Author: Jeffrey Pitts

How does making a budget reduce impulse shopping? Now, some of you reading this may not know what budgeting is, so here is a reliable definition: according to Consumer.gov, “A budget is a plan you write down to decide how you will spend your money each month. A budget helps you make sure you will have enough money every month. Without a budget, you might run out of money before your next paycheck.” Budgets are extremely helpful if you have a job and you have to pay for different thing. Here is an example of a way to budget that some people might use: These people ,every month, cash in their paychecks and divide the cash into different piles for different things they need to pay for. They then put the different piles of money into different envelopes each labeled after the different pile of money put into it. For example, the pile of money labeled Bills goes into the Bills envelope, or the Groceries pile goes into the Groceries envelope, or the Savings pile goes into the Savings envelope. Some people do this, except online. I think that this type of budgeting woks best for me. Maybe one of these other forms of budgeting works best for you. Some other forms of budgeting are the zero-based budget, best for tracking consistent income and expenses; the pay-yourself-first budget, best for prioritizing savings and debt repayment; the envelope system budget (what I just explained to you), best for making your spending more disciplined; the 50/30/20 budget, best for categorizing “needs” over “wants”; and the no-budget budget, best for lowering and avoiding debt. You can chose the best way to budget for you depending on where you are in life.

What is impulse shopping? In my own words, I think that impulse shopping refers to buying something because you like it. According to Verywell Mind, “Impulse shopping involves buying items that a person was not planning to purchase.” Both of these definitions are true. For example, you could be at a store buying groceries, and then, all of a sudden, you see something that you like, and you end up buying it. You bought because you liked it, but you were not planning on buying it. That is impulse shopping.

How does making a budget reduce impulse shopping? What I think, is that a lot of people impulse shop, but what if you impulse shopped so much, that you did not have enough money for you bills that you have to pay for? If you budgeted (lets use my envelope example used earlier) and you put your money into the several different envelopes, when you go shopping, you know how much money you are able to spend. You may even have an envelope labeled Impulse Shopping, and that is the total amount of money you can use on impulse shopping, and that is fine. But if you budget, you have a better chance of resisting impulse shopping, which can quickly deprive us of our money.

How did Cotton and Winthrop view the emigrating people’s connection with the Old Testament? According to Wikipedia, “John Cotton was a clergyman in England and the American colonies, and was considered the preeminent minister and theologian of the Massachusetts Bay Colony. He studied for five years at Trinity College, Cambridge, and nine years at Emmanuel College, Cambridge.'” and “John Winthrop was an English Puritan lawyer and one of the leading figures in founding the Massachusetts Bay Colony, the second major settlement in New England following Plymouth Colony. Winthrop led the first large wave of colonists from England in 1630 and served as governor for 12 of the colony’s first 20 years.” John Winthrop is best known for being the first governor of the Massachusetts Bay Colony and for being a leading Puritan founder of New England. One thing that these men have in common is that they are both authors, and they both have books on the emigration to New England in America from Europe. They sailed to America to resist forced religion coming from the Parliament. When they left for America, they did not know what to expect, but thought it was worth it to start their religion with their fellow Puritans.

Cotton is the well known speaker of the famous sermon “God’s Promise to His Plantation”. In this sermon Cotton explained that leaving Europe and emigrating to America was part of God’s will and said that the land in America would be free for settlement for the Pilgrims once they arrived. It is still debated today whether this sermon was spoken before the departure from Europe, or during. Cotton’s reason for leaving was mainly for better business opportunities for the Pilgrims, for the Pilgrims to plant their own colony, better employment, and to have the freedom to have their own form of worship and religion, different than what the Parliament was forcing them to follow back in Europe. I think that this departure for America is very similar to the Israelite’s departure for Canaan in the Bible. Both groups had no idea what was laid ahead of them, but were willing to risk everything in order to make the journey. Cotton also quotes many Biblical passages in his sermon.

