Dear Ice Melters,
Your assignment this week is to read this short history about Iceland:
1) How can what you learned help you shape a new government?
2) Please read Andrei’s essay below about why we should consider developing natural resources first.
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ANDREI: Why I think developing natural resources is a higher priority [more important] than forming a government:
First, when I say “natural resources” I don’t mean just the environment but, most of all, people. People are a country’s strongest natural resource. They provide endless services to a country. This resource must be developed first for the country to have a strong democracy. From the Iceland example, we already know that it is possible to live without a government for a short time. If you live without government, people find for themselves what they can do best. They know they have to learn for themselves how to use people’s skills.
While developing the people’s skills, we will naturally discover who is good in government. They will naturally be discovered and their talents will naturally be used in this way until we have an official government. There will be a natural, informal relationship between people who know they have to work together to survive. When everyone finds his place, the infrastructure [how things work together] in our country will also be in place.
With most governments, people don’t think about how to use everyone’s best side and their best skills because they think the government should do everything for them. The government controls everything and people do not really think about how their actions affect the country. It is very popular to just “let the government” fix everything. But all the people in our country should feel responsible for it. If we develop the resources of the land and the skills of the people first, we will have a stronger government in the end. If we form a government first, we will never really discover the skills and strengths [strong qualities] of the people.
With most governments, people don’t think about how to use everyone’s best side and their best skills because they think the government should do everything for them. The government controls everything and people do not really think about how their actions affect the country. It is very popular to just “let the government” fix everything. But all the people in our country should feel responsible for it. If we develop the resources of the land and the skills of the people first, we will have a stronger government in the end. If we form a government first, we will never really discover the skills and strengths [strong qualities] of the people.
There is another important reason to develop the skills and resources of the people first. When you’re doing the job you like, you’re happy and you work well. A perfect country is a country where people are happy and are working well.
If you are working well and you are happy, you work longer and do more things than you need to. That will produce extra resources and products to benefit our country. If people love to work and their skills are being used, our new country will be ready to have strong relationships with other countries.
O.K., I know what you are thinking. What about people who commit crimes? [commit crimes: hurt other people and hurt the community.] This can be solved in two ways. First, there will be people who are naturally good policemen and good judges (like older, wiser people). Their talents can naturally be used to help solve problems. But there is another way we can solve the problem of crime: If someone’s actions hurt others (in minor, not serious ways), they must do community work to make up for the wrong they did and they must prove that they can live properly to stay in the country. If they commit small crimes (like stealing) 3 times, they will have to leave the country. If they commit a serious crime (like killing someone or destroying someone’s property) they will be sent back to their original country immediately. When people come into the country they will sign a pledge that if they harm the new country, they will be sent back to their old country.
People who have no work and no hope, they can’t show who they are through good work, so they show it with weapons. But if you give people good work and hope, if you use their skills, they will live normally with others.
According the first article, the Iceland is a democratic country. The Iceland is a country that respects every single person's ideas. Forming a government is the goal that helps people to fix problems and organize things in order to have a good society. I think that the government is a representative of our country, and it represents our ideas. I agree with Andrei, I believe that the natural resource is the foundation of our country. People cannot always rely on their government for solving everything, and who wants to live in a bad environment.
ReplyDeleteFrom the Iceland article, I learned that nothing works without cooperation. Initially, Iceland was successful, because the people cooperated with each other. Governments would work all around the world, if people yielded and worked together. The new government should embrace this important quality and make specific consequences for occasions when people don't cooperate. An example of cooperation could be the United States' system. It isn't the best system, but it holds on, because each branch or faction attempts to strive for everyone's good rather than their own greedy benefits. Currently, there is a chance that the United States government may shut down because the two main parties won't cooperate and yield their personal interests. It is a good example, because when this system was implemented in other countries, the system fell apart. The main reason this system fell apart was because the countries lacked cooperation and understanding. Therefore, the new government should write out specific rules in cases when branches fail to cooperate.
ReplyDeleteI agree with Andrei as well. However, I am not sure how well developing resources first would work. I think this would work well in a smaller community, because people know each other and encourage each other. In a large community or country, leaving the people to develop their own strengths could lead to dictatorship or worse. What if the person believes their strength is to rule over people? At the same time, it is true that people become lazy relying on the government.
FROM AIDA:
ReplyDeleteHere is my answer to Andrei.
I agree with one of Andrei's ideas. When he says we should develop the natural resources first, I agree that it will make the people strong and not just do what a government says. But I don't think that people on their own can live completely without laws because people have different ideas. When we want to make a country for the refugees who come from another countries, the people from different countries will have different religions, different languages and will be from different ethnic groups. When these people want to form a government I am sure that there will be different ideas. Some people want one kind of government, but others will not want that kind. What will people do when they do not agree with each other? So I think we need a government to make rules for the people. So I think we need laws so people know what they can and cannot do. If someone commits a major crime (like killing someone) I think they should be killed and not sent back to their old country.
When people in our country want to form a government, first they all need to come together and choose a wise person to be the president of that country. They must think wisely to choose a very wise and a smart person as a president. If the government they choose is not helpful and good for the people then all people should stand against the government to bring another smart person.
Thank you, Best wishes, Aida