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Looking back

I’ve had so many goals since coming to college. I wanted to love myself, be able to get into my grad program, be financially sound, be healthy, etc. I failed some of these goals, and attained others. 

I think I put too much weight on money. The accountant side of me miserably takes over sometimes. I have panic attacks about student loans that I won’t have to start paying off until April 2019. I have buyer’s remorse about my engagement ring I was given because I think, “wow, that could have been 5 months of our rent.” I rarely go out with my fiancé because I don’t want to spend money that I know I’ll eventually need. 

I need to figure out how to calm down. Focus on the now instead of the next thing. Breathe.

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I wish you knew how many people it took to convince me what you did was wrong

But wrong doesn’t even begin to describe it (via eazymacmiller)

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wine wine wine, win win win

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HOT

#tbt

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A big ol’ mess

What would you do if you were 20, had a 14 year old sister, a 22 year old brother, a father who needs a liver transplant and somehow convinces your 22 year old brother to donate part of his liver, so your 22 year old brother (who by the way, dropped out of college after 1 year) quits his job to do that (don’t know why he had to quit his job), meanwhile, your 22 year old brother is the farthest thing from healthy enough to do that because all he does is drink? All the while your dumbass mom is attempting to leave your dumbass father but has never adulted in her life (doesn’t know what a budget is, has never paid her own credit card bill, etc.). What would you do to help your 14 year old sister who just needs to get through high school and get into a decent university and get the fuck out of that house? Oh also, there’s no kitchen in that house anymore because your dumbass 22 year old brother fucked up a water line, ruined the floor, broke the dishwasher and stove, so your lovely 14 year old sister has been living off of packaged/microwave food and salads for the last 5 months.

In a nutshell, that is what has been going on with my family and there is nothing I can do about it because it’s simply not my responsibility and not within my means. It’s stressing me the fuck out because all I’m trying to do is get my goddamn CPA so I can provide for my future family, meanwhile, the family that was supposed to provide for me, and more importantly my sister, can’t even do that. What is the lesson? What is the takeaway from all of this? Just to be better than the “family” that “raised” me?

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The Power of Money or the Money of Power?

To travel through Rome is to travel through history. The leaders used money to exemplify their power and left behind the vast monuments, cathedrals, and other spectacles that can be seen today. Each one tells a story and allows one to feel what it may have been like during the Roman Empire or the Fascist regime. Through Lucretius’ On the Nature of Things, Machiavelli’s The Prince, Galilei’s letter to the Grand Duchess Christina, Levi’s Christ Stopped at Eboli, as well as the experience of walking through Rome, it is apparent that leaders used money to gain or express power. As money does not mean anything unless everyone believes in it, a leader has no power unless everyone believes in him. In Rome, the leaders used money to get people to believe in their power.

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What Mussolini intended for the E.U.R., where these new water supply covers are located, was to redo everything from the ground up - from the simplest of things to the most elaborate. The new ones say “E. 42,” as the EUR was supposed to be completed in 1942, in time for the World’s Fair (Cunningham-Bryant). I could not help but think, “What could he have done instead with the money? There is definitely something he could have done that would have been more beneficial to the community as a whole.” Levi says “If they have money enough for a war, why don’t they repair the bridge across the Agri which has been down for four years without anyone moving a finger to fix it?” (133).

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Palazzo della Civiltà Italiana (Colosseo Quadrato)

Also known as the Square Colosseum, this building displays the power of money. Mussolini wanted this building to be built for the 1942 World’s Fair and felt it would show how great he was. In Christ Stopped at Eboli, Levi says “In the middle of this square there was a strange monument, almost as high as the houses around it and endowed by the narrowness of the place with a certain solemnity” (45). What Mussolini intended for the E.U.R., where this building is located, was to redo everything from the ground up - from the simplest of things to the most elaborate. This building was inspired by The Colosseum, but he wanted to do it better. Made of marble shipped from hundreds of miles away in Africa, it was clearly very expensive to erect this building. Mussolini used this material because he wanted to show to his people that he has the power to create things that are beyond their thoughts (GPSMyCity).

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Inside St. Peter’s Basilica What better way to display your power than to decorate with gold and bronze? The arch shown in this picture was made from the melted down bronze statues. (Cunningham-Bryant). Galileo wrote to the Grand Duchess Christina because he knew that her wealth, power, and connections to the Catholic church could allow him to circumvent the laws and rules set in place. Galileo recognizes the power that money can give to people (Cunningham-Bryant).

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Made of reclaimed bronze, the modern Bramante Staircase exemplifies the power of money. This staircase allows the people stepping up to never cross paths with the people stepping down. This staircase is a remake of the original which is only open to visitors who elect to pay more to see it (Cunningham-Bryant).

The reason Galileo’s work was deemed heresy was not because it was wrong, but because the Pope didn’t want people to know about things that are not in the Bible. The Pope did not want to lose the power he had by being proven untrue by Galileo (Galileo).

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The Colosseum Here, gladiators fought and died and animals from all over the world were brought here to fight and entertain the people who were able to come. This type of Roman hunting killed off some species just for the sake of entertainment. It took a vast amount of money in order to have these games (Cunningham-Bryant). According to Machiavelli, “[Princes] ought to entertain the people with festivals and spectacles at convenient seasons of the year,” (111). The leader was able to express his high rank and power through this form of entertainment because of how expensive it was.

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The Money and Change Exchange inside the Forum.

For money to exist, people need to believe in it. Money is just an arbitrary object given worth by those who believe in it. This relates to Machiavelli because he says in order for a prince to be great, he must be respected by his subjects. Machiavelli says, “A prince ought to have two fears, one from within, on account of his subjects, the other from without, on account of his external powers” (88). Power is all about putting this façade up that you are a good person, whether or not that good person actually exists. A prince can do nothing if he is not believed in by his subjects, as well as outsiders. Money can be made of anything, e.g. paper, silver, nickel, whether its material is actually worth something or not. The idea that we can exchange “money” for goods and services, rather than goods and services for goods and services was new for this civilization (Cunningham-Bryant).

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This is the Pantheon. There are a total of sixteen columns, each made of granite, and each represents a God (Alessio Walking Tour). Greenblatt said that Lucretius was often believed to be an atheist, but he was not one; "He believed that the gods existed. But he also believed that, by virtue of being gods, they could not possibly be concerned with human beings or with anything that we do" (183). The irony to be had here is that although the Pantheon was originally intended to be polytheistic, it has stood as a Catholic church since the 7th century (Alessio Walking Tour). As granite is a very expensive material, it is clear that Publius Aelius Hadrianus, the Roman emperor, created this not only to leave a legacy, but to express that money was equivalent to power.

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View from the Victor Emmanuel II Monument

This monument is largely made of marble, which is expensive. It is largely hated by Romans because it represents the fascist state (Cunningham-Bryant). Lucretius says, “it is far better to obey in peace than to long to rule the world with kingly power and to sway kingdoms” (30).

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Skeleton Post

Describe your argument and how the picture relates to the reading in about 150 words. In-text citations are necessary.

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Can we just take a moment to appreciate the beauty that is Jennifer Aniston? 

That's all.

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Aren't we just lovely? ha

That's Ben. He's one of my best friends from high school and last Saturday, he came down to Philly to go see an exhibit at the Franklin Institute. He iMessaged me that morning and we worked it out so we were able to see each other for the first time since before graduation. We walked all over from Reading Terminal Market, where we saw the carpenter's union's strike, to Chinatown, to Independence Hall, to the Free Library, etc. Overall, it was really great to see him and I hope to see him again soon!