Week Twelve Journal Entry

As with most college courses at the conclusion we (the student) often wonder what exactly we learned and if we determine that there was in fact some measurable amount of knowledge gained we then wonder how we will be able to use it. Taking mathematics for example, it is a much more cumulative discipline and in most cases for the college student it is seen as just another class that is required or it is a stepping stone for the next, more difficult mathematics course. Its uses are mostly applied only in other math courses (of course there are some professions such as engineering, accounting, and finance which require in depth knowledge), but how many times has a college graduate found him or herself performing integral calculus?

In taking the Kirkpatrick Signature Series course, however, we find that the learning gained is much more readily applicable in our daily lives. Everyday we are forced to face many social, political, and religious issues, and what the Kirkpatrick course has done is provide a base of objective understanding and interpretation. Through discovering how many of our most influential leaders and thinkers contributed to their respective cultures we can learn that it is possible and justifiable to stand up against many opposing forces in reverence to our beliefs.

I found this to be one of the most valuable courses I have taken thus far. I have always been interested in our American political dynamics, and so a course such as this opened my mind up to better ways of looking at our world. The course has further initiated my desire to continue to acquire a more thorough understanding of these topics and learn more about some of the contributing authors in our text Western Vision and American Values.

Week Eleven Journal Entry

There was one substantial point brought up by Derek C. Bok about the distrust of our government which then leads to lower levels of civic involvement (most notably in voting turnout). I am always reminded of how adamant my grandfather was about exercising our freedom to vote. He had a much greater perspective on such matters and blessings than most people I have every known, and he involved himself in many situations in which he defended or supported some decent cause. I have come find elections, especially the presidential and congressional elections to be almost as thrilling as a sports event. I get just as excited and anxious. During the last election I was stationed at Fort Bragg, N.C. and I remember staying up all night monitoring the updates on my laptop computer. Even though I had to be up very early the next morning, I wanted to be current with the results of the election.

This trend in diminishing levels of American participation in voting is becoming increasingly evident as many of the politicians are aggressively trying to appeal to illegal immigrants for gaining more votes. There is a large sector of the average American demographic that is retreating from these types of civic participation primarily because they are becoming more aware of the corruptibility in all levels of government. As a result, the politicians feel that they have to tailor their message to other elements of the population. This also has a negative effect in that the average American who deems to vote regardless of the corruption is also less likely to vote now, because the politicians are ignoring the issues relevant to the average middle class American citizen.

I will continue to remain engaged in the function of our government, and I will do my part in taking advantage of the freedom to vote. I will show my support for those politicians who appeal to my concerns most appropriately.

Week Ten Journal Entry

One of the most realizing concepts I learned this week was that what I currently do for a living is by Auden’s standards a job, and not work. Certainly, there are times when I deeply appreciate having my job, and there are moments when I can take pride in what I do. But, mostly, I look at how my talents, abilities, and skills are largely inconsequential in performing my daily tasks. This has always presented a sobering perspective, and I went into my job knowing that I would be there for only as long as it would take me to complete my degree and move on to something where I can contribute more effectively.

One of my responses to a post regarding the question about the movie Other People’s Money inspired my recollection of a documentary about Enron’s rise to the top; and subsequent fall. I always heard stories about their executives from my father and uncle who both worked for Enron for many years. I never really understood what exactly was happening, but I learned that the primary motive was greed. It wasn’t until I watched the documentary that I discovered the extent to which the executives manipulated the entire organizational culture to foster some unethical behaviors. So long as the stock was going up, everyone involved in these dealings was alright with the way things were being handled. Unfortunately, it was the many employees who had no idea of these improper practices that also got burned when their stock purchases in the company tumbled in value.

The SEC has done much to ensure that these business practices are avoided. As a matter of fact because of companies like Enron and Worldcom, there have been new regulations and checks initiated for accounting procedures which have ensured that more accurate information about a company’s actual state of financial affairs is reported.

Week Nine Journal Entry

The weeks seem to be getting more challenging as we near the completion of our semester. I spent most of my efforts working on my rough drafts for both the digital story and my thesis. I dreaded working on the abstract for my thesis, as this is something that can easily be overlooked, but yet it is a very important part of the paper. I have already completed most of the rough draft so I was able to review much of what I had written to help with the abstract, but I still anticipated that it would take me quite some time to complete it, but once I began the ideas kept flowing in.

The readings for the week and the corresponding assignments (the primary post and the responses to other classmates) seemed to draw out our true personalities regarding some very hot topic issues. It can be all too easy to take a hard-line stance on some of these issues, but we have to remember to think through each of these as they would apply if we were experiencing them. For instance Crittenden’s essay about working mothers vs. stay-at-home moms propels me to react in gross favor of stay-at-home moms. I was raised that way, and that is how I envision raising my kids. However, I have to imagine the struggles or challenges a family now faces when the American dollar does not compare to the value it once had when it was easier to raise a family on only one member’s income. I cannot predict if I will be in such a situation, and therefore, I cannot look down on a family who is doing the best they can to provide for their children.

