Why the money in your pocket is

as outdated as religion

> The fallacy of the monetary system

Ayanda Gatsha
Columnist

 

N? it is not because new
printed money is more
counterfeit proof or capable of
stimulating a deflated market.
The reason paper, polymer, or
whatever they make money out
of nowadays is comparable to
religion is because, like religion,
it has been a tool for bartering for
a long time. This is not a shot at
religion or a mockery of the rich
person’s accumulated wealth;
it is strictly an observation. You
may decide whether a better way
of distributing our resources
can be formulated, or remain
content with systems that
disadvantage the unprivileged.
When we say outdated, we
usually mean something is clearly
past its prime. Philosopher
William James and his colleagues
contested several ideas relating
to “truth” and its usefulness.
The more an idea was useful, the
more truth was evident about
it. The notion of a flat Earth is
my favourite example, as that
assumption—based on a narrow
perspective—served civilization
to map out the landscape so long

  

as they were careful not to get to
close to the edge and fall off. As
technology and vision expanded,
the “truth” of our flat world
became outdated. This doesn’t
mean it is complete garbage.

If you are a scientist, you take
what was once assumed, revise
it, test it, and make a new and
improved truth, which serves

a more useful function. What
could our community be, if only
we reconsidered the customs and
traditions we have inherited at
birth and critiqued them? Would
we find a new way to ensure
everyone isn’t caught in the

trap of poverty, so people aren't
forced to ask for change every
day outside of a Tim Hortons?

Society needs to critique
its own traditions, a statement
constantly repeated by several
scholars and philosophers,
yet there is a perpetual taboo
against this. Maybe it’s because
we want to be polite. Some
of us were raised that way,
but does being a part of a
society mean challenging it

Video games are a terrible alternative to exercise

> Norwegian high school now offers eSports class in place of gym class

Tatum Miller
The Peak (Simon Fraser University)

 

eginning next August,

Norway’s Garnes High
School will be offering students
gaming classes in place of gym
class, including only 90 minutes
of exercise optimized for their
favourite game. This is not the
first time a school has made
this decision, as other schools
in Norway and in Sweden also
offer eSports classes. However,
this decision shows an unsettling
shift away from the obvious
purpose of gym class: exercise.

One thing cannot be
denied—eSports are a large,
growing industry expected
to be worth about $2 billion
dollars by 2018. If schools mean
to prepare our young people
for the future, then it makes
sense that we teach them about
new, emerging industries.
However, eSports are simply not
an appropriate substitute for
traditional physical activity.

Some eSports players take

home six figures in earnings,
or competition earnings and
sponsorship. UBC’s eSports team
won a $180,000 scholarship last

May in a video game competition.
Many universities and colleges
across North America now offer
scholarships for eSports. Students
should absolutely learn about
these opportunities while in

high school. Who doesn’t want

to get paid to play video games?

Garnes High School says
that these classes will train
“[young] eSports pros bodies
as well as their minds.” They
will learn teamwork, sharpen
reflexes, as well as build focus and
endurance for long tournaments.

Truly, a training session
for video games would likely
aid in all those categories.
However, the issue here is that
you cannot substitute video
games for physical exercise.

The benefits of gym class
simply cannot be taken away
from students. Just 30 to 45
minutes of moderate exercise per
day has been shown to enhance
memory, concentration, mood,
cardiovascular endurance, and
self-confidence. These are things
that teenagers probably will not
get out of an eSports class.

I’m not intending to bash
video games. Personally, I have
logged an embarrassing amount

of time playing Call of Duty, Age
of Empires, and numerous Fallout
games. I enjoy them as much
as the next person. However,
it doesn’t seem right to allow
students to opt out of gym class
in order to play video games.

The entire purpose of
physical education is to teach
students the benefits of

maintaining a healthy body, and,
sadly, sitting does not contribute
to health maintenance.

Perhaps, it would be better
to offer eSports training as an
extracurricular opportunity, so as
not to diminish the importance
of physical exercise. Students
deserve the chance to pursue
their interests, especially

=

when it is not all it can be?
The first thing a person on
a stranded island asks a genie
for is food, water, friends, and
animals, not $100,000. Wealth
is not equal to the contents
of your wallet and any system
that convinces a person of that
should be critically revised.

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when it has the potential to
earn them scholarships.

The fact of the matter is
that the benefits gained from
the two different types of classes

are not identical, or even similar.

A healthy body as well as a
healthy mind is vital to ensure
that students live a good life
during and after high school.

Image via thinkstock

, Blend Images, Getty Images

Image via JGIWamie Gri