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[KunHye S]

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[Rosie]

Rosa Moran
English 101 Summer/09
Essay 3-Final Draft
MILITARY CULTURE, A REFLECTION OF AMERICAN SOCIETY
American Military strategy and culture has changed throughout time, as
has American society. The strategies that American Military uses to
gain knowledge of the enemy have changed and have been updated to
blend with current times and technology as though it should.
Throughout the years American military has gone through some major
external and internal transformations, for example females in active
duty, end of segregation, homosexuals, and now political affairs.
American military as well as American society have to deal with all
kinds of political issues to be able to function correctly, therefore
dealing with the major social changes in time. American society has
gone from being the most envied one by other countries to being an
unstable one. There have been rules and regulations to deal with new
situations, like the –don’t ask, don’t tell rule in the military and
President Truman’s executive order in 1948 of equality treatment and
opportunity for all military personnel.
Timon of Athens in Shakespeare’s play, Timon went through a big
transformation himself. He transformed his life views and actions as a
reaction to society’s change towards him. After being very social,
known to society as a big giver and spender, everyone’s friend. Timon
went into isolation in a cave and lost hope in mankind, due to his so
called friends not lending him money when he needed the most to pay
back his creditors. Because of his transformation he changed his
strategy of giving away his money. After his fake friends did not
help him he did what his friends did; they saved their money.
American society was used to spending more than what it can afford.
Now the consequences are obvious with this financial crisis society is
experiencing. Financial Institutions loaned people money left and
right, now that it has experienced a great downfall they are being
cautious of whom they lend money to and some are not approving new
loans completely.
Having the right trained people making essential decisions is crucial
for our troops safety. There are too many civilians meddling with
Military issues. Is more about being political correct than having a
plan or strategy that would work in reaching the goal or target and
keeping the troops safe and secure. It is wrong to think that with so
much civilian meddling, America is not going to have negative
consequences. Bacevich in his book The Limits of Power states that
after the 9/11-aftermath, fault lied on the Secretary of Defense and
in Washington and not on the troops or their commanders. (pages 136,
137,146) Washington needs to let the commanders do what they do best;
guide their troops in battle with a successful strategic plan that can
actually keep them secure and bring them back home safe. Bacevich
talks about the lost art of strategy, he states that the tendency of
civilians is to confuse strategy with ideology. (page 165). The
military is trained to have a more realistic point of view.
Timon’s misfortune could have been prevented if Timon would have
listen to Flavius, Timon’s steward who warned Timon about his debts
and financial circumstances in advance and before Timon ran out of
money. This shows how important it is to listen to the professional
advice of someone who has the right expertise and is taking care of
business. Timon had a great accountant by his side, someone with the
right knowledge to advise him on how to invest and save his money if
Timon would have taken into consideration what Flavious advised him
Timon would have not lost his fortune.
The Military has transformed during the last decades and it will
continue to change just as American society undergoes changes and
transformation itself. Since obesity is a big issue in society, it has
impacted the military as well. To deal with the high percentage of
overweight recruits the military has modified the training process and
physical fitness test PFT. There have been 101 soldiers that have died
after taking a PFT. LTC Echevarria in his study of Challenging
Transformation Clichés states that there is an assumption that
strategic uncertainty is greater today than it was during the Cold
War. This overstates the amount of certainty that existed then and
exaggerates the level of uncertainty in evidence today. Today’s
uncertainty may be qualitatively different, but it is hardly greater
than that which obtained during the Cold War. The level of
uncertainty has evolved and transformed with time. Today the military
has knowledge of transnational terrorism and specific terrorist
groups. How they work, how they think, what kind of technology they
are using. That is why highly trained military personnel should be
making military decisions as opposed to people that are trained in
other branches rather than the military. Washington alone cannot be
the one making the military decisions nor should it tie up military
leaders hands when it comes to guiding the troops in combat and
securing their safety. Washington should take into consideration the
advice given by Military superiors.
One way of Washington listening to military advice is by passing bills
that will benefit Military troops that are oversea. There are bills
that are introduced in the Senate and House of Representative to
promote military safety. Mr. Cornyn, Mr. Lieberamn, Mr. Pryor and
Mrs. McCalskill introuduce a bill in January 30, 2009 - The Ensuring
Safe Facilities and Equipment of American Troops Overseas Act. This
act promotes the safety of equipment, infrastructure and troops
overseas. This bill will at least secure the military troops safety in
oversea missions trying to protect America. Washington should listen
and pass bills like this one to secure troops lives oversea. Third
world countries or countries oversea are known for their poor and
unsafe infrastructure therefore putting the lives of their occupants
in danger. Military troops have to deal with alterations in their
lives at war and when they come back home. With back-to-back
deployments, the rate of divorce among military members has gone up
since the Iraq war has started. Soldiers have to handle issues of
living apart from their families and than trying to reintegrate to
their civilian life while still in war mode. Other than combat
training soldiers are also trained on how to manage life after war.
There are numerous of programs, online counseling and retreats that
soldiers and their family members can take part in to rekindle
marriage and family bond.

Timon included almost everyone in his circle, he acted to be political
correct, to be accepted by others in society, to create friends, and
so he gave gifts he really could not afford, held parties and banquets
for his guests, spending his money liberally and with no control. When
Timon encountered his financial problem or crisis he took on a new
strategy, a new way of thinking and acting towards his friends and
society itself. Before going into isolation, he provided a unique and
different type of feast for his so called friends. Timon threw water
at their faces instead of giving them gifts and threw them out of his
place of residency instead of welcoming them to stay longer to feast.
Timon excluded them from his life. American Society has also gone
trough a similar transformation. A couple of years ago, American
Society had little or no worries on the aspects of the environment, if
there were savings in bank accounts and if things purchased were
really necessary and affordable. While encountering this financial
crisis, American society has revolutionized the way of acting. It has
transformed to a recycling, brown bagging, family nights, any means of
saving money type of society.
Washington has put more pressure on the soldiers and the Military by
depending and demanding more of them than just keeping the country
safe. The military training has integrated a new philosophy of
diplomacy: cultural sensitivity and socialism combine with combat
training. It is wrong to expect soldiers to act as social workers,
mediators and diplomats instead of just combat soldiers. The
traditional training of all American traditional soldiers is no longer
found. Bacevich states, the soldiers have to act as both a cop and
social worker. (page 135). The American military not only has to
deal with major social change in society but internal paradigm change.
According to Colonel Karen Dunivin from USAF in her study Military
Culture: A Paradigm Shift? There is major social change that
transcends the traditional Combat Masculine Warrior CMW and that the
Military is adopting. American military is undergoing a cultural
paradigm shift moving away from its traditional CMW beliefs and values
of exclusion toward an inclusionary view of soldiering. The Military
has to deal with this internal modification as an addition to the
great sum of political and financial issues involved in decision-
making in Washington, which creates a high level of pressure, stress
and demand. High level of recruitments does not mea the same now than
it did in the last growth spur the military had. This growth is
intended to be temporary until September 2012. Even though there are
more soldiers, it does not mean that there are additional battalions
where soldiers can grow into higher promotions. To be able to go back
to a smaller size when this temporary growth expires soldiers would
have to look forward to promotion freeze, buyouts and involuntary
force-outs.
American society has modified its actions reflecting on today’s
financial crisis. American military has to live up to high
expectations of foreign policy and national outlook on how they can
solve today’s war crisis. It is up to the American military leaders
and civilian leaderships to implement accurate standards and to
promote an adequate renovation and change in the American military
culture and to make it work in a positive and beneficial way for
military members.
REFERENCE:
Bacevich, A. J. (2009). The Limits of Power: The End of American
Exceptionalism. New York: Henry Holt and Company

Dunivin, Lt. Col. K.O. (2007)
Military Culture: A Paradigm Shift? [PDF document]
Retrieved from:
http://www.au.af.mil/au/awc/awcgate/maxwell/mp10.pdf

Echevarria, A. J. (2006)
CHALLENGING TRANSFORMATION’S CLICHÉS. [PDF document]
Retrieved from:
http://www.strategicstudiesinstitute.army.mil/pubs/display.cfm?pubID=746

White, D. (2009).
Iraq War Facts, Results & Statistics at July 8, 2009. Retrieved from
http://usliberals.about.com/od/homelandsecurit1/a/IraqNumbers.htm

Staff report (2009, August 5). 101st soldier dies after PFT. Army
Times. Retrieved from
http://www.armytimes.com/news/2009/08/army_ptdeath_080509w/

Cavallero, G. & Tice, J. (2009, August 3). More soldiers doesn’t mean
more promotions. Army Times. Retireved from
http://www.armytimes.com/news/2009/08/army_growthpromote_080309w/

Zoroya, G. (2009, August 4). Rejoining family difficult after
deployment. USA Today. Retrieved from http://www.armytimes.com/news/2009/08/gns_warfamilies_080409/

[oc]

all:

the others are fine in the previous file

o'c

[Bakar]

English 101
Summer 2009
Bakar Diallo
ID # 881279760


Essay 3 draft:



In Shakespeare’s Timon of Athens, the lead character, Timon,
prodigiously spends his wealth on extravagant parties and gifts to his
false friends, which ultimately bankrupts him and leads to his demise.
Timon is a fool who is completely oblivious to the limits of his
resources. Timon’s lavish parties and gift-giving are comparable to my
view, and that of A. Bacevich in The Limits of Power, of the United-
States of America’s waging of imperial wars that she cannot afford. On
the other hand, Timon’s friends, the flattering lords, Lucius,
Lucullus, Sempronius refuse to loan their money to a man, Timon, who
would probably not pay them back. Lucius, Lucullus and Sempronius’
frugality is comparable to the right course of action for the United-
States of America when it comes to fighting unnecessary imperial wars,
also known as “small wars“. As the Bush administration’s imperial war
in Iraq has exposed, America cannot afford “small wars” because of
several reasons. First, because of their nature, imperial wars require
invading entire countries and this is excessively costly and requires
large ground deployments. Also these wars do not pay any dividends;
they don’t make us any safer, physically or financially. America’s oil
wars in the middle-east since the end of the Cold War hasn’t stopped
terrorists from striking New York twice and they certainly haven’t
stopped the price of a barrel of oil from quadrupling in this time
period.

