The tiniest essay one could possibly write.

In his famous 1946 essay, “Politics and the English Language,” George Orwell criticizes the contemporary English language for its disgusting and inaccurate use by individuals. He argues that language is not shaped by us for our own use like it should be, but rather that it is ugly because the way we think is actually inaccurate. Instead of "foolish thoughts" being a result of language, language has become a result of "foolish thoughts."

“Our civilization is decadent and our language...must inevitably share in the general collapse.” Orwell begins by asserting the belief that the English language has been disfigured by the human race, and is on a lingering decline as a result. “Underneath this lies the half-conscious belief that language is a natural growth and not an instrument which we shape for own own process.” Orwell is basically stating that people tend to abuse the English language in its current form by misapplying vocabulary.

“Modern English, especially written English, is full of bad habits which spread by imitation and which can be avoided if one is willing to take necessary trouble.” Orwell suggests that writing often becomes meaningless as a result of improper language and gibberish – most often language people mimic from others. The use of “meaningless” words allows them to be openly interpreted and often abused in political writing.

I agree with Orwell's points. Slang, bad grammar/spelling, incorrect use of a thesaurus, it all irritates me. I notice sometimes common people tend to use small words, then replace them with larger words that aren't necessarily correct. For example:

“The tasty peach on the tree is really small.”

turns into

“The ambrosial fruit resting on the tree is immensely miniature.”, or something like that; the words in the second sentence sound awkward and make no sense, though they are synonyms of the words in the first sentence.

At one time, Webster's Dictionary was the number one resource. At one time, people preferred to be clever and perceptive, but it seems like people are beginning to embrace idiocy and silliness. Today, we are provided with sources like Urban Dictionary, where anybody and everybody can place in a definition to a word and it goes. Yes – sometimes the stuff on there is humorous, but at the same time very threatening to the English language because not only is it changing the words we use, but the way we use them and how we define them. A simple word, like car, for example:

In the real dictionary:

Car - a road vehicle, typically with four wheels, powered by an internal combustion engine and able to carry a small number of people.

In Urban Dictionary:

Car – a people shell with four wheels; a place where you can have sex; something that goes, vrooooooom vroooooooooom.

If one were to look back into Shakespearean times – maybe even further – the language was much more sophisticated and innovative. We look at it today as inexplicable and complex, but I think that is because our language has downgraded since then.

“If one gets rid of these habits one can think more clearly, and to think clearly is a necessary first step toward political regeneration: so that the fight against bad English is not frivolous and is not the exclusive concern of professional writers.” Orwell spits some gold in this sentence right here. People – not just writers or speakers or people who work with vocabulary as a profession – must relinquish the use of foolish words, and rather work to reverse political decay.

Opening Statement - Over Population in the United States

      The biggest concerns the country has with overpopulation is that there are not enough resources for every individual to obtain necessary resources. To live free of hunger and disease, to have the energy to manufacture goods and keep warm, to have places to live, water to drink, and to have social amenities like schools and hospitals. There are simply too many people to accommodate.


      According to The Demographic Facts of Life in the United States, the US is the third most populous country in the world following China and India. The U.S. population, currently more than 265 million, is growing by about 2.5 million people each year, making the United States one of the world's fastest-growing industrialized nations.
There are several impacts to this conclusion, such as:

• Because Americans eat a diet heavy in beef and other animal products, U.S. per capita grain consumption is four times higher than that of developing countries.
• Americans constitute five percent of the world's population but consume 25 percent of the world's energy. On average, one American consumes as much energy as 2 Japanese, 6 Mexicans, 13 Chinese, 31 Indians, 128 Bangladeshis, 307 Tanzanians, or 370 Ethiopians.
• The United States is responsible for 22 percent of the world's industrial carbon dioxide emissions, a leading cause of global warming.
• In the last 200 years, the United States has lost 50 percent of its wetlands, 90 percent of its northwestern old-growth forests, and 99 percent of its tall grass prairie.
• Every day, an estimated nine square miles of U.S. rural land is lost to development.

      America and its population make a big impression on the world - but not a good one. The best way to control overpopulation, and possibly save our Earth, is

Promote condoms/birth control.

One common factor of unintended birth in the US is lack of condom use, or broken condoms and lack of birth control. If we promote condoms and birth control and people actually use them, the only babies being born won't be accidents and won't contribute to the death of the world as we know it.

What is the perfect government?

Don't expect this to be good, I'm tired.


      Does political power corrupt the people who attain it? Well...in my opinion:
If the system allows corruption, then yes. My theory is that if one person comes into complete power, with no foreseen chance of being removed, then at some point of their reign will turn to arrogance and they will eventually become corrupt. Hitler, for example (Mr. Sutherland loves when I talk about Hitler) had complete power. Some people liked him, others didn't, but nobody was successful at taking him down. He made his personal beliefs law, and if he had not committed suicide because of his nervous breakdown by losing the war LOL then he may have succeeded in his plans. Hitler was corrupt.


