Violence vs. Nonviolence
Jihad vs. McWorld
Being Peace
Slaughterhouse Five
On the news all you hear about is war and violence, people think that violence is the only way of changing a situation that is wrong or unfair but I’m here to tell you that people are wrong. While there are some factors to consider when deciding between violence and non-violence that seem to point to violence as a more effective method, in the majority of cases non-violence is a better solution.
Imagine that you are the governed leader of a nation and said nation is being overrun by another country. This is a specific example of a case where violence would be a better option than non-violence. If you were to be in this situation and you decided to take a non-violent stance, you nation would fall to the enemy fairly quick because they would take advantage of that. Another reason that would make it viable to use violence over non-violence is if time was of the essence and you needed to get something done faster than you would if you were using non-violent methods. An example of this is if a country was oppressed by a dictator that had decided to start a nuclear war with another country in five days. Then you would need to use violence so that you could stop him before he did. In some cases violent methods cause fewer deaths than a non-violent method. I know this sounds strange but it’s true. Because if are pursuing a nonviolent campaign they could just start slaughtering people then it would be better to pursue a violent struggle.
One of the main reasons that a nonviolent approach to an unjust situation is better is that if the person or people that you’re “fighting” against feel like they gave you the thing that you desire then they are more inclined to let you keep that thing then if you took it away from them via force. So say you had a wallet full of money and you get mugged, you are going to want to go after them or call the police. But if someone coned you out of some money then you wouldn’t go after them or call the police. I’m not saying that if you choose a nonviolent approach the people you are “fighting” will not want it or try to take it back. But if they do try to take it back it will be viewed by the rest of the world as a random act of war.
Another very powerful reason that you should choose non-violence over violence is that in the long run the effects will be more permanent. The reason for this goes back to what I was saying before about how if you out smart or out last some then they will feel better about it because they feel like they’re not losing anything unlike when you use force or violence.
In the future when you are faced with an unjust situation, remember this paper you just read and choose wisely, violence or nonviolence. When in the real world in might be hard to choose a path of nonviolence but I believe that the outcome will be better if you do.
Jihad vs. McWorld
Mcworld is the idea of the world accepting one culture through media. For this project I chose to be pro Mcworld poster, the reason I chose this is because I think that the idea of having our entire world in sync with its self would be great! When our foreign exchange student came to this school that is when I realized that I really didn’t have an understanding of the culture there, and how they spend their everyday lives. So if our world accepted one culture then if I met anyone anywhere we wouldn't be completely awed at how different we are because of our cultures. My poster that I made consists of a world map with brands, currencies, and technology. There is also multiple lines in-between the continents. This poster is trying to show the connections between countries via media.
“hey did you hear about Greg Wilson!?”
“isn’t that the guy that left about a year ago?”
“yes! And he’s back!”
It had been one year sense I lived in Omelas and saw the child in that horrible place. I walked away the day I saw it. The child in that little room, it changed me. It made me want to leave Omelas. I was young then. I didn’t know the perverse affects it would have on me in the future. After leaving this glorious place I realized that what I had done was a huge mistake. In the other world out there I was shocked at the amount of violence, deceit and ungratefulness. It was a horrible, and I hated every minute of it. I really wish this wasn’t true but some of their ways rubbed off on me. I had no idea the effect that the little child had on our community. Ever though my first instinct was to help or nurture the small child I knew that the people of Omelas would run me out and at that time I felt as if I couldn’t live in a place where something “horrible” was going on. But now I know that the child was in that room for the safety of the town Omelas. Now that I have had my experience outside of Omelas I can honestly say that I am a better person and I am very happy to be back in my happy home town.
The people who walk and the people who stay
I think that the difference between the people that walk away and the people that stay in Omelas is this. The people that stay in Omelas are strong or accepting because when they go to see the child in the closet they know why she is there and why she needs to stay there. Because of this they are strong
The people that walk away from Omelas are the weak or the ones who don’t understand. Some of the people that walk away don’t understand why the child is in the closet and don’t know why she needs to suffer so that others can be happy in Omelas the other kind of people that walk away from Omelas are weak but also strong at the same time. This is because the people that walk away that do understand either think that the child being in the closet is absolutely to wrong for the person to live there with their mind at rest which makes them weak. But the strong ones that walk away know that the child is not needed for the people of Omelas to be happy. So they decide to leave but they also know that the other people in Omelas don’t know that they don’t need the child
Being Peace
To live in the present is to let go of what has happened in the past and not focus on what is to come in the future. The reason that one of the mindfulness trainings is to live in the present is because from what the Buddhist have observed it isn’t a smart thing to dwell on the past or worry about the future. “We will try not to lose ourselves in desperation or be carried away by regrets about the past, worries about the future, or craving, anger, or jealousy in the present.” In this quote it talks about how you should live only in the future.
I think for the most part I do live in the present. But I do feel myself at times thinking about things I have done in the past that I regret. When it comes to the future, I barely even think about it. The last time that I really thought about the future is when I heard about the thing about 2012 but other than that I really don’t think about the future.
Fat golden man
What does he do?
Did he create the world?
Does he know all?
Why is he important?
Not as important as he seems
He does not decided the fate of us
He does not own us
You don’t even need to believe in him
The thing is, you do what you want
No rules
No “sins”
No problems.
It will make you better
It will make me better
It will make the world better
Slaughterhouse Five
The book Slaughterhouse five is about a soldier that was deployed during the bombing of Dresden. after the war he thought he was a time traveler and got abducted by aliens. The entire book is a story told by the soldier.
The truth of war for this book is that no matter who you are you will change if you go into war.
All Quite on the Western Front
The book All Quite on the Western Front is about a soldier in World War 1 that has many tragic experiences. When the soldier went back to his home town he realized that the war had almost completely changed him.
The truth of war for this book is that war can change almost any man for the worse.