In his opinion column on Newstex, titled Obama’s First Treasons as
President, self-proclaimed “conservative with attitude”, Zbigniew
Mazurak, vehemently condemns the new administration’s modest reduction
of the budget of the defense department. Mazurak writes, “…Barack
Hussein Obama… has already committed his first acts of treason as
president… the military’s budget would be reduced by 55 billion
dollars.” Mazurak argues that any reduction of defense spending would
harm the United-States’ armed forces. Mazurak also makes the stunning
assertion that the United-States’ defense budget is already meager.
Mazurak adds that Obama is out to sabotage the US armed forces and
make them impotent. Did it occur to Mazurak that this country is in a
severe recession and that the federal government has a trillion dollar
deficit? With a budget of more than 700 billion dollars in each of the
last few years, and the Iraq and Afghanistan wars projected to cost
close to two trillion dollars, it would be preposterous, actually
plainly insane to suggest that the United-States’ military is under
funded. It’s been widely reported that the Pentagon is one of the most
wasteful branches of the United-States’ government. It is my belief
that the US administrations have over-spent for defense since the end
of World War II. Andrew Bacevich agrees with me, he writes in The
Limits of Power, “…spending trillions to forcibly democratize the
Islamic world will achieve little…”
On July 7th, 2009, Representative Ike Skelton introduced H.R. 264,
which is co-sponsored by Representative John M. McHugh. The bill
states, “To authorize appropriations for fiscal year 2010 for military
activities of the Department of Defense...” Actually, this is a short
quote from the long title of the bill. The representatives aim to
provide financing for the military through appropriations. This is how
the Bush administration disguised the cost of the Iraq and Afghanistan
wars to the American people by making military spending outside of the
official federal budget. This is a loophole in the federal government
and simply should be forbidden. All spending should be part of the
official federal budget. Representative Skelton wants to increase
funding for the military, including pay raises for our men and women
of the military. I strongly disagree. What they need to do is to
properly allocate the hundreds of billions of dollars they have at
their disposition already. Chiefly, ending the Iraq war immediately
would save billions and use those savings to give military personnel
raises.

An article on The Nation (Thailand), titled The World Still Awaits A
New US Face, written by the staff and published on August 3, 2009,
states, “…The Defense budget (of the United-States) was recently given
a two-per-cent increase… America's imperial military adventures are
continuing, despite the withdrawal from Iraq, as Afghanistan becomes
the new battle front.” This article argues that the end of the Bush
administration and the democrat’s control of the power in the United-
States of America has not resulted in the renouncement of “small
wars.” The article assesses that America’s current military build up
in Afghanistan is evidence that the liberals, now in charge, don’t
intend to bring to an end America’s empire ambitions. I slightly
disagree with the article in that to me the Afghanistan war is a
necessary war. We were attacked by Taliban supported Al-Qaeda. The
Taliban and Al-Qaeda have and will attack us again, if they subsist.
On the other hand, Saddam Hussein’s Iraq never attacked us or assisted
or harbored terrorists. Both Iraq wars were wars for oil and
“democratization”, thus unnecessary and unjustifiable. I do agree with
the article in that I also oppose the increase of the defense
department’s budget. What the new administration needs to do is to
promptly and completely withdraw from Iraq, thus save the military
billions and remove over one hundred thousand soldiers, some of whom
could help destroy Al-Qaeda and the Taliban in Afghanistan. We need to
get out immediately from Iraq even if this may lead to destabilization
of that country. The truth is that Iraq is an oil rich country similar
to Saudi Arabia, the new Iraqi government needs to use their oil
revenue to provide for the security of their people. It’s been
reported that while the United-States of America is spending hundreds
of billions of dollars to maintain Iraq’s infant democracy, the Iraqi
government has amassed over 70 billion dollars in surplus. Do they
take us for suckers? This is comparable to Lucius, Lucullus and
Sempronius partying at the expense of Timon while saving their own
wealth. It is true that the Iraqis did not ask for us to invade their
country, except for few I saw on the Oprah show in 2003 before the
invasion, but it is time for them to pay for their own security.


William Christian in his article from The Globe and Mail titled The
Empire Overstretched says, “…Imperial overstretch occurs when a
country’s ruling class is no longer able, or willing, to finance its
imperial status.” William argues that America’s imperial wars since
the end of the Cold War are overstretching the United-States’
resources. And the United-States of America’s imperial endeavors are
similar to those that crippled superpowers of the past such as the
Romans, The Athenians, Egyptians, and more recently the Soviets and
the British. Indeed, for much of the 19th century and about half of
the 20th century Britain was the super power of the world. But the
wars of the first half of the 20th century, the two world wars and the
numerous imperial wars on all continents, eventually crippled the
British economy. London lost its position as the world’s financial
capital to New York. And the independence of India in 1947 was the
first of a series of movements of national liberation that left
England with few overseas dependencies. The collapse of the Soviet
Union was similar to the decline of British hegemony. The Soviet
economy was extremely inefficient. They spent a vast proportion of
their GDP on the military. And according to William Christian, “…the
Communist Party establishment was corrupt and grew used to luxury. The
Soviet Empire imploded.” So, one does not have to go back to the
causes of the ruin of the Roman civilization or the causes of the
demise of the Egyptian civilization to find that fighting wars for
empire will lead to the downfall of any state, no matter how wealthy
it is or it thinks it is.


In conclusion, the United-States of America’s imperial wars are
comparable to Timon’s extravagant parties and gift-giving to his false
friends. The imperial wars we’ve engaged in so far have clearly
exposed our inability to sustain them. If we don’t want to end up in
ruin like Timon, we must renounce on our imperial ambitions. We must
withdraw from Iraq immediately and never again engage in wars for oil
or “democratization;” if we don’t, we will loose our prosperity and
weaken our defenses and ultimately lead us to be invaded by a new
emerging global superpower; it may even lead to the disintegration of
our union. We must have a franc national conversation about the limits
of powers and the foolishness and hypocrisy of waging “democratization
wars.” A. Bacevich’s writing of The Limits of Power an outstanding
basis to begin this conversation.


Reference:

Bacevich, A., 2008. The Limits Of Power. Book. Holt.

Shakespeare, W., 2000. Timon of Athens. The Pelican Shakespeare.

Mazurak, Z., February 5th, 2009. Obama’s First Treasons as Presiden.
Newstex.

Skelton, I., July 7th, 2009, H.R. 264. “Appropriations for fiscal year
2010 for Department of Defense.” (Courtesy Thomas.loc.gov)

By Staff. August 3rd, 2009. The World Still Awaits A New US Face. The
Nation (Thailand).

Christian, W., May 24th, 2009. The Empire Overstretched. The Globe
and Mail.

English 101
Summer 2009
Bakar Diallo
ID # 881279760


Essay 3 draft:



In Shakespeare’s Timon of Athens, the lead character, Timon,
prodigiously spends his wealth on extravagant parties and gifts to his
false friends, which ultimately bankrupts him and leads to his demise.
Timon is a fool who is completely oblivious to the limits of his
resources. Timon’s lavish parties and gift-giving are comparable to my
view, and that of A. Bacevich in The Limits of Power, of the United-
States of America’s waging of imperial wars that she cannot afford. On
the other hand, Timon’s friends, the flattering lords, Lucius,
Lucullus, Sempronius refuse to loan their money to a man, Timon, who
would probably not pay them back. Lucius, Lucullus and Sempronius’
frugality is comparable to the right course of action for the United-
States of America when it comes to fighting unnecessary imperial wars,
also known as “small wars“. As the Bush administration’s imperial war
in Iraq has exposed, America cannot afford “small wars” because of
several reasons. First, because of their nature, imperial wars require
invading entire countries and this is excessively costly and requires
large ground deployments. Also these wars do not pay any dividends;
they don’t make us any safer, physically or financially. America’s oil
wars in the middle-east since the end of the Cold War hasn’t stopped
terrorists from striking New York twice and they certainly haven’t
stopped the price of a barrel of oil from quadrupling in this time
period.

