Minimum Wages: Should they be raised or lowered?

                                                             

Alexander Birkel

Benefits of Raising The Minimum Wage.

One common system of solving unemployment is raising the minimum wage, Ravi Batra,  in his book End Unemployment Now: How to Eliminate Joblessness Debt, and Poverty Despite Congress explains the theory that, “Productivity is the main source of supply and wages are the main source of demand, and the rise in the gap creates… overproduction and layoffs” (Batra 7). Through this book, Batra is explaining to the reader is the simplest terms how he believes the economics of waged labor works. If productivity is the supply and wages are the demand, then when supply (productivity) outperforms demand there becomes a surplus of goods (profit), and businesses are able to rely on less labor and pay lower wages creating unemployment. For instance, if MacDonald’s, a large chain restaurant, was to pay their workers 5 dollars an hour to complete 10 dollars’ worth of work, then a surplus is created per worker, though let’s say customers are only going to spend 40 dollars’ worth of burgers an hour, so as the business owner, to make money you cut your fifth worker to become profitable. This cutback creates people who are jobless and are demanding wages, even if they are at lower prices, further driving up the surplus and creating more joblessness. Batra's theory is that if you are able to increase the minimum wage, this cycle will not happen, because the minimum wage lowers the gap between supply and demand.

Correlation Between Areas With High Minimum Wage and Unemployment

Benefits Of Lowering The Minimum Wage

The second strategy thought to solve unemployment through a minimum wage is to stop raising it, or even slowly lowering it. There are clearly defined problems with lowering the minimum wage, however, a productive method would be keeping the minimum wage where it is and slowly letting the economy and inflation devalue it. A study in Seattle shows that when confronted with a minimum wage hike; businesses, “Cut their payrolls, putting off new hiring, reducing hours or letting their workers go” (Toggle.com). The study shows that increases in the minimum wage in an area eventually lead to unemployment and poverty. There are two main reasons for this phenomenon, prices for living in the area would go up, and as shown in Seattle, businesses would downsize to compensate and try to get more productivity out of workers. For instance, a jar of honey would cost around 160,000 dollars if bees received minimum wage, and a business forced to pay that would fail. Along with businesses not being able to afford an enforced wage they also will be less competitive with foreign marketplaces. This is why China has such a dominance in the global marketplace, they have low minimum wages and low unemployment. When more foreign and domestic business is attracted through the lower operating cost people will be able to make more money for their labor and will pay more for workers and hire more of them. Also, the cost of living in the area would remain stagnant so poverty would decrease. This decreased poverty allows for more individual purchasing, increased demand for labor, and in effect strengthens the economy and decreased unemployment.

Glossary:

Demand- Want for a stock of an item, in this instance that would be a wage.

Surplus- Extra Stock, in this case, it would be productivity.

Works Cited

Batra, Raveendra N. End Unemployment Now: How to Eliminate Joblessness, Debt, and Poverty despite Congress. Palgrave Macmillan, 2015.

Ehrenfreund, Max. “A 'Very Credible' New Study on Seattle's $15 Minimum Wage Has Bad News for Liberals.” The Washington Post, WP Company, 26 June 2017, www.washingtonpost.com/news/wonk/wp/2017/06/26/new-study-casts-doubt-on-whether-a-15-minimum-wage-really-helps-workers/?noredirect=on&utm_term=.199f5b82f573.

Kiersz, Andy. “Here's Every US State's January Unemployment Rate.” Business Insider, Business Insider, 17 Mar. 2016, www.businessinsider.com/state-unemployment-map-january-2016-2016-3.

Lerner, Michele. “Find the Minimum Wage In Your State.” Bankrate, Bankrate.com, 18 Dec. 2017, www.bankrate.com/finance/jobs-careers/state-minimum-wage.aspx.

Millsap, Adam. “A Statewide $15 Minimum Wage Is A Bad Idea.” Forbes, Forbes Magazine, 10 Mar. 2017, www.forbes.com/sites/adammillsap/2017/03/10/a-statewide-15-minimum-wage-is-a-bad-idea/#5dca95595d4a.

“Pros and Cons of Raising Minimum Wage.” Toggl - Free Time Tracking Software, toggl.com/pros-and-cons-of-raising-minimum-wage/.

