Socrates Blog

John Setnicar

Socrates Blog

            In response to Socrates’ belief that the unexamined life is not worth living, I feel that this is very applicable for everyone even today.  It can be very easy to be slaves to our daily routines at work or in our studies that we never even stop to question what we are really trying to accomplish there.  I think this principle is especially critical for young people, because many of us do not take the proper measures to discover what we really want in the rest of our lives.  Even the most ambitious of students that go the extra mile to study for a test or to finish a project are in danger of leading to unfulfilling lives when they reach adulthood.  They could spend their entire youth pursuing their so called dream careers and later find out it wasn’t for them, only at this point in their life it could be too late.  I think Socrates means to teach us that for us to truly live happy and fulfilling lives we need to examine ourselves to discover our true interests.  We cannot choose paths blindly or wait for someone else to dictate how our lives will turn out. 

            Socrates was certainly a gadfly in his own right.  Today there are several individuals that could be identified as such.  Texas Congressman, Ron Paul certainly speaks out against the status quo in the government.  In foreign policy he has stated that Congress has ceded too much power to the president.  In addition he also proposed the idea that all foreign military bases, regardless of their importance, should be closed, because in his mind the United States has always been the aggressor in the war on terrorism.  His domestic proposals may seem radical to even the most conservative of candidates.  In December he said that if he were elected president he would cut $1 trillion in spending in his first year in office in part by abolishing five cabinet departments.  He is clearly a gadfly, because very few other candidates would promise that they could cut spending $1 trillion dollars in their first year.

Eulogy

Many would say that John Setnicar would not strike them as a very interesting man.  He comes from a humble middle class background with a father who would have prefered to live in the eighteenth century without a dishwasher or an air conditioning unit.  Yes it is true his family may not have a lot of money, but that does not mean he is without ambitions.  He wishes to go to business school to study to be an accountant.  It is not what many would consider a dream occupation, but it is a secure occupation usually in high demand and he would be able build a nice life for himself and his family, which is what matters to him most. 

In his spare time he used to watch and play baseball religiously; it was his passion.  But after a while he came to realize that he really was not very talented and that nobody really watched baseball anymore so he decided to quit.  He continues to watch it from time to time, but now just like the rest of the American youth he has become more interested in soccer.  He couldn’t play to save his life, but he lovers to watch the English premier league.  Unfortunately, his favorite team: arsenal, has not won anything for quite some time. 

Although in general John is a good student, his parents and his friends especially would say that he needs to improve his critical thinking skills and acquire some common sense.  He chose this class to gain a different perspective on life and hopefully to learn to better generate his own individual thoughts rather than to depend on the findings of others.