Tag Archives: rcl

Civic Engagement Speeches Evaluation

After a long week of listening to speeches, I think that we are all reminded of something: giving a speech in front of a crowd of your peers can be simultaneously fulfilling and nerve-wrecking. On one hand, it feels great to be able to share our experiences and our viewpoints on issues, while on the other hand one feels judged by everything from one hair being out of line to a small, almost unnoticeable stutter.

I think that this was a particularly difficult assignment. Now, don’t get me wrong- I’m not saying that it’s difficult to prepare a three minute long speech, but rather it is just cruel to tell someone to find something that they would love to talk about and only give him three minutes to do so. I know, personally, I would feel much more fulfilled speaking for, at the very minimum, five minutes so that I can properly inform people about my topic, while still giving people the chance to feel engaged by it. I do understand that five minutes would give people all too much time to ramble on, but rambling and straying off-topic is in the fault of the speaker, not in the structure of the assignment.

I truly enjoyed all of the speeches that I heard, except for the speeches that felt like someone had basically read someone’s entire biography and briefly followed it with the statement “therefore he/she is civic.” I felt like people brought with them the exact enthusiasm necessary to engage the audience. People who were more passionate about the topic seemed to be more casual in their approach and therefore more involving in their delivery, while people who were more calculated about their speeches tended to feel more aggressive and caused the audience to distance themselves. Overall, I have truly enjoyed the whole experience and I cannot wait to give my speech this week.

Scout Law Artifact

For my artifact for the Unit One project, I chose the Scout Law. The Scout Law is not some random mumbo jumbo that we repeat just to appear unified; it is a personal agreement that we agree to withhold each time that we meet. It is a way of life that we dedicate ourselves to. The Scout Law is a large part of my daily life. It’s really a part of any scout’s life, whether we choose to admit it or not. The Scout Law is a code of ethics that every scout swears to abide by until the day he dies. Those who live by the Scout Law are some of the greatest people you will ever meet.

Boy Scout emblem

For those of you who do not know, the scout law is a promise to ourselves and others that we will live a certain lifestyle. The scout law is the following: A scout is: trustworthy, loyal, helpful, friendly, courteous, kind, obedient, cheerful, thrifty, brave, clean, and reverent. Now, some of these traits are traits that you see in people every- people who are not scouts. I do not hold some great view of scouting that only scouts possess these qualities; rather, I believe this is a code that many people live by without even realizing it.

Jensen Ackles in his class A and class B uniforms

 

The founder of the Boy Scouts of America, Robert Baden-Powell, observed these traits in others. He saw what great citizens people were when they lived by some of these laws, so he wanted to create an organization where people could be truly civic by living by all of these laws. In creating a more civic society, Baden-Powell succeeded greatly. I know for a fact that Boy Scouts made me a much greater person and it is a large part of who I am today.

Kairos does not work that well into the Scout Law because the best timing to implement the Scout Law into our life is all the time. The Scout Law is not about timing; it’s about a lifestyle.

Conservatives vs Liberals

(In Response to Question 3)

I am someone who was raised in a liberal household. My mother, brother, and sister all have strong liberal point of views. Growing up, I was always on the side of the liberals merely because I was following what my family supported. At some point, though, I started to view issues in my own mind- without paying any attention to the influence of my family. I started to view problems for what they were and figured out their roots and potential solutions. As I grew up, I became more and more conservative. Now, to clear up any confusion, I am not a full-fledged conservative. No, I would rather define myself as a libertarian. As a libertarian, I am more socially liberal than Democrats and more economically conservative than the Republicans. Obviously, I view this as the best way to stand.

In my senior year of high school, I was in a politics class. Our final project was to do extensive research on an issue and to present it to the class in a 40 minute long presentation. My topics were Obamacare and welfare programs– two things that I have a large problem with. My problem with neither program has to do with its goals, but rather has to do with its methods. I made sure that in my presentation I used as many facts and as much logic as possible, as these programs gain all of the strength in their standing strictly through an appeal to pathos, while ignoring most sense of logic. My goal was to derail their credibility through undermining their logic.

