Blessed?

Blessed. What does this one word mean? Earlier in the year we talked about denotation versus connotation. According to dictionary.com,

Bless–verb

1.to consecrate or sanctify by a religious rite; make or pronounce holy
2.to request of God the bestowal of divine favor on
3.to bestow good of any kind upon
4.to extol as holy; glorify

5.to protect or guard from evil (usually used interjectionally6.to condemn or curse

6.to make the sign of the cross over or upon

Of these definitions, the first one is the best fitting. But in class today Mr. O'Connor claimed the connotation of this word meant that people who are not blessed must be cursed. I agree that the word bless carries some devine connotations, and because of this I would not consider myself blessed because of my economic stance. My parents worked hard for their money, and in no way did God choose them to be rich. It was once said that "If you want to know what God thinks of money, look at the people he gives it to."

Now I do not agree with Mr O'Connor completely, although I do agree that we are not blessed because of our money. But most of us are blessed for other reasons. I consider myself blessed becuase I have caring parents. I also feel blessed that I am able to live with many freedoms that others in the world are not allowed, such as free speech or dress. Being a woman in America makes me feel blessed because of the opportunites given to me. Although I don't believe God gave my parents money so I could have these opportunites, I do believe it is a miracle everything came together the way it did so I may life like I do.

What are we afraid of?

Today in class, we discussed the nation's extensive resources spent on our nation's defense. According to Wikipedia, America spends more money on defense than the next 14 biggest spenders combined. That statistic clearly speaks for itself, but how much is too much? When will our spending come back down? But most importantly, what are we afraid of?

FACTS:

I think America has gotten into the routine of being the biggest, best, and most powerful; and we will spend how ever much money it takes to stay that way. Most of the money we spend is wasteful. In 2007, the Department of Defense's budget was 132,800,000,000. That includes the army, navy, air force, marine corps and coast guard. This money, however, does not cover nuclear weapons research, maintenance and production, veteran affairs or the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan.

OTHER COUNTRIES:

America's budget is over eight times China's official military budget. This is ludicrous because China has 1,321,851,888 people to America's 301,139,947 people as of July 2007. We are defending a fraction of the people for a lot more money. Another interesting fact is that America's close allies make up the other highest spending countries.

WHY?

Logically if we are spending more money than other countries, we will probably have more advanced technology and armies. But why are we spending astronomical amounts more than our competitor? We could cut back and still be "in the lead." I think this idea of spending money to get our way reflects poorly among the American public. In this country, people don't set limits. I see this in everyday life with bigger and bigger houses being built in my town. Nobody needs two kitchens, eleven bathrooms, and a three acre backyard. Is the ego of our country getting in the way of common sense? America might also want to be in the lead in defense for respect. But I see the money spent as ignorance and foolishness, not powerful and commanding. I again ask what are we afraid of?

Sources: Wikipedia-http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Military_budget_of_the_United_States

CIA Factbook-https://www.cia.gov/library/publications/the-world-factbook/index.html