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- <header>
- <h1>Finishing my coursework, just in time</h1>
- <p>Day 00767: Wednesday, 2017 April 12</p>
- </header>
- <section id="general">
- <h2>General news</h2>
- <p>
- My father wrote back asking about when would be good to meet up and discus their load to me.
- I explained that I had to decline the loan to better position myself for mental recovery, and they didn't press.
- They did offer to help me move my stuff to my new apartment by bike though, an offer my mother never made.
- My father accepts I don't want to burn fossil fuels, but my mother only tried to get me to allow them to "help" me via car.
- My mother knew I was against doing it by car, but they didn't care.
- Even not offering "help" at all would've been better than trying to pressure me into having them drive my stuff over.
- In any case, my stuff's here now, so there's nothing for my father to help move.
- That's good news for me anyway.
- It means I don't have to decide whether to take them up on their offer.
- </p>
- <p>
- My <a href="/a/canary.txt">canary</a> still sings the tune of freedom and transparency.
- </p>
- </section>
- <section id="university">
- <h2>University life</h2>
- <p>
- I couldn't keep my mind on my coursework as much as I'd like to have, and the conclusion of my <a href="/en/coursework/HIST1421/Politics_in_Athens_and_Sparta.xhtml">essay</a> was a total rush job.
- That said, for the length the essay was supposed to be, that conclusion isn't bad.
- It's just that I made the rest of the essay much longer than was assigned.
- Still, I should've done better.
- I should've kept on task.
- I'll try harder next week.
- Additionally, I wrote up my remaining discussion board posts for the week:
- </p>
- <blockquote>
- <p>
- I guess democracy can be abused, but at the same time, lack of democracy <strong>*is itself*</strong> an abuse.
- When others rule over you, you don't have the freedom you deserve.
- I live in a democratic republic, which is similar to a democracy, but the people aren't able to represent ourselves.
- Popular opinion doesn't always win out, as was the case last time we elected a leader.
- The evil candidate got the popular vote, while the even more evil candidate actually won the election.
- In a horrid election, we got the worst option because the votes of the people weren't counted as equal.
- Furthermore, those that represent us are individuals.
- They can be (and often are) bribed.
- But if we represented ourselves, someone would have to bribe most of the populace, which would mean actually helping the majority, not greasing the palms of one person.
- Honestly, I have it better off than many in the world, but I'm inclined to believe that real democracy would be a lot better than anything I've seen so far.
- </p>
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- <blockquote>
- <p>
- Good catch!
- I didn't notice that both "demos" and "democracy" begin the same.
- You're right, they likely share a root.
- The word "demos" does seem to be about grouping things in order to control them as you said.
- So does that apply to democracy as well?
- Does democracy group us to put us in our place in some way?
- </p>
- </blockquote>
- <blockquote>
- <p>
- I understand what you're saying about high tuition.
- I'm still paying off loans for tuition at my old university.
- It didn't really work out for me there either due to money troubles.
- The tuition here at University of the People, at only $100 <abbr title="United States Dollars">USD</abbr> per course, is much more affordable.
- I have many more expenses than I did when I last attended school, and yet money isn't as much of a problem because University of the People makes education affordable.
- </p>
- <p>
- It's interesting how the word "demos" referred both to the land and the people.
- I think even today, we tie land and people together a lot.
- For example, if I talk about the United Kingdom, I could be referring to the people there, the land that the country itself occupies, or the United Kingdom's government.
- In many ways, these uses are often almost interchangeable, even, for lack of a better word.
- </p>
- </blockquote>
- <blockquote>
- <p>
- I hadn't thought about the demos as neighbourhoods, but I bet you're right.
- I was picturing Athens as being much larger than it actually was when I was reading about that meaning of the word "demos".
- Athens is a single city.
- A tenth of the city would be a neighbourhood.
- </p>
- <p>
- Keeping foreigners and women away from political power is pretty racist and sexist.
- The situation has improved since then, but it's still far from perfect or balanced.
- I only hope we continue to even the playing field and continue reshaping our society into something better.
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