I Want Freedom! But Not my License.

If you have the September 23 issue of TIME Magazine nearby, flip to page 70. On this page there is an article called "I Brake for Teenage Drivers," all about how the drop in the number of teenagers with their license suggests that we don't want freedom. I, being someone who waited a long time to get their license, disagree with this argument. I chose to not get my license for so long because I knew I would not have my own car, therefore I found that it wasn't an urgent thing to do. I realize that this may not be the case for every kid my age who is holding off on getting their license, but I don't think the only reason people are doing so is because they would rather sit at home or be chauffeured around by their parents. 

"One-third fewer kids are getting driver's licenses than in 1983. There are two conclusions you can draw from this. One is that this is a generation that is environmentally concerned and economically challenged. The other is correct. They are dead inside." says Joel Stein, one of my favorite columnists. I just don't think that this is a fair conclusion to draw. With the many economical issues our country is having, is it really more reasonable to say that the average teenager is spending all of their time at home on expensive electronics rather than not having the money to pay for gas and maintenance for a car that already costs so much? I love being able to go to my friends house without the help of my parents and being able to eat at whatever restaurant I want when I want, but that freedom dom may not be as important when i'm only able to exercise it Saturday/Sunday mornings and weeknights after my dad gets home, when there is more than one car at home. 

Sure our generation has it's problems, but I don't think that this issue is a reflection of the lazy-ness of the average teen today.

How to Tell You've Gained Equality

The question of whether or not we've accomplished the goals that Martin Luther King Jr. once spoke of in his "I Have a Dream" speech is difficult to answer. But how are we able to tell if our citizens are equal when the definition of equality calls for different things than it did before? How are we able to see how far we've come when we are not sure if we've been fighting for the same things? An article on CNN that I found suggests that people identify with their class now more than ever, and that it has almost become more of an issue than race when it comes to equality. You can read more of it here. 

The author says " It's not that all battles for racial equality have been won -- they haven't -- or that we live in a post-racial society. But, in some remarkable and troubling ways, class has become an increasingly significant barrier to equality in modern America. The gap between rich and poor has been growing in the United States since the late 1970s, and our level of income inequality, one proxy measure for that gap, is now on par with many sub-Saharan African countries." I think that the reason people see class as something that is so a part of them is because it effects so much of our lives. While before we were fighting for equal rights for everyone in America, we are now starting to realize that even with all of the rights we are guaranteed, it is not enough. The gap between the rich and poor is making the income inequality impossible to ignore. It is making the ladder of class harder to climb and it's making it easier for people to fall into poverty. This is why class has become something that is as important as race, because it is becoming harder for people to be where they want to be financially. 

In a recent speech that Obama made he said, "we must remind ourselves that the measure of progress for those who marched 50 years ago was not merely how many blacks had joined the ranks of millionaires; it was whether this country would admit all people who were willing to work hard, regardless of race, into the ranks of a middle-class life," How are we supposed to not acknowledge the fact that class is something that determines who we are friends with, where we live, what we look like etc? I think that class has possibly become the new race because it is so hard to say you are fighting for equal opportunities when the main deciding factor on what opportunities you get is how much money you have and what your money can do for you. Race is no longer the main issue when it comes to the things you are able to do in life.

The Newest Thing on Your Wish List

Unless you haven't been on safari on an apple product today, you probably know that a whole new line of iPhones have been released. The story automatically came up on my home screen on my iPad, Macbook and iPhone so after seeing it multiple times I figured it was necessary to see what the team of geniuses had come up with. I watched the whole video all the while asking myself the same questions I do every time I am confronted with a new apple product: What makes this so much better than every other smart phone? What is different about this one compared to the last release? Is it worth begging my parents for? According to Jony Ives (Senior Vice President of Design at Apple) "The iPhone 5c is in many ways the distillation of what people love about the iPhone 5. It's simpler, more essential, yet its more capable." This seems to be such a hard thing to do especially with technology, but somehow I believe that Apple accomplishes this task with every new product that they release. This is how they move forward in technology and beat the competition. While winning to some companies might mean the most complicated product, Apple knows better. They make things simpler and give people what they want without them really knowing what to ask for. He later goes on to describe the iPhone as an "experience," which I think is accurate. The iPhone is the best on the market because amongst all the competition and innovation happening in the world of technology, Apple finds a way to appeal to both those who are interested in exploring all of its capabilities and those who prefer a basic and easy- to- use product. The iPhone is "Something is familiar but new at the same time." I think this is the key to their success. When shopping for a phone I do not want to be introduced to an entire new software. Apple has found a way to work itself into to lives of so many Americans. For example, our school is expected to have almost every class be an iPad class by the end of the year. They have spread their influence to foreign countries as well. Even my dad (who doesn't know what "idk" means) is anxious to get his hands on the new iPhone!