency. In order to move these big stones there is a hole carved in the middle of it, so a tree can fit through it and roll the fei around. Despite the hole in the stones, the stones for the most part didn’t move around from one person to another. Instead they stay put, and the people of Yap just know who it belongs too. They will usually trade the fei for big purchases according to NPR’s Broadcast of “The Story of the Stone Money”. I thought the concept of the Yap’s money was dumb. I didn’t understand how they believed that a big unevenly shaped stone made them rich even if it wasn’t even in their possession. That to me was the most illogical thing ever. As I started listening to NPR’s Broadcast of “The Story of the Stone Money” and reading Milton Friedman’s “Island of Stone Money” I began to realize our economy and our visual of money is not too far off from those that live in Yap. Both, the Yap and us Americans, believe we can be wealthy and gain wealth by not actually physically moving anything.  

P2. In Milton Friedman’s story, “Island of Stone Money” Friedman explains how the French didn’t think the USA would stick to their gold standard of $20.67 an ounce. Therefore, according to Friedman, they asked the NY Federal Reserve to convert their dollar assets into gold, and set it aside for them instead of shipping it overseas. The Federal Reserve then put aside gold for the french. They separated the gold, and put it in drawers so it wasn’t touched. This way everyone knew that belonged to them.  After reading that I realized money is just knowing what you have, it is nothing physical. For example, you do not need the physical cash in your hand to determine your wealth. In Yap they determined their wealth by others knowing how many fei they owned, and not much different us in the USA determine how wealthy we are by digital numbers raising in our accounts.

P3. After reading, “Island of Stone Money” I began to questions why do so many people have the faith in others to determine their own wealth. For example, how is it that I deposit money into my bank account, and a digital number, a machine gives me, determines my wealth. How does money from my account get taken out, and put into the car companies account. But nothing physically is exchanged? That flimsy green piece of linen is barely used anymore, it is all about the plastic card with a chip in it. How is it that France has the faith in us to put aside gold for them that they bought, but they never physically saw? How is it that there is a fei at the bottom of the ocean near Yap that no one has seen for years, but yet it is still being used as if it was physically there.

P4. I continued my research on how people put their faith into other with their money, and I came across an article by NPR’s Broadcast called “How Fake Money Saved Brazil”. Just twenty years ago inflation in Brazil reached 80% a month according to NPR. Brazil’s inflation began when Brazil’s government printed money in order to build Brasilia, Brazil’s capital. They created a new currency and it improved their economy rapidly! People would still have cruceros, but everything was listed in a URV, Unite of Real Value. One URV would equal 7 cruceros, and the next week one URV would equal 14 cruceros. According to NPR broadcast this idea was created so people would stop thinking prices would go up. After a few months the prices began to equal out, and that’s when they decided the URV was the new real currency. After this change 20,000 people got out of poverty!

P5. After reading these articles I came to think, what actually is money? To the people in Yap money is a big rigid limestone that doesn’t have to be in their possession. To us money is fake, it isn’t that green rectangle linen with pictures on it. It is numbers we see in our accounts, and we use plastic cards to make purchases. To Brazilians money was virtual, it didn’t exist it was just a unit of measurement to control their inflation.  Throughout the years money has developed many different values. Now a days it is hard to survive without money, even though we might not even physically see it. I believe money is what makes the world go around. Even if no one actually has a definition of what money is.  Money all around the world is physically different, but the actual use of it is all the same. What connects everyone’s money value to all others are their concept of money. The concept of money is just the trust you have in each other. Whether you live in the US and put your trust in a bank. Or whether you live in Yap, and put your trust into other people knowing what is yours, or even trusting 4 men you have never met before to create a new currency and help inflation. Money is different everywhere, it is the trust that makes it the same.

Works Cited

Friedman, Milton. “The Island of Stone Money.” Diss. Hoover Institution, Stanford University , 1991.

Joffe-Walt, Chana . “How Fake Money Saved Brazil.” NPR.org. 4 Oct. 2010. 9 Sept. 2017. <http://www.npr.org/blogs/money/2010/10/04/130329523/how-fake-money-saved-brazil&gt;.

