Naval Yard Shooting

John McDaid

           The violent rampage that occurred in the navy yard is a horrible event that I wish never happened. I believe that there were many things that could have been done to stop this horrible incident, but in this case it just didn't work out for the better. It is crazy to know through examples like this one, that there are such mentally unstable people in our world today that could not only think of doing these kind of things but actually pull them off. It is a sure sign that Mr. Alexis had many mental problems. In my eyes I believe that there were too many red flags that popped up before the incident, to allow Mr. Alexis to still have security clearance. It is a shame that nobody was able to highlight and put the red flags together because this would have never happened. I just hope that the security clearance systems can learn from this event and prevent a future incident like this from happening. 

Syria

John McDaid

            The civil war that rose due to simple and peaceful protests during the Arab spring in 2011 has caused many problems and deaths in Syria. The economy of Syria before the civil war was very diverse. Agriculture, industry along with excavation, retail, and tourism made up Syria’s economy. The economy of Syria was crushed due to the break out of the civil war. Unemployment dropped four times its original standing. Hospitals were dropping, leaving only 30 of the 75 running and treating patients.

            I believe the self-interest of many Syrians is to get out of their homes and move on with their life somewhere else. I do not disagree with the two million people who fled from Syria to Jordan, Lebanon, Egypt, and Iraq. I think that the self-interest of the country has been lost for most Syrians. I wouldn’t call this a selfish move in any way because of how bad Syria is at this moment. Chemical warfare in Syria killed 1,429 people, which included 426 children. Of the hospitals that are still working and treating people, 3,600 patients were treated with neurotoxic symptoms. Homes being destroyed, people being killed/injured, and huge amounts of hospitals closing are sure signs that I believe will and obviously have triggered the feeling of self-interest in the minds of many Syrians.

            Self-interest doesn’t always have to be selfish. The United States in their action must choose a side. Whether they choose to be inactive and not help the people or if they want to be active and help the people, the decision will nonetheless, be one of self-interest. Mill uses the example of democratizing Syria, as a possible solution to its problems. Mill explains that turning Syria’s government into a democracy is not the one and only solution to solving Syria’s problems. However the United States government will like the people of America to believe that because it is in their interest to have a democracy in Syria. There has been democratizing failures of Iraq, Afghanistan, and Libya, that could affect the decision of pursuing a goal of democratizing Syria. Syria could very well be a democratizing failure along with them, or could be a goal accomplished. It is in the self-interest of the United States to get involved and fix the problems that Syria had created for itself or to let Syria suffocate in the hole that will eventually collapse on top of its head.

            Intervening with Syria sparks the thought of self-interest. There is the thought of self-interest in the minds of fleeing Syrian’s and also in the minds of United States people in whether of not to intervene and find a solution that will help Syria out of the mess that they are in.

A Reflection of Adam Smith's Writing

John McDaid

Dr. Herron

A situation may not always be seen and probably will not be seen in the way that you want it to be understood and processed in the mind of a bystander. Sympathy may be given to you or someone else. Sympathy for yourself may not be the strong and barely controllable emotion that is felt from a bystander.

Paragraph seven was very interesting to me because I could relate very well with the example and substance of the paragraph. “The furious behavior of an angry man is more likely to exasperate us against himself than against his enemies. As we are unacquainted with his provocation, we cannot bring his case home to ourselves” (Smith para. 7). In the heat of the moment sympathy may not be felt for you but rather your enemy. A bystander may not have seen what situation put you into this rage and anger, but rather may have only seen your enemy nervous, scared, and defeated. Naturally people would feel sympathy for the underdog and the weaker man. People feel sorry for what is going to happen to the mans enemy because all they may have seen was an angry and enraged man about to defeat someone. Naturally people shy away from conflict, so a bystander would take the side of the man who seems to not want to fight. People naturally sympathize for the mans enemy with fear and resentment.

I was put into a situation that was very similar. I was competing in a wrestling tournament and was beating one of my opponents at the time. For whatever reason, my opponent’s father was not all right with that. Numerous times he walked onto the mat and kept trying to break the match up. I continued to wrestle and later on won the match and placed 3^rd in the tournament. I was receiving my metal and my opponent’s father started an argument with my father. People broke it up and sent the man outside. Little did my father and I know that the man was waiting right outside the doors. My father and I headed to the exit to leave and as soon as we opened the door, the man jumped my father. I was pushed away and was helplessly watching my father fight over something so stupid but something so right for him to defend himself. He defeated the man and got out of the building but only ten yards from the building, he was stopped by a police officer to be questioned and accused of beating up a man for no reason. My father was accused of beating this man up because he did, but was accused of doing it for the wrong reason. All witnesses said that they only saw a man throw the first punch and continue to throw more. They didn’t know that he was only defending himself but also that he was jumped before the first punch was thrown. My father now looked like the bad guy because sympathy was shown for the wrong person.

There were passions that expressed excitement of sympathy, but the sympathy was shown for the wrong person. I don’t disagree with what people thought and said of the fight, because it is what they saw. I strongly agree with Smith and how in some situations there may be no passion that would trigger sympathy. 

Motocross first evolved in the United Kingdom from motorcycle trials competitions, such as the Auto-Cycle Clubs's first quarterly trial in 1906 and the Scottish Six Days Trial that began in 1909.[1][2] When delicate balancing and strict scoring of trials were dispensed with in favour of a race to be the fastest rider to the finish, it was called scrambles, said to have originated in the phrase, "a rare old scramble" describing one such early race.[1] Originally known as scrambles racing in the United Kingdom, as the sport grew in popularity, the competitions became known internationally as motocross racing, by combining the French word for motorcycle, motocyclette, or moto for short, into a portmanteau with "cross country".[1] 

Motocross first evolved in the United Kingdom from motorcycle trials competitions, such as the Auto-Cycle Clubs's first quarterly trial in 1906 and the Scottish Six Days Trial that began in 1909.[1][2] When delicate balancing and strict scoring of trials were dispensed with in favour of a race to be the fastest rider to the finish, it was called scrambles, said to have originated in the phrase, "a rare old scramble" describing one such early race.[1] Originally known as scrambles racing in the United Kingdom, as the sport grew in popularity, the competitions became known internationally as motocross racing, by combining the French word for motorcycle, motocyclette, or moto for short, into a portmanteau with "cross country".[1]  ^{(Wikipedia 44).}

The two competitions that started motocross were the Auto-Cycle Clubs and the Scottish Six Days. Motocross started in the United Kingdom. The whole idea in the beginnings of motocross was to be the first person to finnish in the race, but they weren't called races but rather "scrambles." The word motocross was created by combining the French word Motocross with cross-country (page 1 wikipedia.)

"In 1952, the FIM, motorcycling's international governing body, created an individual European Championship using a 500 cc engine displacement formula.[4]^{" (Wikipedia paragraph 3.)}