In his opinion column on Newstex, titled Obama’s First Treasons as
President, self-proclaimed “conservative with attitude”, Zbigniew
Mazurak, vehemently condemns the new administration’s modest reduction
of the budget of the defense department. Mazurak writes, “…Barack
Hussein Obama… has already committed his first acts of treason as
president… the military’s budget would be reduced by 55 billion
dollars.” Mazurak argues that any reduction of defense spending would
harm the United-States’ armed forces. Mazurak also makes the stunning
assertion that the United-States’ defense budget is already meager.
Mazurak adds that Obama is out to sabotage the US armed forces and
make them impotent. Did it occur to Mazurak that this country is in a
severe recession and that the federal government has a trillion dollar
deficit? With a budget of more than 700 billion dollars in each of the
last few years, and the Iraq and Afghanistan wars projected to cost
close to two trillion dollars, it would be preposterous, actually
plainly insane to suggest that the United-States’ military is under
funded. It’s been widely reported that the Pentagon is one of the most
wasteful branches of the United-States’ government. It is my belief
that the US administrations have over-spent for defense since the end
of World War II. Andrew Bacevich agrees with me, he writes in The
Limits of Power, “…spending trillions to forcibly democratize the
Islamic world will achieve little…”
On July 7th, 2009, Representative Ike Skelton introduced H.R. 264,
which is co-sponsored by Representative John M. McHugh. The bill
states, “To authorize appropriations for fiscal year 2010 for military
activities of the Department of Defense...” Actually, this is a short
quote from the long title of the bill. The representatives aim to
provide financing for the military through appropriations. This is how
the Bush administration disguised the cost of the Iraq and Afghanistan
wars to the American people by making military spending outside of the
official federal budget. This is a loophole in the federal government
and simply should be forbidden. All spending should be part of the
official federal budget. Representative Skelton wants to increase
funding for the military, including pay raises for our men and women
of the military. I strongly disagree. What they need to do is to
properly allocate the hundreds of billions of dollars they have at
their disposition already. Chiefly, ending the Iraq war immediately
would save billions and use those savings to give military personnel
raises.

An article on The Nation (Thailand), titled The World Still Awaits A
New US Face, written by the staff and published on August 3, 2009,
states, “…The Defense budget (of the United-States) was recently given
a two-per-cent increase… America's imperial military adventures are
continuing, despite the withdrawal from Iraq, as Afghanistan becomes
the new battle front.” This article argues that the end of the Bush
administration and the democrat’s control of the power in the United-
States of America has not resulted in the renouncement of “small
wars.” The article assesses that America’s current military build up
in Afghanistan is evidence that the liberals, now in charge, don’t
intend to bring to an end America’s empire ambitions. I slightly
disagree with the article in that to me the Afghanistan war is a
necessary war. We were attacked by Taliban supported Al-Qaeda. The
Taliban and Al-Qaeda have and will attack us again, if they subsist.
On the other hand, Saddam Hussein’s Iraq never attacked us or assisted
or harbored terrorists. Both Iraq wars were wars for oil and
“democratization”, thus unnecessary and unjustifiable. I do agree with
the article in that I also oppose the increase of the defense
department’s budget. What the new administration needs to do is to
promptly and completely withdraw from Iraq, thus save the military
billions and remove over one hundred thousand soldiers, some of whom
could help destroy Al-Qaeda and the Taliban in Afghanistan. We need to
get out immediately from Iraq even if this may lead to destabilization
of that country. The truth is that Iraq is an oil rich country similar
to Saudi Arabia, the new Iraqi government needs to use their oil
revenue to provide for the security of their people. It’s been
reported that while the United-States of America is spending hundreds
of billions of dollars to maintain Iraq’s infant democracy, the Iraqi
government has amassed over 70 billion dollars in surplus. Do they
take us for suckers? This is comparable to Lucius, Lucullus and
Sempronius partying at the expense of Timon while saving their own
wealth. It is true that the Iraqis did not ask for us to invade their
country, except for few I saw on the Oprah show in 2003 before the
invasion, but it is time for them to pay for their own security.


William Christian in his article from The Globe and Mail titled The
Empire Overstretched says, “…Imperial overstretch occurs when a
country’s ruling class is no longer able, or willing, to finance its
imperial status.” William argues that America’s imperial wars since
the end of the Cold War are overstretching the United-States’
resources. And the United-States of America’s imperial endeavors are
similar to those that crippled superpowers of the past such as the
Romans, The Athenians, Egyptians, and more recently the Soviets and
the British. Indeed, for much of the 19th century and about half of
the 20th century Britain was the super power of the world. But the
wars of the first half of the 20th century, the two world wars and the
numerous imperial wars on all continents, eventually crippled the
British economy. London lost its position as the world’s financial
capital to New York. And the independence of India in 1947 was the
first of a series of movements of national liberation that left
England with few overseas dependencies. The collapse of the Soviet
Union was similar to the decline of British hegemony. The Soviet
economy was extremely inefficient. They spent a vast proportion of
their GDP on the military. And according to William Christian, “…the
Communist Party establishment was corrupt and grew used to luxury. The
Soviet Empire imploded.” So, one does not have to go back to the
causes of the ruin of the Roman civilization or the causes of the
demise of the Egyptian civilization to find that fighting wars for
empire will lead to the downfall of any state, no matter how wealthy
it is or it thinks it is.


In conclusion, the United-States of America’s imperial wars are
comparable to Timon’s extravagant parties and gift-giving to his false
friends. The imperial wars we’ve engaged in so far have clearly
exposed our inability to sustain them. If we don’t want to end up in
ruin like Timon, we must renounce on our imperial ambitions. We must
withdraw from Iraq immediately and never again engage in wars for oil
or “democratization;” if we don’t, we will loose our prosperity and
weaken our defenses and ultimately lead us to be invaded by a new
emerging global superpower; it may even lead to the disintegration of
our union. We must have a franc national conversation about the limits
of powers and the foolishness and hypocrisy of waging “democratization
wars.” A. Bacevich’s writing of The Limits of Power an outstanding
basis to begin this conversation.


Reference:

Bacevich, A., 2008. The Limits Of Power. Book. Holt.

Shakespeare, W., 2000. Timon of Athens. The Pelican Shakespeare.

Mazurak, Z., February 5th, 2009. Obama’s First Treasons as Presiden.
Newstex.

Skelton, I., July 7th, 2009, H.R. 264. “Appropriations for fiscal year
2010 for Department of Defense.” (Courtesy Thomas.loc.gov)

By Staff. August 3rd, 2009. The World Still Awaits A New US Face. The
Nation (Thailand).

Christian, W., May 24th, 2009. The Empire Overstretched. The Globe
and Mail.

[JL]