“The Invention of Stone Money.” 423: The Invention of Stone Money. This Is American Life, WBEZ. Chicago . 7 Jan. 2011.

Stone Money—thebeard

“Money is fiction” is one of the weirdest quotes I have heard from the NPR Broadcast and just one of the oddest quotes I have heard in general. I could have never thought of the money that I have not actually meaning something. The money that I have in my wallet or bank account is the money that I have to spend and I need that money to buy something. The little piece of paper that I receive from the ATM that tells me how much money I actually have in my account is as close to holding all my wealth in my hands. When I heard the story of Stone Money I did not think this could actually be real.

When I was reading Friedman’s essay I was just thinking about how the Yap money system is so similar to ours. The money that the Yap use are big round stones, called fei. The fei have a hole in the middle so when they are created they can easily bring them onto the island and leave them in one spot for eternity. The Yap have their money just sitting in the streets but they know who owns which stone. They don’t need to see their money to make a purchase to someone, just like I don’t need to see my money to use a debit card. That money just goes from my account into someone else’s account. The German government put red X marks on the Yap’s stones saying that they were the governments money now. The Germans did not move the money back to Germany but just simply left it in the same spots, but now with a red X on it. What the Germans did with the fei is almost similar to the the French did with the US gold. They just put a label on it saying that it was now theirs and couldn’t be used. Its odd that just labeling some gold in a basement could cause the Great Depression. The US could have just given France the gold and taken the money from them and maybe the Great Depression wouldn’t have happened.  It is crazy to think that a label could do something like that.

While listening to the NPR Broadcast it really made me think what that would be like to just have a new currency. Its weird to think that Brazil can just create a new currency but they did and it made their economy better. I feel like it would be hard for Brazilians to trust the new currency at first because it is something brand new to them. If I was a Brazilian during the whole crisis I would have defiantly loved the new currency. From what it seems I would be paying so much less for things that I need and want. I feel that it would have been easy for the Brazilians to trust the new currency, it helps them out. They would be able to save their money and not spend it right when they received it. They would not be over paying for some necessities.

While listening to the guys at the NPR Broadcast I find out that even thought the Federal Reserve includes the word “federal,” it is not actually part of the government. They are tasked with something simple but very large: Creating money from nothing. It is really cool how they make new money and suddenly it is in people pockets. Well not instant but almost. The Federal Reserve buys bonds from banks and the banks then give the money received from those bond purchases out as loans to people. See pretty easy, for the person trying to get the loan it sometimes turns out in their favor because interest will go down so the bank can get this money into circulation. It is crazy to think that my money is just transferred to someone else’s account when I buy something. Even if I use cash it will soon be in someones bank account and eventually in someone else’s after that. From listening to this podcast and and reading the articles its really made me think what my money is actually worth to me. These flimsy slips of linen covered with silly green symbols seem so worthless; do I really work hard at my job to earn a handful of these? Then just to spend them on worthless items.

I decided to read two articles about Bitcoin. It has always been something that interested me but I have never really looked into anything about it. In the article “Bitcoin has no place in any portfolio,” it says that the value of bitcoin has ranged from $13 in January of 2013 to roughly $1150 at the end of November 2013. The value of bitcoin changes almost every day just like the stock market. Most investors do not like to use bitcoin simply because they do not understand it. You can also simply go from millions of dollars worth of bitcoins to zero the next day if someone hacks into your computer and takes them. The cool thing with bitcoin is that you can exchange ownership of products very quickly. I read a story that some people buy expensive gaming graphic cards and sell them on bitcoin for more and that is one reason that makes those certain products hard to find in stores like Best Buy. There is no guarantee that bitcoin will be around for a while but for now it is a good way to make money and buy or trade products, that is if you know what you are doing.

