“Voicing your opinion is important!” is what you hear especially when it comes to elections, “It is your basic right to say what you think” is what you are taught in school. Yet, when looking at reality we notice that we must not use a vast variety of words to actually express ourselves, and neither are we allowed to offend other people if necessary to point out mistakes. So how free is our freedom of speech really?

Examples of American colleges show how bad the situation truly has become. Students are told which words to use and what to say at the school grounds. Free-speech-zones are existent at most campuses, however they usually only take up areas of about 1-2% of it.

Another demonstration for the limitation we are facing nowadays, which also includes many parts of political correctness, is that many titles as well as the content of numerous pieces of literature, music or games had to be changed because they contain words as for instance “nigger”. Yet, as the fantasy novel “Harry Potter” shows with the usage of the name “Voldemord”, restraining from utilizing a word only makes it more fearful and gives more power to it.

Therefore, after having gone through all the mentioned issues about our freedom of speech the main question whether we actually are allowed to use the language we want to express ourselves with, but most significant of all also to criticize people, as this is the only way change can be brought along, arises. Looking back to Charles Darwin’s theory of evolution, changes are needed as only the best adapted can survive. So why should we make life comfortable for the weak ones who are not capable of sustaining themselves, but are slowing down the process of change at the cost everybody else when nature would have already dropped them? Still our twisted society keeps on dragging them along, but for how long can this continue?

People fought for our right to say what we want which seems to vanish so quickly in some parts of the world, we should not take it for granted. So if we had to decide for all or nothing, I’d go for no rules concerning freedom of speech rather than having every word you voice aloud doublechecked, no matter whether religious, socio-critical or any other aspects alike have to be faced. There is only one thing that should  forbidden – the telling of lies.

Add. 1: Looking at my home country Austria in specific, I feel like the influence of media obtains a very significant role. When voicing an opinion which does not accord to the journalists’ ideas you are “marked” as either Communist or Nazi and have several status-destroying articles written about you. Therefore, saying what you really think is impossible when you are not willing to risk what you have, even though the new image media is giving you might not be true.

Add. 2: Also this text had to be censured not to upset anybody reading this text from any part of this world too severely.

Images: Opinion, Freedom of Speech

Those are the links to the comments we were asked to write in assignment #17. Have a look at…

…Jillian’s blog

…Tiki’s blog

…Trinitty’s blog

The text I am probably most satisfied with is my Worst Case Scenario chapter containing the final showdown of our fighters for surviving. I figure this is because we could write completely freely and had no restrictions at all. Still our plot was well thought through and there was enough time to build up tension as well as to indicate what might happen next as we worked in groups where many brains had many ideas and could write a whole lot of words.

Second in my ranking is the story “B13 – Threatening Occasion” which we had to write at the very beginning of the school year with the help of a picture we had to build the content around. What I really liked was the fact that we could simply make up a fantasy story and find out what being under suspense whilst writing actually means.

Last but not least, what I also enjoyed was the text “Saving Our Planet” as I really put a lot of effort into it. It should be one of our best and this is what I tried to make it. Also, I liked that we could just go into ourselves to bring up innovative ideas concerning the topic “Inventions”.

I hope that the possibility of writing such texts will still exist in our future time, especially doing another project as the Worst Case Scenario one would be great and welcomed by probably everybody. Hardly anywhere the chance to be creative in that kind of way is given. Thank you!

This is what I expect myself to have reached by the year 2020 when I am done with school:

• Be part of the EUSO (European Union Science Olympiad) team at least once

(This in every case hast to be reached due to sisterly competition)

• Gain some more social-interaction skills

(I’m sure I have improved on that a little this year too, however, there is still a far way to go)

• Stay as optimistic as I am in spite of whatever difficulties might have to be faced

(I am proud of the way I am able to look at the world and to motivate myself as a consequence of that)

• Never lose my ambition and self-consequence

(That point connects to the previous one and is at least of the same value; the fact that if I decide on something I am (most of the time) really going to do it is what helps me to manage my time so easily as I do the things I have to do just really fast without letting me be distracted)

• Have (had) a real boyfriend

Images: bucket list (CC0 license); optimistic (CC0 license)

Life has become harder throughout the years, especially for young people. Education as well as work are more challenging now and real friends to rely on can hardly ever be found. All those aspects describe only a small part of the variety of difficulties that many people neglect to be enhardening. However, are they right?