English 101 Summer/09
Essay 3-Final Draft

The Military Crisis

The US need to face the fact that they want to be the world leaders
but with their circumstances they no longer can sustain that status or
mentality. If they want to be a strong nation again, then they need to
build a strong economy and military by stop making more enemies with
other countries by stop interfere other countries’ business. The first
step that they need to do is fix their economy crisis and they need to
reduce their dependence on foreign oils in order to build a strong
military. The US military could learn a good lesson from the character
named Timon in the Timon of Athens by Shakespeare. His character
spends more than he has and ends up having debt similar to Americans
today. America chooses to use their wealth unwisely and wastefully
without thinking about their account status for long time. The debt
causes today’s US economy crisis as well as their military crisis. We
are living in a monetary system and the money decides which class of
people we are and it plays a big part in everything we do on our life.
Timon is a good example who fails to accommodate into a monetary
system society. Americans are similar to Timon who hurts himself and
suffer from that result from his wrong action. Timon’s way of life
represents today’s Americans’ style of over consumptions and false
friends represent their enemies that will turn their back and maul
them like a beast when the United States need help. It is very
important to Americans to get their power again because they already
have too many enemies that can hurt and threaten Americans’ safety. As
Bacevich says, “How the United States Did Not Reinvent War… But
Thought It Did” (Bacevich, 2009). Americans believe they are the world
police and justified the Iraq war for saving Iraqis from terrorist but
the US need to admit that there are alternative reason for this long
war which is oil. The United States was one of the wealthiest and most
powerful countries in the world and they want to regain their status
by keep invading countries which have the resources that they need.
Alcibiades troops in Timon of Athens can represent the US military
today in Iraq war. When Alcibiades’s request didn’t get accepted by
Senators in Athens, he declared war to get what he wanted but in
reality war can’t be the only way and right way to solve the problem.
Instead of invading other countries and making more enemies, the U.S.
should focus on improving production of electricity that can be use as
gasoline. The U.S. needs to learn from their mistake and be willing to
fix their mistakes immediately if they want to recover US crisis
today.
The world needs a stable and powerful country or countries need to
protect power and they should provide stability for each continent.
The main problems that can affect the US economy are gasoline prices
that dramatically increase and electricity rates because they entirely
dependent on carbon-based fuels. Al gore says, “We have dangerous over-
reliance on carbon- based fuels…” Most of the oil that the US use
every day is from foreign countries and they are spending money that
can be used for other goods such as builds jobs for people who needs
jobs here at home or that money can be used to build solar arrays and
windmills. America purchase oil from the Persian Gulf with the money
that we borrow from China. They have spent all their wealth wastefully
and even borrow from other countries like China without thinking about
their account status. America need to realize their problems and
mistakes that they made until now should be change quickly. Otherwise,
Americans all will become slave to their enemies. Al gore argues, “Our
economy cannot stand 10 more years of sending $2 billion every 24
hours to foreign countries for oil. And our soldiers and their
families cannot take another 10 years of repeated troop deployments to
dangerous regions that just happen to have large oil supplies” (Al
Gore,2009). Unfortunately gas price will increase until the US fixes
the wrong solution that has absolutely nothing to do with the
problems. For instance, the US government decides to give more money
to the oil companies to reduce their gasoline prices. This way can’t
be real solution for the problems and it wouldn’t work for long run
only to help increase even higher gasoline prices make oil company
great profits. The US need to end their reliance on carbon-based fuels
and replace with produce electricity like solar energy, wind power and
geothermal power that can provide enough electricity for America.
James Inhofe says, “We need to provide affordable and reliable energy
for consumers.” (Pryor/Inhofe's Fueling America Act of 2009) His bill
would help reduce fuel costs for Americans and it will reduce
America’s dependence on foreign oil. Also the US government passed the
bill for the American Clean Energy and Security Act of 2009 on June 26
(Thomas.loc.gov, 2009) for one of the solution because this bill
important issues that needs to be take care of. This bill provides
renewable energy, clean fuels, energy efficiency and reducing global
warming pollution. The American Clean Energy and Security Act will
help to reduce America’s dependence on foreign oil and reduce emission
from power plants and motor vehicles. It is true that in order to make
this Act function will cost money but this can be the second chance
for the U.S. and Americans to regain their power so they should use
this second chance wisely not like Timon. Timon could not use his
second chance to use his gold wisely and he chooses not to change but
Americans shouldn’t. John O'Dell, Senior Editor says, “This isn't to
say that natural gas is the answer. It's just part of a solution to
our future energy needs. But it can help us reduce import oil use and
bridge the gap from petroleum to battery- and hydrogen fuel-cell
electric power. For those reasons, the bills are worth serious
consideration.” It can’t solve all of America’s problems but it is a
part of the solution and it is a very important step for their economy
recovery. These very first steps it’s not the only things the US need
to do but it should be the take Americans close to solve their
country’s crises. Moreover it will help rest of the world to recover
global economy and military crisis and bring peace to world.
We all know that decrease our gas price will not going to happen in
the short term unless the US government change regulation of oil or
have Persian Gulf. Hypothetically we have Persian Gulf by force, this
war justifies? Or should make reasonable reasons and excuses to invade
other countries by saying protect our safety and rest of the world
from terrorist. When Timon gives his gold to support Alcibiades’
troops I notice similarity with our crisis that our entire crisis
connected to each other so if America solve the main problems such as
stopping ever- rising energy prices can recover their economy and it
will protect the US national security without having to go to war in
Persian Gulf. Americans believe that the war in Iraq is making the
United States safer from the terrorism so more than half of population
was support the war and Bush administration but Americans are safer
from threat of terrorism if they stop want for their resources.
Joseph Lieberman says, “In Iraq today we have a responsibility to do
what is strategically and morally right.” (Washington post, 2006) He
argues that even though death and destruction of the US army are
heartbreaking and infuriating, there isn’t better strategic and moral
alternative for America than standing with the moderate Iraqis until
they take over their country and security. I agree with Joseph
Lieberman saying that decisive steps needed for victory in Iraq but I
disagree with him when he says, “It will help to give freedom
throughout the Middle East” (Washington post, 2006) because many Iraqi
civilians killed and it was more than American military casualties in
Iraq. In any circumstances, Americans shouldn’t think that it’s no
problem as long as they can start the wars elsewhere. Iraq war took
place in their country and think about what happened on 9/11. It was
almost devastated the United States and affected the rest of the
world. Americans should imagine themselves what war would do to them
if it took place on their own country for 7 years. Can people think
Iraqis could thank to the U.S. military to give them a freedom? Today
many countries reluctant to go to war against one another because the
world’s economy is globalize can hurt one major trading partner will
led everyone else get hurts too. Without other countries cooperation,
the U.S. will suffer and they can’t help anyone else if they can’t
help themselves. American believes that their enemies destroyed their
economy but Americans are the one who destroyed themselves and we
don’t know it like Timon in the Timon of Athens. The United States can
win at any war if their winning is the only purpose regardless of
other sacrifices. Iraq war took longer and harder than what the U.S.
expected and during those times their countries ask Americans to
sacrifice themselves in many ways. Americans suffered and sacrificed
for nothing but the war. Increase taxes, higher gas price and APR
rates were the part of Americans’ sacrifices. The total cost of war in
Iraq is estimated at 1.6 trillion by 2009 (Washington CNN,2009) that
was nearly double amount of money that white house requested from
congress. The U.S. economy crisis makes the other crises even worse.
The committee said, “The higher total economic impact comes from the
cost of borrowing money to pay for the war, lost productivity, higher
oil prices and the cost of health care for veterans.”(Washington CNN,
2009) If Americans do not have to go to war then they could save money
for veterans’ health care. Therefore we need to figure out how we
going to survive without gasoline and without invading countries. The
best way is to use solar and other energy sources than gas.
The Americans need to arm themselves with the knowledge of what is
going on to their country and what they can do to help. People all
know that greed messed up the world and they can’t continue live like
this. Because of people’s greed, they use gas instead of sunlight to
power our vehicles, and they pay high bills for electricity from a
machine even thought they could use windmill to have same electricity.
Al gore says, “The leading experts predict that we have less than 10
years to make dramatic changes in our global warming pollution lest we
lose our ability to ever recover from this environmental crisis.” This
problem is very serious problems and Americans need to consider and
take it seriously what the scientist are telling right now. They will
lose their ability to recover environmental crisis if they don’t make
changes within 10 years. When they stop using oil and coal will help
to prevent the global warming pollution. The U.S. needs to use solar,
wind and geothermal in order to reduce the pollution. The U.S. can’t
solve their problems at once but start using production of electricity
like solar energy; wind power and geothermal will help to solve part
of the problem for long term. If the U.S. continues to effort to
figure out the solution then within 10 years they will be a true
leader in the world again. Recognizing the U.S. limits is the first
step to close to the solution for the problems that they face today.
References
O'Dell, John. 2009, July 9.Natural Gas Bills in Congress Benefit
Consumers As Well as Fuel's Biggest Backer
http://blogs.edmunds.com/greencaradvisor/2009/07/natural-gas-bills-in-congress-benefit-consumers-as-well-as-fuels-biggest-backer.html
Inhofe, James. 2009, July 8. Inhofe Applauds Bi-Partisan Support for
Natural Gas Vehicles
www.californiachronicle.com/articles/view/109263
Gore, Al. 2009, July 29. NPR Al Gore's Speech On Renewable Energy
www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=92638501
Lieberman, Joseph. 2006, Dec. 29. Washington Post, Why we need more
troops in Iraq
www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/.../AR2006122801055_pf.html
Washington CNN. 2007, November 14. War costs could total $1.6 trillion
by 2009, panel estimates
www.cnn.com/2007/POLITICS/11/13/...war.costs/index.html

[IsaiasxD]

Isaias Miguel
Aug. 5 2009
Eng 101
Essay 3

It is interesting that Shakespeare’s Play, Timon Of Athens, would be
considered an adaptation to America’s crisis of today. Both the play
and America have a lot in common, and it’s as if we have the same bad
habits and type of thinking as his characters did. Also, both are
about trustworthy, Luxury, Power, avoidance, and how we are all
stubborn and like to impress the people. There is no doubt the book
“Timon of Athens” is akin to our feeble government of today. For
instance, both represent themselves as rich and powerful at one
point, and then let that drag them into a huge debt that has very
little solution to getting back on their own. As the title exposes,
Timon is the main character in the play Timon of Athens. In the
introduction, Sheakespeare describes Timon as a wealthy man who puts
his friendship on top of all the other values. As the title shows it,
Timon wanted to be known as the “Timon of Athens” by his supposedly
wealth that went from person to person, parties and without a glimpse
thought of his expenses then everything for him went haywire.

Many consider credit cards very helpful but others take an the most
advantage to shop without a limit and create a big debt in their
credit history. As Reagan notice this addiction he added "Credit has
no limits, and the bills will never come due." (Bacevich,p.36) Of
course, these words coming from the president is going to be quite
motivating and exciting to spend credit card after credit card. That
is how Timon’s supposedly friends see him. A credit Card. They took
advantage, spent every bill he had for parties and gifts, then simply
ignored it. I assume it’s a race nowadays for the latest things. For
the reason that one person gets the new Iphone the person next to him/
her has the sense of urgency to stay updated with the latest of
technology as well. This spreads around the U.S. and competitors of
every other type of business comes up with new stuff for hooligans out
there that are looking to spend and to look the most stylish and
unique. In Similarity to Timon, he gathered his supposedly closest
friends for good times. Expressed himself by looking like the best
person they can know with gifts and parties. That was very foolish as
he was in great debt. Then being informed to pay his credit he was
looking to borrow some more and his backstabbing friends simply said
“no”. That’s just like an American looking for another credit card
and being rejected because his/her record shows that the person is not
trustworthy anymore. Now like Athens wanted to collect debt from
timon, credit card companies have to suffer from late payments from
people who abuse and take advantage of this. It’s an open gate to
people who don’t have much money. Due to the recession ” "Ever-
increasing credit score requirements by lenders," and slipping
consumer credit ratings take many potential buyers out of the pool”
Now people think twice about getting a credit car or a loan. Rates
were raised a bit higher. With this it’s tougher to get by for some.

Timon was just like the military and George Bush. He took actions
without the most sophisticated planning to go to war. Thinking that
our U.S. military “power such as the world had never seen” ( Bacevich,
126) would invade Iraq and have a quick victory now that we open our
eyes sounds like they mislead us to profligacy.
In the beginning we see Timon as a very generous, kind, friend that a
person would want. Making himself oozing the appeal of friendship for
others to take advantage. He bails out Ventidius because he is in
great debt and in jail. Well, Ventidius and America are pretty much
the same stranded and searching for help. Asking the wealthy and
allies to help in a time of need. Just like Timon, China bails us out.
Now our President, Obama, has $787 billion to stimulate the economy.
Which in addition the Stimulus package “will not quickly solve the
historic problems besetting the economy, but it could reduce the
damage, while providing relief for the unemployed and the uninsured.”

