Comparative Successes

Comparative successes

    Success is a word that’s often thrown around and many people have their individual ideas of what it means to them. The Webster dictionary definition of success is: 1) Outcome, Result 2) a degree or measure of succeeding and 3) favorable or desired outcome; also the attainment of wealth, favor, or eminence.  Since we are emotional beings Success is more than a particular achievement or merely satisfaction with completing a task, success is our life’s work.

    After watching a few videos of the motivational variety, my point of success having a personal meaning seemed to resonate as each individual has his/hers own definition. Steve Jobs the co-founder of Apple computers said, being a success takes a lot of hard work and patience, he also stated that in order to persevere when things get off schedule is to love what you do.  If you love what you do then you will keep it up no matter what happens along the way. Jobs also stated in so many words that you have to have a strong supporting cast or team.

    This attitude would seem fitting for someone who was in his line of business, being a computer mogul in the fast paced world of technology; you have to stay a few steps ahead of the competition. So building a strong team is essential to the success of a man like Steve Jobs because he needs competent people to do the tasks that he doesn’t have time for. Also he needs people to make sure that he as well as others keeps the focus of whatever project they are trying to bring into fruition.

    Will Smith reinforced the point that Steve Job’s made about working harder than the average person will lead to success. Even though Smith grew up in a modest household he was taught to believe that he one day would be very successful at his craft. He also said something that really caught my attention toward the end of the video, he said when he sets a goal there is only a plan A, and that adding a plan B cast doubt on the original plan not working. Doing the impossible is possible was the attitude he adopted, you can feel the confidence in every word he spoke about this concept.

     I think Will Smiths way of thinking serves him well but not because of where he is in life at this point. To be a rapper/actor one has to have a certain amount of cockiness, they have to be very quick on their toes and have a knack for choosing the right producers to work with. As far as the acting part it takes a lot of confidence plus patience, a person has to basically become the role he/she is playing. Another thing I noticed about Will Smith is that he seemed genuine when he spoke. He said that he wanted to make a difference; he wanted his family to make a difference also. I think he has achieved that by being one of the few rap artists to cross over into acting without being cast as a gangster of some sort. Even though Will Smith and Steve Jobs are successful in two different crafts I think they are parallel in the acquisition of that success.

         

Discourse community: fruits of success

Fruits of Success

    Whenever I hear the word vegan I get confused because I really don’t know the difference between being vegan or vegetarian. One of my closest friends is a vegetarian, or is he a vegan?

Admittedly I really don’t know, but I do know that he does not eat meat nor does he drink milk from animals. So would that make him a vegan, they don’t use anything made from animal’s right?  It can get really confusing because of all the vegetarian types such as, Lacto vegetarians who eat diary, but not eggs. Then there are Ovo vegetarians, who will eat eggs, but not diary, the Ovo-lacto vegetarians eat both eggs and diary.

    As I mentioned earlier a true vegan would not eat, bathe in, or wear anything made from animals. I don’t know if this behavior stems from a sense of Altruism or if people who decide to go vegan are doing so strictly for health purposes.  According to the Harvard School of Public Health people who consume 18 ounces or more of red meat per week have a higher risk of getting colon cancer. Studies also show that eating red meat in moderation will significantly reduce the chance of diabetes. So the healthy aspect of the lifestyle has been well documented and as more people crossover I wonder, what is the ultimate goal?

    After listening to Jason from staying vegan.com, I was left with the impression that he was a bit defiant, as he compared vegans to movie stars and people who question their lifestyle as paparazzi. The “us against the carnivores” attitude displayed on the video wasn’t my first encounter with a vegan-warrior.  Earlier this year, the friend I previously mentioned and I were having a conversation about organic food and how I thought it was a scam. He didn’t take to kindly to my suggestion and acted as if I was attacking his lifestyle, in turn he proceeded to inform me of the grotesqueness of ground beef and poisoned chickens.

