Assignment 6- Thomas Ueland

3 Prompts:

1)   What is your opinion on the Syria affairs? Is it reasonable for the USA to take action and why or why not?

2)   Professional sports have recently become extremely lucrative jobs. Is it acceptable in your eyes that some of these people get paid more than doctors/lawyers/firefighters? Why or why not?

3)   Compare and contrast the current generation (21^st century) with the generations of your parents and grandparents. How has America, and the world, changed in the past 50-100 years? Is this change for the better or for the worse?

I am going to address prompt #2, about the absurd amounts of money being paid to pro athletes. Even as a huge sports fan, I find it slightly disturbing that people can get more money for putting a ball in a hoop than they would if they became a doctor and saved lives. For example, Lebron James has unbelievable athletic talent. He could play any sport and become one of the best in the world because of his size and agility. But, does this make him more valuable than a doctor, who had to work extremely hard to get through college, graduate school, and a fellowship program? While he is freakishly athletic, I don’t think he is as important to society, and yet America is willing to pay him millions of dollars that could go to other professions or fund our national debt. It says quite a bit about where our society is at; we are more focused on entertainment than we are on practical, reasonable fields of study. Perhaps this is why we are no longer one of the top countries in terms of education and people think of us as fat, lazy gas-guzzlers. If I were Lebron James, of course I would forgo a college education and start making millions at age 18 because you would be hard pressed to find a more profitable career. The problem is that so many people think like this, and a very small percentage of them end up making it big in athletics. Then, they are stuck with little education, no job, and hardly any money on which to live. I will strive to put school ahead of athletics, and I hope America can do the same.