I Didn’t Do It

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The concept of blame is always interesting. It can be shared, or put entirely on one individual or event, or some complicated combination of the two. The concept of fault is a strange one, as it is so abstract and complex, but even the smallest child can point their finger at someone else and distribute it as they see fit. The origin of blame probably relates to some animal somewhere along the evolutionary chain realizing that certain behaviors caused bad things to happen (like getting eaten or dying of disease) and so began to blame them for the consequences so that those behaviors were avoided by the rest of the population.

However, though it may be useful in some cases, assigning responsibility is often extremely subjective. From the perspective of one person, another could have completely shaped the outcome of an event; yet for that other person, it was a mild occurrence they may not even remember the following day or week. This causes tensions and gives rise to the idea of a misunderstanding; which is often little comfort to those who have been seriously affected. Though some events obviously have more impact than others, it is often difficult for one person to determine the effect their actions will have on another person, as their perceptions and priorities may be drastically varied.

Responsibility also has developed a negative connotation. Instead of taking responsibility being seen as a positive thing, it always seems to be a punishment more than a reward. The language used to speak of something good is never referred to as accepting fault; it is more likely to be described as “accomplished” or “made happen.” Children are told to take responsibility for their actions, which is usually followed by a swiftly dealt punishment if they actually do; or at least it used to be. It seems more and more now that blame is simply shifted to someone else, without any consequence ever really following an action. This is not difficult to believe, as to say one person is at fault would alleviate the other party, when really it belongs to both parties, whether equally distributed or not. Pointing fingers will accomplish nothing if both parties perceive themselves in the right.

What is there to do then? Not much, really. Frustrating as it is, there is often no solution to disputes where the blame is shared or unclear to one involved party. Subjectivity prevents the issue from being determined fairly for both parties. That is the real reason life isn’t fair: there’s no such thing.

Money, Money, Money

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Human lives revolve around numbers. We are dependent upon pieces of paper or metal with numbers on them or associated with them to function on society. The monetary system in America today allows for people, businesses, and large groups to hold power in the form of money. Money comes in many shapes and sizes, and is different almost anywhere you go around the world. Money was introduced long ago to supplement the barter system that had been in place before. It worked as a credit system; money could be traded rather than goods, and then that money could be used to purchase other goods or services.

The problem currently surrounding money is it no longer has the value it used to possess, and no one ever seems to have enough of it. Money is thought by some to be the root of evil, as the need to possess it can drive some people to commit horrible acts they would not normally be seen as capable of doing. Money corrupts and destroys as much as it helps.

The value of money changes depending on what system it’s being incorporated into. A dollar here is not the same as what we would consider a dollar if we were in Europe or Asia. A unit of money is subjective to each government or enterprise, and any form can be refused or accepted at the whim of the establishment. Inflation depletes the values money used to be associated with, so that a dollar now would not be the same as a dollar was 20 years ago, regardless of which part of the country you’re in.

Money can also be digital. This further decreases the value, because the currency you have available to you is nothing more than a few digits on a screen; it cannot be touched or moved or its existence confirmed outside of that image. Yet the idea of money is central to the way human life works. Without money, you’re considered poor, and are deprived of most things because you cannot trade a numerical value for an item or service. If you have enough money to waste it on things you don’t need or won’t use, you’re considered rich, and your quality of life is exponentially improved over someone who is poor, regardless of other factors.

This system is flawed to say the least. Money is something humans invented to simplify their lives, when in fact it has decimated many and compromised others to the extent that it has taken lives away. When a single piece of paper is compared to the person next to you, most would agree that the person is more valuable. However make that single paper into millions or billions of papers with ever increasing digits printed on them, and for some, the value of the human life becomes less than that of the stack of papers. This is due to the weight humans place on these pieces of paper; and because this association is so deeply ingrained in the population, it will only get worse.

“F” for Effort

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One of the things that today’s youth likes to collectively admonish is the education system. Kids complain about having too much homework or to many projects, that their teachers don’t teach or that the material is never going to be relevant to their real live careers. As a student myself, I can sympathize with the need to complain occasionally, but recently I have begun to realize that all of that complaining may not be too far from the truth.

The most frustrating things in college is failing an exam or assignment you felt good about just because of the subjectivity of the grading process. I respect the right of a teacher to grade for the quality of the work, but it seems that they occasionally take this concept too far, grading for imperfection rather than comprehension. This may seem trivial, but it is certainly not if the main portion of your grade is derived from the scores of those exams and assignments. The fact of the matter is that it’s extremely disheartening to fail; especially when it seems out of your own control to succeed.

Some students are simply lazy. They expect the world to be handed to them on a silver platter, and refuse to contribute to their own education. In such cases, there is little that can be done to rectify an injured GPA – and it’s not the teacher’s responsibility to pass them just because they think they should be allowed to pass. However the system is flawed, because of the structure of most university level classes. The weight put on huge exams does not account for the biological or environmental elements of college that are out of a students’ control. Illnesses that are not severe can still hinder the performance of a student; a loud roommate can eliminate all the preparation that went into an exam if the student can’t sleep to be rested enough to recall the information. Many teachers see excuses where student are experiencing the everyday symptoms of existing.

I cannot see the system being fixed any time soon, though, for two reasons. One: the teachers who choose to look past the consequences of being a person and expect students to overcome things they cannot control are too set in their ways, and their worldview does not allow for a change to be made. Two: there is no obvious solution. And thus the infinite frustration that is relevant only in the realm of human beings and the system they created that fails to account for their own weaknesses continues.