So after reading and listening all of those articles about different types of money, it is still hard to tell what money actually is. Could it be a big round stone sitting next to my house that may or may not even be mine or is it a virtual coin that I may have received from trading a product I bought online. Maybe money is fictional and its just the trust in our government and each other that its is actually in our bank accounts or wallets and that we can use it to purchase our needs or wants. I have never really thought that my money that I use to purchase things with could really just be a number going from my account to someone else’s account. Just thinking back the Yap must think we are crazy when we want to buy something and hand the cashier a plastic card or paper. But then again we think they are crazy for trust that someone has a stone in the bottom of the ocean that gives their family wealth. It is also crazy to think that just a couple of guys can create a whole new currency for the people of Brazil and have it actually work out in the countries favor. Those guys basically saved that country when they were in a crisis. We live in one crazy world. But I am still going to go to the store tomorrow morning before work and buy a cup of coffee with my money that may or may not be fictional.

 

Works Cited

“Bitcoin has no place in your – or any – portfolio.” Marketwatch.com. 31 Jan. 2015

Friedman, Milton. “The Island of Stone Money.” Diss. Hoover Institution, Stanford University , 1991.

Renaut, Anne. “The bubble bursts on e-currency Bitcoin.” Yahoo.com. 13 Apr. 2013

“The Invention of Money.” 423: The Invention of Money. This Is American Life, WBEZ. Chicago . 7 Jan. 2011.

Saturday Morning Check-in

Good morning, FA17 class!

Some of you have texted me for help getting access to the blog, finding the assignment, finding the sources, or asking me about rewrites, but most of you have not checked in at all, so I’m wondering how you’re progressing on your first assignment.

Just in Case

  1. Assignments are located in the Assignments menu at the top of the blog, just below the header photo of the dog who’s watching you in his sleep.
  2. Your first essay, A01: Stone Money, is due before midnight tomorrow, SUN SEP 10.
  3. You’ll submit your essay by posting it to the blog.
  4. The sources you’ll need to research your essay are located in the sidebar (the narrow band of links along the right-hand side of the blog). Find them beneath the heading A01 Sources.
  5. You’ll be graded twice on this essay. A01 is Stone Money, a graded first draft. A04 will be your Stone Money Rewrite, a chance to improve both your essay and your grade.
  6. You can receive early feedback on your first draft by posting early. (It’s getting late to post early.)
  7. If you can’t log in to the blog, you probably haven’t accepted your invitation. Find the second email WordPress sent you during our first class. It contains a link you need to follow to accept the invitation.
  8. I love to help students who show commitment and take initiative. If you need anything at all, or something you’re reading here doesn’t make sense, email help@davidhodges.com or text me (856) 979-6653 before noon on Sunday.

Reflective Statement- Amazonite345

I. Understand that writing is a practice which involves a multi-stage, recursive and social process.

I believe I had accomplished this goal albeit a lot later than I would’ve liked. Generally I am rather independent so learning how to cooperate proved to be difficult but necessary. Without a thorough discussion of ideas and a number of drafts, my thesis would have been not only impossibly difficult, but almost inherently unworkable as well.

II. Understand that close and critical reading/analysis allows writers to understand how and why texts create meaning.

Early on I was set back by trying to find a singular definition for “The American Dream.” Quite frankly this singular definition does not exist. This led to significant difficulties in the forming of my thesis as well as starting my paper. Only through comparisons of various definitions of the “American Dream,” presented by various authors, and polls and cross referencing them to each other was I able to define what the “American Dream” meant to me and what it meant in terms of my paper.

III. Understand that writing is shaped by audience, purpose, and context.

By having an idea of what I wanted this paper to be, as well as having a general idea of what I was going to find, I knew that the purpose of the paper would be to ultimately address the shortcomings of the United States in terms of fulfilling the American Dream. I knew I would end up talking about the income inequality and it shows, as the main points in my paper focus around the economy and social mobility.

IV. Understand the role of information literacy in the practice of writing.

During my research paper I found a lot of often times conflicting facts. There’s a lot of statistics that can be thrown around and it was important for me to learn how to understand it properly. Had I not achieved this goal, my paper could have been very different, especially when announcing numbers given by polls. It’s important for me to learn how to use the data in the way that benefits me, and in a way that accurately represents what my research conveyed.

