Should modern society be criticized for being materialistic?

  "People can be so easily controlled by a piece of paper" is a common quote of modern society. Some people do not know how to use money very well and that is what can cause criticism in modern day society. But although the world revolves around money, there is no need for criticism because there is always a reason on why society is so heavily focused on money or being "materialistic" as people say. Lets take for example, a community needs money to improve themselves, the people, and the ecosystem. That may be a good reason to many people, and of course people are going to have different points of views whether to oppose or be against such reason. Criticism can also be seen as stating another opinion, there is never a right or wrong so it is never ending. There should always be criticism because it will lead to being more open minded in their thoughts. Sometimes people mistaken criticism for insults and insulting should never be okay since it never solves anything, rather destroys it.

Is it necessary to limit or put restrictions on freedom of thought and expression?

    Everyone has a mind of their own without a doubt. People have come up with many great ideas and have expressed it through speech. The bill of rights allows freedom of speech so I think there should not be a restriction of thought and expression. If there was a restriction of freedom of thought, then the earth itself would be restricted because everyone's minds would be so narrow minded. As one said, "a narrow mind is a angry mind", so it is vital to be open minded about everything no matter if you do not agree. 

   MLK, also known as Martin Luther King wanted equality among the blacks and whites. Well, in general he wanted all races to get along. He ended the segregation due to his expression of thought. Without him, many races would be segregated. But although he stopped segregation, he didn't stop racism. Nevertheless, he is a great example of freedom of thought. Many people were narrow minded of his ideas which lead to riots. Like stated before, a narrow mind is a angry mind. But what is done, is done and he has made a great contribution to USA.

  Many countries have different opinions on what can be said and what one can express. Just like many people have different opinions of everything. This does not mean that one can be narrow minded for not taking in different opinions. At times one can be right on what to in take and what not to in take. For instance, if one thinks killing an animal for fun is great and the other doesn't. He is not to be blamed because he has morals. Someone cannot kill an animal for fun, only if you have a purpose. This is not societies view of "wrong", it is a natural view of right and wrong which is already intagrated within us. 

  One of the worlds topic of discussion may be homosexuality. There are free thinkers who agree with it, and people who are against. None of them are wrong for expressing their freedom of thought. At times, both sides need to in take each others ideas and become neutral about it rather than be in conflict 99% of the time. Whether homosexuality is wrong or right to people, everyone must either agree, disagree or even have a neutral stance. There is no need to bash, but nonetheless it is necessary to never have a limit on speech.

  Furthermore, without freedom of speech the world itself would have a tiny mind. With freedom of thought, speech and expression, not only does the earth have more potential but many great minds to represent. It is necessary that everyone needs to have a voice. The quiet ones tend to be the most potential. It's vital to be a leader and express your thoughts, gain followers with similar thoughts. As one says, "great minds think alike". Like social media, the more followers the better. Even ones potential can be retweeted. #barz 

Is knowledge of the past no longer useful for us today?

   Knowledge is the brain of the earth. Without knowledge the world would be full of ignorance, life would be much harder, etc. Knowledge is like a person, it has it's range of age till where it is new news to old news. But it doesn't mean that it is no longer useful information to the world. Each piece of knowledge leaves it's importance in the world and can always be used in further uses in the real world. Knowledge will always be useful whether it can be used in the present or future.

   School is a primary place where knowledge of the past is used one hundred percent of the time. Such as in classes such as sciences, literature, mathematics, etc. Let's take for instance, Shakespeare literature is past knowledge that is now incorporated in modern day teachings of literature. We learn about Shakespeare to get a gist of poetry of the past days. This past knowledge has inspired many famous poets because Shakespeare is considered one of the basis of poetry. Such as his creations of sonnets and what not. Another great example would be mathematics. For example, Algebra was originally created by Arabs. Considering that Algebra is a Arabic word, "Al-Jebr" which means reunion of broken parts. Without the knowledge of Algebra, math would be much harder and society wouldn't be able to have modern day jobs such as Engineering.

