The Dirty Thirties Essay Example for Free

The Dirty Thirties Essay I have chosen the years of 1930 to 1940 as one of the most significant decades in Canadian history. I believe this because it might have been one of the hardest decades to live in. Reasons being that we had suffered greatly by the 1929 Wall Street stock market crash and the enormous 1928 wheat crop crash Canadians were barely making any money or just not having anywhere to work because the demand was very very low. Food was running out and the average working Canadian was making less than $1000 a year! The Federal Department of Labor had said that familys needed between $1200 and $1500 a year to maintain the minimum standard of decency. It was a very depressing time, most familys had retreated to farms where they could grow their own food and barely sustain a low quality of living. Being that an estimated 33% Canada’s gross income had been coming from exports the whole country was suffering. This caused many workers to be laid off and the ones that hadn’t been, their salarys were cut down to a fraction of what they had been getting before. Tens of thousands of people had been totally dependent on government relief, which was greatly affecting Canada’s infrastructure. The depression slowly came to end when the war had been announced. There was a great demand for men to become soilders and support the war effort. More and more young men had started lining up outside military recruitment facilities, most of them trying to make their first dollars! The depression had taken its toll, and forced lots of men to join the war effort due to the simple fact that this was the only way to make money at the time witch is pretty sad when you come to think about it. But this wasn’t the end of the depression, it had whent on after the 1940s. Ammunition, supplies, equipment, and weapons had grown in great demand. With less and less men being around due to leaving for the service many woman had replaced men in the work field. Later on getting names like â€Å"Rosie the Rivetor. †

Animal Farm: Importance of the Seven Commandments Essay -- George Orwe

Animal Farm: Seven Commandments Without law and order, it is nearly proven that civilization will fail. Because of this, Snowball saw it necessary to create a set of rules for the animals on the newly evolving farm, so came about the 7 Commandments. Unfortunately, but undoubtedly in the pigs’ advantage, most of the other animals did not know how to read or write. Because of this the other members of the farm had to bestow their trust and goodwill in the more educated of the animals. Little did they know that their innocence and their devotion to the farm as a whole would in the end lead to their demise. â€Å"The birds did not understand Snowball’s long words, but they accepted his explanation, and all the humbler animals set to work to learn the new maxim by heart. â€Å" As the story of Animal Farm progresses, the pigs take a leading role and find themselves hungry for power and suffering from a chronic case of ruthless greed. In due time, the once staple and communal 7 Commandments start to change to ‘accommodate’ the selfishness of the pigs, most prominently Napoleon. Shall we say Napoleon has a bit of a complex? Although all of the commandments originally acted as a bible, their importance is gone now and they have been modified to allow the pigs to be heartless in their ways. Three of these commandments jump out as to being the most important of the bunch. â€Å"Whatever goes upon two legs is an enemy.† This commandment is crucial in demonstrating the betrayal that the other farm animals experienced. This commandment it basically making the point that the animals are good and the humans are evil. In the end, the pigs did what they said they would never do, follow in the evil footsteps of the humans. As the changes on t... ...s and the story has come full circle. Unfortunately this is not uncommon in history. Once one person or group is given a small privilege, the power hunger is inevitable. Political corruption is defined as the use of governmental powers by government officials for illegitimate private gain. By completely altering and depleting the once almost sacred 7 Commandments, the pigs (Napoleon) have done a spotless job of creating and leading a politically corrupt society. The justice of all of the hardworking, devoted animals on the farm has been obstructed. In this case, the law and order of Animal Farm has been changed to the pig’s advantage and tragically, the other animals are oblivious to the fact until it’s too late. â€Å"The creatures outside looked from pig to man, and from man to pig, and from pig to man again, but already it was impossible to saw which was which.†