The lesson that was predominant throughout most of this week’s readings was to be more open-minded and accepting of other people’s means of living and expressing themselves freely in our culture. We have to protect this freedom; it is a fundamental right for all Americans.

Week Eight Journal Entry

I found that among this week’s readings there were consequential overtones of the social structure of governments and societies. I remain convinced that most of the related social problems that governments are desperately trying to resolve would best be served by better education and personal responsibility. What I mean by better education is that much of our problems in society have their roots in money. I can recall a time when I was talking to my financial broker (who is also a personal friend) and he asked me a very striking question. To paraphrase he said something similar to this, “Why don’t elementary, or secondary education schools teach basic personal finances? And why is it that many parents rarely teach their children these same principles other than how to balance a check book (which is a task that is becoming a rarity in itself)?

I also believe that basic education should also include more extensive activities which involve the students in social activities and organizations. Our children will improve their learning in how to effectively deal with social situations to include small group negotiation. I also think that a major issue facing our society and culture is that there is an increasing lack in speaking and communication skills. When our children isolate themselves to their computers or video games they lose out on opportunities to refine their social skills.

We have many challenges facing our society and I sometimes worry that our reliance on technology may actually have a depressing effect on our human intelligence. Of course, humans may develop a greater sense of analytical or technological intelligence, but the cost of this heightened sense of knowledge will be a decrease in the importance of human social interaction. Without these necessary skills, we may discover that the only way to effectively interact in society will be with aided medication – if you want an example of how this is already becoming a trend look at the increase in prescriptions for Ritalin for our children. Our society might end up emulating Aldous Huxley’s “Brave New World” in which most of the people of their world were dependent on their “soma” to get through their days.

Week Seven Journal Entry

I am very much for preserving our capitalistic society, and so I found this week’s readings to be very valuable. It became clear to me that we are straddling a very fine line between preserving our capitalist nature and delving into one of socialism. I say this because we see very often how our system of capitalism and democracy also possesses character elements of socialism. Much was discussed in the readings about private property rights for individual citizens. This is something that we have prided ourselves on as Americans. However, more and more we are witnessing our local and national governments claiming eminent domain rights in certain circumstances whereby, they take over the possession of an individual’s property rights. This purpose of this is usually stated as being done for the common good.

I normally feel very frustrated when I hear about these cases, but the part that I do tend to accept is that each case is adjudicated on a case-by-case basis – which may in fact lead to a necessary overtaking of one’s property at a fair value to be paid. For instance, certain road or highway improvements, extensions, or other construction related projects may be necessary if it means providing a safer, more efficient way of travel – especially for rural or isolated communities. What I disagree with is associated with urban developments such as convention centers, parking garages, or apartment buildings where the city acquires the private property for their benefit. These types of projects are really not at all necessary other than for some modernized development or cosmetic improvement to the city.

Maybe our concept of capitalism is proving to be what Schumpter describes as creative destruction in the sense that our systems of society and government are subjects of continual change and modification. These are not bad things; rather they are necessary for keeping up with technological, industrial, and political advancements.

Week Six Journal Entry

It is very educating to see how some of our most influential persons of Western culture are described as models of responsibility and moral righteousness. Individual responsibility is one of the most important issues to me. I look around in this society and I see such a defining line between those who are responsible and well-mannered and those who are neglectful of these characteristics. Often I see the direct relationship of success with responsible people and failure or a lack of fulfilled success with those who choose a life of irresponsibility or laziness.

“Mind your business” is a quote I once read about keeping control and dominion over your total livelihood. This means being in command of your homes, your possessions, and even your own mindfulness of your self and those around you – since, ‘your business’ is a matter that includes how you interact with others personally and professionally, we need to be mindful of our respect for other people. Judith Martin addresses this issue in her essay The Oldest Virtue which discusses the importance of etiquette and manners. It pains me to see how the customary manners and etiquettes we were taught not so long ago are being discarded at the wayside at such a rapid rate. As I pointed out in one of my responses to another student’s post, our culture seems to glorify this trend in movies, reality TV, and music.

Concerning another matter regarding our assignments, I was surprised that I was able to compose a poem. I do not think that I have ever done that for a class, and as I first perused over the assignments this was the one that I quickly disregarded. But, as I reviewed the list of topics after the readings I began brainstorming for a couple minutes about what I would make as the subject if I was required to complete this assignment. I could not believe how quickly a few thoughts about my job turned into an intriguing story.