   Knowledge isn't just useful in school, but is a huge deal in the outside world and society. The world revolves around the daily news that occurs around the world whether it be good or bad. Let's take for example, the discovery of Penicillin by Alexander Fleming. That is common knowledge that majority should know, although it is past knowledge modern day scientist and pharmacists can make use of the knowledge that Alexander Fleming has based his discovery of Penicillin off. Maybe they can create a more updated and improved medicine that has the same effects of Penicillin but with a fewer less side effects.

   Furthermore, knowledge whether it be old or new can always be used in the modern days and even the future days because it is the basis of every core that. Every core needs a basis and knowledge fills that gap. Knowledge has lead to such great things such as new inventions. modern day jobs, etc. Without knowledge, the world would be highly ignorant. 

Do success and happiness depend on the choices people make rather than on factors beyond their control?

  Success is a parents priority towards their children till birth. People say success is the key to life, but not always does it bring happiness. Success and happiness is a mix of both choices and fate that you cannot control. This may be very hard to explain to people, but once one gets the gist of how it works it may be much easier to comprehend. Fate and choices are partially the same thing because at times you can decide your fate, but it is already controlled. 

  Good choices or bad choices lead up to a specific route. It is pretty self explanatory, bad leads to bad and good leads to good. Lets take for example, a teenage boy who is influenced by local friends that lead to wrong decisions causing him to not pay attention in class for a long period of time. The boy and his clique decide to do deliquent choices such as robbing a store. They all end up in jail and no longer have a great opportunity to get into college because of poor grades and what not. This did not lead to success, he chose his fate by making a bad decision. 

  Not only do you choose your fate, but God also chooses your fate. As soon as you are born you already have a fate chosen for you. God does have mercy and he is very understanding of every human being considering that we are his creation. Everyone has a soul, mind, etc. We choose are actions because we are self conscious of what we do. God already has made a conclusion of the future depending on what we do to attain happiness and success. Not only does decision lead to our chance of success or happiness, making prayers always lead to a higher chance. Asking for power, by the greater power himself will always boost chances. 

  Although success is tied in with happiness, majority of rich and wealthy human beings never seem to find happiness. Some say it is because of too many riches, expenses, items, etc. Although that can be true a few of them forget the fact from where it all came. If you wonder where, it came from your own hard work and mostly god because he controls the factors that we have no upper hand too. As Tablo stated, "too much of heaven is a sin, after the show its only hell that it brings". What is the point of living in heaven and not thanking the upper power for leading us to his final conclusion?

  In general, success and happiness is all tied into the choices we have made. These choices are also tied into the factors beyond our control. The higher power has already decided our fate, but is merciful enough to make "us" change it. Remember that we are self conscious of what we do and can only blame ourselves for what we do that is wrong or right. We are our own decision makers and we should always be prepared for what is coming in the near future. 

Can books and stories about characters and events that are not real teach us anything useful?

   Books and stories are truly the main source of entertainment, information, hobbies, and what not. Without books and stories, people would not be as educated and most likely will become dull throughout time. Books and stories always have their themes and most certainly have a point to get across which are expressed through characters, events, etc. Many people learn from these events and themes that are expressed through the author whether its a fictional, non-fictional type books.

   Modern day societies tend to give students in schools books that are ranged from silly to serious as time and grade level passes by. Such as Goosebumps in Elementary to War and History in Highschool to College. In most cases, non fictional books are 99% true in most cases. But fictional books can also be true. 

Books such as the Harry Potter series, Percy Jackson series, Life of Pi, etc can always teach a life lesson although they were truly not inspired through real events.

   For example, in Martels famous book, Life of Pi, the character Pi was stranded on the ocean with his tiger. In the end, he became dependent on this tiger because it is what kept him going through his horrendous journey. By the end, the tiger left and he felt a sudden break of heart. What the reader can absorb is to never be dependent on something because that something can easily destroy you. This type of life lesson can help in the long run especially when you step into real world situations. 