The Silver Linings Playbook Chapter 6

The Concrete Doughnut I notice that my father waits until the game is just about to begin before he comes into the family room. It is only preseason, so we do not engage in any of the regular-season game-day rituals, but Dad has put on his number 5 McNabb jersey and now sits on the edge of the couch, ready to jump out of his seat. He nods at my brother solemnly but completely ignores me, even after I heard my mother say, â€Å"Please, just try to talk to Pat† when they were arguing in the kitchen. Mom puts the food on folding tables, takes a seat next to Jake, and we all start to eat. The food is excellent, but I am the only one to say so. Mom seems happy to get the compliment, saying, â€Å"Are you sure it's all right?† like she does, because she is modest when it comes to cooking, even though she is a great cook. â€Å"What do you think the Birds will do this year, Dad?† Jake asks. â€Å"Eight and eight,† my dad answers pessimistically, like he always does at the beginning of every NFL season. â€Å"Eleven and five,† my brother says, to which my father shakes his head and blows air through his teeth. â€Å"Eleven and five?† my brother asks me, and I nod because I am optimistic, and winning eleven games would most likely put the Eagles in the play-offs. Since we have season tickets, I know we are assured play-off tickets should the Birds earn a home game, and there's nothing better than an Eagles play-off game. Now, I admit that I have not been keeping up with the Birds in the off-season, but when the starting lineups are announced, I am really surprised that many of my favorite players are no longer on the team. Duce Staley. Hugh Douglas. James Thrash. Corey Simon. All gone. I want to ask, â€Å"When? Why?† but don't, fearing my father and brother will think I am not a true fan anymore, which they said would happen when I first moved to Baltimore with Nikki and gave up my season ticket. To my surprise, the Birds are also not playing in Veterans Stadium, but at Lincoln Financial Field, just like Jake had said. Somehow they have built an entire stadium since last season, and I must have missed all the hype because I was stuck in the bad place. Still, something does not really seem right to me. â€Å"Where is Lincoln Financial Field?† I try to ask nonchalantly when the commercials come on after the first series. My father turns his head and stares at me but does not answer my question. He hates me. He looks repulsed, like it is a chore to sit in the family room watching the game with his mentally messed-up son. â€Å"It's in South Philadelphia, just like all the other stadiums,† my brother says too quickly. â€Å"Good crabby snacks, Mom.† â€Å"Can you see Lincoln Financial Field from the Vet?† I ask. â€Å"The Vet's gone,† Jake says. â€Å"Gone?† I ask. â€Å"What do you mean, gone?† â€Å"March 21, 2004. Seven a.m. It fell like a house of cards,† my father says without looking at me, just before sucking an orange piece of meat from a chicken bone. â€Å"Over two years ago.† â€Å"What? I was at the Vet just last †¦Ã¢â‚¬  I pause because I start to feel a little dizzy and nauseous. â€Å"What year did you just say?† My father opens his mouth to speak, but my mother cuts him off, saying, â€Å"A lot has changed since you were away.† Still, I refuse to believe the Vet is gone, even after Jake retrieves his laptop from his car and shows me a downloaded video of the Vet being imploded. Veterans Stadium – which we used to call the concrete doughnut – falls like a circle of dominoes, gray dust fills the screen, and it breaks my heart to see that place crumble, even though I suspect that what I am viewing is a computergenerated trick. When I was a boy, my father took me to many Phillies games at the Vet, and of course there were all of the Eagles games with Jake, so it is hard to believe such a big monument to my childhood could be destroyed while I was in the bad place. The video ends, and I ask my mother if I can talk to her in the other room. â€Å"What's wrong?† she says when we reach the kitchen. â€Å"Dr. Patel said that my new medication might make me hallucinate.† â€Å"Okay.† â€Å"I think I just saw Veterans Stadium demolished on Jake's computer.† â€Å"Honey, you did. It was demolished over two years ago.† â€Å"What year is it?† She hesitates, and then says, â€Å"Two thousand and six.† That would make me thirty-four. Apart time would have been in progress for four years. Impossible, I think. â€Å"How do I know I am not hallucinating right now? How do I know you're not a hallucination? You're all hallucinations! All of you!† I realize I am screaming, but I can't help it. Mom shakes her head, tries to touch my cheek, but I swat her hand away and she starts crying again. â€Å"How long was I in the bad place? How long? Tell me!† â€Å"What's going on in there?† my father yells. â€Å"We're trying to watch the game!† â€Å"Shhhh!† my mother says through tears. â€Å"How long?† I yell. â€Å"Tell him, Jeanie! Go ahead! He's going to find out sooner or later!† my father yells from the family room. â€Å"Tell him!† I grab my mother's shoulders, shake her so her head wobbles all over, and yell, â€Å"How long?† â€Å"Almost four years,† Jake says. I look back over my shoulder, and my brother is in the kitchen doorway. â€Å"Now let go of Mom.† â€Å"Four years?† I laugh and let go of my mother's shoulders. She covers her mouth with her hands, and her eyes are full of pity and tears. â€Å"Why are you guys playing jokes on – â€Å" I hear my mother scream, I feel the back of my head hit the refrigerator, and then my mind goes blank.

The African American Subculture in Changes by Tupac Essay

The song Changes was recorded by Tupac Shakur, a deceased African American hip-hop artist. He rapped about the African American subculture in America. The record label released this song in 1998; it is still popular within subcultures of America. He grew up in the 1980s, and the social policies of that period, such as the War on Drugs, influenced his music. The videos of the song were found after a quick search on YouTube. The lyrics of this song are found on the internet from Google search of â€Å"Tupac, changes†. I have read the lyrics and listened to the music. Tupac focused on â€Å"that’s just the way it is† through the song (2Pac-Changes). He wanted the African American community to change their behaviors and rise above the social perception†¦show more content†¦This incident triggered massive riots in Los Angeles areas. Tupac was aware of the violence and saw no change from decades ago; racism was alive and thrived in the streets of America. Tupac’s America was a nation terrified of changes. He wrote, â€Å"It’s time to fight back, that’s what Huey said, 2 shots in the dark, now Huey’s dead† (2PAC LYRICS). He believed the government assassinated Huey Newton, the Black Panther leader, a militant group that employed violent means to protect black people from the police. In verse number three, Tupac compared the America’s war in Iraq to the violence in the high poverty neighborhoods (2PAC LYRICS). He then described government policies relating to â€Å"war on drugs, which resulted in mandatory arrest policies, harsh drug laws on crack cocaine, and the explosion of the African American population in penitentiaries. Tupac tried to convey to the listeners the society must change, but it will most likely change for the worst. Strain Theory states social pressure forces individuals that had their goals blocked to commit crime to survive. The theory explains Tupac’s lyrics of the conflicted belief, whether it is possible to achieve the changes he wished. In the song, Tupac encouraged African Americans to change their behaviors, and treat other African Americans as brothers. The necessity of filling a hungry stomach, forced him to commit robberies (2PAC LYRICS). Tupac’s song claimed when anyShow MoreRelatedTupac Shaku Is Hoping for People of All Color to Get Along in Song, The Changes1096 Words   |  5 PagesIn Changes by Tupac Shakur a black hip-hop artist, now deceased, he rapped about the African American subculture in America. The record label released this song in 1998; it is still popular within subcultures of America. He grew up in the 1980s. The policies of that period had influenced some of his music. I found videos of the song after a quick search on YouTube. The lyrics of this song are found on the internet from Google search of â€Å"Tupac, changes†. 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