Week Five Journal Entry

A few of the readings for the week compelled me to want to take action on behalf of the message they were conveying. Frederick Douglass’ address in 1852 was one such document through which his highly esteemed delivery caused many supporters to adopt his cause. He brought forth a deep understanding of the constitutional rights each citizen was supposed to be afforded and used that in persuading his audience to consider more thoroughly how their own actions could be considered blasphemous in respect to how they were denying rights to black Americans.

Such works as Emerson’s Self Reliance and Machiavelli’s The Prince provided new perspectives in how an individual should act or behave. I have mostly been a critic of Machiavelli’s work ever since I read a book about gaining power. In that book the author quoted and referenced many of his main ideas from those of Machiavelli, and it was from these that I noticed how the author’s underlying motive for gaining power was at the expense of everyone around. He suggested that we needed to be deceptive, forceful, and always willing to be on the offensive to strike about some opportunity to elevate one’s self above another. It was for this recollection and reason that I really identified more with Emerson’s account of being true to ourselves, and living according to our own virtues, morals, and ethics – which are inherently good.

I have found quite a few favorites concerning the individual authors throughout our text, and I will take up reading more of their works when I find some free time. There is so much to learn that can still be applied in our world today, and I would much rather read material from people who have proven their ideas than many of the current authors who hypothesize upon their ideas.

Week Four Journal Entry

It was interesting to see how some of our nation’s first political and social leaders viewed the creation of our great country and the world in general. I found Ben Franklin’s The Way to Wealth to be a familiar topic of interest. For years growing up my siblings and I were lectured by our parents about the value of money. We were also heavily advised to avoid getting into too much debt. But, did we listen? Of course not, but we probably would not have learned the great lessons of money management had we not found ourselves indebted to credit card companies, car financiers, and other various creditors and then had to climb out of that pit on our own. The final test was being able to discover that all of the things our parents had said about saving money for a rainy day were true.

One of the most fascinating things that I discovered was the difference in prose and composition of the written documents from the English descendent authors like Hamilton, Madison, and Franklin and those of the Frenchmen de Crevecoeur and de Tocqueville. The flow of the works for the English writers seems always interrupted with too many extra descriptive phrases, whereas the Frenchmen’s works flow smoothly where each sentence gets right down to the point and transitions very well into the next sentence.

Week Three Journal Entry

I can see where much of our civilization derives from the Classical Greek period. I also see how much we have removed our own society from the ideal concept of the Greek polis state, as well as from our own American foundation beginning with the Constitution and the Declaration of Independence. We would be wise as a nation to re-establish some of these principles from which our nation was founded – specifically matters concerning our justice system. It is disconcerting to frequently hear a judge sentence a criminal to a certain amount of time, but that time will realistically translate into a lesser sentence; i.e., “The defendant received 10 years in prison, but this will come out to be 5 - 6 years.” My question, then is why not simply sentence him or her to 5 – 6 years, and if there is bad behavior (as opposed to reducing the sentence because of good behavior) add on additional time for the defendant. We also see matters of the law being greatly favored for the extremely wealthy and the extremely poor. This means that the rule of law is relative or subjective to the individual. This is unjust.


I discovered something interesting to think about while reading Michael Walzer’s The Idea of Civil Society. In his essay, he states that a civil society cannot exist without the state, and therefore, a whole and complete free market society is impossible. A free market society without government inclusion leads to anarchy. What I came to realize is that there are many intense activist groups within the U.S. that support the idea of no government intervention or at least less government intervention. But, interestingly, they seem to miss recognizing that without the government these activist groups would not be able to establish any base or generate any sort of organization for their cause. If the government never took any action on behalf of the activist groups there wouldn’t be any organization of these, because ultimately, they would have recognized from the continued failure in the past of all activist organization that the government would not listen or act.
So, despite what they routinely believe to be inaction favorable to their cause by the government, the government does actually listen to their message, and often will take some sort of action. We have seen that even small groups can get the government to put pressure on the “other side” when necessary.

Walzer’s essay was the most interesting, primarily because I disregard many writings of liberally biased authors (mainly those in the newspaper), and yet I found his writing to be full of substantial points that I agreed with. I can see now why a absolute free society might become chaotic and exploitive – there still needs to be some state intervention to protect, preserve, and govern its citizens. Without state intervention what would be determined as “fair wages” for the working class. If this was an arbitrary arrangement left to be determined by free market enterprise there might be a greater exploitation of employees. Certainly, this is the worst case scenario; the best case scenario would establish higher wages based on the success of the organization. But I think it would be best to err on the side of preventing the worst case scenario.

Week Two Journal Entry

In this week we were introduced to a primary theme about understanding our own view of reality – what we think it is, and how we should go about changing our view if necessary. The authors argued, some vehemently (like Nietzsche), against many of the prevailing customs and traditions of our Western beliefs. We also discovered that there are various methodologies that we can apply to refine or change our perspectives about thus topic.