American government should start listening to advice. We asked for
this war not to happen because we have always advocated peace on
earth. But this economy, the crash in the job market, credit cards,
our expenses will give us a new perspective on life. It’s not always
about looking the most flawless. The one with the most credit cards.
The youngest person with the most things. Like Timon saw it after the
backstabbing from his friends, America will see that it can be
powerful as they use to be but they have to manage their spending and
put an end to this war. As Obama said “our troops will withdraw from
the Iraq war by August 2010”.
“Success is how high you bounce when you hit bottom” We will get out
of our misery and pay back our debt. We will became what we represent
to be. A united country that stands tall in the face of evil. We have
experienced the worst time since the depression and with a little
more patience we can be powerful and the greatest nation among all
again.

Reference:
Bacevich, A. 2009. The limits of power: the end of American
exceptionalism. New York: Holt Paperbacks.

Shakespeare, W. The Life of Timon of Athens
Kirchhoff, S. Feb. 17, 2009. USA Today
How will the $787 billion stimulus package affect you?
http://www.usatoday.com/money/economy/2009-02-12-stimulus-package-effects_N.htm

Bryant, C. Feb, 27, 2009.
Troop withdrawal: Obama to end Iraq war by August 2010
http://features.csmonitor.com/globalnews/2009/02/27/troop-withdrawal-obama-to-end-iraq-war-by-august-2010/

[KunHye S]

The Time to...
“I beseech your honour, vouchsafe me a word; it does concern you
near” (Shakespeare, p. 1013). The line comes from Timon of Athens, a
play written by Shakespeare. Here, Flavius the good servant tries to
warn his master Timon of his financial downfall. Shakespeare wrote the
play to criticize the nobles in the era who enjoyed giving regardless
of their abilities. Now, the words speak to a nation, one that
doubtlessly trusts in its noble competence. On March 19 this year,
Operation Iraqi Freedom met its 6th anniversary, yet the current
standing implies more anniversaries to come. Although military
withdrawal is coming into view according to the reports from
Washington, that does not promise an end to the present military
crisis in Iraq. Before allowing many more years to pass along with
additional death toll and budget waste, it is time put off for so long
to overhaul the U.S. policy in Iraq. It is time for America to accept
that the war is unwinnable by the current policy, to resolutely
abandon the flimsy scheme, and to start seeking a new diplomatic
approach instead. In this sense, Shakespeare's play Timon of Athens
and, additionally, Andrew Bacevich's book the Limits of Power are good
models to look at in discerning the way out.
In Timon of Athens, The play revolves around Timon. Briefly, Timon is
a wealthy man who prizes generosity more than any other values. He
takes pleasure in sharing his wealth by giving gifts and helping the
needy without any consideration on his own status. Believing in his
unlimited resource, Timon keeps rendering until he is finally
confronted by some creditors. When looking at this man, one can be
easily reminded of America. Timon is a metaphoric figure of this
country. They both value sharing; Timon his wealth; and America its
democratic ideology. Timon and the United States both proudly continue
sharing not knowing their ends. As a loyal steward of Timon, Flavius
frequently attempts to warn his master of the shortcomings, but Timon
proudly ignores him. The same goes to America and its people. Many war
critics and citizens cry out against the war; however, those voices
never reach the top. America, or the officials in Washington,
stubbornly keeps believing in its superpower, thus recklessly turning
down all the advice. The end of Timon should teach a good lesson to
those ignorants. Timon runs out of all his riches and eventually
perishes. America must start listening to the people, acknowledging
its wartime-policy failure, and searching for a new, straight-to-the-
point strategy before the country ends up running into the same fate
as Timon.
Time to Listen
Andrew Bacevich is a perfect example of one of those American
Flaviuses. In the Limits of Power, he particularly contributes the
entire third chapter on indicating the wrong lessons derived from Iraq
and suggesting the right ones. One of the wrong lessons he suggests is
that “the Pentagon needs to get better at waging 'small
wars'”(Bacevich, 2009, p. 143). He claims that in this misbegotten
lesson, more fundamental matters are amiss and overlooked: stability
operation in Iraq is not American soldiers' duty or responsibility.
Bacevich has expressed in his numerous interviews and editorials that
the problem lies directly in counterinsurgency, the “small wars.” In
his perspective, the soldiers are being abused and degraded by the
faulty policy makers' decisions. In the essay titled the Petraeus
Doctrine, Bacevich introduces two different sides on the
counterinsurgency issue: the Crusaders and the Conservatives. The
conservative camp are worried about the stability operation
represented by the Petraeus Doctrine named after General David
Petraeus, current Commander of U.S. Central Command and the leading
figure among the crusaders. The conservatives' core concern is that
“an infatuation with stability operations will lead the Army to
reinvent itself as 'a constabulary,' adept perhaps at nation-building
but shorn of adequate capacity for conventional war-
fighting” (Bacevich, 2008). What it implies is that focusing on
counterinsurgency reduces or eliminates the possibility of other
strategic choices such as diplomacy or withdrawal. In the third act of
Timon of Athens, Alcibiades, an Athenian soldier, meets some senators
to protest against his companion's death sentence. In this scene, the
senates resemble much of the supporting officials of the Operation
Iraqi Freedom. Both groups are very successful at mistreating their
good soldiers while the devoted soldiers follow their commands and
serve the city or the nation. The elders eventually banish Alcibiades.
Alcibiades condemns their ill-treatment in return of his loyalty. The
responsible American top figures deserve such condemnation for
degrading the fine army and transforming it into a constabulary unit
by deciding upon the flawed policy.
Time to Acknowledge
A joint resolution asking for redeployment of U.S. forces from Iraq
was proposed in the House of Representatives shortly after two years
of invasion in Iraq. The resolution served as an early recognition of
the unnecessary war. The text demanded redeployment since “Congress
and the American people have not been shown clear, measurable progress
toward establishment of stable and improving security in Iraq or of a
stable and improving economy in Iraq”(Murtha, 2005). It also clearly
stated that “continuing U.S. military action in Iraq is not in the
best interests of the United States of America, the people of Iraq, or
the Persian Gulf Region”(Murtha 2005). Although the bill received a
good measure of attention (with 106 co-sponsors), no major actions
were taken. However, it is still remarkable how a few politicians
bravely admitted their mistake at that time of the war. If they
prudently and quickly accepted the unsuccessful fate of the war, why
do some still hold their grips tight and would not let the futile
fight go? To those in 2005, the war had already turned out to be
unsuccessful and wasteful. In 2009, the standings seem no better than
that of 2005. Rather, it is worse than ever with more young service
men and women getting killed in ceaseless insurgencies in the region.
In settling a conflict, a solution can be met when a party first
acknowledges the fault. Obstinate attitude is the worst obstruction
when seeking a new start. An article from an electronic journal
Strategic Insights says, “The inability to recognize the sources of
violence and the effect violence has on the politics of Iraq and the
region is a principal failing of the Bush Administration’s war
strategy and its consequent diplomacy” (Tirman, 2007). The sources of
violence stream down from the military policy, and the effect of
violence is insurgency. The failure to acknowledge the failed policy
is yet another failure. Without recognizing the mistake, the U.S.
policy in Iraq has no progress but more errors to come.
Time to Change
If the counterinsurgency warfare is not the correct path to take,
then what is? The answer is obvious. As proved above, current military
policy does not work in the situation. “Though we arrived in Iraq
speaking the language of liberation (in English only) … we did not
arrive as liberators” (Engelhardt, 2005), says Tom Engelhardt, the
founder and editor of TomDispatch.com. As the armed forces covered in
their best armors landed in the region, Iraqi people only perceived
them as invaders not saviors. The central role of U.S. forces skewed
the political process in Iraq toward “defensiveness, sectarian
protectionism, and outside interference on behalf of sectarian or
ethnic allies” (Tirman, 2007), meaning that the U.S. representation of
violence created the insurgency havoc. Therefore, settling the problem
in Iraq does not require military involvement. What it needs is a
political resolution. Another bill introduced in 2007 firmly reads,
“United States policy on Iraq must change to emphasize the need for a
political solution by Iraqi leaders in order to maximize the chances
of success and to more effectively fight the war on terror.” A
diplomatic strategy that focuses on participating in conferences and
negotiations with the Iraqi leaders can open up a new path in ending
the war. The goal should certainly be to bring stability and security
in the region; however it is the diplomats' job instead of the army's.
It is time to stop putting U.S. troops in the nation-building project
and to start reshaping the country's failed diplomatic policy.
It has been a long way, yet the end is still unclear. When looking at
the six-year progress, polls show significant drop rate of the pro-war
advocates. ABC News/Washington Post Poll proves the recession. Asked
if the war was worth fighting, 70% of the participants answered yes in
2003. The percentage sunk gradually and eventually reached 34% in
recent 2009 poll (ABC News/ Washington Post, 2003, 2009). Everyone
makes wrong choices, but not everyone meets wrong ends. Those who
successfully turn around will find a happy, open end while those who
stubbornly try to penetrate will find a miserable, dead end. Timon
becomes the latter case because of his failure in listening to his
faithful servant. Flavius tells Timon in grief, “My dear-loved lord,
though you hear now – too late – yet now's a time...” (Shakespeare,
p. 1016). Today, American Flaviuses are crying: It is time to end the
misbegotten war.



