Human Nature

In our final class period, we discussed the idea of human nature. Prior to that we talked about the general goal of overall equality in America. It is true that through the years, equality has been a major goal for America, and is seen through many events, wars, movements and leadership platforms. Why is this still such a large problem that seems to only make slow advancements? I might argue that it is due to human nature. At least in my experience, people in general have a side of them that is competitive. Everyone wants a better test grade or to win a game or even gain that promotion in work. In many cases this works out well and helps to make advancements in society. A side effect though is the mentality to have slightly more than those around you. A person always wants to better themselves, and by giving others less equality that makes that goal much easier. I feel like that can be named as a cause for the slow improvement of equality for all minorities. By allowing fewer freedoms to others, people with rights have an easier time gaining that “better” life situation. They are less likely to give into the equality and therefore may put up a fight, slowing down the rate of improvement in the equality field.    

Response to Osama

                I was reflecting after class about the topic that was brought up the other day on reactions to Osama’s death. It was actually pretty funny because we (a few friends and I) had our reactions recorded. At the time my friend was singing yet another classy “Kesha” song and we figured it was too good not to get the camera out. Anyway, my friend came in during the video and announced plainly “Osama’s dead”. That was it, singing went away and we froze for a moment before all doing some sort of cheer. I re-watched that moment, and have to admit it was pretty ridiculous to see. Now I want to ask the question, why did we all cheer?

                Was it just because we thought that was the correct response or were we really “happy” about his death? I thought about that when we talked about the concept in class and I think the cause of my cheering was due to the concept we “America”, accomplished a long run mission. After 9/11, finding and killing Osama seemed like the necessity in order to show terrorist actions like these will not be tolerated. After it took years to find this leader, it seemed like the America was less “invincible” than what was falsely assumed. This death of Osama showed the American people that we will carry out our missions like finding the Al Qaeda leader. It was a small victory, and a message to the world, and to those who lost due to the 9/11 events. Will it make a large change in the future? What does it mean for terrorism? No one can really know, but the small victory in my mind was enough to have thought about and even a cheer.      

Quotes

(On government) "It does not keep the country free. It does not settle the West. It does not educate. The character inherent in the American people has done all that has been accomplished; and it would have done somewhat more, if the government had not sometimes got in its way.”

-Thoreau

I found this quote to be really insightful. As a country, I think the emphasis sometimes is placed on government having the power or being the source for action. All that is made today, is due to the people and their ideals, while the government is simply an instrument. It can be hard to remember the importance of the individuals themselves that make up America. Thoreau reminds us to be proactive, as people are the source for the achievements. I found this interesting because the government was built off the people. First came the people, then a government was formed later. This correlates to the way we have been studying this Amcon course this semester. First, we learned about the founding peoples in America, while this semester the emphasis has now been placed on the government democracy.   

“It is rather for us to be here dedicated to the great task remaining before us--- that from these honored dead we take increased devotion to that cause for which they gave the last full measure of devotion--- that we here highly resolve that these dead shall not have died in vain, that this nation under God shall have a new birth of freedom, and that government of the people, by the people, for the people shall not perish from the earth.”

-Lincoln

Again, Lincoln places emphasis on the people involved with making us the nation we are today. Their actions are the reason America is the country we know today. They are what make the government, democracy, function. It is up to the citizens to maintain this government. It is hard to recognize the individual actions some times, but those are the makers of our democracy. Government is more the tool for change to be made with, but action comes from people. Democracy requires active, attentive citizens.

Week one to now

Now that we have reached the final week of our freshman experience at St. Olaf, I have begun to reflect on the year as a whole. It seems like ages ago that we were here going through the week one activities. I can remember thinking that it was absurd that I was meeting all the people I did during that first week. I didn’t feel as though it would be possible to remember all the names and people I was being introduced to by the minute. Once that week was over, and the other returning students arrived, it felt even crazier to think that I could get to know the St. Olaf community as well as they did. The fact that they were arriving on campus and screaming every time they ran into someone seemed pretty neat. At this point I still hardly recognized many people beyond my roommate.

Now, after this final weekend I realize now what it will feel like next fall. I can look around campus and see people I know everywhere. It feels pretty neat to think that next year I can be one of those crazy upperclassmen returning on campus overwhelmed by all the people around again. This just helps to reinforce the idea that a small school was actually the right choice for me. Although I am excited about the summer I look forward to my return already. Freshman year flew by!  

Culture Combination

In my religion class we have been learning about the time while Alexander the Great reigned. As he created his empire, many changes occurred culturally. One important thing we have learned about was the merge of people, specifically amongst the Jewish people and those other surrounding Hellenistic peoples. The result was a very diverse group of people in this new empire. This created a great amount of change within the idea of the “Jewish Race” and those who could or could not be saved (or who were the chosen people).

Overall, this combined many types of people into the same empire, merging cultures. The change was drastic. When I imagine early America, I imagine a similar situation. With the rush of immigrants from all over the world, the culture must have diversified greatly. I imagine just as the Jewish people felt confused as to what the significance was of their genealogy, people of America must have also felt similar confusions as to who they were.  

I wonder if this type of cultural merge will ever be able to occur again. It seems as though we have reached the peak of this type of combination of cultures. I guess I might classify the internet as the most recent merge of the ideas from the world, but where can we go from there?

Thoughts About Current Events

Death of Bin Laden: Tocqueville

                After many long years of searching for Bin Laden, this test of democracy has come to some form of closure. Although this is not the same as ending all terrorism, defeating the most known character in Al-Qaeda is a step in that direction. In order to maintain a democratic government, actions that endanger democracy like this cannot be left alone. It would not be in the nature of this strong governing style to allow someone to destroy safety in America, and hide without consequence. This is the type of action necessary to democracies. This is the same mentality needed in other democracies like France. Action to threats needs to occur in order to maintain safety in our country. Therefore the steps taken by America to kill Bin Laden were correct, the amount of time required though was alarming. As a new democracy we too need to learn from events such as these to be more prepared in our futures. I believe that removing Bin Laden will help the people of the democracy in America feel safer in their country although I think that the problem is much deeper. This is just one of the steps which have and will be taken in order for a democracy to continue being successful in this time.  

Democracy for five

Overall, the group projects we just worked on taught me a bit about democracy on a small scale. We worked together (5 people) for a common goal, and many elements of what we did had similarities to a democratically run government. Something I found interesting was the change from a vote (when votes were evenly split) to someone stepping up and making the needed decision so that the project continued to move on and be productive.

The group work should me how essential it is to have a person in charge. For the majority of the project, delegating and voting on issues was sufficient. In the time of “crisis” someone had to step up and make slightly more rash decisions. This is really similar to how a democracy works. Voting generally is enough for most of the common issues faced. Sometimes though, there are pressing issues that need someone to stand up and take control. There needs to be a limit to that though in government. It was interesting because after something that was debated was finalized, the person who changed the tie could feel some of the power that comes from making the decisions for a group of people. This didn’t interest anyone in the group, but it is clear to see how one could get addicted to that power and take advantage of situations. That is why checks and balances are so important to a democratic government. There will always be more than one person, or group involved for important decision making processes and the deciding factor never can gain too much of that power.