HW Q. due Wed, 6/1

[Jay Levine]

The next topic we'll be exploring will focus on community, obligation,
and conformity. In the chapter 9, "Dilemmas of Loyalty", Sandel
provides several examples where people felt obliged to help their own
community over others, and claims of community trumped individual
rights. Do you think it's more virtuous to volunteer for a clean-up
project in Haverhill one Saturday morning, or participate in a model
UN trip in an effort to seek common ground with students from other
countries? My second question is, do you think it's patriotic to
defend the US by acting as a volunteer "border patrol" ("Minuteman")?
Don't human rights transcend the importance of Americans exclusively?
Is acting that way, which could certainly be interpreted as patriotic,
not showing bias for our "own kind"? Is it OK to show that kind of
bias?

[Rhianna Waterman]

I believe that it would be more virtuous to volunteer for a clean-up project in Haverhill one Saturday because I think that it is our duty to keep our city clean. The model UN program aims to educate participants about current events, topics in international relations, diplomacy and the United Nations agenda. I feel that dedicating our time to clean our city would be more virtuous than seeking common ground with students from other countries. I believe it is patriotic to defend the US by acting as a volunteer "border patrol," but to some extent. I think it is okay to act as a border patrol because their job is to "protect the American public and preserve the sanctity of our international borders." It is showing bias for our ''own kind' by monitoring who enters the US. In a way, it is not okay to show this bias because "illegal immigrants are not terrorists. They want to come legally to do the jobs Americans don’t want, but our broken immigration system doesn’t allow that to happen.' Basically, we cannot assume that every illegal immigrant will do harm to the US.

[Egan Davis]

Probably the more virtuous thing to do would be the clean-up project in Haverhill on a Saturday morning. To be honest, I really think that some parts of Haverhill could use some cleaning up to make our town look a little bit nicer. It seems more important to clean up our city because it affects our lives directly and so much can get done in just one short day. The model UN meeting would have a lot of disagreement and not a lot would be accomplished. Yes, I think that it is somewhat patriotic to defend the US as border patrol. However, we need to be keeping these borders safe for the right reasons. We cannot simply go out and kill innocent people trying to get to America. Many people are simply trying to find a better life for themselves and job opportunities. The problem is, we treat "illegal aliens" like actual aliens. They are not trying to pollute our country, but find a better life for themselves.

[Misa Tran]

I think that both community service projects are virtuous since we will dedicate our time to those projects and try to make a better world around us. Overall, it is just better to help as much as we can rather than pick one over the other. Onto the subject of the US border patrol, I do think it is patriotic to keep the country's border free from danger, yet I do find that the regulations are sometimes harsh on immigration. 

[Stephanie Pelletier]

I definitely agree with the people before me in saying that a community service project would be more virtuous because we can't really help the world until we learn to help ourselves. So, in wanting to make the world an overall better place we have to start close to home. It is patriotic to volunteer on a "border patrol" because you are taking pride in your country by helping it in a way it needs you to.  It is sort of a bias, but we are a biased group of people most of the time.  It is necessarily right though.

[Phil Sasso-Flanagan]

I agree with the majority of people who have answered before me.  I think the community service project would be more virtuous, actually physically doing something in your community like cleaning up seems more appropriate.  I also do think we need to protect our country's borders.  Illegal immigrants come into this country far too often and that is not ok.

[Emily Lawler]

I feel that the more virtuous thing to do would be to participate in the city clean-up instead of being in a model UN program. We need to focus on making our own neighborhoods better places to live in before we go off focusing on foreign affairs. Also, I think that it makes sense to take part in a group that will produce results that we will be able to see and benefit from today. Acting as border control for the United States is considered patriotic in my mind. It is okay for Americans to have some bias, as long as the bias doesn't negatively affect anyone else. If we just want to protect our borders and keep our citizens safe as bias Americans, there is nothing wrong with that. When these border patrols start harming other people on account of wanting to protect American citizens, then the bias is not acceptable.

[Michaela Pierro]

I think it is more virtuous to volunteer for a clean-up project in Haverhill one Saturday morning than to participate in a model UN trip in an effort to seek common ground with students from other countries because you can actually see progress being made and participating in a model UN trip may cause more problems. I think it's patriotic to defend the US by acting as a volunteer "border patrol" because it would be protecting the country.