ABC News, Washington Post Poll. 2009, July 15-18. Poll questions
retrieved August 3, 2009, from PollingReport.com. http://www.pollingreport.com/iraq.htm
Bacevich, Andrew. 2009. The limits of power: The end of American
exceptionalism. New York: Holt Paperback.
Bacevich, Andrew. 2008, October. The Petraeus doctrine. The Atlantic.
http://www.theatlantic.com/doc/200810/petraeus-doctrine
Engelhardt, Tom. 2005, June 21. Withdrawal on the agenda.
TomDispatch.
http://www.tomdispatch.com/post/3717/withdrawal_on_the_agenda
Murtha, Rep. J. 2005, November 17. To redeploy U.S. forces from Iraq.
US House of Representatives.
Reid, Sen. H. 2007, March 8. A joint resolution to revise United
States policy on Iraq. US Senate.
Shakespeare, William. The works of Shakespeare. New York: the
Shakespeare Head Press.
Tirman, John. 2007, March. Diplomacy and Iraq war. Strategic
Insights.
http://www.ccc.nps.navy.mil/si/2007/Mar/tirmanMar07.asp

[Ashinee]

Ashinee Reynolds
English 101 (OC)
Rough Draft
Essay 3
“The United States is like a giant boiler. Once the fire is lighted
under it, there is no limit to the power it can
generate” (Churchill). The United States has been known to be a
country of freedoms and “superpower”. In the past, the United States
had became accustomed to doing what they wanted and how they wanted,
but in recent years the dominant fundamentals in which this country
was formed have been compromised due to the War on Terror and the
culture practices of the United States civilization, which has caused
“the limits of power” that the United States truly holds. In his book
The Limits of Power, Andrew J. Bacevich warns Americans that we have a
military crisis, and one of the main dilemmas of the United States
military is the obstruction and the “lost art of strategy” (Bacevich,
165). The current catastrophic stature of the United States military
can be parallel to Shakespeare play, Timon of Athens. Timon is the
play’s main character and he in more then one way is like the United
States. Both Timon and the United States fail in “crafting grand
strategy instead nurse’s fantasies” (Bacevich, 167) that block what is
occurring in reality. The fact is that Timon was being used by his
alleged friends for gifts and money, and the United States military
needs to focus on possible solutions for the country’s problems verses
trying to achieve “permanent global hegemony or remaking the world in
America’s image ”(Bacevich, 167). Although Timon is the main character
in the play, Alicibiades and Flavius can also be compared to the
behavior of the United States. After Alcibiades had to leave Athens he
decided to rage an invasion against Athens in order to fix what he
felt was unjust and incorrect. Alicibiades behavior compares to the
United States because the military also invaded a land in which did
not as for our help. Although The United States did not go on a
mission to slaughter individuals, one of the original intents was to
capture Osama Bin Laden and through out the duration of this continual
War on Terror there have been numerous accounts of fatalities to both
soldiers and civilians. Flavious is actually a character that I think
has great significance as to what the United States and characters of
Timon of Athens should follow. Instead of the United States invading
other countries and claiming to “help” them we should have followed
the behavior of Flavius and not Alcibiades. Flavius was there to tell
and warn Timon of his financial problems, while helping Timon in
anyway he possibly could if he was asked, but it was Timons choice not
to listen. Flavius proved to be an honorable character that sincerely
cared and did what he could to help Timon. The United States needs to
follow that example. If the United States does not stop “confusing
strategy with ideology” (Bacevich, 165) the country can and will
continue to decline in its rich military stature. Instead, the United
States needs to learn how to correctly stragigize, and abide by those
straigies, in doing this, the United States could prevent future
unnecessary conflicts which will help the stabilization of the
military and economy.

In Derek Cohen’s article The Politics of Wealth: Timon of Athens he
correctly states that “money buys power and its concomitants like
authority.” This proves to be true for both the economic stand point
that the United States and Timon once processed. Timon is the main
character in the play. At the beginning of the play he is a wealthy
man who enjoys his life, he has plenty of “friends” and plenty of
money, but as the play progressed Timon encounters finachinal
difficulties that result in debt and homelessness. Due to the fact
that none of Timons’ friends were interested in helping him, he began
to view mankind as anomalistic because he felt mankind deserved to be
cursed because they lacked loyalty and morals. Timon felt he was
always there to give gifts and help others (excluding Apemantus). Yet
he was puzzled to learn no one was willing to assist him in his time
of need. Timon made his mistake, because he did not fully educate
himself on the importance of budgeting, and he did not have someone
who wisely advised him on how to spend his money. In this scenario,
Timon analogues the United States issue of military expenditure. The
United States has advanced and improved several technological aspects
of the military, which has been extremely costly. It was reported
that “the cost of war (Iraq and Afghanistan) is estimated to be about
$170 billion for the 2009 spending alone” (Shah, World Military
Spending). Due to the fact that the United States is currently in a
recession, it is a serious problem that almost $200 billion is being
spent annually on a war that has not been proven to be beneficial to
the United States or other countries. The United States now carries a
large deficit, and there has been a numerous amount of fatalities and
injuries to the military and civilians. The United States relates to
Timon because both the United States and Timon are wasting money.
Timon is spending money on lavish unnecessary gifts for friends, where
as the United States is wasting money on a long drawn out war. Like
Timon, it would not be bad if the money was spent on something useful,
but because Timon spent his money imprudently, he found himself
isolated with out money, a home, or friends. The United States must
learn the importance of strategy and following the strategic plan
because Timons’ financial stature compared to that of the United
States. The United States has been known to be a “superpower” among
several nations. At one point the United States was well respected by
other countries. The United States did not have a deficit, and some
individuals would describe the United States military as a “power such
as the world had never seen” ( Bacevich, 126).Yet in recent years
many of the qualities that were and are admired about the United
States are diminishing or have already ceased, post September 11,
2001. After the War on Terror began, the United States has managed
to lose its “superpower” image along with billions of dollars and the
respect of several individuals’ nation and world wide. The United
States Military is one of the main issues that has caused great
quandary to the United States economy. Instead of being wasteful Timon
and the United States military should learn how to budget. Timon
should not have continually bought his friends gifts, because the
result of his spending caused him to be destitute. The United States
needs to go back to the simply way of life including the military. An
excellent example was given in Andrew J Bacivichs’ book The Limits of
Power. Becivich explained the way that The United States should tilt
“the civil- military balance back in favor of the general, untying the
hands of senior commander (Baceivich, 137).” If the United States
would delegate the proper authority to the appropriate people a lot of
incorrect assumptions and judgments about the War on Terror may not
have been made, because the decisions of the generals and commanders
would have been based on their experience and the history of what has
and has not worked in past wars. Bacivich also talked about the way
the Weinberger-Powell Doctrine was created and used. The main purpose
of the doctrine was to make sure that Vietnam did not reoccur. I think
that the doctrine is brilliant because it intended that “the United
States would fight only when genuinely vital interests were at stake.
(Baceivich, 129).” There for if the Weinberger-Powell Doctrine was in
practice today, I am certain that the United States would not be
engaged in The War on Terror, because there is no vital interest that
belongs to United States that is currently at stake. If The United
States would practice the Weinberger-Powell Doctrine today, plenty of
money and lives would be saved. The country needs to exit the war as
soon as possible, because billions of dollars is being spent, and like
Timon we are building an accumulation of dept which could result in a
destitute nation. The United States faces a large military crisis. The
United States “is doomed to fail” (Bergen, 1) if it does not begin to
focus on the importance of strategic planning and following threw with
it.

If the United States continues to spend more and more money that we do
not have on The War on Terror, the country will soon find its self in
the position of Timon. The United States will have no funds,
resources, or allies to assist the countries’ stability. The United
States does not need to follow the example of Timon or Alicibiades.
Timon was wasteful and lost his hope in humanity, and Alicibiades
believed that he could get justice by invading Athen. In reality I
still think the best character to take advice from is Flavius. He was
loyal, and this proved to be true when Timon gave gim gold at the end
because he also felt he was a man of loyalty, and Flavius did attempt
to warn Timon about his finances but it was Timons choice to continue
to spend unwisely. The United States must realize the imperativeness
of strategic planning. “Strategy is the planning, coordination, and
general direction of military operations to meet overall political and
military objectives” (Goodman, 1). There for, if the United States
lacks proper strategy and does not following threw with strategic
plans the military crisis will continue to grow causing more harm to
the American economy and others. Instead, the United States needs to
realize and remedial the imperativeness of military strategy, because
if our military follows wise strategic plans it can and will lead to
the success of our military and aid in the stabilization of the United
States economy.

Resources:

Obama Anti-Terror Plan Could be Doomed to Fail
By Peter Bergen, New America Foundation
CNN March 27, 2009

Bacevich, A., 2008. The Limits Of Power. Book.

http://www.springerlink.com/content/r48l23t752257601/

Shakespeare, W., 2000. Timon of Athens.

http://www.au.af.mil/au/awc/awcgate/maxwell/mp10.pdf

[Rosie]

Isaias:

That’s a good comparison of Timon and American Society. They do have
lots in common, especially lately. They both spent what they had and
didn’t have until they confronted a big problem (financial crisis).
They both (Timon and American society) wanted to be everyone’s friend,
enjoy luxury, be accepted by everyone and being the go to person.
Since credit and spending does have a limit, you can only go so far
until you get to the point that you must payback everything you owe,
than it was time to face the music and come to reality. Timon like
you mention asked to borrow money from his fake friends and encounter
that they were not willing to help him financially, just like American
society came to a conclusion that it must stop overspending and stop
consuming more then it is needed. Just like Timon did, went into
isolation, some are doing in America, staying at home more often,
having family nights and dinner at home to be able to save money,
purchasing things that are really needed, not just because “it’s the
latest toy or gadget out there.” And like you also mention, the big
saving in America will be ending this ridiculous war, which in my
opinion has no means.

good comparison.
R.M.

> How will the $787 billion stimulus package affect you?http://www.usatoday.com/money/economy/2009-02-12-stimulus-package-eff...