Spock from Star Trek- known for his great sense of logic

After my presentation was finished, I had many people approach me and commend me on my work and inform me that it opened their eyes in regard to all of these issues. My strong sense of logic and coherent presentation clearly communicated the issues to my audience, while I also utilized a sense of satire to mock the problems of the issues in order to retain the attention of my audience.

Jon Stewart, a great face of political satire

Many times, people have tried to convince me that both Obamacare and welfare programs are functioning effectively and efficiently, yet those same people have not been able to communicate to me a clear reason why the programs are successful other than just by proposing an emotional argument. A successful argument needs a sufficient balance of logos and pathos with just enough of a sense of ethos.

What Is Being Civic?

Civic is a word that is tossed around a lot. People throw around terms such as “civic duty” and “civic responsibility,” yet many people do not even fully understand what this means. People understand that certain things they do make them civic, but the broader definition of civic is lost on many. In my mind, part of being civic is joining with the members of one’s community in order to gain some sense of family and pride.

To be civic is to become someone that is more than just someone who lives in a country or has citizenship. In order to be civic, one has many responsibilities. Although this may sound like a difficult thing to do, most of these responsibilities actually come naturally to us. For example, the RCL book names simple everyday life as an aspect of being civic. No, this does not mean that because you buy groceries and hang out with your friends that you are being civic. We actually are civic without even realizing it. Something as simple as saying the Pledge of Allegiance would make someone considered to be civic. See, it is the simple things that we do to be a part of our community that gives us an essence of being civic. We spread our social beliefs.

Another great aspect, as mentioned in the RCL book, is being a part of shared enterprise. No, this does not mean that you have to start a business with someone. This can be as simple as joining in common work. “People can feel connections with one another through a sense of public purpose…” (Rhetoric and Civic Life, 7.) One instance in my life where I have joined in this common enterprise is through my boy scout troop. Together, we accomplished many things that we could not do without each other and we developed a fellowship through it. We took the support that our community gave to us and we did everything we could to give back to our community. Wanting to be a part of one’s community and making it a better place is one of the most important aspects to being civic.

Get Rich Slowly

I am a Finance and Economics major, so finding a good finance blog was not much of a struggle. Get Rich Slowly is a blog created by J.D. Roth. Get Rich Slowly is a blog that has been named one of the best by both Time and Money magazine. Though the blog began just with J.D. Roth, the blog has evolved into a vast resource with multiple authors. Many of the posts gain their credibility because the authors are people who have either gone through certain financial struggles or challenges or have a vast amount of knowledge in each specific area. The blog is kept because it is incredibly lucrative and has a very high viewership. In just this past July, Get Rich Slowly had 261,542 unique viewers.

 

The blog’s purpose is to give advice to the every day person in what they can do to manage his or her funds and to set up a situation where those funds can multiply in the future. The organization runs this blog in hopes of giving its readers a much more stable financial lifestyle that will bring them a bright future. The audience is really just your every day Joe. Get Rich Slowly is the best advice hub for every day financial tips on anything from putting your kid through college to financing infertility treatments.

Old Main- In relation to putting your kid through college.

The tone of the blogs is very sympathetic to certain situations and informative. Responses to questions are incredibly detailed and apply to most all possible situations. The blog often leaves links to sources where people may gain a greater understanding of the situation being addressed. The sources that are linked to are often informative and official sources.

The blogger isn’t exactly entering into a “larger conversation” on the web as most posts lack much of what would be considered to be an opinion. There is always some sort of image in a post that relates to the topic at hand. The information is very well categorized so that people may easily access many different topics that have to do with finance. This is very helpful in accessing the exact information and advice you are looking for. The comments section is for the post part filled with people commenting about their own situations and how they handle each obstacle. Some people criticize small bits of advice offering more efficient alternatives to each solution.

Overall, Get Rich Slowly is an excellent place to go to learn how to your life from a fiscal point of view and to learn how to overcome fiscal obstacles.