   Another great example would be in the Harry Potter series by J.K Rowling. Their is always a antagonist in her books such as Voldermort, he tends to give Harry a hard time especially when he spills secrets about his parents. One can learn to always acknowledge the truth and embrace it rather than denying it the first couple of times. Small lessons make big impacts in the real world and can be incoorporated in specific situations!

   Furthermore, characters and events do in fact help everyone and are considered useful. Common and outer knowledge are always useful because they can be put into real life situations. Without these lessons, life would be much more harder for everyone. 

How does poetry share and connect us with the emotions and experiences we all have as humans?

   Humans all have feelings and emotions that have been obtained through many experiences. Everyone can fill up their tank of emotions but at one point you need to release it. People release their emotion in many forms such as physically or verbally, etc. A modern day example of expression can be though poems and music. A few well known icons of expression are Prentice Powell, and Katy Perry. 

   "The system" is one of Prentice Powells known poems. He expresses his emotion in a angry tone using experiences and explains modern day society. For example, he uses a oxymoron in his line, "Your purse is not hot if its a full edition and we are in winter". He is most likely speaking that society cares more about what is valuable rather than what is needed. He also uses a example that proves his point and expresses it in a harsh manner, "And as long as your kids have Jordans on their feet it is okay if they have to eat Top Ramen for a week for dinner your check is in the mail." These lines most likely are based on his past experiences or what he has lived through. Maybe not specifically him living through it but maybe the things he has seen this modern generation. 

   "Hot and Cold" is one of Katy Perrys hit songs along with "Dark Horse", these songs used many literary devices. In the song Hot and Cold, her chorus uses constant paradoxes such as, "you're hot then you're cold" this represents that the person is mad then chilled down. Anyone can presume that this song was made to release emotion of love to the person she appointed it to. In Dark Horse, she uses Allusion in the lines, "Make me your Aphrodite" as referring to Greek Mythology. She is appointing to the lover to make her his wife basically.

   In conclusion, famous poets,singers, and even regular people release emotion based on past experiences. Whether it is bad or good experiences, you can learn to make out of it through types of expression. In this case, Prentice and Katy expressed it through poetic and song form. 

How does the past, present, and future lead us to the truth?

    Life can be hard for everyone and problems and obstacles are pretty inevitable. But that is where it leads us to now, the present. "it's better to know now than to keep waiting" is a common phrase said among society and it states the truth. A common example is being lied too for however long, perhaps a month. You would think it's all okay till you find out. The longer that person lied the longer the pain has buried deep into your soul and once you know it will hit you like a truck. Knowing earlier will still hurt you, but at the same time you can use that time to recover from whatever happen. One simple action can change your future.

    In history, besides america, Asia and Europe would be in danger in the world wars due to the Axis trying to control. If it weren't for the Allies, half the world would be under the hands of Hitler, Mussolini, and The imperial army. This is the past, but actions have back then have changed the future for the people living through that specific time period. It has changed the present because now Asia and Europe do not have to worry about being invaded. As stated before, one action can lead to another. For example, whenever Japan invaded Malaysia. Malaysia was once a british colony, the british fled because of the imperial army leaving Malaysia to be conquered by Japan. This lead to deaths, and also led to the independence of Malaysia after the world war due to the anger of being betrayed by the English. Truth is, the Axis could not have what they wanted and this puts us in present which means half the world is not conquered.

    Historically, Germany's economy was pretty low back then, a theory used to improve economy is to start a war. That is what Hitler tried doing and it failed horribly. Bush tried doing the same by going over to Iraq hoping it will boost American economy and that didn't work. And same with Obama, he is planning to travel to Iraq to fight ISIS as an excuse hoping to raise the economy for America. This is the present and no one knows it will work. But based on the past, it has failed horribly. Honestly, the truth is is that this theory will not be proven to work even till this day. 

    This chain reactive theory has been going on ever since the world wars, and maybe even before that. Not everything works out and we cannot have everything we want and this is what it tells us now. In conclusion, the past, present, and the future are all inter connected with what we do. One mistake can lead to another, or one good decision can lead to another. However you perceive it as, the moral is is that everything can lead to another whether good or bad. Life is a chain reaction and it can lead to a bad truth or a good one.