Winthrop was in charge of the Puritan fleet going to America. His account is set up in an odd kind of question and answer format. In this ‘different’ account, he tells of the struggles of not knowing what to look forward to in this place where they were setting up this new colony. This is kind of like the account of the Israelites. His hope was that the Puritans would work together to build a strong working body, but it did not turn out as hoped. Many Puritans disobeyed laws and grew further from the reason they even set foot in America in the first place.

Cotton and Winthrop spoke about a lot of Old Testament commandments and regulations that they put into their accounts that they spoke to the Puritans. You could tell that despite their lack of knowledge of knowing the future, they were confident that is was in God’s will to go to America and set up a new colony.

Is “income inequality” a problem? According to Britannica, “income inequality, in economics, significant disparity in the distribution of income between individuals, groups, populations, social classes, or countries. Income inequality is a major dimension of social stratification and social class.” According to International Monetary Fund, “Excessive inequality can erode social cohesion, lead to political polarization, and lower economic growth.” I think that this is enough information to know that income inequality is a problem if it is used regularly.

What have been the effects of foreign aid programs, such that virtually everyone was describing them as failures by the 1990s? According to edubirdie.com, one of the negitive effects of foreign aid is “Increase dependency-less economically developed countries (LEDCs) become more dependent on donor countries and become heavily dependent, which causes the economy the stay at equilibrium” Here are some more disadvantages according to javatpoint.com “Exhaustion of Vital Resources. Has an impact on the domestic industry. Lopsided economic growth. The Dangers of Dumping. Reliance on foreign countries. Opposition to national defense. Economic planning and unpredictability. Legal inconsistency.”

Is it worth my time to get a part-time job at the minimum wage? A part-time job is a job where you work some days and not even all day. For example, you could get a part-time job at, let’s say a fast food restaurant, but you have school the same days that you work. You do school during the day until the time that you stop, and then you go work at the restaurant until your “shift” ends. You could also get a summer job and work over the summer when you have more free time and no school. That is a part time job. But what is the minimum wage? Different states have different minimum wages, so I am going with the minimum wage for Illinois, the state I am currently living in. The minimum wage for Illinois is $13.00 per hour (you must be 18 years old or older for this pay in Illinois). If I worked for three hours a day, five days a week, that would be $195.00 per week. Now, is it worth my time to get a part-time job at the minimum wage? Currently, my schedule is pretty packed every day, so I cannot get a part-time job, plus I am just 15 years old. But I could find a decent job over the summer if I wanted too. And when I am in college, I probably find a part-time job if my schedule is not as packed as it is now. So currently, no it is not worth my time, but it could be in the near future.

William Bradford was an emigrant to Plymouth Colony in 1620. He wrote a book called Of Plymouth Plantation while he was in Plymouth Colony. According to Study.com, “ This book focuses mainly on the journey of the pilgrims from England to North America and discusses the founding of the Plymouth settlement. It gives his opinions on the biblical importance of the pilgrims reaching America and their struggles. The second book was not completely finished because of Bradford’s death.” Of Plymouth Plantation was William Bradford’s journal that he wrote in while he was in Plymouth Colony. The purpose of this journal was to inspire others in the Plymouth community with a history of the origin of Plymouth Colony, and the challenges that the first settlers overcame. Here is a summary of this journal:

To start, many Christian Europeans fled England because of persecutions, so many emigrants moved to Leiden. There they stayed for around 12 years. A debate began to leave or stay. They chose to leave, and they hired a ship and some left Holland. It turned out that they learned at Southampton that the promised supplies were less than expected, so they had to sell goods to raise 100 Pounds.They had a leaking ship problem on the Speedwell, so 11 people boarded the Mayflower; 20 returned to London while 103 departed for America. It was about winter time in New England. The Pilgrims, as we call them now, landed at Cap Code, and spent November there. In December, they sent 10 men to go look for a better place, and Indians attacked where the 10 men landed. Firearms scared away the Indians, and miraculously, no one was hurt. The 10 men moved on, and they found a harbor.The Pilgrims then moved to the harbor. They then build a storehouse and a small house. Sadly, half of the Pilgrims died due to the harsh cold, the lack of food, and a disease called scurvy. Almost half of the seamen died as well. Then one day, the famous Indians Samoset and Squanto arrive. Squanto had lived in England for a time, so he understood the language of the Pilgrims. He had become a valuable translator between the Indians and Pilgrims. They also showed the Pilgrims how to plant food in that area and how to hunt. Then the Indian chief Massasoit arrives. The Pilgrims and Indians then make a peace treaty. Threats from local Indians (different Indians) forced the Pilgrims to build a fence, and then later, a fort due to their fear of the Indians. At this point, Bradford is now governor.The harvest was sparse. A ship arrives with over 40 people, and the Pilgrims fear that these newcomers will eat their crops, and the newcomers feared that the Pilgrims would eat there food, so to solve this problem, each group at their own food. The Pilgrims then began trade with England. The Pilgrims began using wampum for trade, and the Indians noticed this. The Indians had not previously used it for money, but they started to and got into the trade. The king declared a law against selling guns to Indians. When Captain Wollaston and Morton arrive. Wollaston leaves for Virginia, but Morton stays. He was a lawyer and took over the colony as soon as Wollaston left. Morton began selling guns to Indians. Towns tried pressuring him to stop, but he refuses. Captain Miles Standish is then sent to arrest him, and Morton is taken to England. The region was now very prosperous in 1632.

Was Bradford’s account a morality tale for future generations? According to Study.com, “Overall, Bradford’s account is considered accurate and telling of the time period, but it is also considered biased with a bit of propaganda intent on inspiring future generations of Pilgrims. Even though his text is now over 400 years old, the majority of it is still legible“

What is the process by which the market economy tends toward an improvement in the standard of living? The answer is economic growth. According to CK-12, “Growth in an economy is measured by a continual increase in the production of goods and services. As a result of economic growth, the standard of living improves, meaning people are making more money, the population is able to grow, and education levels rise.“

What are some of the problems with the concept of public goods? Public goods usually refer to a commodity or service that is made available to all members of society, in economics anyway. They are also usually collectively paid for by taxation and are administered by governments. Examples include national defense, rule of law, law enforcement, and even much simpler things like drinking water and clean air to breath. An important issue that relates to public goods is known as the free-rider problem. According to Investopedia, “Since public goods are made available to all people–regardless of whether each person individually pays for them–it is possible for some members of society to use the good despite refusing to pay for it.” According to Study.com, “The free-rider problem arises when individuals who benefit from a public good avoid paying for it. Because consumers have the inducement to be free riders rather than purchasers, the market will not generate an efficient outcome and hence market failure.” If large, or widespread enough, the free-rider problem could destroy markets, and then no one else could use it.

If the state regulated garage sales, would poor people be better off? Garage sales are a way for people to make money by selling their stuff. People put up signs telling people where the garage sale is located, they set up there stuff on tables outside, and people come and buy stuff for less money than what they would buy at a store. It is a nice way for people to sell old unwanted stuff and make money off of it, and it is also a nice way for people to buy stuff for cheaper than what they might find at a store. And the best part, it is not state regulated, meaning the state is not involved in any garage sales. But what if the state was involved? What it the state was involved in garage sales, and regulated them? Would poor people be better off? It really depends on the type of state. If it was a bad state, then the state would probably send people to price everything, and they might price things too low or too high, or they may force a fee to hold a yard sale, they may even say who can come to the yard sale and who can not. In this case, poor people would not be better off. But if it is a good state, they may not intervene in a garage sale. They may even send a police officer to things are not stolen, or to make sure people are not hurt, or things like that, which would make poor people better off.