V. Understand the ethical dimensions of writing

My paper was very factual and at times could be very wordy. I had to learn how to take the information given to me and represent it accurately without trying to twist their meanings. I also learned that I could not just take someone’s data and just put it in my paper without proper citations. Although it would be easier for me to just put all the stats and data in my paper and talk about them after, I knew that I had to properly mention each source as I brought it up.

 

Bibliography—amazonite

Chetty, Raj, and Nathaniel Hendren. “The Equality of Opportunity Project.” The Equality of Opportunity Project. The Equality of Opportunity Project, 1 Aug. 2016. Web. 07 Dec. 2016. <http://www.equality-of-opportunity.org/&gt;.

Background- The Equality of Opportunity Project is headed by Raj Chetty and Nathaniel Hendren, professors at Stanford and Harvard respectively. They have many papers, all of which they publish on their website. Their main focus is on opportunity and they even tackle the idea of the American Dream, albeit they only talk about the idea through pure economic terms. Their data is limited to the US and does not mention other countries.
How I used it- I used their research to determine social mobility in the United States. Using their data, I was able to compare it to data from other sources which had the economic mobility of other countries. This website gave me a lot of insight on why the US has a low relative social mobility, which they believe is caused by income inequality.

Corak, Miles. “Social Mobility and Social Institutions in Comparison Australia, Canada, the United Kingdom, the United States.” Economics for Public Policy. Cato Institute, 21 May 2012. Web. 07 Dec. 2016. <https://milescorak.com/&gt;.
Background- Miles Corak is a professor at the University of Ottowa who studies social mobility in some of the richest countries in the world. He posts lectures that he gives on his website for anyone to see. He does a great deal of research on the immigration, the economy and a lot of other social/economic issues.
How I used it- Miles Corak had some of the most extensive comparisons of social mobility between countries that I could find. He updates his findings fairly often. This allowed me to compare the US in terms of social mobility to other countries with data dating back to 2011, which is not as recent as I’d like but, it’s still the most recent study out there.

Gass, Bick. “Poll: Half of Millennials Say the American Dream Is Dead.” POLITICO. POLITICO, 12 Oct. 2015. Web. 13 Dec. 2016. <http://www.politico.com/story/2015/12/poll-millennials-american-dream-216632&gt;.
Background- This article was written to convey the points made in a recent Harvard Institute of Politics poll.
How I used it- While I was able to get limited information from this article alone, it did springboard me to different sources, including the actuall polling data the author writes about.

Hargreaves, Sean. “America’s Economic Mobility Myth.” CNNMoney. Cable News Network, 9 Dec. 2013. Web. 13 Dec. 2016. <http://money.cnn.com/2013/12/09/news/economy/america-economic-mobility/?iid=EL&gt;.
Background- This article talks about the social mobility of the US and focuses on the reasons why we don’t have as great a mobility as other rich countries.
How I used it- I used it to find other sources, but more importantly, I used this article to find reasons why the US is lagging in social mobility and spent a good portion of my paper talking about those reasons and what America can do to change the way things work now.

Isaacs, Julia B. “INTERNATIONAL COMPARISONS OF ECONOMIC MOBILITY.” The Brookings Institute. The Brookings Institute, 28 July 2016. Web. 08 Dec. 2016. <https://www.brookings.edu/wp-content/uploads/2016/07/02_economic_mobility_sawhill_ch3.pdf&gt;.
Background- The Brookings Institute is a think tank formed in 1916. They release papers and studies on various topics, in this case, social mobility.
How I used it- There was a lot of data on here that corresponded to or was exactly the same data that Miles Corak used. However, they had the added benefit of breaking down the population by fifths, and looking at how many people in each fifth moved to a different fifth, either up or down. This breakdown was critical in proving my main argument and helped paint a picture of just how bad Americas social mobility is.

