The Evil In Us

            Do we all have the potential to be evil? Evil like Hitler or Kony? This is one of the topics that we have been discussing while talking about human nature. I think that the majority of our class seemed to agree that our human nature is often based upon our upbringing, and the things that our written on our “slate”. A couple times we thought about whether any us would have the potential to murder someone, and if any of us were one moment away from becoming a murderer. I honestly believe that we one moment away from doing that, because I would consider intentionally murdering someone as evil. I also believe that every one of us has at least some evil in us, but an act of that magnitude could not just occur because of one event. A long process takes place before a person is overcome by evil, and I think that it has everything to do with a person’s surroundings and influences. Kony raises young boys to be evil. Those boys do not murder people because it is how they were born; they do it because it is how they were influenced. At the beginning of Dorian Gray, Basil sees Dorian as pure and beautiful, but in the end Dorian is a monster who is full of evil. I think it is possible that Dorian was as pure as Basil saw him, but there was a process that led to the monster that he became.

Something interesting that I thought about during class was whether or not we are all born with equal human natures. If eighteen years ago a different baby was born into my family and situation, would that baby grow up to be just the way that I am? How much of our human nature stands unaffected by our outside influences? It is something that we honestly are not able to experiment on, and will never know for sure. I think that believing that our upbringing influences our human nature and who we are can help us solve the problems that plague our society because we will know that we need to raise children effectively into adulthood.

Passing it on

There was a quote that we had to respond to from Virginia Woolf's A Room of One's Own that really stood out to me.
      "For masterpieces are not single and solitary births; they are the outcome of many years of thinking in common, of thinking by the body of the people, so that the experience of the mass is behind the single voice."
I began to think about the many different issues that have affected out society that still exist today. The main reason why I think these issues still survive is because of the concept described in this quote. For example, there is racism. Contrary to what many assume, racism still exists today, even in our high school. According to the quote, the voices behind those who are racist are not of that person, but of “the experience of the mass.” Parents teach their children to be racist, or friends influence their friends to be racist. People are not just born with the instinct to be racist, but that instinct is created by their influences. Virginia Woolf is trying to say the same thing here, except about the treatment of women. Just like racism, the stereotypes and restrictions that plague women today still exist because they are passed down through generations. I believe that if we focus on instilling ideas into the minds of children that all humans are equal, then they will grow up believing that. The same effect that keeps racism alive will do the same for how women should be viewed. It will become part of our culture that influences our instincts.

Sports and Superiority

In America, the advances that women have made in how they are compared to men are immense. Today, many women hold jobs and roles that they would not of even thought of having one hundred years ago. Yet still, one area that is still completely segregated by male and female is sports. In class we discussed the differences in the requirements for boys and girls on the presidential fitness test that we take in our gym classes. Just this past week a seven year old girl was kicked off of her little league baseball team just because she was a girl. Is it realistic to think that women can compete with men when it comes to sports? One example where it may be possible is in Baylor University’s basketball star Brittney Griner whom some believe would be able to compete with men. Personally, I can’t resist the reality of the evidence that I see of men being able to physically perform better in sports than women. I ultimately agree with the gender segregation in sports. Do I think that kicking a seven year old girl off her baseball team is alright? Not really. There have even been cases when girls are more athletic than many guys when they are younger. On my fifth grade football team, the person that won the MVP award for our team was a girl. My twin cousins used to always beat guys in basketball when they were younger, but as they grew older that did not happen anymore. I see it as a biological influence.

            In class, we have been discussing different literature such as, The Awakening, A Doll House, and A Thousand Splendid Suns, in which a woman is faced with limitations because of her gender. I have really been wondering about how the entire gender superiority began. What was the ultimate factor that began to convince men that they were superior to women. My guess is that it was the whole physical thing. As humans, we see bigger and stronger as better. So my point ultimately is that even today I think that one of the reasons women are still not completely treated equally is because of something as simple and unimportant as sports. When a guy realizes that he can physically out perform another girls in sports, he feels superior, and a mindset is created that he is better than all women in everything. This I believe is why women like Nora, Mariam, Laila, and Edna feel restraints on their goals and ambitions.

Cultural Relativism

            The contrast between different and cultures and their moral standards is often met with controversy and conflict. Every set of moral standards is almost always defended by its people that it represents because it describes what they believe, or what they have been taught to believe, as being morally good. The quote from Herodotus describes this concept:    

“For if anyone, no matter who, were given the opportunity of choosing from amongst all the nations of the world the set of beliefs which he though best, he would inevitably, after careful consideration of their relative merits, choose that of his own country. Everyone with exception believes his own native customs, and the religion he was brought up in, to be the best.

Every group of people with a set of beliefs has the instinctive quality of believing that their beliefs are superior to those of other groups, and this thought process often leads to the further assumption that they are also “better” people, and that they other groups are inferior to them, and even savage.

            Personally, I witness this in a variety of ways during everyday life. We are surrounded by a community of people, the Amish, who have a completely different belief system than us. We often ridicule and belittle their way of life because we naturally believe that ours is better. For example, the Amish do not use modern technology like cars and electricity. We are so against the thought of living in this manner, but most of us have never experience the possible advantages of refraining from such things.