The Negative Effects of Music on the Brain

Although music has many benefits for the brain and body there are still harmful effects due to various factors. The most important negative effect music has on the body and mind is based on the quality and type of music. It is different for everyone, as a song that is upsetting to one person may have no effect on someone else; a listener whose passions are strong, will be influenced differently than a listener who is emotionally dull and unresponsive. A person in love will be more excited by erotic music than when their passion is dormant. This can be good for a listener but in extreme cases, when listeners are overly sensitive, music can cause issues for the body and mind. Another issue that can arise is the arrangement of the music played. When different impressions are made in succession, this can arouse “confusing and conflicting emotions” (The Unbounded Spirit). Common scenarios when this happens are when the soothing effect of a piece is destroyed by the energetic effect of the following piece and when the joyful stimulation of a piece is neutralized by the depressing influence of another. These experiences are mostly seen at concerts and can also be the cause of an excessive amount of music played during a long concert. The excessive amount of music “can cause nervous fatigue and psychological indigestion” (The Unbounded Spirit).

The type of music played can also have a negative effect on the brain. A popular type of music that produces this effect is music that arouses the instincts and excites people because of its sensual enchantment. This kind of music can have injurious effects on a human, causing harm to the body and mind. Another harmful type of music consists of those that are very depressing as they can cause grief, distress, agony, and despair. This kind of music may have artistic merit and may have given relief to the artist but will act as a psychological poison to the listener. With proper precautions music can be enjoyed without negative effects coming in to play.

Works Cited

Depressing Music. www.flickr.com/photos/rbochet/6160237496. Accessed 11 Dec. 2018.

"The Harmful Effects of Music on Body and Mind." The Unbounded Spirit, theunboundedspirit.com/the-harmful-effects-of-music-on-body-and-mind/. Accessed 11 Dec. 2018.

Study Music Alpha Waves. www.youtube.com/watch?v=rEEHdaRo5mE. Accessed 11 Dec. 2018.

How Wonder Allows you to NOT to be THAT GUY.

How Wonder Is Used Everywhere

Being that guy is not the ideal position. An action that can help you avoid being that guy, is simply asking yourself questions. You never know what you could learn or what you could further mature and develop to be. Asking question to your favor can show confidence. Asking a question about your health can help prevent sicknesses, infections, and out of place subcutaneous bacteria. Asking questions can also do more than what you think it can. When sick, it is important to ask your self-are you hydrating, or are you desiccating yourself? Going on trips, achieving good grades, and much more good can come from simply asking questions to better inform your future self. In a daily life of school, sports, and friends, your safety, fun, and physical state and noxious situations are always in question. every minute of everyday questions is being asked. Even though it's a simple and easy action, asking questions is used in kindergarten classrooms and even the oval office. The point is, there is no place where questions aren't accepted or used because humans will not and would not of advanced or succeeded life to this day without asking questions to obtain different answers to better inform the future for others. An example of this is in the novel Into Thin Air, "I sat down to rest on a broad, sloping edge, but after a few minutes a deafening BOOM!" (Krauker 200). The author was aware of the surroundings, heard a knack from up the mountain, and was able to ask the question what was that so the author could identifies what was happening and what they could do to avoid any inconvenience or injury. Another example within the oval office is that making decisions is critical for the country's benefits. In this link, President Barack Obama gives his final speech to promote the drive, focus, and positivity towards the future for the people of the United States. If you could graph just the United States on who asks questions, you would have a motley sheet of paper, because every single person does. From the lowest social class to the riches of the rich, everybody makes choices, and asks questions every day, every place. Humans have come to evolve into problem solvers which address the issue or unknown first handed. 

Asking questions and informing yourself is how you will succeed. I went on a trip to Costa Rica and asked myself, what is different here than at home? Why is this trip so different than the last one? The answer sometimes is hidden right in front of you and sometimes it is hidden within many layers of camouflage and answers. 

1) Noxious

Def. = adj. harmful, poisonous

In Text = "... I decided to escape the smudge by moving into the tent ..." (Krauker 62).

Suffixes = ous

Affixes = none

2) Motley

Def. = a cloth woven from threads of two or more colors

In Text = "... was a motley city of nylon domes" (Krauker 63).

Suffixes = none

Affixes = none

3) Desiccate

Def. = to deprive thoroughly of moisture.

In Text = "It was as if there were an unspoken agreement on the mountain to pretend that these desiccated remains weren't real..." (Krauker 111).

Suffixes = none

Affixes = none

4) Knack

Def. = a sharp sounding blow

In Text = "Both men had boundless energy, irresistible charm, and a knack for making women swoon" (Krauker 135).