Luhby, Tami. “The American Dream Is out of Reach.” CNNMoney. Cable News Network, 4 June 2014. Web. 07 Dec. 2016. <http://money.cnn.com/2014/06/04/news/economy/american-dream/&gt;.
Background- This article contained polling data concerning the American Dream. It focuses on millennials and their disbelief in the dream and how the latest generations are much more pessimistic about it.
How I used it- This poll allowed me to make the critical argument that the American Dream is already very close to dying. If no one believes in it, how can it be achievable? The article also gives me an insight on why so many young people are saying it’s just too good to be true, which allows me address some of their concerns in my paper.

Perez, Esten. “The Institute of Politics at Harvard University.” Harvard IOP Fall 2015 Poll | The Institute of Politics at Harvard University. Harvard Institute of Politics, 10 Nov. 2015. Web. 08 Dec. 2016. <http://iop.harvard.edu/survey/details/harvard-iop-fall-2015-poll&gt;.
Background- The Harvard IOP poll shows the belief the average US citizen has of the American Dream. It broke down it’s data by race and party lines (the latter of which I did not use.)
How I used it- I used it to make help support an argument that I made which claimed that if the American Dream was not dead it was certainly on the decline. I showed how people along all races were losing faith at roughly the same rate.

Seelye, Katharine Q. “What Happens to the American Dream in a Recession?” The New York Times. The New York Times, 07 May 2009. Web. 10 Dec. 2016. <http://www.nytimes.com/2009/05/08/us/08dreampoll.html?_r=0&gt;.
Background- This was a poll done by the New York Times that asked people about their version of the American Dream and whether or not it could be achieved.
How I used it- This poll gave me the three set definitions of the American Dream that I talk about in my paper. By taking the three most common answers, I was able to determine what factors I should take into account when determining whther or not the Amrican Dream was dead.

Vasquez, Ian, and Tanja Porcnik. “The Human Freedom Index.” Cato Institute. Cato Institute, 4 Feb. 2016. Web. 07 Dec. 2016. <http://www.usnews.com/news/best-countries/articles/2016-11-29/these-are-the-freest-countries-in-the-world&gt;.
Background- The Human Freedom Index is a study done every year that rates countries based on the various freedoms it might have. These include social freedom, economic freedoms etc.
How I used it- I used this index to determine that the US is not the best place in the world for freedom. This piece was essential in proving that one of the most popular answers to the question of the American Dream is also on the decline even though some people may not think about it.

Venator, Joanna, and Richard V. Reeves. “Mobility: What Are You Talking About?” Brookings. The Brookings Institute, 28 July 2016. Web. 9 Dec. 2016. <https://www.brookings.edu/blog/social-mobility-memos/2014/06/05/mobility-what-are-you-talking-about/&gt;.
Background- This article is published by the Brookings Institute which is mentioned above. In it, the author talks about the very basics of social mobility and breaks it down into two categories which are relative, and absolute mobility.
How I used it- This article gave me the idea to determine the economic opportunities through social mobility as well as a general knowledge of the subject in a way that was simple for me to understand.

Winship, Scott. “Does the U.S. Have Lower Economic Mobility than Other Countries?” National Review. National Review, 06 July 2015. Web. 10 Dec. 2016. <http://www.nationalreview.com/corner/420794/economic-mobility-united-states-compared-europe-scandinavia&gt;.
Background- This article talks about debunking the various criticisms about the belief that the American Dream is dying.
How I used it- I used it to gather data from other sources which allowed me to find data necesarry to my argument.

Causal—amazonite

One of the biggest reasons the US is falling behind in social mobility is the ever-increasing income inequality. The Equality of Opportunity Project ran a study that showed that 90 percent of Americans in 1940 were able to earn more than their parents, dropping to around 50 percent by 1980, and they cite income inequality as the main reason for the drop. By breaking up the US into sections, we see that it is the poorer, rural areas that provide less chance for more earnings. In the worst sections, particularly in the southern states between the Atlantic Ocean and the Mississippi, the chance of earning more than the previous generation is 4.8 percent or lower. The best chance of moving up in terms of income distribution is to move out of those rural areas. This is not always a feasible option however. Many families are stuck in low-income areas. Inside those low-income areas are poorer and therefore more ineffective schools, which leads to a lower average education level. The lower the average education level, the less potential there is for new earnings. Thus the cycle continues, and the poor remain in the same spot, if not becoming poorer.

