CARE Model

In class we discussed the CARE model, which includes the CARE values of compassion, action, responsibility, and equality.

I would say that action is the most important CARE value because without action, all of the other care values would just be words. While words and thoughts are a great place to start, they become practically useless when they are not paired with action of some sort. Action is the verb associated with all the other values, and this is why it is the most important of the four.

Equality is the next most important CARE value, because without equality people would be acting in the wrong way and being compassionate to the wrong people. In addition to this, responsibility would mean nothing if you weren't responsible in the right way. What I mean by this is if you do not value equality, you may be racist. This means you would only be compassionate to people who thought the same way as you, and your actions would reflect your prejudice. So in order for your other values to be useful and productive, you must value equality.

The next most important care value, in my opinion, is responsibility. Without a sense of responsibility, you would not feel obligated to act in a respectful/correct manner. This would case all sorts of problems in the world. For example, even if you were compassionate and felt bad for someone getting bullied, if you did not feel like it was your civic responsibility to step in then the compassion is useless because nothing is being solved.

Lastly, I feel like compassion, while vital to society, is the lowest priority on the CARE value list. This is not because compassion is not important, it is because it is virtually useless unless paired with another value from the CARE model.

Socialism vs. Capitalism

During our very interesting class discussion regarding the pros and cons of socialism and capitalism, I was able to solidify my views even further. What I've decided is that I feel that Canada has the best system compared to other modern countries. I disagree with the point that we need to be more socialist. I feel that we already have a ton of resources for the less fortunate to better themselves and their families- but these resources must be utilised or it is all a waste. I am obviously a supporter of helping out the disadvantaged, but I also put a high value on hard work and success due to that work. If we take away the reward for being successful, our society will crumble into utter chaos, lacking any sort of motivation or reason to thrive. This is the reason why healthy competition is essential to our lives as Canadians. If we take from the rich and give to the poor too much, the result will be no one will even bother succeeding anymore.

North Korea

As everyone knows from our discussion in class today, early this morning shots were fired from a mountain compound in North Korea over the border to South Korea. This resulted in 2 South Korean soldiers dying and around 12 injured. Many are considering this the most significant direct attack since the 1950's, which is scary for a lot of people.

Although I recognize the threat North Korea poses, I decided after our class discussion today that I don't think China will heavily support North Korea on this one. I doubt they want to aggravate the circumstances, and although shots were fired, this is being considered more of a warning from the North to the South. For this reason, I do not think this issue will cause a conflict on a global scale.

That being said, it's important to remember who is on what side and that if a real and imminent conflict were to arise, China would most likely back North Korea. This would cause issues with the United States and would lead to repercussions economically and otherwise all around the world.

How Would I fix the world-Assignment 2

When I first thought about this assignment, I was very apprehensive because I didn't know how to address all the problems that need to be fixed in just one paragraph. Then when I sat down to write, I realized that these problems have all already been discussed at length and in depth, and the solutions are all already out there. For this reason, if I were to change something to fix the world, I would give everyone enough caring so that we can take our words and turn them into actions.

Last class we discussed global communities, and a big part of that is all coming together to solve issues that need to be dealt with. These solutions would benefit us all. The inequalities in this world are unbelievable. For example, if everyone from North America were to give even five dollars, we could probably solve world hunger. I guess what I'm getting at is that if everyone does a small part, we can make a big difference. Many hands makes light work, and I think if I were to try and fix the world, that is the lesson I would impart on humanity.

First Day Assignment

I think that the most important issue discussed last class is education. This is because lack of education is what causes the rest of the issues we discussed, including poverty, minority rights, environmental issues, etc. By being educated, people are more aware of what is going on. For example, our generation has been made much more aware of the environment than past generations were. This has resulted in a much "greener" attitude towards life in general and I'm sure that will continue to develop with other generations. Education could also help to prevent poverty because education not only helps you to obtain the qualifications necessary to get a job, but if we have more educated people we can be better equipped to deal with the poverty already in today's world.