Viktor Frankl said “Freedom is only part of the story and half the truth that is why I recommend that the statue of liberty on the east coast be supplanted by a statue of responsibility on the west coast.” I find this quote very applicable and in agreement with my views on the topics of freedom and justice and what these concepts mean to me. The concept of freedom being, the ability of a human to decide their own destiny, is one that I know to be important. However as the quote implies, it is not this simple. This is where I feel American society is beginning and at potential to fall. Freedom should not be taken for granted, it must be earned not in the sense of the right to have it, but in the right to keep it. It must therefore have limitations. These limitations come in the form of responsibility and justice. Leading to the essential question; where should the line between freedom and justice be drawn. Both are important aspects in obtaining order which is the ultimate goal of humanity on this planet. A vital component in reaching this goal of order thorough a balance of freedom and justice is authority. It is a natural instinct and has been present through all of history. Another intriguing aspect of authority besides its consistency is the hierarchy that it creates. There is always a higher authority, all events in history point towards this conclusion. This is the keystone to my view of freedom and justice. It is the logic that draws me to conclude that the ultimate authority is a perfect God, a creator of humanity and this world. In this God is where I find the meaning of freedom and justice. For in the world today ones freedom is determined by an authority, as well as the serving of justice when this freedom is broken. This is all a means of accountability, a critical aspect of freedom. A basic example is killing. There are times when killing is an acceptable freedom; hunting, fishing or a very sick pet to name a few examples. Yet in regards to killing a human there are great limitations on the freedom to kill. Where does this limitation originate from? It is due to the concept of responsibility of freedom, or justice. If this limitation is disregarded and broken, then there must be consequences so that there is validity to the limitation. Hence the concept of authority that is by Webster’s definition “power to influence or command thought, opinion or behavior”, which essentially means power to determine freedom. This is what justice brings; a limitation to freedom but this limitation is what allows true freedom to exist. Again the essential question becomes; where is the line between justice and freedom to be drawn. There has been no answer provided thus far by humanity, nor do I believe ever will be until complete unity can be obtained. For in complete unity there is no need for freedom or justice eliminating the essential question. The objective of freedom is to allow ultimate “happiness” if there is complete unity then there is no disagreement of what will result in happiness leading to no need of limitations, for limitations are required to ensure freedoms of others which are to ensure happiness, so if no limitations are required then there is no concept of freedom, only happiness which is the ultimate goal of freedom. This is why America is so great and has seen so much success for the premise of America was unity, the UNITED States of America. In complete unity there is no need for justice or freedom.
In A Room of One’s Own this concept of unity is completely missed, as it has been in all the books of this unity and the majority of the books in literature. Everyone gets caught up in the concept of freedom, equality and fairness. When it is not about that at all, it is all about happiness. That is what life boils down to, pleasure. The truth is that none of these things, freedom, equality or fairness brings about pleasure, for they are all routed in selfishness. Where there will always be disagreement, and where there is disagreement maximum pleasure cannot exist. I do not understand why Woolf wants freedom so much that is the whole point of her writing, when it should be about unity. Freedom keeps unity from happening; unity will never spawn from freedom. America shows that the exact opposite happens. It was founded on freedom and unity; the people choose freedom and look at the unity stock steadily downward. To conclude I am disappointed in the literature due to its lack of recognition the truth, this is not just directed at the literature of late, but in general. There are some works that I like but they are few and far between. Unity is the key to pleasure; freedom is the demise of unity.
Thursday, March 26, 2009
Thursday, February 26, 2009
Febuary Monthly Connection
The difficulty of social pressure is something that will always plague mankind, as humans naturally desire relationship with other humans. I feel this is the driving factor of life. Why do we do what we do? It is simple so that we may build relationships, even if we do not realize it. Why do i play a sport, ultimately if it was just me and no other people there what would be the point. Why do i get an education simple increase my ability to communicate, increase the view that other PEOPLE have of me, get a job which is also so that i can increase the view others have of me. I could go on for days with examples of how everything we do is out of a desire to have a relationship with other human beings.