            In my opinion, I do not think there is a perfect belief system. All of them have their flaws, but again that my vision for perfect moral codes or based off of my raising and experiences. The way that I would establish my judgment of other cultures would be by examining the harm that is enforced on others through their way of life. Eating the bodies of their dead fathers, while it is unappealing, does no harm to the society. Cremating bodies does not either. However if a culture believes that a portion of their society is inferior to the rest and they treat them harshly, then that would be an example of a moral code that I would feel comfortable with justifiably disapproving.

Soul Mates

Recent statistics have discovered that the divorce rate for first marriages in the United States has climbed to around 50%. With such a staggering percentage like this there must be an explanation for why so many marriages are failing to succeed in our society today. One explanation that comes to mind is that maybe these couples that are getting married, and divorcing at such a quick rate, were not really meant to marry in the first place.
On the day that Kirsten and Shelby led class, we discussed the topic of "soul mates", and how it related to Wuthering Heights. Many of us agreed that Heathcliff and Catherine were soul mates, despite the fact that Catherine ended up marrying Edgar. Catherine chose to marry Edgar in order to improve her social status, and because Edgar was a safe choice. This points out that many marriages occur for without the presence of love, which I believe is very similar to the relationship that Edgar and Catherine had. This could explain the rise in divorce rates.
Returning to the topic of soul mates, our class discussed the question of whether or not you can point out the qualities that you would like, or that you could see your soul mate having. Now lets just say that the majority of people marry their soul mates, and a sould mate is the perfect spouse. I don't believe you can actually plan out or visualize what kind of person your soul mate is, partly because many of us have distorted views of what a perfect spouse (or our soul mate) would be. So many people today describe what they want their future husband or wife to be like or look like. Alot of the qualities we search for are not ones that will sustain a lasting marriage, and therefore when things get tough, the qualities first seen in that person no longer exist and meaning of the marriage is not the same. I do believe that we all have a soul mate, and I do think that that a person's spouse must also be their soul mate in order for the marriage to last. Catherine decided to marry Edgar, who was not her soul mate. The events that followed leading to her death resulted from that decision.

Hero?

         While discussing Beowulf, we tried to determine who a hero would be in our society today. We often debated whether or not the motives behind a person’s actions affects whether or not what they do is heroic, and if therefore they should be labeled a hero. Today in America most people would agree that the men and women in the military are heroes, even if they never face combat. They volunteer to sacrifice themselves and protect our country. A new incentive that the military is now using to recruit is the promise of a fully paid education in exchange for service in the military. So my question is, are the people that only join the military so that they can go to college for free heroes?

            I relate this situation to that which happened in Beowulf in the fight against Grendel’s mother. Beowulf brought 12 soldiers along with him, but when the time came to fight, all of the men except for one, Wiglaf, left Beowulf. It is not clear what those men were motivated by, but their main goal was obviously not to help Beowulf protect the townspeople.

            So today, if an 18 year old realizes that he has no money for college and joins the military solely for the promise of a free education, is he a hero? If that is his only motivation, then when the time comes to face combat, his drive could fail. This instance, for me, is easy to discern that this 18 year old is not a hero. Another example though, which I think relates to Beowulf himself, is if that same teenager then performs valiant acts. Going to college for free and helping himself out still only drive him, but at the same time he is saving lives and protecting America. The poem Beowulf, doesn’t give a lot of insight about the man Beowulf. What I did infer though was that Beowulf was mainly fighting Grendel and his mother so that he could gain glory for himself. When he was about to die he asked to see the treasure, which shows me that he wanted to assure himself that he would have the glory of winning the treasure. That is why I think a lot of people debate whether Beowulf is a true hero. My opinion is that Beowulf and the 18 year old performed heroic acts, but should not be called a hero. Hero’s need to possess the quality of selflessness, and I don’t see that in these two instances.

Unity

               In The Power of One, I saw racism as a main theme. Peekay experiences racism firsthand, because he is a rooinek, when he is bullied by the Boer children at the boarding school. Racism is later displayed in the way that Borman treats Geel Piet, eventually murdering him. I don't wan't to discuss the fact that racism is wrong and sickening, because it is. What I want to point out is how racism is dealt with to create unity, and how unity is sometimes being interpreted incorrectly today.
              In The Power of One the native African tribes are discriminated against because they are different culturally, and mainly because they have a different skin color. Peekay does not agree with the racism, and he encourages the inmates to be proud of their heritage and culture. When all of the inmates sing the song that Doc composed, each tribe is highlighted, and is noticably different. They all embraced their difference and unified to create beautiful music.
             The United States has become a magnet for people from other countries. America has become a cultural mosaic, and a mosaic is a compilation of different pieces. That is what I love about America. I love being able to see so many different cultures around me. A comment that I hear a lot is, "We all live in America, so that is what we all are: Americans." While this is partially true, many people often interperate this by thinking that everyone should throw away their cultural roots for a new "American mask". This mindset completely shatters the idea of a cultural mosaic. It would be like cutting up a bunch of pieces of red paper, and then just gluing them back down all together. We need to have the Peekay mindset that created the amazing scene at the jail. Every single group of people that make up our nation is a piece of artwork that contributes to one unified masterpiece.