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| Wall art at Marble Arch in London (2019) by Banksy |
Generally speaking, would you say that will power is the greatest force for change in the lives of most people in this country?
Or would you say that the force of will power is overrated because of the great impact larger historic and cultural forces have on people's lives?
Personally I think will power can be a large force. In this instance, I believe will power can be enough to overcome an obstacle. In America we are given many opportunities no matter where we come from. Yes, I do also realize that some people have an easier time and others many never get out of their situation due to nothing of their doing but the choice is up to the individual to work hard to change their situation. Therefore will power does play a role in changing lives in this country.
ReplyDeleteI definitely believe that will power is an important factor in whether someone's situation will change or not. You just have to want it bad enough to defeat all the obstacles, and then keep going. I do not think the woman in the book are not getting pregnant because of historic and cultural forces but because all of their decisions have led them to that end result. There are many people born into poor families and live in poor neighborhoods where it seems like there is no choice but to follow in their family's footsteps. But if one person decides that they want different for themselves, they can grit their teeth and actively work towards changing their situation. I don't believe people are "stuck", I think they just have not put in enough effort or the right kind of effort towards fixing it.
ReplyDeleteI agree with you when you say that will power is an important factor in whether a person's situation will change or not. However, I do not agree with you when it comes to your views on people getting "stuck". I believe that historic and cultural influences can keep a person stuck despite their will power. Many times people do put in a lot of effort and will power but where they come from keeps them "stuck in a rut" and it's a cycle that is not easily broken. As we can see from Smarsh's family history.
Delete-Kaylee Thoma
Both will power and historic and cultural forces have great impacts in the lives of Americans today. While it is difficult to determine which is the greater force for America as a whole, I would say that historic and cultural forces probably have a greater influence on many Americans’ lives. Numerous Americans allow their family history and cultural forces to somewhat direct them through life, especially when these forces place people in difficult situations. This was the case with Sarah Smarsh’s mother and grandmother, Jeannie and Betty, who both continued their family’s cycle of teenage motherhood. However, I also think that some Americans recognize these historic and cultural forces pressing on their lives and find the will power to initiate some sort of change, just as Sarah did when she made the choice to not become a teenage mother. Therefore, I believe that while historic and cultural forces are very influential, will power can be a greater force when a person makes the decision to initiate change in his or her life and follows through with that change.
ReplyDeleteThe force of will power will change for each and every obstacle. In Smarsh’s case, sheer will power was enough to keep her from being another woman just like the rest in the long line of single mothers she continued to reference. Will power can take anyone from impoverished to prosperous, for determination and hard work can do phenomenal things. Historic and cultural forces may play some part in how much work is needed, but overall if that person has the right amount of determination and is willing to put in the work, she can take herself anywhere.
ReplyDeleteWillpower is a very powerful force that can almost beat anything. However, the force of poverty culture is almost equally as strong, and sometimes stronger. Take it from me, who lived in a barely-working, falling apart trailer for my childhood until my parents could finally afford our nice house we still live in. My grandma was a waitress who pulled 17-hour shifts to support her family, and through sheer willpower, made it to 82 years of age. However, the culture still lingers. Her youngest daughter had a child at 15, who, in turn, had a child at 17. Even though some of my cousins have master's degrees (which takes a lot of will), they are still broke and living in poverty with a dead-end job. Willpower can only take you so far in life. You have to have help from the outside as well, and that does not mean people from the same culture as yourself. My family has lived in the same area for four generations, and until my parents, they were going to just stay there. Whatever culture you live in and around will have an effect on everything you do, no exception.
ReplyDeleteWillpower is indeed a large factor of success in a person’s life; however, I had a similar thought when reading this question, Willow. It is hard to say that willpower alone is enough to overcome any circumstance that one is born into. It is extremely difficult to escape the class of society that one is stratified into from his or her birth.
DeleteI believe that will power is a great force to be reckoned with, but it also takes a great amount of will power to try and combat historical and cultural influences. Patterns and routines are really hard to break, and going out of them can make a person feel lost or empty. Most of these patterns that people are forced into are from generations after generations of family members ingraining their ideas into their children. If someone does try to break their pattern that has been set forth before them, they could feel alone and end up not succeeding at their task. However, if they have enough will power to achieve what they want to achieve, they could be able to break the historic and cultural influences to start a new pattern.
ReplyDelete-Russell McCreary II
I absolutely agree with you, especially your point of learning certain patterns as children. While will power is one of the most important things to have it can not always fight against all historical influences. It takes a lot to break patterns that are reinforced throughout all the years of someone's childhood.
