Privilege

      Privilege is having an advantage over someone or thing; everyone has privileges rich or poor. Some are born into privilege others are thrust upon it. For example famous people such as Paris Hilton, are privileged for no reason at all. Paris was born into a wealthy family and she has privileges in society most middle class people don't, like sitting in jail for 30 minutes for "over-crowding". Middle class people also have privileges as well as the poor. Take Hurrican Sandy for an example, most middle class people lost power and had to suffer one night without heat or electricity, but the homeless were put into schools used as shelters with lights, heat and food. In times of inclimate weather the poor sometimes have an advantage. Other privileges everyone has depends on the family. Some teens are privileged to get a car when they get their license where as others have to work into their early 20's until they can buy there own car. Another privilege could be having job, in todays economy jobs are hard to get and someone who has a job deffinately has privileges over another who doesn't; such as being able to sustain their own house, car and family. Privileges can be very small like having an umbrella on a rainy day to as big as owning a private island in the Bahamas.
  
      Privilege is manifested through society on how we use our privileges. Some are greedy others are giving. People who are well off with extra time on their hands could help out others in society who are not so well off by donating their time or money. If your fortunate enough to have your own car, go to school, but not have a job because your parents take care of your what do you do with your spare time? Are you donating time to shelters for under privileged people or are you partying it uo with your buddies. Privilege also molds our personalities. using th same example above being privileged enough to not have to provide for yourself are you very humble and greatful or are you unappreciative, expect to have such privileges and take advantage of them? Everyone is privileged and everyone uses there advantages small or big, for good and evil.

"Stuff" Taylor Tillage

     Stuff pretty much consumes my room; I have a lot of everything. Like a typical girl I have a lot of make-up, clothes and shoes. Half of my make-up has never been open, and most of my clothes and shoes I don’t wear. But out of all my stuff I would have to say I have the most clothes. My clothes are important to me and hold sentimental value, although I don’t wear them I can’t part from them. I have costumes from elementary school days when my mother and I would make my costumes; I have tons of t-shirts that my field hockey team and I have made for games, pep rallies and other things. T-shirts I will never wear again that are written in marker and have paint all over them but they remind me of high school and team bonding which I’ll never forget. My favorite pair of pants is the one I wore my junior year of hockey season and my team won regionals. I could not play in the game because I had torn my ACL, but to me they were my "good-luck jeans". I have worn them so many times I can not wear them any more cause they are so torn and a little short now. Every single piece of clothing I have has a meaning to me except the ones I actually wear. I’ve always been a t-shirt, jeans or hoodie kind of girl. I have tons of sweats and t-shirts and im constantly buying more. Sometimes I'll even buy clothes that dont fit me just cause they are on sale. I wear the clothes I wear because they are comfy and I keep the others because they are all memories for me that I am afraid to get rid of.
     Clothes are obviously made from natural resources and man-made materials which are taken from the earth or produced in factories and then put together in another factory shipped around the country. Clothes themselves are a necessity but we as the world have way too many clothes. There are so many different brands of clothing out there and most places make the same exact clothes but with different labels for example, Hollister and Abercrombie & Fitch are owned by the same company make the same exact clothes, but with different symbols on the clothes. It is unfortunate that people in third world countries can’t even afford clothes, are still making their own clothes by hand with little materials they can find yet we as a nation have thousands of stores and millions of brands to shop for clothing every day. Clothes are easy to obtain here in the U.S. but not very easy in other parts of the world due to poverty. Too many clothes are made; like Graham Hill said we have three times the amount of space than we had years ago but we don’t utilize it. Making less clothes would let factories and the drivers/ships who make and distribute the clothes have a smaller carbon foot print which is good for our environment. Making less clothes and having less options would give consumers less opportunities to but clothes that they don’t need saving them money, making them happier.
     If I gave my clothes that I no longer wear to a homeless shelter, or a good will or even passing them down to people in my family would help my carbon footprint because the damage for the making of my clothes has been done no more factories will be polluting the air when I give away my pajamas from fifth grade and people would be getting my clothes for free which helps those whom don’t have anything it also makes them happier because they don’t need to spend money and now have a necessity they never had and in turn makes me happy for doing a good dead. After thinking of those in need and how much I contribute to our bad environment by buying clothes I don’t need I can most certainly do with less of my favorite stuff!