In my own study of psychology I was able to identify most with Sigmund Freud’s contention that our mental processes are the result of the influences of our ego and superego. Our conscious mind (ego) is often times dominated or regulated by our subconscious mind (superego; that little voice in our head or that feeling we get about our assurances and doubts when we make decisions or engage in activities). Our subconscious mental processes are directly tied to our beliefs, and as Freud suggested, when our beliefs are obscured from reality, we behave accordingly, which is normally in an irrational manner.

I particularly enjoyed reading Nietzsche’s excerpt from The Antichrist (1895). This was certainly the most discussed topic for the week, and it brought out some interesting opinions. Nietzsche believed that the true source of power was in mankind’s own naturally way of surviving and dominating the species, and that the Christian faith was harmful to this natural state of being because it taught compassion, pity, and forgiveness for our lowliest humans. He saw this as weak. I would like to make a point about what I believe power really is:

We say that power is normally attributed to persons in leadership roles; and we also say that leaders possess the ability to influence behaviors and actions in other people (many a man has done some extraordinary things in combat because the power to control their impulses and actions by the military commanders dominated their thinking). Therefore, can we also say then, that the Christian faith has a great deal of power – since it is obvious that the faith has the ability to influence people’s actions and behaviors?

As I mentioned in one of my posts much of the readings are composed in a manner of words and phrases that we are not typically accustomed to in this day in age. I find myself straining through some of the material on the first go-around, but I am surprised to see how I am much better able to understand it the second time around once I have determined the underlying point. I am grateful to be armed with a good thesaurus.

Week One Journal Entry

Why am I taking this class?

Although the obvious answer to why I am taking this course is that it is a requirement necessary to graduate, after having previewed the course outline and description as I was registering for class I found myself very interested in exploring some of the traditions, values, and ethics which have influenced our national culture. I am fortunate to be taking a course that is not offered at many other universities or colleges.

Whey does the university require it?

There are other colleges that offer only degree specific curriculum for the students, and this has its benefits for those seeking to go that route. A conventional university is different than these other institutions because it excels in its educational goals by providing a base curriculum of various required disciplines that serve the purpose of building the student’s capacity to think more openly.
The university’s role is to present the students with topics of study that engage the student in critical thinking and problem solving. It is the student who experiences progression in knowledge and insight as a result. The culmination of this process will be when the student begins to apply his or her educated mind to worldly issues.

What surprised, saddened, angered, or otherwise emotionally affected me during the first week of class?

I was very surprised to discover how many stories are included in our textbook. This is exciting because we possess a compilation of some of recent history’s most influential writers.
I will admit that I was not very excited about beginning a blog site because I am not a proficient computer user. The addresses that I browse on the internet routinely are limited to a few sites (foxsports.com, hotmail.com, yahoo.finance.com, google.com, and the cyberactive Bellevue website). In my last course I did conduct extensive research over the internet, but as a recreation I do not participate in chat sites such as myspace.com or msn messenger. So the idea of setting up a blog page was not very appealing. However, once I accessed the website and set up my homepage, I can see that it will be a valuable tool for creating interesting and insightful journal entries.

What connections were I able to make between the readings for the week and my personal life and professional duties?

I am certainly not an environmental activist or an extreme animal rights advocate. I do, however, believe that we should respect our world and the many living creatures in it (I am the guy who swerves or slows down my vehicle to avoid running over a squirrel). If we find ourselves with the opportunity to preserve, protect, or give aid to animals and the natural environment, then we should take action just as Eagle Man and Leopold would suggest. I work as a Dredge operator for a sand and gravel mining company in which we dredge aggregate material from a man-made lake. We are required to take certain measures to prevent accidents that could damage or harm our immediate natural environment which includes many wild animals like ducks, geese, and fish . Routinely, we receive policy and procedural updates from the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA).

What will I be able to contribute to the class?

My greatest contribution will be my coursework that I produce and my comments in the discussion board regarding my peers’ posted assignments. There is much that we can learn from each other throughout this course and being able to respond to each other’s work is a valuable feature of the online format. I was amazed at the consistency of quality work from many of my fellow classmates in the accelerated Management online program. Some of those same students are also in this course, so we will be able to share that familiarity with each other. It is nice to see other people moving right along in tune with yourself.

How will it be a better course because I am a student in it?

I will contribute in making this a better course mostly because I will offer unique opinions and perspectives based on the set of values, morals, and ethics I have developed over the course of my lifetime. Although, I expect that after studying and dissecting the course material that some of my views will change and others will be reinforced. This process will benefit the class in that I will continually bring fresh ideas into our class discussion.