DeleteI believe that people can accomplish great things with will power alone. Most of the time when I person wants to do something, the main thing holding them back is their own self. As long as you have the right mindset, know what you want to do, and know how to complete it, all you need is will power and knowing that you can do anything you set your mind to. You can be your greatest enemy, but will power can change that, and the outcome of a lot of things.
ReplyDeletePower of will is a very strong factor in how a person's life takes shape, but it does not always overpower outside forces like historical and cultural influences. In Smarsh's situation with avoiding teenage pregnancy willpower is definitely one of the best ways to combat it. However, other situations, such as immigration status, cannot be overcome with willpower alone. The resources available to a person have a major impact on overcoming obstacles, sometimes along with sheer luck. Despite that it does not mean that willpower is not needed. Without a motivating force to drive a person they have no reason to take chances for a better life.
ReplyDelete-Dixie Redman
I completely agree with your opinion. Willpower is what change is built on. Without drive, society would be stuck at a standstill with no progress taking place. Unfortunately, there are some things that sheer willpower cannot overcome, and I believe you accurately pinpointed what those things are. Smarsh’s willpower against becoming a teen mom ended that pattern of behavior for her case. I do wonder, with such strong historical (family cases prior to Smarsh’s decision) and cultural (the larger percentage of women found in poor and rural communities getting pregnant during their teen years) factors, if Smarsh’s conscious decision of not having a child as a teenager will influence future generations of girls in her family.
Delete-Aislinn Beak
While willpower can certainly raise someone out of their social class in American society, it is often times not enough. People will generally stay in the class they were born in. Various reasons exist for why someone might stay in the class they were born in, including lower expectations to achieve, less familial support and experience, and less finances to begin with among others.
ReplyDeleteI would say that someone's ability to achieve is greatly limited by what class said person was born into. However, whatever might hinder a person can surely be overcome through enough willpower in most circumstances.
Willpower is a strong force, but it depends on just how strong that willpower is to see if it is strong enough to overcome the power of cultural forces. You must have unshakeable willpower to battle with cultural forces. Today, most of what culture says is just accepted without question. So, fighting against culture is like fighting against the world single handedly. Which is practically impossible, but some people are strong enough to do it. it is possible to work hard and to move up classes. Take Kevin Durant for example, He was raised by a single mother who was working to make ends meet and now he is an NBA star. He worked hard and look where it got him. I'm sure he had lots of people tell him he would never make it to the NBA, but he did not let culture and other people convince him that he was not good enough or break his willpower.
ReplyDeleteOne’s culture and history play a huge role in who they are, how they are raised, and how they will carry on with that identity. One can follow and conform to the role history has formed for them or they can push the against the boundaries and become who they want to be. You can see something in your culture and not want to pursue that trait or pattern. Will power and your persistence to not become like the rest of your family can either save you or not. It all depends on how strongly you fight to not fall in that pattern. Family patterns can be broken they are not always a curse placed on you from those that came before.
ReplyDeleteThis question is one that I have pondered before. Personally, I have always believed that a persons will power determines their position in life. However, the older I get, the more I question if that is really the case. For instance, if I had been raised in a different economic class or in a completely different cultural lifestyle, would I still hold to that same belief? It is a tough question to think through because of all of the factors that must be considered. Depending on a person's character, upbringing, and the importance of their long term objectives, who is to say that their culture and/or history would prohibit them from achieving their goals? There are countless examples of people in our country that have overcome barriers in their circumstances that made it seem understandably impossible for them to conquer in order to be successful. On the other hand, there always seem to be those who have been given everything, yet seem to underachieve miserably. To say that the force of will power is overrated and that the impact of historical and cultural forces is greater is to take away the power we possess as individuals. I believe that will power is the greatest force of change for the majority of people.
ReplyDelete^^^Lexi Tompkins
ReplyDeleteI completely disagree that willpower holds the most sway over the situation that someone is in. It certainly is important, however the larger forces at play are political and cultural in nature, and often unchangeable by the individual in question. Take for example, a single mother who receives welfare, and works a full-time job. She is working her hardest to provide for herself and her child, but forces beyond her control cause her to remain in a life of poverty. Willpower is essential, but it alone cannot better every situation.
ReplyDeleteI can speak on this topic as it is quite relevant to me and my journey here. My mom was stuck in a very similar situation as depicted in Heartland. She, while being a single mom, put herself through college and got a degree in Nuclear Medicine. She was the first in my family to do so and did so without any financial support from anyone. She saw where she grew up, and what she was around. She wanted better for me. Due to her sheer willpower I was given a much better life with more opportunity than being in Michigan could have ever afforded. Mom could have quit at any time, and settled. So yes, I believe a person who is determined enough can dig out of any situation they're in, regardless how deep the hole may be.