In the novel, Like Water For Chocolate, this is an underlying concept that greatly affects the novel. All of Tita's actions are a direct correlation of her desire to be able to have a relationship. How and with who is the dilemma, all that is certain is that she desires relationship. It begins with Mama Elena, Tita desires to have a relationship with her no matter what she says about Mama Elena she at least always subconsciously desires relationship. The void is temporally filled by Nacha who through many years gives Tita that relationship that she so much desires. Then it is Pedro and then John and then Pedro and Rosaura's daughter, and then back to Pedro. Many people get caught up in her decision between John and Pedro, but it is much deeper than that. It is her desire of relationship over everything else in her life, and her struggle to obtain the relationship.
The societal aspect come in as society attempts and often succeeds in dictating ones relationship. As society is a large group of people it has a strong influence for it is unnatural to go against others who we naturally want at least an opportunity for relationship with. but none-the-less in often dictates relationships. As is seen in the novel. Society dictates to Tita that she can not be with Pedro when Rosaura marries him. Yet Tita fights this, in-so-doing creates the theme of the novel overcoming society, is just a matter of overcoming yourself cause you are society.
I feel that society and its affect on humans through its affect on relationships and the importance of relationships to humans is one of the central struggles of the world. How to get what you want, when what you want is standing in the way. It can be very difficult as is seen in the novel, but as is also somewhat seen in the novel with Gertrudis, is how society can lead you to what you want. It is a toss up if society will keep you away, like Tita and Pedro, or lead you, like Juan and Gertrudis.
Just another issue of life that must be deal with, but that no one has solved so at least there is no expectation just the opportunity for greatness.
In the novel, Like Water For Chocolate, this is an underlying concept that greatly affects the novel. All of Tita's actions are a direct correlation of her desire to be able to have a relationship. How and with who is the dilemma, all that is certain is that she desires relationship. It begins with Mama Elena, Tita desires to have a relationship with her no matter what she says about Mama Elena she at least always subconsciously desires relationship. The void is temporally filled by Nacha who through many years gives Tita that relationship that she so much desires. Then it is Pedro and then John and then Pedro and Rosaura's daughter, and then back to Pedro. Many people get caught up in her decision between John and Pedro, but it is much deeper than that. It is her desire of relationship over everything else in her life, and her struggle to obtain the relationship.
The societal aspect come in as society attempts and often succeeds in dictating ones relationship. As society is a large group of people it has a strong influence for it is unnatural to go against others who we naturally want at least an opportunity for relationship with. but none-the-less in often dictates relationships. As is seen in the novel. Society dictates to Tita that she can not be with Pedro when Rosaura marries him. Yet Tita fights this, in-so-doing creates the theme of the novel overcoming society, is just a matter of overcoming yourself cause you are society.
I feel that society and its affect on humans through its affect on relationships and the importance of relationships to humans is one of the central struggles of the world. How to get what you want, when what you want is standing in the way. It can be very difficult as is seen in the novel, but as is also somewhat seen in the novel with Gertrudis, is how society can lead you to what you want. It is a toss up if society will keep you away, like Tita and Pedro, or lead you, like Juan and Gertrudis.
Just another issue of life that must be deal with, but that no one has solved so at least there is no expectation just the opportunity for greatness.
Thursday, January 29, 2009
January Monthly connection
The issue of man versus woman, flower versus beast, sand versus dirt, and hammer versus nail the list continues I could go on for many days probably. But to close in on the point, the book Thousand Splendid Suns addresses this issue from the perspective of Afghanistan culture. The importance of equality is the point that this book tries to push across to the reader. The main male role is a wife beating husband who gets killed by one of his wives, obviously what the author is trying to say is that women should not be treated the way that he husband treated his wives so abusively. I have to agree just on the fact that they did nothing wrong yet revived punishment, this is not justice. I feel that grace and mercy balanced with objective judgment is the key to a good relationship, not violence. But the issue of equality is still presented in the aspect of even if people are different should they be treated the same. If a person has a mental handicap we must treat them different if we treat them the same then we are criticized. If there is a Spanish student who is in English class they get extra help even answers, where is the equality in that. Yet there must also be compassion for situations. So I feel that there is an absolute truth that can be applied but that no one person can completely understand it, that is why there are things such as “cultural relativism”, and why the world is screwed. We cannot treat people equal because they are different but we must be compassionate to our fellow man and it is no excuse for undeserved suffering.