      On the other hand, a government like America's makes it so that one person isn't in complete power. Our president has the power of a president, but he can't do everything he wants without consulting everyone else in office. Every president has their own beliefs, but they can't just say, "this is going to happen because I want it to" and it happens.


      In Animal Farm, the pigs are the ones in charge. All of the animals are agree that the pigs are smartest, and deserve the right to be in power of the farm. I think the pigs will gain the animals complete trust, start off everything good and slow, then slowly become greedy and take over the farm. 


     When you have people backign you up, it's easy to get into power and stay there. I think it's when leaders start to do things their followers don't agree with that they eventually will be overthrown. 


Egotistical decisions = corruption in a government. So, yeah...

Response Post: What's Emo/Scene

I have a huge problem with just about everything said in this post. Yes, everyone has a right to say what they believe and yadda yadda yadda, but I need to say something about this post. Lhadze, I hope you read this.

First off, I disagree with placing labels on people. Someone can put a "definition" on the fashion style itself (whomever does it in the first place and why), but who says that if I wear saggy pants and a black hoodie everyday, I'm automatically a gangster? What if I wear preppy clothes one day, then hipster the next? Do I have multiple personalities? I wouldn't think so.

Lhadze says,

Most real scene kids wear Gloomy Bear, Hello Kitty, Invader Grim, Metal band shirts. They wear anything from skirts, shorts and fishnets to skinnes or just leggings ripped. Scene kids love listening to heavily stylized music like crunk core. They tend to try out the newest fashion, and add their own style to it to own what they wear.

Okay, so this is Lhadze's generalized definition of the Scene style, or how she dresses herself. Fine. But then she says,

I guess I have more of a right to say I'm scene. Cause all you people who say "I'm Scene" your all posers...next time you think your scene and you try to ruin your hair and look kinda weird take it from someone who knows, if you know your not comfortable wearing a style you think is cute, but highly competitive, rethink it.

What I find most infelicitous about what she says, is the contradiction between her statements. She claims that people who have the scene style add their own flare, but controverts it by saying anyone who doesn't meet the “requirements” of being scene, is a poser. If at all, she shouldn't criticize someone who has adopted the scene style in any way – she should in fact, praise it, because if what she said in her blog is true, those two should have much in common.

I can rant on forever, and not nicely, plus I passed the word limit but my point is that style can relate to one's personality, but it does not define it. Each person has a distinctive character, most often one that no other person has. If one person is different from another, why denigrate them?

Facebook Is Annoying.

Facebook always has the news, the lowdown, the scoop – everything you want or may not want to, need to, and should know. You can't hide anything from Facebook (or people on Facebook), because it knows and tells all. It will become one of your main sources of communication. Everyone gets addicted to it at some point, even if they don't know it. Your friends, family, co-workers, enemies, they are all on Facebook. Facebook is life, to some people. To me?

I despise Facebook. If people didn't depend so much on getting in contact with me through Facebook, I would have deleted my account long ago. Why don't like it? Because I do not care if people changed their profile picture. I don’t care who they’re friends with, or whose wall they wrote on, or whose picture they liked. I don’t care what quiz someone took that told them what crayon color they are or what animal they are. I don’t care if someone just ate a bagel, I don’t care if they just got out the shower and they’re cold. I don't need to know what pictures people were tagged in if they're in a complicated relationship. I don't care.

I may sound agitated or dismayed, but Facebook has reached my last nerve. I never even wanted to make a Facebook account; I seen everyone else with one, and I thought, “Why do I need to be like everyone else? I see these people at school every day, I don't need to be on any more social networks.” At some point however, a friend convinced me to at least make an account, even if I never signed on again – so I did. Instantly, almost like some kind of magic, I had friend requests and suggestions for friends from those People You May Know things. So, I proceeded to add friends and update information and put pictures and blah blah blah.

A few months passed – I couldn't stay off Facebook to save my life. Day and night, I was always creepin' on someone's profile or uploading pictures or updating status after status, or finding old friends and chatting, etc. This school year though, I realized that I am just pretty fed up.

Everywhere – and I mean everywhere – I see drama, or BS, or ignorance, or something just plain stupid. People seem so different on the internet than in real life. Sadly, and everyone should know this, Facebook has officially turned into another Myspace - full of illiteracy, stupidity, commotion, and anything else you could think of. A lot of the drama that happens in school, starts on Facebook, which many of you know.

This was just a rant, but you all should think about what you're really doing with your life on Facebook all day. You know, when you apply for a job, they look you up n Facebook to see who you really are? Think about that.