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Choices and Consequences

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  A theme that was prominent in the last chapters of the book is choices and consequences. Throughout the book, as both Wes’s headed down different paths, the consequences of the choices that are made by them seem to be the only thing that remained similar between them. With one’s consequences working in his favor and the other’s working against him, it all boiled down to the choices that they made or that were made for them. Wes Moore’s mother, Joy Moore, made the decision to send him away to military school because she thought that was what was best for him and in the consequence of this choice was positive. Joy’s choice wasn’t the only one that influenced this positive outcome, Wes’ choice to not waste that opportunity and money also contributed. There is no way to be sure that if Wes had chosen to waste his opportunity at military school that his life would be ‘bad,’ but his life would have definitely been different, whether that difference would have been good or bad is unknown. A
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Family Support

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  A theme that stood out was family support. Like both Wes’s, there are many children out there who can’t be trusted with the responsibility of making their own decisions. Their parents and the people around them have to help guide them in the right direction. The responsibility of their future should not only rest in their hands. Fortunately for Wes Moore, the author, he had the support of his family, more specifically his mother. He was getting into a lot of trouble and doing horribly in school, but his mother took initiative and sent him to military school. She saw that if he was left on his own, he would’ve probably gone down a bad path and gotten involved in the same situations that were engulfing his friends. She was determined to not see her child become another high school gang-banging dropout, and felt that military school was the best fit for him at the time. Because of her determination to see her son succeed, he was able to overcome the difficult situations he was in. Unfo
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Father Figures

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A theme that stood out was father figures, or a lack thereof. Growing up without a father was not uncommon for young boys in that time period, so the Wes’ situations were not unique per se, but it is still relevant to how their life played out and how they behaved. If that fatherly figure would’ve negatively or positively impacted their life is up for debate but the fact is, they were still fatherless. Not only did Wes Moore’s father die at a young age, but he also witnessed it. What made it worse was that it could’ve been prevented, he didn’t have to grow up without his father, but he did. Not having a father figure in his early childhood greatly affected the way Wes thought and how he behaved, whether he realized it or not. Unlike the other Wes Moore, Wes actually had a fatherly presence in his life, so having it ripped away from him, no matter how young he was when it happened, was traumatic. Losing a loved one is hard, and it’s exceptionally harder when that someone was the person
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Is Higher Education Worth the Price?

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Is higher education worth the price? Is a degree really worth the debt that comes with it? These are questions that have been plaguing the minds of college students all over the world, for decades. The answers may vary depending on who you ask, but for the most part, it can be agreed that that degree is not worth the thousands of dollars in student loans. A degree is needed to get a stable job in a career of your choosing, but you have to choose a job that will pay you enough money so that you can pay off the debt you acquired while in pursuit of said job, and still have money left over to actually survive. It is an endless cycle, and a vicious one at that. Imagine you’re told that you have to pursue higher education in order to get a career that pays you a substantial amount of money, but that same money will be used to pay for the education you need to get the job. The alternative to not attending college, though it would save you from debt, is a lot riskier. Imagine not going to co
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What is Financial Literacy?

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Financial Literacy is the study of making financially smart and responsible decisions. Being financially literate means knowing how to handle and invest your money using different methods. It also entails the areas of debt, learning how to avoid it, and credit, learning how to get and maintain a good credit score, and savings. As said in the article, Money Matters , by Nicole Kruse, financial literacy should be taught to children at an early age, and this can be achieved by incorporating it into the curriculum. Students learning about finances has proven to be very rewarding. Many students graduate high school and don’t have any idea how to live their adult life. If they were learning about finances earlier, they wouldn’t be clueless on how to manage their money. Your credit score is the biggest influence on your finances, so it is important that you maintain a good score. This three digit score determines if you are eligible to buy a house or a car, or borrow a loan. There is no
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Should the Obesity Issue be Government Regulated or Remain Personal Responsibility?

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The responsibility of managing fast food intake should remain a personal responsibility, because a person’s personal health should be their own personal business. Imagine having rules and regulations about what you can or can’t put in your body, because other people don’t want to take care of themselves and are relying on the government to do it for them. As he stated in his article, Radley Balko has highlighted many issues on why the government shouldn’t interfere with the obesity issue. Ranging from the mere fact that he believes that obesity should be a personal issue to listing the consequences that government interference would have. He states, “And if the government is paying for my anti-cholesterol medication, what incentive is there for me to put down the cheeseburger?” He makes the assumption that people would care more about their health and actually be more cautious about the food they eat, if they were spending their own money on medication and medical bills, and I agree w
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Is Pop Culture Good For You?

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The debate about whether or not Pop Culture is good has been around for a long time, and the answer might vary depending on who you ask. Many people believe that Pop Culture has been hijacked by mainstream media and now they are using the name to try to brainwash people into following the new ‘pop culture.’ Others disagree and claim that not only is pop culture good for them, but it is also beneficial to the world as a whole. Google describes ‘pop culture’ as “modern popular culture transmitted via the mass media and aimed particularly at younger people,” so it’s no surprise that many of the bashings that pop culture receive are from people in the older generation. In his Ted Talk, Alexander O. Phillippe makes the claim that Pop Culture is actually more than just ‘a movie’ or ‘a popular meme,’ but it is good because it brings people together. If a funny picture, video or tweet went viral on a social media platform, the assumption is that a lot of people probably saw it and said pictur
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