Affixes = none

Suffixes = none

5) Subcutaneous

Def. = taking place under the skin

In Text = "I'd also burned up all my subcutaneous fat, making me fastly more sensitive to the cold" (Krauker 145). 

Affixes = sub, which means underneath or below.

Suffixx = ous 

Bibliography

     "noxious, adj. (and n.)." OED Online, Oxford University Press, December 2018, www.oed.com/view/Entry/128858. Accessed 3 December 2018.

     "motley, n. and adj." OED Online, Oxford University Press, December 2018, www.oed.com/view/Entry/122723. Accessed 3 December 2018.

     "desiccate, n." OED Online, Oxford University Press, December 2018, www.oed.com/view/Entry/50815. Accessed 3 December 2018.

     "knack, n.1." OED Online, Oxford University Press, December 2018, www.oed.com/view/Entry/103881. Accessed 3 December 2018.

     "subcutaneous, adj." OED Online, Oxford University Press, December 2018, www.oed.com/view/Entry/192547. Accessed 3 December 2018.

     Krakauer, John, Into Thin Air, Villard, 1997, novel

     Iha, James, Villa for rent in Ojachal, Iha.com, https://www.google.com/search?lr=&safe=strict&hl=en&biw=1280&bih=579&tbs=sur%3Afc&tbm=isch&sa=1&ei=zZoFXPeHO4S-tQWm94rQAg&q=costa+rica+howler+monkeys+on+zip+ine&oq=costa+rica+howler+monkeys+on+zip+ine&gs_l=img.3...102494.107915..108119...0.0..0.95.1761.26......1....1..gws-wiz-img.......0j0i67j0i24j0i8i30j0i30.bkgw5VUJwUA#imgrc=FEIigAPkE8gn7M:

     Read Barack Obama's final speech to the united nations as president, Time, December third, 2018, http://time.com/4501910/president-obama-united-nations-speech-transcript/?scrlybrkr=8b0228b0

     Advanced necrotizing faciitis, microbewiki, December third, 2018, https://microbewiki.kenyon.edu/index.php/File:Advanced_necrotizing_fasciitis.jpg

How to be a champion in the classroom.

November 19th, 2018
Hugo Engelhardt
How to be a champion in the classroom

In America, academic achievements and scores define a student’s “worthiness” to a college or business, as grades are a mostly foolproof system of finding talent in such a large pool of contestants. So, a student’s high school and college grades can directly affect their lives in the corporate world for years to come, making it imperative to know how to succeed in the classroom.

Shining in the classroom comes easier for some students, not because they are necessarily smarter or have a higher IQ but because they know what’s needed for success. And yes, some people are geniuses and won’t ever need to study for a test or presentation and still pass with flying colors, but this blog isn’t for them. This blog will instead cover how the average student can elevate themselves to become a fruitful learner. With the help of the book, The Champions mind by Ph.D. Jim Afremow, and other online sources, here are three ways to amass greater success in the classroom:

1.       Don’t rely on skill

The single greatest mistake someone can make in the classroom is to rely on what they already know or are good at. Instead of banking on ones’ skills, “Investigate your weaknesses and target them like a heat-seeking missile” (Forbes). This will make you a better student as you focus on your weaknesses and turn them into strengths, that can’t be used against you negatively.

2.       Organize!

An easy and effective way to improve your performance in school is to be organized. Being unorganized creates unnecessary distractions like losing papers and having to multitask. By having a clean workplace and all your papers in order, you can effectively spend your energy on the task at hand without having to worry about extraneous problems. Staying organized can also keep a student from falling behind by procrastinating, which is the number one enemy of a student who is trying to succeed.

3.       Why not you?

According to Jim Afremow, it takes talent to find talent, “If you can spot greatness in someone else, then you already have some of that greatness, because only a person with similar traits can recognize those traits in others” (Champions Mind pg.2). Every famous athlete, student, or president are, or were, people just like you, with most of them having no exceptional gifts, except for a good work ethic and grit. Being successful starts with asking yourself what you really want to achieve and what’s stopping you from accomplishing it.

Glossary

Fruitful: Something that produces good results.

Amass: To gather something for oneself. 

Extraneous: Something that does not belong; external; foreign. 

Works cited 

Image: http://www.collegescholarships.org/blog/wpcontent/uploads/iStock_000010938758XSmall.jpg

Book: Afremow, James A. The Champion's Mind: How Great Athletes Think, Train, and Thrive. Rodale, 2014.

