Nathan's Nation

As nearly all people do, I change the way I communicate with others based on who I am speaking to. When speaking with teachers, or addressing an academic audience in a speech or a writing, I speak very formally, removing slang or jargon from my words. When talk to friends, I use imperfect English, not always using complete grammatically correct sentences and employing slang. When I am speaking with my parents or other family, I use a mix of formal and informal language. I do not use complete sentences and perfect grammar, but at the same time I don't use the slang I do when speaking with my friends. The lower picture is a good example of code switching. The photo is from a Model United Nations conference, an academic event. When I was in committee, I would use academic and formal language in order to establish my credibility. However, when I was not in committee, and talking to the people in the picture, I would relax my language, and it would become very informal. Using formal ...

Gun control is always a hot topic in the US, especially in the wake of deadly shootings such as Las Vegas, Orlando, and Sandy Hook. The 2nd Amendment to The Constitution protects the right to bear arms in the US, though there have been arguments that the 2nd Amendment is out of date, and does not protect the citizenry. I am here to quell that sentiment. For decades, the Democratic Party has tried to enact gun control measures that greatly limit American's abilities to bear arms. From the Federal Assault Weapons Ban that expired in 2004 to the Washington D.C. handgun ban that was struck down by the Supreme Court as unconstitutional, Democrats have attempted, largely unsuccessfully, to limit the power of the 2nd Amendment. These attempts have been redoubled after each major mass shooting. However, the Democrats have failed to recognize that gun control will not work in the US as well as it has in the proclaimed gun-free utopias of Japan and Australia. Instead that they think that e...

Huck Finn and Jim were traveling along the Mississippi when they came upon a town name Patriotville. Huck and Jim were very confused, because there were American flags flying everywhere and everyone was brimming with American pride. They docked their boat next to a huge aircraft carrier just as a fighter jet took off to the roaring cheers of the thousands in town. When they walked in, they were met with a warm welcome by American heroes ranging from Thomas Jefferson, to Frederick Douglass to General George Patton, who laughingly criticized the pair for their messy clothes. As they walked around, they saw everything from minutemen cleaning their muskets to a group of teenagers battling it in the computer game Counter-Strike:Global Offensive. Jim quipped that "If this aren't the greatest darn'd thing I've er' seen." As they continued along, they happened upon a large field that had a dirt diamond on it, and a group of boys where trying to hit a ball with a s...

Once upon a time, there was a psycho Republican Presidential candidate named Ronald Shrump. Shrump was pitted against an equally crazy Democratic candidate named Hillary Clankton. These two cantidates were polar opposites. Clankton was a career politician, having formerly been a senator from New York, and the Secretary of State under President Barack Obama, while Shrump had no previous political experience, and was a billionaire businessman. Clankton was a huge favorite in the polls, and but it did not matter on election day, as she was upset by Shrump in the Electoral College. However, Shrump had a dark secret: He was a Russian agent tasked with creating mass hysteria in the US! Shrump started by fabricating documents that showed that his newly appointed National Security Adviser, General Michael Flynn, had met with Russian officials during the run-up to the election. This created great fears that the Russians had the power to destroy the US. Shrump continued to fabricate documents ...

What makes the United States great is that there is so much diversity, But before the great US of A was created, there was much less. People, especially in Puritan Massachusetts, had to live a certain, divine way, or face the possible punishment of death by hanging, drowning, or immolation. The Puritans believed that God's law was the supreme law of the land, and he would kill all those who didn't follow him. However, as time went on, the Puritans became much less religious, and much more like today's American society. But then came Jonathan Edwards and his Great Awakening. Edwards, with his claims that "natural men are held in the hand of God...and God is dreadfully provoked" (Edwards 122), altered the path society was on, one which was making the Puritans more accepting and less violent towards non-believers. Edward's sermons may have pushed off an accepting, diverse community by several decades or even centuries, as he pushed the Puritans back toward their ...

Columbus Day has been celebrated as a a holiday in the United States ever since the colonial times, and it became a national holiday in 1937. Despite the holiday's storied history, there is a push to change Columbus Day to Indigenous People's Day, in order to properly celebrate the accomplishments of Native Americans. This is a grave mistake. Attempting to effectively destroy the legacy of one of the most important men in North American history would have deep ramifications far beyond just removing his holiday. Replacing Columbus Day with Indigenous People's Day is just another example of trying to forget the ugly side of American history. Ignoring history just because we don't like how it played out is dangerous and can result in tragic mistakes being committed in the future. We as Americans must reflect on the mistakes made by those who came before us so we can learn from them, and trying to forget their mistakes because they are offensive is nothing but truly ignor...