A Puzzled Penguin

  Scene 11 November 9, 2025 Outside it’s 36° F. In the news: It is day 39 of the United States Government shutdown — the longest in history. The unemployment rate is at a 3-year high. In Troy, police search for a suspect in a Shell gas station armed robbery. Every human is fearful of two things: death and the unknown. For me, that “unknown” has a name: AI. It’s strange and intriguing to think that something created by the US could outgrow the US. There is a constant talk about education and how essential it is to our lives. However, isn’t the intended purpose of education is to get a good job in the future? What happens when AI will take jobs? AI, as it turns out, is a very very very broad term. AI, which stands for artificial intelligence if you didn’t know already, is just a process in which a computer solves a problem by mimicking human behavior. These have been out for a long time (to be specific 1955.) For years there was not that much of a significant impact. However, ...

My week could be summed up like this: “I work like a dog, day and night, living off of coffee from a pot.” Wow — if you know you know (summer reading???) Anyways, as I think about this past week, I cannot help but realize that I need to sleep more. Some could say that just like Gatsby was reaching for the green light, I was reaching for more hours of my beloved beauty sleep. This week, I have come to the realization that no one is as good as they seem. In front of every person is a mask of what they want to be seen as. Some people are like this more than others. Unfortunately, I’ve learned this a bit too late, and it was not pleasant. Before I keep on going, I want to make it clear that I am not excluded from this description of the natures of people. Over the past month, there was a “situation” going on. Actually, this situation has been ongoing for the last couple of years, but for the sake of simplicity let’s just say it was one month. Anyways, during said situation, I made a few co...

  He heard the phone starting to ring — once, twice, three times. At last, it stopped. Gatsby stood and stared across the Bay towards the green light. In his head, all he could hear was “You can’t repeat the past.”  For the first time, he stood still. He knew he couldn’t do anything. Gatsby was afraid to lose Daisy. His entire life was centered around Daisy, the longing to be with her, her status, and her money. But none of that mattered anymore. For the first time, he had self control. It felt good. He heard Nick's voice again: “You can’t repeat the past.”  This time, he didn’t argue back. Ever since he got back from the war, he thought of ways to get her attention, but none of that worked. He thought about calling her, he realized that there was nothing he could do. He put down the phone and went outside. The night air was cool and damp. He stood on his marble balcony and looked at the green light one last time. For years, the light amazed him. Now, it seemed like...

  The wealth gap in America is increasing — that's no secret. Just look at this income-based graph by the federal reserve. Over the past 10 years, the top 1% have tripled income, while the bottom 50% has stayed relatively consistent.  When asked about the increasing divide in wealth and power, the most common reaction is fear or anger. They might think that since the rich get richer, the poorer get poorer. Mind you, this is not my own saying. The Percy Bysshe Shelley attributed aphorism (I failed that vocab quiz too btw) says "The rich get richer and the poor get poorer."  In any expanding economy, wealth tends to concentrate first among those who create and take risks. When new technologies or markets, those risk takers get most of the rewards. After all, you reap what you sow. How could this be unfair? It is just a reward for the risk takers. Over time, the profits, income, and wealth slowly distribute back to the common people. Economists call this the Kuznets Cu...

  I recently had a friend that told me that they feel too lonely and dependent on their friends. As someone who usually has some type of suggestion when complaints are made, I felt quite useless at that moment. I didn’t know what to say because they seem to always be surrounded by friends and always at the center of attention. At this point, I became puzzled. How could someone who is so socially active (at least from the outside) feel lonely? There, I realized that loneliness isn't a lack of interactions from other people, it’s about the desired social connections they lack. Sometimes, the desire to be understood is the biggest desire one could want: a feeling that you are not alone. That story reminded me of Dvořák, especially his “American” string quartet and his “New World” symphony. When he composed these two pieces, he was living in the United States, which was far from his home in Europe. To everyone else, he was praised, admired, constantly surrounded by students and fellow ...

Everyone loves freedom. It’s on bumper stickers, posters, and it is also my excuse to eat cereal for lunch. After all it’s a “free” country isn't it?  America is called “the land of the free” (free shipping is usually included as well” but I would argue that it is the most misunderstood concept. In class, we were asked to read Civil Disobedience and The Swimmer . The two essays presented two different ideas to me. The former tells us to “be a friction” to the government while the latter tells us that we should just go with the flow. However, before I dig deeper, I’d like to address some problems I have with Civil Disobedience that I have to get it out(feel free to skip to the next paragraph.) First, how can you say that the power should be put in the minority? I promise you if that was the case the world would be over already. Did Mr. Thoreau even think about what groups are part of the minority? The minority could be a hate group for all you know (that would end pretty badly won...

  In the summer of 2025, I saw our president hand out tariffs like Oprah handing out cars: “You get a tariff! You get a tariff! Everyone gets a tariff!” No one was safe from this gift. Friends, enemies, and neighbors all were all chosen. I didn’t think much of it (besides the fact that our president basically announced a bar brawl and invited the entire world to it.) Like one would expect, the other invitees took a small swing back, a mere 20% increase on all American goods. It’s like watching kids on a beach building sandcastles. One kid goes to stomp all over the other kid’s sandcastle, yelling that he is the best. Naturally, the other kids go stomp on the troublemaker’s sandcastle. Problem solved right? Unfortunately, that is not the case. In the end, no one has any castles left — it's a lose-lose situation. But I mean hey, who doesn’t like a good scuffle? Imposing tariffs on each other limits trade. As one would learn in economics 101, countries specialize in certain produ...