The first point to look at would be education. As scientific knowledge has improved dramatically, also the curriculum at school had to adapt and enlarge. In addition, teaching methods have changed giving more information in shorter time, leaving no time for comprehension, time which then has to be sacrificed from leisure.

Working-life has become harder, too. Especially the competition for jobs has increased, as more people are living on this planet, but also due to the fact that machines take over many tasks.

Besides that, the balance from those two parts of life given to you by friends and family vanish. Time is spent with smart phones instead of people and those who are looking for social connections will find themselves relaxing the few free minutes they have as our fast spinning world doesn’t grant any more.

Overall, taking into consideration that not only school- and work-life have become harder also their balance given by friends is lost. Therefore, trying to stop this development has to have our highest priority.

Image: pencils (CC0 license); phone vs. love (CC0 license)

Imagine there was a way of stopping global warming; imagine that a type of energy harnessing could convert the heat stored in our oceans into electricity; imagine what would happen if we were the ones to decide about our climate. In theory this idea is only pretty close to possibly saving our planet.

This is how it could work: As physics class taught us heat is only another form of energy. It is the kinetic energy carried by any atom which is swinging in place more intense the warmer it gets. Now look at our oceans constantly being constantly heated up by sunrays that can only hardly leave our atmosphere due to the greenhouse gases blocking them off. The potential of energy they contain is enormous. If we then only used this capacity like we do it anywhere else with either a dynamo powering your bikes light at the usage of a circular movement or like with a pressure system as done in wave energy converters to power a turbine just in a much smaller way on a larger scale, we would be able to cool the seas by harnessing electricity. Therefore less fossil fuels would have to be burned and the temperature of our planet could be controlled.

All of our ecosystems, fauna as well as flora, could be preserved. Coral reefs especially suffering from only slightly higher water temperatures as well as all other marine life and that on land could be preserved. Also the formation of destructive hurricanes which are in need of warm ocean currents could be prevented, however probably most important of all; polar caps would be able to enlarge their size again saving vast coastal areas from drowning.

Yet, that type of energy harnessing still is dangerous to a greater extent than we might imaging as if the control over those power plants fell upon the wrong ones the potential damage is devastating. Corrupt politicians could take advantage of their position as it would be a matter of pressing the correct button to make our globe drown in order to valorize the land that is still available and sell it to those who can afford. But also into the other direction harm can be caused. If our earth was cooled down too much making all our crops be destroyed by frost, expensive artificial food would be the only way those who have the financial liquidity could survive. So only imagine what would happen if the power arose upon those who misused it.

After all, energy gaining could redevelop on a new scale by using the oceans heat to produce electricity instead of combusting fossil fuels releasing even more greenhouse gases that would even encourage that vicious circle of destroying our planet. It would be a way to save all of it, however, if used wrongly it could also turn into a money-driven disaster. In this sense, would it really be reasonable to make people be able to control their climate?

Images: Save the Planet (CC2 license); Earth on Fire (CC0 license); Ocean (CC2 license)

Why is our world so unfair?

Why does it give me a nightmare

To think of all that’s going wrong,

Things that shouldn’t continue for long.

A reason for war is what I’m looking for

Why should we go shoot each other?

Replacing love for evermore?

Let’s spread joy and peace, rather.

There are other problems to face too,

How about terrorism,

Or looking at prejudice which’s not true,

Like often practiced racism.

Why is it that people die of thurst

and that others starve to death?

How come that our system still’s not burst

And that we’ve not run out of breath?

People wandering about all those questions

Seem to have no suggestions

However, what needs to be done,

Is simply: love EVERYONE!

Image: Unfair (CC3 license); Love Tree (CC0 license)