Rebuttal Rewrite- brobeanfarms

Wishing Upon a Miracle

Discovering a cure for Alzheimer’s Disease has been a wish made for the past century and those who wish are still awaiting a miracle. Researcher’s have spent countless hours dating back to 1906 conducting research in hope of discovering what Alzheimer’s really is. Like any other disease or illness, researchers are set out to discover a cure; unfortunately for patients with Alzheimer’s Disease, a cure has yet to come. Extensive research can be costly, but a world without Alzheimer’s Disease would pay great dividends to society. A vast majority of patients in assisting living facilities and nursing homes suffer from Alzheimer’s Disease.

Stated by MacGill, “Nearly 15 million Americans provide unpaid care to a person living with Alzheimer’s disease or another dementia (Alzheimer’s Association 2011 Facts & Figures).” Dr. Alois Alzheimer, a German psychiatrist and neuropathologist is credited with identifying the first published case of “presenile dementia” in 1907, a condition that is now called Alzheimer’s disease. Far too often, the family of a loved one are told by a doctor that their loved one is unfortunately diagnosed with Alzheimer’s Disease. Alzheimer’s Disease is a condition that causes unusual changes in the cerebrum, the main part of the brain, which chiefly influences memory and other mental capacities which is not a typical piece of aging. Typically, memory loss is the first side effect that surfaces. In the late stages of Alzheimer’s, the assistance needed is usually provided by close family members and/or medical professionals. As the disease advances, the loss of thinking capacity, dialect, basic leadership capacity, judgment and other basic aptitudes make everyday living incomprehensible without assistance from others. Beside the patient, the connections in the family are incredibly influenced by the infection. In the family, everyone is affected by Alzheimer’s differently. Grandchildren tend to be traumatized when their loving grandparent can longer identify who any one is. As Alzheimer’s progresses, the grandchild is torn as he/she watches as his/her grandparent’s brain becomes succumbed by Alzheimer’s.

Alzheimer’s Disease is most widely known for as a family illness. The chronic stress of watching a loved one slowly decline affects everyone. An effective treatment will address the needs of the entire family, leading to an all round healthy environment. Any individual who provides care and support for the individual diagnosed with Alzheimer’s are put through an immense amount of stress. As a result, each individual providing care must also focus on their own health. Advice from “Breakthrough Drug for Patients” assists by adding, “Emotional and practical support, counseling, resource information and educational programs about Alzheimer’s disease all help a caregiver provide the best possible care for a loved one.” Though families do their absolute best in caring, the stress causes tension between the entire family which in turn is even more stressful to the patient than the disease itself. By creating a cure for Alzheimer’s Disease, families can live in peace knowing that they will never need to experience such a tragic event.

Works Cited

“Breakthrough Drug for Patients.” The Independent. Independent Digital News and Media, n.d. Web. 16 Nov. 2016.

“Definition of Alzheimer’s Disease.” Alzheimer’s Foundation of America – Definition of Alzheimer’s Disease. Alzhiemer’s Foundation of America, n.d. Web. 17 Nov. 2016.

MacGill, Markus. “Alzheimer’s Disease.” Medical News Today. MediLexicon International, 29 Apr. 2016. Web. 23 Nov. 2016.

Rebuttal- brobeanfarms

Wishing Upon a Miracle

Discovering a cure for Alzheimer’s Disease has been a wish made for the past century and those who wish are still awaiting a miracle. Researcher’s have spent countless hours dating back to 1906 conducting research in hope of discovering what Alzheimer’s really is. Like any other disease or illness, researchers are set out to discover a cure; unfortunately for patients with Alzheimer’s Disease, a cure has yet to come. Extensive research can be costly, but a world without Alzheimer’s Disease would pay great dividends to society. A vast majority of patients in assisting living facilities and nursing homes suffer from Alzheimer’s Disease.