>
> Bryant, C. Feb, 27, 2009.

> Troop withdrawal: Obama to end Iraq war by August 2010http://features.csmonitor.com/globalnews/2009/02/27/troop-withdrawal-...

[Rosie]

WOW! I already have 27 pages for my journal entries without the
annotated APA-style bibliographic reference for each week of the
class! As I understand it, the annotated bibliagraphic for each week
should include the titles of whatever we were assign for that week and
an abstract about the assignment? Prof. OC can you clarify this for
me, please? Thanks.RM

[oc]

RM/all:

don't forget that you can use your research for your essays. if you
took notes while you prepared your drafts, this is already done.

o'c

[Bakar]

English 101
Summer 2009
Bakar Diallo

Journal


Week one:

This is my first online class. In week one, my main focus has been to
learn what is expected of me and how online classes work, more
specifically how this class works. I logged on the site and read up on
the class and assignment. I was confused about how to use the message
board so I posted a couple of questions, but through trial and error I
figured it out.

The LACC bookstore did not have the text books, so I read the
Introduction of The Limits of Power, war without limits, online. I
read other articles about Andrew Bacevich.

Also read Jonathan Tepperman’s New York times book review of The
Limit Of Power, We Got Trouble, published on September 14th, 2008.

I read and analyzed Rich Tucker’s article.

As instructed by you, I practiced creating annotated APA style
references. I also posted a question online.

I started working on essays 1.1, 1.2 and 1.3 almost simultaneously.

Weeks two and three:

- As instructed, I read through my classmates e1.1 and e1.2 posts. I
review one. I read a revision of my e1.2. I once again practiced, APA-
style, annotated bibliographic reference, as instructed.

- I started reading Oscar Wilde’s The Picture of Dorian Gray.

Weeks Four and Five:

- As instructed, I searched Thomas.loc.gov for conressional bills. I
found H.R. 5955: making health care more affordable Act of 2008 by
representative Walberg. I obviously chose the healthcare crisis as my
topic.

- I also researched news articles, opinion columns and books on
healthcare. I continued reading and analyzing Oscar Wilde’s The
Picture of Dorian Gray.
Below is a APA-style reference of the research I did in weeks four and
five:


- Bacevich, A., 2008. The Limits Of Power. Book. Holt.

Millenson, M. June, 8 2008. Want Universal Health Care? The Operative
Word Is ‘Care’. Washington Post.

Blummer, R. , May 24, 2009. Universal Health Care Goes Too. St.
Petersburg Times.

McKenzie, N., 1994. Beyond Crisis. Book. The Penguin Group.

Mr. Walberg, 2008, H.R. 5955: making healthcare more affordable Act of
2008.

Wexler, B. (2007) International Comparisons of Health Care. Courtesy
of Gale.

DeGrazia, D., January-February (2008), The Case For Public Funding and
Private Delivery. The Hastings Center Report. Gale.

I worked on the draft and completed essay 2. I discussed the essays
with a classmate.

Week Six:

- I love movies. Point in case, my major is CINEMA. This was indeed an
easy one to research, actually I didn’t research I just recalled
documentary films about how how former musician wasted his fortune as
well as Mike Tyson.

- I also spent an extensive amount of time reading Shakespeare’s Timon
of Athens; it was a challenge to read the play, but I found it very
interesting in substance and style for the essay 3 assignment.

- I discussed my essay three ideas to my classmates. I also reviewed
other students’ posts.

- I researched Thomas.gov for Bills that relate to the military topic.
I also researched for news articles, opinion columns, op-eds and
others as support for the essay, as instructed.

I wrote and posted the draft and completed essay 3. I reviewed and
posted this journal.

[enne40374]

From: enne40374 <enu...@gmail.com>
Date: Tue, 16 Jun 2009 20:57:37 -0700 (PDT)
Local: Tues, Jun 16 2009 8:57 pm
Subject: hello,
hey everyone, my name is enerel nergui. im a student at wlac
transfering this coming fall.
just wanted to say hi and wish everyone good luck and have fun.
im looking forward to working with all of you :)
enerel

From: enne40374 <enu...@gmail.com>
Date: Fri, 19 Jun 2009 14:26:15 -0700 (PDT)
Local: Fri, Jun 19 2009 2:26 pm
Subject: books
hello professor,
i have a book that includes all the works of shakespeare. if so would
i still need to get the one that is required in the syllabus?
enerel nergui

From: enne40374 <enu...@gmail.com>
Date: Fri, 19 Jun 2009 15:50:07 -0700 (PDT)
Local: Fri, Jun 19 2009 3:50 pm
Subject: essay
hello professor,
i was wondering if i can write the essay with a partial refute and the
other half supporting one of the point sbacevich had proposed? i agree
with tucker on the nuclear weapon point but i agree with bacevich on
the environmental solution. how di i do it?
thank you
enerel




student's e1.1

¶1: thesis statement and summary of argument although
bacevich's solution of getting rid of nuclear weapons is not an
effective one, battling the global warming is without a question one
of the most crucial factors for solution.

topic: Bacevich’s/Tucker’s thesis

+

opinion: is wrong because [summary of reasons 1, 2, 3 in ¶2 below],
and what's more correct/practical/useful on the topic is [student's
opinion—explained in detail in ¶3]

¶2: point by point refutation

reason 1: Bacevich/Tucker claims, "[brief quote]," but that's wrong
because…

reason 2: Bacevich/Tucker also claims, "[brief quote]," but that's
wrong because…

reason 3: Bacevich/Tucker also claims, "[brief quote]," but that's
wrong because…



¶3: support for alternate

reason 1: student's alternate opinion is more correct/practical/useful
on the topic because…

reason 2: student's alternate opinion is more correct/practical/useful
on the topic because…

reason 3: student's alternate opinion is also supported by [author,
title, date] because…

although bacevich was able to recognize the problem effectively his
solution is not fully effective.

if history taught us anything it is that greed is doomed to failure.
Our desire to buy bigger things, better things and ever-more things,
he writes, is bringing the country to ruin. It forces us to borrow
(from China) trillions of dollars
we might never be able to pay back and to be involved militarily in a
region (the Middle East) we’d be better off avoiding.

if our economy has literally hit the iceberg as tucker says, it wont
be nuclear weapons that save us, it would be clean water that would
give the people a chance of survival, that is if we manage to keep our
waters.
when any economy of any country has been good? there is always some
more stabilization, more progress, more money is needed. in every
society there are poor people, every person needs healthcare, so are
we supposed
to wait till everybody is rich to start worrying about our own
planet? how about we take care of bigger things first and then go on
to worrying abpout our convenience?
if we manage to keep what we have and minimize the things we get from
abroad, that means that we wont have to make anymore loans for
something we lost because of our own negligence.
if we manage to do the things we do without consuming as much energy
we are not only saving the planet, but we are also minimizing our
dependency on foreign oil.
as tucker said the prices of gas is a sim[ple supply and demand,
consequently our gas prices will drop which would eliminate one of
foregoing problems of our economy.
Of course, as consumption of gasoline has dropped, so has the emission
of the CO2 that supposedly warms our atmosphere. So if global warming
is indeed a problem, a recession should be just what the doctor
ordered.
And the longer and deeper the recession is, the better. That would be
a Bacevich-style solution, a lifestyle change that would end up
improving conditions in the U.S.
environmental pieties says tucker. we already owe trillions of dollars
to foreign countries, and it is our children who will struggle to pay
for it. why not spare them the headache of caring for the
environmetn.
our planet is our home, remember how much easier it is to clean up out
home when it is not so messy yet? and plus doesnt everyone want their
home to be clean and safe.


at our time of unstability we have to keep a step further and be ready
for the things unimaginable, that is keeping our citizens safe and not
let ourselves face the another tragedy of september 11th of 2001.
the department of defence was ready for any attacks from certain sides
but was not ready for all of them which lead for the manhattan crises.
for anything of sorts not to happen again we not only must keep our
nuclear weapons and
anything thereoff we must have more to keep our indespensebality.
naturally it doesnt mean that we have to use them everytime we get any
sort of disagreement, it says merely that it would not hurt to be a
step ahead and
be ready for any contingensies.
our armed forces are not perfect in fact they are far from perfect,
but it is our goal to strive for perfection as we always do. and
keeping our nuclear weapons and more gets us a step closer to our
goal.
our human force is voluntary, meaning that it is not our duty to go
join the army but a choice. and especially now when a persons
individuality and freedom is hightened as never before it is hard to
rely on our army and its
number. which is why we are in need of more forces to fill in for
people - all the more reason for the nuclear weapons to be kept.


by not using the nulcear weapon we are not only saving the oil we are
fighting for, we are keeping our conscience clean or whats left of it.
by not using nuclear weapon we are not promoting anmy negativity from
other countries which helps us to keep giood terms with them, hence
get the help and money we need.
modern technology was able to come up with a much more effective,
lethal and precise weapons that we dont have to spend our money and
nerves on nuclear weapons.









enne40374 View profile


More options Jun 26, 10:08 pm
hello professor,
on the syllabus it gives us only the due dates for threee essays. and
if i remember correctly, you told us at the in class meeting that we
could write 4 essays for one of them to be dropped. please correct me
if i am wrong or if it is so can you tell me when the due date and
the
topic for that essay can be?
thank you
enerel


essay 1.2 rough draft

title?





