Who Am I thankful for?

During Thanksgiving dinner, my mother made us say everything we were thankful for before we ate. It was agonizing. After going through that, Mr. McCarthy thought it would be cool for us to pick someone in our class who we are thankful for. How nice!

Many people have already said them but I am thankful for multiple people actually. Artem, Zach, Jack, Steve and Max. Anyone in my 5th period class knows that those five are the usual dicussion participants. By them going through their usual Q and A's and rebutals, class time goes by very quickly and surprisingly efficiently. As much as I appreciate the days that I don't feel very open and can get away with it because they will take up a lot of class time, most days hearing them going back and forth and them sharing their ideas really make me want to get involved and feel more confident that what I say in class will be taken well. I'm not the most opinionated or intellectual person so I keep my comments to a minimum, but everyday I try to break myself of that way of thinking. By hearing them share their ideas and thoughts, it makes me want to share my own just as much. Thanks guys!

Who You going for Camus and Voltaire?

For all the people who may not know or care, the Presidential Election Voting Day is next Tuesday, November 6th. The main two candidates are Barack Obama and Mitt Romney, along with the chosen candidates of smaller, more unknown parties. Those two mentioned though would have been material for both Camus and Voltaire to write satire about. While we are thought, who would those two even cast a ballot for?

If you were to ask me, Voltaire would vote as an Independent and support a lesser known candidate from a third party, more for fun rather than actual political and intellectual reasons.. Camus would not even get off his couch to a polling area. There is a strong sense of modern elections being based off the "lesser of two evils" saying rather than who they believe will actually make an improvement to our society. 

One person I guarantee Voltaire would not support is Mitt Romney. Voltaire has made harsh comments and ridicule of the nobility or wealthy society, including clergymen. Mitt Romney just so happens to be a Mormon (who once believed African-Americans didn't have souls) millionaire politician who can't get people to agree with his motives if he gave them five dollars a piece. If he were to hear about how Romney plans to treat the lower classes (who Voltaire sympathizes, yet pities), Mandide would be in the works for sure. Obama is probably the more likable candidate, however, with all the promises Obama makes with the still occurring issues in our society, Voltaire would definitely take issue with it. I can say that Obama would fit the mold of a politician perfectly, although he does have good intentions and is a genuine, respectable person. 

Camus is such a nonchalant person, I can definitely see him not being interested in either candidate, or any candidate at all. He doesn't seem like someone interested in politics at all. Unless one of the candidates were to outlaw cigarettes. 

Voltaire and Camus wouldn't be the most American individuals (even though they are French) but just in a sense. In a society where not voting is frowned upon, these two goals would be to almost make a mockery of it. One is not happy with the advancement of society and the other just doesn't care about which person has the best stance on foreign policy.