Kid President:Take 1 (Midterm Report) -Megan Phouthavong

So often we see on the news and hear on the radio about death, destruction, and sadness. The media has portrayed the world as more negative than positive. Refreshingly, there is a boy who has kept faith in humanity and restored mine as well. My midterm topic will be about Kid President and his videos on Youtube. I will be pulling lines from his videos and apply them to concepts read from Philosophy Bites and philosophers in A little History of Philosophy.
To begin, I start with one of the most viewed videos I have ever seen and that is A Pep Talk. Here it is to those of you who have yet to see it, you're really  missing out.

     The first line from this video that I find philosophically intriguing is "If life really is a game, aren't we all on the same team?" One might say this holds an air of cosmopolitanism. Cosmopolitanism is the idea that we are citizens of the world. We are a moral community. Although we should be entitled to live our own modes of living, we should in fact embrace each other for who we are, and not be so negative towards each other. After all, we are all human beings. According to Anthony Appiah, being a cosmopolitan means although we may disagree with others, we "respect what we share, our humanity and our right to a dignified life" (Warburton 56). Kid President also mentions our similarities as humans. He states "We have air coming through our nose and a heart beating". Kid President understands that although we have differences, we are all on the same team: Team Humanity.
     The next phrase I love about this video says "What will you create to make the world more awesome? Nothin if you keep sittin there!" Philosophy and Religion have coincided for as long as both have existed, and this phrase brings to me, the idea Augustine had about free will. Augustine had the dilemma within him all the time about how evil was brought into the world. He came to the conclusion that it was free will, given to us by God. Now to Kid President, we have a choice. We can sit and do nothing about this world, making it a lot less awesome, or we can "give the world a reason to dance". Aristotole also believed in the idea that we choose how we are to act and live, so regardless of religion being in the picture, we should choose to live a good life, a moral life, and make the world "more awesome".
     This world is cloaked in negativity, but this little boy has taken on such a good outlook about life. His ideas can easily be applied to philosophy in many different areas. My next installment will be Epicurus and the simple happiness in life, and Michael Sandel's ideas on genetic enhancement.

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