    I guess a person would build up a defense mechanism if they were constantly questioned about the food they chose to consume. I am in a similar circumstance because I don’t eat pork and every now and then I get interrogated about it or asked am I a Muslim. So I guess the attitude some take towards people outside of the vegan group can seem irritable but who would want to constantly be in defense of their lifestyle? As far as using the naysayers for motivation, I say we all draw our inspiration from one source or the other. If doubters compel you not to backslide and have that double cheeseburger, more power to you.

    Since there are so many people that are falling off the “fruit cart” according to Jason from vegan.com, from what he described, vegans enjoy small successes. Successes like fighting off the cravings for meat, which I imagined would happen more frequently to the newer vegans trying to stay pure in a grill infested world.  Jason also mentioned how triumphant one would be after he was weaned off meat products, and then you can fully represent the best of the vegan culture. Success was basically measured by simply remaining in the lifestyle which seems to be very easy criteria on the surface, but to seriously consider discontinuing the use of animal products one has to posses a strong will and be ready to defend their beliefs.

    

Source of Discourse In my Community

                                                          Groups I'm Associated with



Family
Friends
College Students
Sports Fan
sSar Wars Fan
Afro-american
Andependent Democrat
Ausiness Major
Dog Owner
Hip Hop
Concerned Citizen
Neighborhood Club

                                                           My Discourse Community: Hip Hop

    To become a member of the hip hop community is not something a person can seek to become, it

is something that a person has to be raised in. Contrary to popular belief it is not about fashion or ra-

pping or even music in general. Hip hop is about a way of life thats translated through the music and

the fashion, those elements are used as a vessel to articulate certain aspects of life ...hip hop life.

   The language we speak is basic street slang with a twist , we make up word as we go along and the

words change meaning from region to region. So you have to learn what a person means when he's

stating a simple phrase like im about to "dip,"  which incredibly takes on several meanings. It could

mean leave, punch, or a special someone, so a quick dual-thinking mind is a neccessity in being a

hip hopper.

   The basic Ideology of the hip hop citizen is to keep things honest (real), in hopes that your friends

and family will return the favor. We practice being "real" at all times any deviation from this 

law will land the offender the title of "perpetrator, " meaning that a person should not represent

themseves as something that they are not. We also believe strongly in standing up for our core

beliefs and rejecting all forms of facism, conformity , and white washing.

   The power in hip hop always has come from the people, we alone decide what is acceptable or not.

Any member has the power to become a leader, its as easy as accepting the responsibility for your ac

-tions, standing up for what youy believe and letting your voice be heard. But the people who are

mostly cast in leadership roles are the members that leave a permanent mark on the culture.  People

who's voices are thought to express the struggles and mentality of the people as a whole. They

usually relate through song or dance the feelings of the masses. When they attain the power to

capture the peoples imagination they can either use it to exploit that attention for fame, or use it as a

tool to help the community.

   The view of the world in the eyes of the average hip hopper varies, since it is such a diverse

culture you might ask three different people their take on the world and would be more than

likely to get three different answers. The one thing we can agree on is the system is broken

and is to our detriment, so we have to find alternative ways at times to support ourselves and our

loved ones. We also have serious mistrust for the law enforcement agencies in america, we dont like

talking to them under any circumstances and anyone found fratenizing with them are labeled

snitches or rats. The paranoia about authority figures and their misuse of power runs rampant in the

community, friends from other groups can sense the anxiety in me whenever an officer is in the

vicinity.

   Success in the eyes of a hip hop citizen may differ from someone that belongs to another group,

since we have dealt with the harder side of life sometimes just getting by is considered being a

success. Too many of our friends have died, fallen victim to drugs, and are incarcerated for us to

take life for granted. A friend once told me that "any day a shooting didn't occure in his

neighborhood\was a good day." As sad a commentary as that is, it is the reality that we deal with on

a day to day basis, the criteria of "keeping things honest" envelopes the community with skepticism.

Success for us is interpretational to us and can not be generalized as success is judged on an

individual, case by case basis.