Combass

Landon Combass

Mrs.Watkins

English Comp 1

2 May 2017

Nurture vs. Self-Nurture

When I was young I grew up in a very conservative ecosystem and I only knew the

conservative ideas. According to my family Reagan was the best president, people on food

stamps were freeloaders, and any type of government benefit was morally wrong. My parents

were also extremely racist. My entire life I had the feeling that some of their teachings were

wrong. See my parents were the authoritarian type, it was not a good idea to question them. They

wouldnt want to hear your opinion if they had power over you, it was irrelevant to them. I

eventually realized they would never change, so I moved out on my own and changed my views

for myself.

I moved out at the age of 19; When I moved out I was not educated on real world

problems. Instead I cared about unimportant things, like video games, cars, and minor personal

gains. I decided to involve myself with politics and keep myself updated with what is going on in

the world. I found myself to be very liberal and have polar opposite views of my parents. I

started to care about events going on in other countries. I cared more about the rich and

corporations not paying taxes. It all became apparent that I was never focused on real things; I

was only focused on distractions. These were things that kept me from thinking about all other

problems overseas and how some lives are way worse and some are way better.

I decided to learn about other first world countries. I took an interest to how we have such

a low minimum wage and barely any benefits but yet so many other countries have free
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healthcare, $15 minimum wage, paid maternity leave, free childcare, and mandatory vacation.

But we dont pay our workers enough to live with some dignity. We pay our workers so little,

then demonize them for being forced to apply for government aide. Our country makes a profit

off of healthcare, others countries make a profit off having a healthy population. The richest 1%

own more than 90% of the nations wealth. 95% of the nations gain has gone to the top 1% since

2009. And we give way more in corporate welfare than we give in social welfare. This is all stuff

that matters to me and I cant stop thinking about.

My roommates helped me realize these things by introducing me to the facts and

wouldnt let me believe incorrect statements by showing me evidence. I only believe what is

proven to be true. I only believe in actual medicine, prescribed by actual doctors. I dont believe

in all these natural cures or essential oils. When someone has spent 8-10 years of their life

studying a specific subject with degrees to prove it, I think it is safe to trust their judgement. Too

many people are starting to believe their yoga teacher, and 90s celebrities over actual medical

professionals; they let their views be changed by people who are not qualified to give that type of

advice.

So yes my views have changed a lot, and very rapidly. Im so proud of who I have

become and hope to become even more politically aware. I also want to make sure I am on the

right side of history, the side that will go down as the one who stood for the silent. I dont want to

identify with the group that was frowned upon, and lost the fight. I wish we all could vote on

every piece of legislation, even if our vote had no power compared to legislatures. Id like this

because we could use our voting records to show our consistency, and show we were on the

morally correct side. But if we did have the power to vote on legislation we wouldnt have all

these laws that are setup against us. We wouldnt make it so difficult to vote, and to obtain a job
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with livable wages. But direct democracy doesnt work in reality and reality should be something

we all accept.

My view has also changed with religion. I no-longer identify with religion, and come to

the realization that I am atheist. To me it is the only way it makes any type of sense. I feel like

religion satisfies people with not knowing the answers to reality. I understand completely that I

dont know everything, but I dont fill in the blanks with non-credible statements. It is my logical

and reasonable view to believe in science. I put science above everything. I can observe the

changes of the world with internet and the evidence provided that the polar ice caps are melting.

The ice caps are melting slowly but are predicted to accelerate. I can use my common sense and

know with near 100% confidence that Noahs Arc did not happen. Ill never say that I know

without a doubt God doesnt exist, but I wouldnt say the same about the Green Lantern either. A

major part of atheism is questioning everything; I question everything and challenge the

evidence. If the challenged evidence does not hold up to pre-existing evidence it is discarded and

not taken as factual until the evidence to prove it correct becomes available.

Some go throughout life without ever questioning their upbringing and beliefs. I,

however, have questioned what I had been lead to believe is truth and as a result I have become a

better person. I am satisfied with where I am in my moral standing, and I wouldnt want it any

other way. As Cher said Im strong enough to live without you I am also strong enough to live

without the notions that I held in my youth, and I am eternally grateful for my own personal

journey, and where it has brought me.