In my opinion, does the state have the right to redistribute wealth from some people to others? This is a very simple answer. The answer is no. The state cannot take wealth from some people to give it to others. If the state took money from you and gave it to another person, that would be a violation of your right to property, because your wealth is your property. The state cannot make you give your property to someone else, even if it was the president himself telling you to give your wealth to someone else, you do not have to do it. It’s your property, not his. Now you can make a choice to show kindness to people who are less fortunate than you, but no one should have to make you do it. Now, some governments take wealth or property to give to other people, but they are wrong.

“Why do you think the information that I have covered in the first ten lessons is not covered in American history textbooks in high school or college?” This is my teacher talking to me, and the information that he has covered in the first ten lessons of my school subject is not located in any textbook and is not taught in high school or college, and he wants me to answer why I think that is. First I am going to give you a brief overview of what is in the first ten lessons:

I learned of the Oronteus Finaeus Map. This is a map of Antarctica with no ice, and it was said that the first maps of Antarctica was made in the early 1900s, but this map was made thousands of years earlier. Also the Los Lunas Stone, the Bat Creek Stone, and the West Virginia Cave Inscription. I am not going to go into much detail, but considering all the facts, such as the location, the language on the stone, and the people who lived there at that time, Barry Fell, a Professor of invertebrate biology at Harvard and an expert on ancient languages, deducted that people from Europe came to America thousands of years before Columbus. Now, this angered the guilds who believed “Columbus was first”, so they called Fell a fraud and said that the stones with markings on them were just scratches on a rock. But it turns out that the markings on the rocks found in America are found all over the world, even in Europe. European scholars even confirmed Fell’s suspicions about people coming to America before Columbus. These guild members were furious with Fell and the evidence was so widespread that the decided that if they kept silent about it and did not talk about it, then it would be forgotten. Fell wrote books about pre-Columbus visits to America, called America B. C., Saga America, and Bronze Age America. In these books he talks about rocks with ancient languages and uses them to prove that there were pre-Columbus visits.

Now that I have explained the background for the topic “Why do you think the information that I have covered in the first ten lessons is not covered in American history textbooks in high school or college?”, I think I am ready to give you my answer and opinion on this topic. I actually have three reasons why this happens. Number 1, I think that back then, people did not know that people came to America before Columbus, so they taught that Columbus was first to America, and number 2, this was taught for generation to generation for so long that people decided that Columbus was first, so they left out of the textbook the fact that people came to America before Columbus, and when people come up with proof that people were here before Columbus, people who believe “Columbus was first”, would counteract these suspicions, which is what happened with Barry Fell and these “Columbus was first” guild members. And number 3, people just read what is in the textbook and what is taught to them and they stop thinking for themselves and believe what they are told, and also, like these guild members, maybe they did think that Columbus was not first, but there was something that if it was proven that Columbus was not first, something could happen that could shut them down, I don’t know.

 According to Justia Law, “[I]t is well understood that the right of free speech is not absolute at all times and under all circumstances.” So the right of free speech can be in the abstract, but not all the time. According to Foundation for Economic Education, “Property rights then became the ac knowledged foundation upon which other constitutional freedoms rested, including freedom of speech.” So property rights became the knowledged foundation for which other constitutional freedoms rested, and this includes the freedom of speech. So is there a “right of free speech” in the abstract, or is the question of free speech at root a matter of property rights? There can be a right of free speech in the abstract, but it is rested upon property rights, the knowledged foundation for which other constitutional freedoms rested.

What is the difference between negative rights and positive rights? According to Tom Woods, “Negative rights do not require anything from anyone else except not interfering with you, and positive rights place some obligation on others to bestow certain benefits on you.” An example of negative rights is imagine someone is very sick  and the only cure is on Mars. That man cannot say “Go get it because I have a right to my life”, because negative rights means no one can interfere with him or his life, and a mission to Mars to find the only cure is interfering with that man’s life, so he can’t demand that they go to Mars to get the cure. It does not work that way. According to Saint Clara University, “Positive rights, therefore, are rights that provide something that people need to secure their well being, such as a right to an education, the right to food, the right to medical care, the right to housing, or the right to a job.“