ReplyDeleteIts all in the willpower. Yes, history can have a big impact on the decisions you make in life. That being said, you can see the pattern in your families history. In this case, she saw that teenage pregnancies. Yes, they might have worked out. But she saw the abuse. She saw that the women weren't ever truly happy. They had their youth stolen from them. She did allow the family history to have an affect on her. That combined with her willpower allowed her to break the "curse" of her families history of teenage pregnancies.
ReplyDelete-Mary Chambless
I agree that willpower can over come the impact of a person's history. People are stronger than there past and can overcome the utmost of obstacles. This can especially happen if the individual has something to believe in. In the book Smarsh believes in her daughter, and how her daughter will have a better life than her own.
DeleteWhile both will power and historic and cultural forces have impacts on the lives of people, I believe that will power can and will overturn the situation you are in; it just depends on if you are willing to put in the work it takes to change those patterns. There is a reason why nobody has done it before you. It's hard to break a cycle that goes back for generations, but it is not impossible.
ReplyDeleteI think that will power is a large force to change lives. But I also believe that cultural and historic forces can hold an impact because you can be born into a family like Sarah was and have the will power to get out but not the means to do so. You can have the will power to want to change your situation, but cultural and historic forces can hold you back if you're stuck in it.
ReplyDelete-Aimee Wood
I believe willpower is necessary for any change to be made. However, The issue when it comes to people that are adversely affected by historical and cultural forces is that their willpower must be leaps and bounds greater than those that find themselves in privileged positions. Just based on the issue of this cycle of pregnancy in Smarsh's family history, we can see that poverty prevented these women to access to contraceptives or safe and legal abortions. The wealthy readily have access to these tools and in turn can turn their noses and say "just don't get pregnant" or preach abstinence even when they did not practice it themselves. They had this access to contraception and most likely the resources for sexual education at a young age. Others do not and must navigate a landscape without a safety net or foreknowledge of all the possible outcomes and consequences. To assume willpower is the only thing that is lacked when people can't change some aspect of their life is ignorant and a bit elitist.
ReplyDeleteMitchell Potts
I do believe and acknowledge that social and historic forces play a huge role in many people's lives. I know that there are some economic obstacles that seem impossible to overcome. I am not oblivious to those facts. I know minorities or socially unaccepted groups have it harder that the majority. However, I truly believe that the right mindset can overcome any obstacle. Sure, some were dealt a tougher hand and might have a hard time getting to what others view as a starting point, but what good derives from just rolling over and accepting your fate? You have to be willing to change things for yourself before anything will change for you.
ReplyDeleteI believe that will power is one of the great forces for change in American lives. However, I think the absolute greatest force for change is collective will power. A single person’s will power can go a long ways, but if group of other buy into the cause and give equal effort to promote change. Almost every great figure of change in recent history has had a major support group who carried the same mentality behind them pushing the issue forward. One person can do great things, but a group of like-minded people can do even greater things.
ReplyDeleteI think it is our human nature to have some sort of willpower or drive, why wouldn't it be? Survival of the fittest is the basis of our understanding of biology and evolution, and since humans are at the top of the food chain, would that not in turn demand that humans have a stronger will to survive and achieve success? Yet, as it has been mentioned in several other comments, it seems as though our society has frozen any attempts to better ourselves. Too many CEOs take advantage of their poor work staff who barely make enough to get by, yet they refuse to pay them any more to better themselves. The jobs I'm referring to do not require a college degree, which is an entirely different battle. People who struggle financially may not be afforded the opportunity to go to college, and since so many "successful" career paths require a college degree, it seems as though we have shut out an entire group of people, solely for being born into the wrong family/geographic region.
ReplyDeleteWill power is the motivation to assert decision when in the face of strong opposition. Some may say having a strong will power if useful for achieving your goals. They’re not wrong but for some, it requires more than will power. Think about the goal specifically. For example, say someone’s goal was to be a millionaire by the age of 30. Likely, later in life they will experience a bump in the road where they will find themselves paying for something unexpected. These unexpected “bumps in the road” are all throughout life and every single person experiences them differently.
ReplyDeleteI agree that the customs and norms of a society can greatly influence an individuals thoughts process, beliefs and actions. However, will power is a much stronger force that can overcome cultural forces. Will power is a personal determination to achieve a goal. In my opinion, being drawn back by cultural forces should strengthen ones will power. At first, it is not uncommon that it will discourage you. On a second thought, it should propel one to seek the extraordinary and to do greater things. Without will power, there would be no thing as first generation students because they would sit back and let family traits consume them. It should be a norm to challenge the ordinary because that leads to more findings. One should seek joy in obstacles and push forward to overcome them and set examples for posterity. I believe that will power has lead to great inventions, great people and leaders and will always overcome cultural forces, for those who are courageous enough and believe they can.
ReplyDelete