Surely what we require today, more than broad condemnations of
American consumerism are very specific solutions to very specific
problems”-says Jonathan Tepperman, an assistant managing editor of
Newsweek International, in his article “we got trouble” posted on
September 18th of 2008, opposing the views of Andrew j. Bacevich’s
book “the limits of power. The End of American Exceptionalism”.
Although Mr. Tepperman doesn’t disagree with Bacevich that that our
nation has a great problem, he doesn’t seem to share the solution and
the very reason that has brought us where we are. An article, which is
a mere report of Bacevich’s book doesn’t have much of neither
Tepperman’s opinions nor solutions, though he didn’t hesitate to
ridicule the solutions proposed by professor Bacevich. Mr. Tepperman
refuses to see that the “grand transformation” we were all waiting for
is not coming anytime soon, which is why even the “small bore”
solutions as living within our means, pursue a more modest foreign
policy, act to abolish nuclear weapons and combat global warming,
might just be our salvation. Over consumerism is no post war
phenomenon, but we afforded to do as we liked before the war and the
meaning of the word freedom had a complete different gist, the one
that doesn’t depend on foreign oil, or goods or even that credit.
Let’s not forget that the problems we are facing today started
creeping up a long time ago, and our nation’s leaders seem to have the
ability to paraphrase the over and over used solutions, that is our
way of getting out is pushing on a closed door without looking for
alternative exits.
“Excess consumption is hardly a post war phenomenon”- says Jonathan
Tepperman in his article “we got trouble”, but what he misses to see
is that Americans were able to afford to use and do all they wanted
because we could afford to do so, and we didn’t have to make debts of
trillions of dollars to support our extravagance. “The immediate
postwar era became the golden age of the American middle class” – says
Mr. Bacevich (the limits of power 25). This is where Bacevich’s
solution of living within our means comes in. He also states that the
United States possessed nearly two thirds of the worlds gold reserves,
the military possessed unquestioned naval and air supremacy, which
leads to the very definition of our freedom. Post war period of our
history has shown that The dependence on foreign oil and products has
changed our way of thinking and the very meaning of freedom that was
established in 1960 – the freedom decade. “The chief desire of the
American people, whether they admit it or nor is that nothing should
disrupt their access to those goods that oil and that credit” – states
professor Bacevich (the limits of power 173). And now, as we try to
not change our luxuries, our mentality of our freedom is changing.
More modest foreign policy along with a combat with global warming is
without a question the first steps we can take towards the resolution.
Professor Bacevich also says in his book:”even presidents – make the
point that dependence may not be a good thing” (the limits of power
173). Number of presidents since the World War II held the same
resolutions for the economic downfall since. It is as if we keep
pounding on the same wall over and over again for exit, instead of
looking for alternatives. Every time someone new runs for president,
we all hope for a new change, without even having the ability to
define that change. Although we say that we are hoping for a new
change, is it change we are looking for or is it that change that we
are afraid of? Regardless, the similarities of policies of our
presidents is not leading us forward, it is helping us to dig our
graves deeper. “Testifying to the spectacular effectiveness of
congress’s reelection of its members, in 2006, 93 percent of senators
and representatives running for reelection won” (the limits of power
69). If we should not be relying on our president to get us out,
should not we try to do something ourselves? It is hard to comprehend
that Mr. Tepperman is not able to see the solutions proposed as
effective.






Essay 1.3
student's e1.3
¶1: thesis statement and summary of argument
topic: Bacevich’s/Valkovic and Burton’s thesis
+
opinion: is wrong because [summary of reasons 1, 2, 3 in ¶2 below],
and what's more correct/practical/useful on the topic is [student's
opinion—explained in detail in ¶3]
¶2: point by point refutation
reason 1: Bacevich/Valkovic and Burton claims, "[brief quote]," but
that's wrong because…
reason 2: Bacevich/Valkovic and Burton also claims, "[brief quote],"
but that's wrong because…
reason 3: Bacevich/Valkovic and Burton also claims, "[brief quote],"
but that's wrong because…

¶3: support for alternate
reason 1: student's alternate opinion is more correct/practical/useful
on the topic because…
reason 2: student's alternate opinion is more correct/practical/useful
on the topic because…
reason 3: student's alternate opinion is also supported by [author,
title, date] because…

Point 1: valkovic – arm trainging is still the same – training is the
basic knowledge of anything, it is practice that makes skill solid
Point 2: If you realize you re ina hole why keep digging? Vietnam war
“never again”
as if cooptation of foes were not a well-established component of any
counterinsurgency.
Point 3: cooptation? We are at war! Since when coopting with the enemy
has become a way of leading a war? If we were to be friends, why are
we at war?
Matthew E. Valkovic is a first lieutenant in the US Army currently
deploying to Iraq. Brian M. Burton is a research assistant at the
Center for a New American Security and a graduate student in
Georgetown University’s Security Studies Program. The opinions
expressed here are those of the authors and do not reflect the views
of the Department of Defense or Department of the Army.

Notes on military crisis:
Military pays to post fake news to Iraqi media
Soldiers turned into social workers
Waste of a lot of money, time and lives
Then indecision brings its own delays, and days are lost lamenting
o'er lost days”- Johann Wolfgang von Goethe.
If 7 years of loss and war has not won us anything what makes some
people think that another seven would
“Operation Iraqi Liberation” the initials “O.I.L.”. Thus, the
confusion in the purpose and the way this war is progressing.


The first part of these notes paraphrases points from the rubric. As
with essays 1 and 2, students should frequently refer to the rubric
while drafting and revising the essay. This essay 3 assignment is one
6-page essay; no separate sections this time.
As before, the thesis topic is composed of topic plus opinion. The
topic for the essay should be a specific aspect of US military
culture, perhaps a topic Bacevich discusses, or a topic from recent
headlines or personal interest. (Note, for example, on a larger scale,
Bacevich’s three wrong lessons and four more correct conclusions from
Iraq and Afghanistan, pages 133—169.)
The opinion on the topic includes several parts:
1a) the correct course of action on the topic, as concluded from
analysis of research;
1b) a comparison between 1a) above and one character from
Shakespeare’s Timon of Athens; explain how metaphorical lessons from
the character can help achieve success on the topic;
1c) judgment on the value Bacevich’s analysis provides in
understanding 1a) above;
2a) the incorrect course of action on the topic—for many this will be
what’s wrong with the current situation or that what Bacevich and
others suggest is wrong;
2b) a comparison between 2a) above and one character from
Shakespeare’s Timon of Athens; explain how metaphorical lessons from
the character can help avoid failure on the topic.
Here are a couple sample thesis statements listed point by point as
above. Note that these examples are based on the essay 2 readings of
Bacevich’s Ch. 2, Political crisis, and Wilde’s Dorian Gray. Students
should use Bacevich’s Ch. 3, Military crisis and Shakespeare’s Timon
of Athens.
Topic:
Corruption in US political culture, as represented by recent federal
and California legislature
Opinion:
1a) must be fixed by practical human logic and, not by any supposed
magic of capitalism/democracy or the kind of irresponsibly wishful
thinking that recently has pushed huge deficits and debt off until
future reckonings;
1b) although Dorian knowingly commits dishonest and dishonorable acts
and attempts to conceal them, he does finally end his bad deeds
himself; this is what will end corruption—people finally deciding that
enough is enough and a different way of operating is required;
1c) Bacevich is right: neither our political structure or our
politicians are inherently corrupt; rather, gradual compromise and
minor acts of greed ultimately lead to thorough corruption. Similarly,
neither Dorian nor his powerful position were inherently evil; rather,
beginning with a minor selfish thought, Dorian’s acts gradually sank
him deeper and deeper, until he was thoroughly corrupted;
2a) what’s wrong now is that so much money is at stake in government
budgets and whomever can present the most attractive package of ideas
can secure millions, even billions, that all sorts of dishonest
deceit, graft, and abuse occur;
2b) although Dorian finally makes the right decision to stop
committing bad deeds, he still represents not only so many hurtful
decisions made earlier but also the wrong way of attempting to atone
for those mistakes: suicide will not solve anything, just as our
current politicians who persist in their corrupt ways until arrested
offer little helpful solution to the problem. What we need are more
politicians starting to make more honest, logical decisions;
topic:
partisan political disagreement and conflict
opinion:
1a) is not wrong: it’s right to fight for what you believe in and
want. Political groups/countries should capitalize on opportunities.
Even if disagreement leads to conflict, in a democratic system of
majority rule, the preponderance of votes carries the issue: some win
and some lose. It’s better to win some real victories (even if this
means suffering some defeats) than to negotiate with those wrongly
motivated and achieve false victory through compromise that leads to
ultimate defeat;
1b) Timon’s friends take good advantage for themselves when
opportunity presents itself, and they protect their assets from
unacceptably risky investments. If it seems like they used Timon,
that’s only a coincidence of perspective: they consistently
capitalized on all opportunities and avoided loss;
1c) Bacevich is wrong to call the current political situation a
crisis: as he paraphrases one of his favorite sources, Reinhold
Neibur, “the charge to love thy neighbor applies to personal
relations, not international politics,” (174). It natural for politics
to be conflicted, even divisive, in a democratic system where votes
are swayed by persuasive campaigning. Bacevich is wrong to expect so
much cooperation, both within the US and internationally: limited
resources are already unable to meet demand, which is growing
exponentially;
2a) it would be wrong for political parties, interest groups, and
sovereign countries to seek peace through constant compromise that
leads not to communal success but to universal failure. Fighting for
self-interest is not only natural but necessary;
2b) Basil Holloway and Alan Campbell hoped to remain true to
themselves while gradually becoming corrupted by Dorian. They should
have kept themselves clear of his influence and stayed true to
themselves. They both gained nothing but found only ruin from becoming
involved with the corruption Dorian represents.