[Jen Shaw]

In my opinion, i do feel that it would be more virtuous to volunteer
for a clean-up project in Haverhill one Saturday morning, rather than

participate in a model UN trip in an effort to seek common ground
with students from other

countries because our community is our actual home that we should all
contribute to keep clean. although america is also our home, we are
all closer tot he ones in our home town and community therefor it
would be a better outcome to help out more with that. i do also think
it is patriotic to defend the US by acting as a volunteer "border
patrol." this is because you are helping your country so it is
therefor patriotic. even if youre doing something like that, i still
feel like it is patriotic.

[Zachary Brown]

I believe the  virtuous thing to do would be to clean up around Haverhill. It is one Saturday morning out of our lives, and we can make a visible difference in the community. A clean city is a happy city in my opinion. I would rather make a visible difference in the community than argue about differences out of our control in New York. It takes months, and even years to get things passed at the U.N. I would rather make a small difference that benifits the community than a larger difference that could take years to take effect. I do believe it is patriotic to volunteer as U.S. border control, as the definition of patriotic is "Having or expressing devotion to and vigorous support for one's country" The motives have to be legitamite though. You cannot volunteer to "keep out the Mexicans because they stole my job!" You should want to support the U.S for the right reasons, such defending our borders from people that could harm the U.S. and its civilians.  

[Jaclyn Solimine]

I also believe it is more virtuous to clean up around Haverhill than participate in a model UN trip. A cleaner community can have positive effects, while a model UN trip would probably not accomplish anything that really has any effect at all. A cleaner community would be more appreciated. I do think it is patriotic to volunteer in the U.S. border patrol. It protects citizens and communties from potentially harmful immigrants who could be a source of crime or danger. I don't believe it is being biased. If people want to come to America, they can do it legally.

[Emily DelDotto]

I personally think it would be the more virtuous thing to do would be to clean up Haverhill. Modeling the UN would cause many disagreements and most likely no progress would be made. I also think it's patriotic to defend the US by acting as a volunteer "border patrol" because it's protecting the country. It is kind of biased, but it's necessary in order to protect our country in a way.

[Lucille Sirois]

I, like many others believe that the more virtuous thing to do would be to have a cleanup of Haverhill. We first need to start small in order to make big changes in our world. Improving our community would be much more appreciated than going with the Model UN which, in the end, you might not get anything accomplished. I also think that border patrol is a patriotic action. This is because it is protection our country and the citizens. I also don't think that it is biased because I feel that if someone wants to be a part of our country, they can take the citizenship test and do it legally.

[Shain Roche]

I'd say community service on a Saturday would be more virtuous. A
"border patrol" in my eyes could be seen as patriotic, but it might
also seem rebellious and an act against one's own country. It would
show bias of our own kind.

[Maia Johnson]

I would also say that it is more virtuous to do a cleanup in haverhill. I agree wwith lucille that doing something in your community is much more appreciated. I think that if you do something small like that more people may be incouraged to help out in your own community where it directly benefits more people close to you. at the UN meeting some things may not even be accomplished.  Border patrol is, in my opinion a partiotic action,  in which a person is protecting their country.  It is not biased because if a person wants to gain citzenship, it should be done legally

[George Bonner]

Yes. It is more virtuous to do the volunteer project because the
model UN thing will accomplish nothing. The border patrol thing is
kind of confusing. Americans are a higher priority than everybody
else (from a national security perspective)
Patriotism is very good.

[Nick Roy]

I think it's more virtuous to go to the model UN thing because it creates a better situation for countries rather than one part of Haverhill. I also think it's virtuous to act as a volunteer Minuteman because you're giving up your own time to defend your country. Yes we do transcend, and it's also okay for you to be biased about your own country because if you really do like your own country, then that is enough for you to believe it's better.

[Adelise Roberts]

I think it is more virtuous to go cleanup Haverhill because we are starting small and work bigger.  I also agree with what Nick said about being a Minuteman.  

[Adelise Roberts]

[Adelise Roberts]

I think it is more virtuous to go cleanup Haverhill because we are starting small and work bigger.  I also agree with what Nick said about being a Minuteman.  

I do not think it is bias.  I agree with many of the other students that if you are going to get your citizenship it is not bias.