Tuesday, January 27, 2009
"Hurtling Toward Oblivion"
The end of the world. When will it arrive how will it arrive is it upon us? These are questions that every generation has asked. In Richard Swenson's "Hurtling Toward Oblivion" he makes a compelling arguments for the answers to these questions.
Swenson’s focuses on the concepts of profusion and progress and the relationship between the two. He shows progress leads to profusion, and the expediential rate at which they grow. The expediential rate is the basis of his thesis and the fact that when dealing with expediential equations a lot happens very fast as the graph moves in accordance with time. Compared to history progress is happening and growing at such an outstanding rate one is obligated to see that we are quite far along on this expediential graph, Swenson being convinced near the end of what the world system can take, for there is a limit this is undisputed. To illustrate the magnitude of exponential change he uses the following example;
“The Pacific Ocean spans sixty-four million square miles and, on average, is 14,000 feet deep. If all the continents of the world were placed inside it, there would still be room for another Asia…. Assume that the Pacific dried up and it was our job to fill it. If we began with a single drop of water and continued doubling the amount…..”
It would take only eighty doublings to fill it, and at the seventieth doubling it is only 0.1% full. This type of exponentially is found in such things as life expectancy, health care expenditures (U.S.), Gross Domestic Product (U.S.), air miles traveled and world population just to name a few of the examples given in the book. Going with the example the numbers show we must be nearing the eightieth doubling. Regional break downs of systems only support the numbers, widespread disease, genocide, economical crises political turmoil show what happens when the profusion expands past what the system can handle.
The reason for progress and profusion causing such negative results is simple; nothing is ever perfect in this world. Progress is a double edge sword that most fail to recognize as such. Progress has provided an environment for bad things to occur, with more progress it gets easier and easier for the bad things to happen. Take an evil dictator, with a nod of his head he can launch a nuclear weapon killing many people had this dictator been in control 1000 years earlier he would only have a spear in his hand, progress has allowed an environment where evil is easier. Another example of this is the advancement of medicine. It allows for human who would die to live and pass on a mutated gene. I would put money on the fact that cancer was cause by humans going against natural selection and using our brain to our “advantage”.
The problem is that progress cannot be reversed or stopped it is a natural thing that will not end until the world is over. So what do we do? I say enjoy the present and find the truth about what happens after death because there is only imperfection and suffering here. Not to say that there is no love, happiness or joy there is but it doesn’t come without hate, pain and suffering. I am a planer so I want to make the best plan and it seems a waste of time to invest to much in this world because it’s just about to crash and burn.
Swenson’s focuses on the concepts of profusion and progress and the relationship between the two. He shows progress leads to profusion, and the expediential rate at which they grow. The expediential rate is the basis of his thesis and the fact that when dealing with expediential equations a lot happens very fast as the graph moves in accordance with time. Compared to history progress is happening and growing at such an outstanding rate one is obligated to see that we are quite far along on this expediential graph, Swenson being convinced near the end of what the world system can take, for there is a limit this is undisputed. To illustrate the magnitude of exponential change he uses the following example;
“The Pacific Ocean spans sixty-four million square miles and, on average, is 14,000 feet deep. If all the continents of the world were placed inside it, there would still be room for another Asia…. Assume that the Pacific dried up and it was our job to fill it. If we began with a single drop of water and continued doubling the amount…..”
It would take only eighty doublings to fill it, and at the seventieth doubling it is only 0.1% full. This type of exponentially is found in such things as life expectancy, health care expenditures (U.S.), Gross Domestic Product (U.S.), air miles traveled and world population just to name a few of the examples given in the book. Going with the example the numbers show we must be nearing the eightieth doubling. Regional break downs of systems only support the numbers, widespread disease, genocide, economical crises political turmoil show what happens when the profusion expands past what the system can handle.