Blog Post #2

Hugo Engelhardt

December 1^st, 2018

How to be a champion in the world of sports

Throughout the world, millions of kids and adults participate in sports. In some places sports are so popular that the local teams are worshipped by the fans, and sports become more of a culture than a form of exercise. No wonder so many kids want to grow up to become sports stars!

No matter someone’s skin color, age, or economic status the world of sports can always be an escape from one’s homework, job, or other tasks. Sports can be a fun way to get active and sharpen one’s decision making, all while making meaningful relationships with teammates and coaches. But as we all know being good at something tends to make it more enjoyable. So, with the help of, The Champions Mind, by Jim Afremow, and other online sources, here are three ways to improve your athletic performance:

1: Surround yourself with good competition

              As humans we want to succeed and many of us are inherently competitive. Having good competition can push an athlete to the peak of his or her game, “The bodily presence of another athlete is a stimulant that arouses the competitive instinct, and thus, makes the athlete compete at a higher level” (The champions mind pg.2). This competitive nature and will to succeed normally leads to an improved performance for the athlete.

2: Practice, practice, practice!

              Have you ever wondered how Ronaldo can shoot the soccer ball at such a fast pace, or how Connor McDavid is so blazing fast on skates? The answer: Practice, practice, practice. While the 10,000-hour rule may not be 100% accurate, practice is still a significant part in an athlete’s success. According to a Princeton study, nearly 1/5^th of an athlete’s success is contingent on the amount of practicing they do. So, while you may not have been blessed with the perfect body for your sport, practicing and effort can even the playing field.

3: Have a growth mindset
              One of humanities greatest strengths is the ability to adapt to changes and have a growth mindset. This skill is especially important in the world of sports. According to Jim Afremow, “Being able to adapt is a vital skill for success in sports” (44). For example, when an athlete is matched up against a taller opponent in basketball, he must utilize the fadeaway shot way more than if he was facing a smaller opponent. Its game time decisions like these that separate the average athletes from the great ones.

Glossary

Inherently: existing in someone or something as a permanent and inseparable element, quality, or attribute.
Contingent: dependent for existence, occurrence, or character.

Works cited

Book: Afremow, James A. The Champion's Mind: How Great Athletes Think, Train, and Thrive. Rodale, 2014.

Image: https://www.google.com/url?sa=i&source=images&cd=&cad=rja&uact=8&ved=2ahUKEwi_xNve6oTfAhUCJKwKHeqvAWMQjRx6BAgBEAU&url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.lovethispic.com%2Fimage%2F90556%2Folympic-gold-medalist--hussain-bolt&psig=AOvVaw0xZyDa7kxzBccvrkNNvYh2&ust=1543966813820650

