Page 126 The Other Wes Moore
Page 126
I honestly believe that we are not products of our
environment. I will use my household for an example. I will give you a little
back story on the family. My mother has three children and one adoptive son. We
all went to different schools, but they were all in Jersey City. Her adoptive
son is the youngest, he is still in High School. Two of us went to college and
the other one went to trade school. My older brother and I did not finish but I
decided to re-enroll. My older brother has not returned to trade school since
he left. We were all raised the same way, to be up-standing citizens. Here is
where it gets tricky, my older brother chose a life of crime. Whereas me and my
younger siblings are on the straight and narrow. I am not saying were perfect,
but we do not get involved in crime or anything of the sort. My brother does
not have to be the way that he is, he chooses to. Jersey City has some unfavorable
areas and those are now the areas where my brother likes to hang out. He was once
a good kid, doing really well in school, one day he just decided to be the
class clown and it all went down hill from there. Same family different fates,
my brother started young with getting into trouble with the law. I will never
forget the first time he got arrested. Some kid said that my brother stole his skateboard,
and he was hauled off to the precinct, where my mother had to get him. It broke
her heart to watch him be caged like some animal. His friends now like to hang
out on the block all day and sell drugs. My brother has a mindset of his own,
so I do not think that he too is selling drugs, but he does hang out on the block
occasionally. All of my friends have jobs, and some are even married, making a
great name for themselves. I also have a friend that is in the same situation
as me. Her and her brother are on two different paths but were raised the same
way. She graduated from college and has a respectable job. Her brother is not
involved in a life of crime, but he cannot keep a job to save his life. He is
the black sheep of the family. My brother has so much potential that he just let
go to waste. We are in control of our own lives and our destiny as well. I feel
like saying that we are products our environment is a crutch, another way to
make excuses for what people choose to do with their lives. I try not to be
biased because of my situation but I feel like these are facts that can not be
ignored. I watched my brother’s life unfold right before my eyes. We took two
totally different paths in life. He wanted to be popular, I just wanted to
succeed.
You agree we are products of our expectations. I think in your situation your brother wanted to be popular or cooler so he did bad stuff and you want to succeed so you followed the correct path. In for other people it may be they are products of their environment. In my case reading Wes Moore he was surrounded by people who loved him and they were good people and was directed correctly even though he could have steered away but he did not because of his mentors. As in the other hand for the other Wes Moore he only had his brother Tony to look up but he is a bad example of a mentor but he was the only one in his life. In my belief I do believe we are products of our environments unless the person is a strong individual who ignore their environment and focus only on them which is not bad but it is an alternative path that people take.
ReplyDeleteI think it also has to do with perspectives. We do not all see things the same way. There is so much more then expectation and environments even if you count the people in your proximity to be part of your environment like I do. I also think in these cases it is ok to be bias.
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