Stated by MacGill, “Nearly 15 million Americans provide unpaid care to a person living with Alzheimer’s disease or another dementia (Alzheimer’s Association 2011 Facts & Figures).” Dr. Alois Alzheimer, a German psychiatrist and neuropathologist is credited with identifying the first published case of “presenile dementia” in 1907, a condition that is now called Alzheimer’s disease. Far too often, the family of a loved one are told by a doctor that their loved one is unfortunately diagnosed with Alzheimer’s Disease. Alzheimer’s Disease is a condition that causes abnormal changes in the brain, mainly affecting memory and other mental abilities which is not a normal part of aging. Loss of memory is the usual first symptom. As the disease progresses, the loss of reasoning ability, language, decision-making ability, judgment and other critical skills make navigating day-to-day living impossible without help from others, most often a family member or friend. Sometimes, but not always, difficult changes in personality and behavior occur. Aside from the patient, the relationships in the family are greatly affected by the disease. A grandchild, for instance, is usually very close to his/her grandparent. As Alzheimer’s progresses, the grandchild is torn as he/she watches as his/her grandparent’s brain becomes succumbed by Alzheimer’s.

Far too often, the family of a loved one are told by a doctor that their loved one is unfortunately diagnosed with Alzheimer’s Disease. Alzheimer’s Disease is a condition that causes abnormal changes in the brain, mainly affecting memory and other mental abilities which is not a normal part of aging. Loss of memory is the usual first symptom. As the disease progresses, the loss of reasoning ability, language, decision-making ability, judgment and other critical skills make navigating day-to-day living impossible without help from others, most often a family member or friend. Sometimes, but not always, difficult changes in personality and behavior occur. Aside from the patient, the relationships in the family are greatly affected by the disease. A grandchild, for instance, is usually very close to his/her grandparent. As Alzheimer’s progresses, the grandchild is torn as he/she watches as his/her grandparent’s brain becomes succumbed by Alzheimer’s. Alzheimer’s disease is called a family disease, because the chronic stress of watching a loved one slowly decline affects everyone. An effective treatment will address the needs of the entire family. Caregivers must focus on their own needs, take time for their own health and get support and respite from caregiving regularly to be able to sustain their well-being during this caregiving journey. Emotional and practical support, counseling, resource information and educational programs about Alzheimer’s disease all help a caregiver provide the best possible care for a loved one. Though families do their absolute best in caring, the stress causes tension between the entire family which in turn is even more stressful to the patient than the disease itself. By creating a cure for Alzheimer’s Disease, families can live in peace knowing that they will never need to experience such a tragic event.

Works Cited

“Breakthrough Drug for Patients.” The Independent. Independent Digital News and Media, n.d. Web. 16 Nov. 2016.

“Definition of Alzheimer’s Disease.” Alzheimer’s Foundation of America – Definition of Alzheimer’s Disease. Alzhiemer’s Foundation of America, n.d. Web. 17 Nov. 2016.

MacGill, Markus. “Alzheimer’s Disease.” Medical News Today. MediLexicon International, 29 Apr. 2016. Web. 23 Nov. 2016.

Definition—amazonite

The American Dream is a vast topic that differs from person to person, and it would be disingenuous to proceed without addressing the many different versions of the American Dream, A New York Times poll found that the three most agreed upon versions of the American Dream are freedom/opportunity at 27%, hard work leads to success at 18% and a secure job at 11%. To look at both opportunity and hard work translating to success, I will look at the US’ social mobility. Social mobility is a person’s ability to overcome their current economic class and move into a higher one. This kind of social mobility is called “relative social mobility.” It’s important to note that it is distinctly different from “absolute social mobility” which measures the wealth of the population as a whole. If a newer generation of a country has higher wages while adjusting for inflation, then that country has a positive absolute social mobility. Relative social mobility takes a look at the individual, absolute mobility looks at the country as a whole.