How wonder leads humans to success

How wonder can lead people to success

Created By Jonathan Raclin

     A high school student suffers a lot of stress and responsibilities from school. Success comes with organization and comfortability are crucial to have. Students, every day or week should dally amongst each other, and themselves, am I placing myself in a position to succeed? For myself, I recently asked myself that question and replied with negative comments because my workspace set up at home is inconvenient and uncomfortable. I came up with a way to fix this issue, which is to buy a new working desk. I then was able to asses that something so simple as a desk could affect my disposition, my organization, and most importantly my grades. I also took away that a new study area would lead to more productive working, which in turn would lead to a better understanding of the material I was learning. Through my better understanding, my grades would improve because of the increase of knowledge that I was able to allow myself to gain. In the novel Into Thin Air by John Krakauer, the main character John pays more than  $60,000 to climb Mount Everest. While on the mountain, the viewers on the bottom of the mountain witnessed the weather building up on the mountain and started to ask questions as if the climbers were becoming scant. The viewers asked questions like "... had climbers on the upper mountain not heeded the signs" (Krakauer 8). The viewers on the bottom of the mountain asked questions just like me, so they could better inform their selves to succeed. It is also important to ask your self-simple questions because not only can you better inform your person for the future, but you can lead yourselves or others into new experiences.
     By asking ourselves questions we not only can better inform our selves to succeed but we can gain advantages that lead to new experiences. I keep that thought in my head a lot when I am about to travel so that I can better inform myself to prepare for different kinds of travel. If I were to go on a summer trip to try and visit the orangutans on the islands of Sumatra and Borneo, I would ask myself what kinds of transportation I was going to use so I could better inform myself of what to bring or even what to wear. I might have to bring a machete to hewn through the ground brush. Ask these questions I was able to travel to new places fully prepared, and ready to use all my five senses to understand and remember the moment. In, Into Thin Air, the author states that "... for more than a decade it remained an ambition" (Krakauer 23). Krakauer shows a great example of what can happen when you don't ask your self-question. If the author would have asked himself if he could do it, and if he motivated himself to go, a decade would not have had to pass. Just like in the movie, The Martian, Mark Watney questions himself with accretion but waits to do so. Another example of how questioning is so important, and how something as simple as asking yourself if you could do it, could lead to brand new and excited experiences maybe even joined with orangutans.
     Not only do we need to experience and live in a timely manner but we need to preserve the earth for future generations. There are questions we can ask today that could lead to discoveries which would benefit the planet. Improvements are necessary for air quality, safety, and defense, as well as, population control. Asking ourselves is this good for the environment, would be a life changer because most people thinking that question would respond with no, no it is not, which therefore take another poisonous fume producing toy or object to rest. Our earth is being poisoned by our mere presence and will not survive for too much longer if we don't start asking yourself guiding questions. Another area of concern would be safety and defense against and with other nations. The U.S. has had a conflict with North Korea for example, and it is critical that us citizens of the U.S. to ask ourselves could this start a deadly battle. Nuclear warfare is not off the table, so it is crucial for the U.S. to remain bonded with other threatening nations. Population control is also another area of concern because the birth rate vs. the death rate is very unequal. At one point in time, there will be too many people on this earth, and natural causes with start to take place. If scientists or mathematicians don't find proof, and solutions to population growth, the earth will be taken other entirely by humans.

This open door represents an opportunity for someone, something to walk, nigh, or move through. But why? Why is because there is opportunity that you could become wiser, more mature, or even gain an experience from. Humans view this "opportunity" as wonder. Humans see this door through wonder and through question alike; what is on the other side, or what would happen 

Glossary

1) Dally
Definition = To talk or converse lightly
Affixes and roots = none
In Text = "Four hundred feet above, where the summit was still washed in bright sunlight under and immaculate cobalt sky, my compadres dallied to memorize their arrival at the apex of the planet..." (Krakauer 11).

2) Nigh
Definition = To go, come, or draw near to (a person, place, etc.); to approach closely
Affixes and roots = none
In Text = " None of them imagined that a horrible ordeal was drawing nigh" (Krakauer 11).

3) Accretion
Definition = The process of growing by organic enlargement
Affixes and roots = tion
In Text = "The actual particulars of the event are unclear obscured by the accretion of myth" (Krakauer 15).

4) Hewn
Definition = to strike, with a cutting weapon.
Affixes and roots = none
In Text = "Its proportions are too chunky, too broad of beam, to cruelly hewn" (Krakauer 17).

5) Scant
Definition = existing or available in inadequate or barely sufficient amount, quantity, or degree.
Affixes = none
In Text = "Their knowledge of the deadly effects of extreme altitude was scant and their equipment was pathetically inadequate by modern standards" (Krakauer 17).

Bibliography

    "dally, v." OED Online, Oxford University Press, July 2018, www.oed.com/view/Entry/46982. Accessed 16 November 2018.

    "nigh, v." OED Online, Oxford University Press, July 2018, www.oed.com/view/Entry/126957. Accessed 16 November 2018.

    "hew, v." OED Online, Oxford University Press, July 2018, www.oed.com/view/Entry/86561. Accessed 16 November 2018.

    "accretion, n." OED Online, Oxford University Press, July 2018, www.oed.com/view/Entry/1239. Accessed 16 November 2018.

    "scant, adj. and adv." OED Online, Oxford University Press, July 2018, www.oed.com/view/Entry/171918. Accessed 16 November 2018.

     Brack door, Pop Up Stores, https://www.google.com/search?safe=active&as_st=y&hl=en&tbs=sur%3Afc&tbm=isch&sa=1&ei=e9PuW4q0IcLGjwTE5YuQBw&q=open+door&oq=open+door&gs_l=img.3..0l10.34663.36410..37595...0.0..0.126.796.4j4......2....1..gws-wiz-img.....0..0i67.i4wfZPHh91A&scrlybrkr=d7db031c#imgdii=dE28HdM0hmicDM:&imgrc=3QjX2g0P4hrkxM:

    Krakauer, John, Into Thin Air, Villard, 1997, novel