"Retired Master Cpl. Paul Franklin, who lost both legs in in Afghanistan, says every year he has to prove to Veterans Affairs that he still has no legs and needs a wheelchair. Now, he's waging a fight against the department on behalf of all veterans." I think that there are many people who somewhat over exaggerate their disabilities and other symptoms just like the judge in the "Unfit for Work" article, because here you have a judge who doesn't complain about her blood pressure and diabetes, unlike the whiney man in court, who makes the biggest fuss about having the same exact symptoms. Then there are those people who make a fuss about their symptoms because they really do have a severe disability. Paul Franklin, who is a veteran from Afghanistan, lost both of his legs in combat. Now you have Paul who is back in the United States of America, trying to convince the government that he lost both of his legs and that probably needs a disability check, due to his severe injury. I think that the topic for disabled people in present day and ancient times wouldn't compare. I say this, because in ancient Rome, if a child was born with a disability, they often put it down, because they probably didn't know how to handle it, or if they did, they might've not hand the time and money to take care of it forever. If we were to do something like this today, it would be out of nature and against are morals, because we have the technology, knowledge, and resources to fix most disabilities, or rather put that disabled person in a better position. Therefore, our actions seen in the United States hardly compare to what they did back in ancient Rome.

"Students from historically disadvantaged families have just a 51 percent Opportunity to Learn compared to White, non-Latino students. Closing this opportunity gap is essential to closing the academic achievement gaps that separate most Black and Hispanic students from their White and Asian peers." This topic brings up education from a racial perspective because in the United States of America, we have people from all over the world, making us one of the most diverse and cultural societies. I would say that in the United States of America, there are some opportunity gaps, because like I said, we are a diverse country, and everybody doesn't have the same opportunity unless that individual who is at a disadvantage works harder than others. For example, there are people who come to the United States of America and aren't as educated in certain topics compared to the colleagues sitting next to him or her. So I think that it is very valid to say that there is an opportunity gap in the United States of America. I think that you could relate the unfairness of the American education system with the Roman education system in various ways. I think that the biggest point though, is that the Roman education system revolved more around money more than education, because only the wealthiest received an education in Rome, this is because education wasn't a standard in Roman society. The rest of the Romans were laborers. In the United States of America, you don't need to own a mansion in order to be educated in school. Even though there is some difference in who got educated based on either wealth or brains, there's still an opportunity gap in both societies. I think that no matter where you go, someone will be at a disadvantage, but that's life.

"A Federal Reserve survey reports that most US families didn't have a wage increase between 2010 and 2013, while income and wealth for the top 3% of US families rose to historically high levels during that period." If I were running for president for United States of America, I would say that this is a big problem that many Americans face, and that it would need to be addressed. You can't have a country that has only 3% of its people functioning at their best while the other 97% is in bad shape, because the country would fall apart. With the bad economy that we live in today, it would seem unreal to not have some sort of fund that would help increase family wages, allowing a much smoother life for Americans without an absorbent amount of wealth in their family. What makes this even more ridiculous, is that the rich benefit from the less wealthy peoples' loss in pay. It may come to the point where the 3% can't benefit anymore because the other 97% has been drained, dry. I think that this topic about our society in America can compare with the situation in the United States of America, because the Plebeians, who are very similar to the 97% of Americans living in harder conditions, had the same issue with their government. The Plebeians protested in Ancient Rome because the Patricians who were the really wealthy people, just like the 3% of rich Americans, didn't let the Plebeians have any say in their government. I think this can relate to the situation here in the United States of America, because it could certainly come to the point where Americans start protesting in the streets about low job wages.

"Though some people agree with the US education system, others want it to be standardized. With the current system, when a child transfers to a different state, he will be having a hard time adjusting to the new academic life. But others say that standardization will only decrease the learning." This article brings up a good point, on how the education system in America can be intimidating to the students, due to circumstances that they don't have control over, such as moving to a different state.

"Furthermore, in the midst of more large scale debates centering upon sociopolitical questions, there are more concrete problems that are not being dealt with such as the issue of cheating in schools and even the imbalance and potential unfairness of the grading system." I think that cheating is really one of the things that Americans are good at because I see people coming into class all the time with a blank explanation on their face when the teacher says "yesterday's homework", and the first thing they do is copy from a friend.