Pleasantville

Think back to the movie Pleasantville. The world seemed perfect. There were firemen who never had to put out a fire, the basketball team never missed a basket, and no matter how much butter there was on the pancakes they never gained a pound. When you look past the superficial layer of the town, there was one thing about that neighborhood that everyone watching the movie longed for, and that was a sense of community. In the movie, as people would walk down the street it was certain that they would see someone they knew.  There was never a worry because there was always someone looking out for you.

Now think back to your current neighborhood. Do you sometimes feel like your neighbors decide to turn their music up around the time you decide to go to sleep? Maybe your neighborhood is quiet, but you do not know the people walking past you every morning?  For those of you who do know your neighbors do you feel like there are not activities that bring the community together? The recently established Brownsville addresses these issues and more. Realizing that this is the 21^st century and people like to have their personal space, the homes in the neighborhood are not close together. There is a large amount or lawn space allowing you to either sit and enjoy the scenery or invite your neighbors over. The center of the town is in the midst of all the houses. The park, schools, stores and offices are within walking distance of each other. This not only encourages people to interact with each other, but it also lessen the amount or carbon produced by cars. When the day is all said and done you are able to retreat to your homes with your families or go to the park to hear a concert with a few friends. Of course each community would have its problems and that is why we’ve set up a town hall forum that is in the center if the town so that if someone has a problem they can go to the town hall to discuss it. If the problem is within a smaller group such a block of homes, there is a block association that would be able to help solve the problem. If there is a problem with your children at school, we have staff available to meet with you when it best fits you so that our children can get the best of their education.

Think back on men such as Ben Carson and Thomas Aquinas. When Ben Carson was younger he did not do well in school, in fact many of his teachers wrote him off as stupid. However, Ben went on to go to Yale and became a well-known neurosurgeon. The same for Thomas Aquinas, when he was in the university, he never answered any of his teachers’ questions. His nickname was the Dumb Ox. However, whenever someone misspoke about a particular philosophy, Thomas Aquinas was the first to correct them. Aquinas became known as one of the most influential theologians of the Church. All great things have a rough beginning and that is why we have programs set up to help ease the transition as the community gets built up even stronger.

I Wanna Be A Billionaire So Frickin' Bad...

I guess its a part of human nature to always want to improve your life. However, in the 21st century, it's no longer good enough to have a roof over your head and food on your table. If you want to be successful, your roof ought to have 5 extra rooms under it- one for the television, one for the children, one for your office, one for your pool table, and one just because you want an extra room- and your table must be furnished with Tiffany's newest set. Every aspect of our lives have become centered around making money.   When you turn on the television, you see that the Desperate House Wives of Laguna Beach have moved to Jersey Shore in hopes of joining the Bad Girls Club because they Want To Be Millionaires. Every show is a get rich quick scheme. Even on the wholesome channel of Food Network you no longer have to go through years of training to become a culinary artist. Now, you just have to be able to create the best meal out of the worst ingredients under the toughest time constraints.
I remember a discussion a group of my high school classmates and I were having right before we graduated. We were discussing how corrupt business had become. What disappointed me the most was that many of them acknowledged that the business men's actions were corrupt, but they believed that their motive was justified by the means. One girl argued that she can not be happy in life helping those less fortunate than her if it prevented her from augmenting her bank account. For me, as long as I have my basic needs, I'm fine. Of course if I get the chance to get something extra I will; however, I would not throw someone under the bus so that I could stand on top.
Even in terms of education, its all about money. The more you pay for your education, the more money you'll make. When I was telling my teachers about my decision to go to Andrews University, many of them were disappointed. Many of them thought that I should accept Brown University's offer, despite the $120,000 debt I would be in after graduation, because my high paying job would pay off my loans in a few years.
Living in this mindset of needing more money and letting the world know that you have money, tears communities apart. For instance, on the show Gossip Girl, Blair is willing to compromise her friendship with her best friend in order to remain the Queen-B in the group. These affects can also be seen in the news. Bernie Madoff stole millions of dollars from people to improve his lavished life style. In turn, this caused some people to commit suicide because they felt their life had reached its lowest point because they no longer had money. Even in the recent oil spill, the underhanded actions of BP led to faulty oil mines being built and millions of gallons of oil to disrupt the homes of natures finest.
No one ever wants to feel as if he or she is not good enough. So when a society builds its values on how much money you have, people move their focus from the community to self. Everyone ends up singing "I wanna be a billionaire, so frickin bad..." and doing all they can to fulfill that dream.