The reason for progress and profusion causing such negative results is simple; nothing is ever perfect in this world. Progress is a double edge sword that most fail to recognize as such. Progress has provided an environment for bad things to occur, with more progress it gets easier and easier for the bad things to happen. Take an evil dictator, with a nod of his head he can launch a nuclear weapon killing many people had this dictator been in control 1000 years earlier he would only have a spear in his hand, progress has allowed an environment where evil is easier. Another example of this is the advancement of medicine. It allows for human who would die to live and pass on a mutated gene. I would put money on the fact that cancer was cause by humans going against natural selection and using our brain to our “advantage”.
The problem is that progress cannot be reversed or stopped it is a natural thing that will not end until the world is over. So what do we do? I say enjoy the present and find the truth about what happens after death because there is only imperfection and suffering here. Not to say that there is no love, happiness or joy there is but it doesn’t come without hate, pain and suffering. I am a planer so I want to make the best plan and it seems a waste of time to invest to much in this world because it’s just about to crash and burn.
Monday, January 26, 2009
Who is Man- good or evil?
Biblical view-
Man was created innocent in the garden. Then there was the fall with the disobedience. This is a fall into evil and as evil we are destined to Hell if no change occurs as God is perfect and evil cannot exist in his presence. The change is the acceptance of Jesus Christ as God Son, sent as a sacrificial lamb who lived the perfect life died and rose again conquering death. If this redemption is accepted then man can change into the redeemed who is destined for another change into a being in heaven. However just because man has been redeemed does not mean he has be rid his sinful nature from the fall. This is what creates the Cosmic Battle Within. On one side of the ring is sinful nature in the other corner is the sprit that enters us at the point of redemption. Therefore the redeemed are not absolved of responsibility of sin, in fact it becomes harder.
World View-
There is nothing outside of the “box” it is just what we can sense, there is no true god. Naturalistic Philosophy implications, if man is but a material beast, having nothing beyond the evolutionary cosmic particles, then we must conclude about man that he has no purpose beyond himself and can have no meaning in life. He can have no free will, there is nothing beyond the grave and he cannot be basically good as what he is made of is the same as whatever he would call bad, so he is just as much good as bad. No free will. We are just as much human as pig, as ant, as dog.
“As far as I know we just don’t have any intrinsic instincts for evil.”- Abraham Maslow. So where does evil come from? He admits that it exists but contradicts himself in that we come from evil yet we have no “intrinsic instincts”. Maslow says less than 2% of the population will become self actualized. That is a good thing. As humans are naturally evil if they base their lives off their inner motivations they are going to do some bad things. Basic question that only biblical view can answer is “where does evil come from?”.
Pernicious lie of our society- Follow own needs, it is all about me, I am basically good so what is the harm in doing what I want.
Man was created innocent in the garden. Then there was the fall with the disobedience. This is a fall into evil and as evil we are destined to Hell if no change occurs as God is perfect and evil cannot exist in his presence. The change is the acceptance of Jesus Christ as God Son, sent as a sacrificial lamb who lived the perfect life died and rose again conquering death. If this redemption is accepted then man can change into the redeemed who is destined for another change into a being in heaven. However just because man has been redeemed does not mean he has be rid his sinful nature from the fall. This is what creates the Cosmic Battle Within. On one side of the ring is sinful nature in the other corner is the sprit that enters us at the point of redemption. Therefore the redeemed are not absolved of responsibility of sin, in fact it becomes harder.
World View-
There is nothing outside of the “box” it is just what we can sense, there is no true god. Naturalistic Philosophy implications, if man is but a material beast, having nothing beyond the evolutionary cosmic particles, then we must conclude about man that he has no purpose beyond himself and can have no meaning in life. He can have no free will, there is nothing beyond the grave and he cannot be basically good as what he is made of is the same as whatever he would call bad, so he is just as much good as bad. No free will. We are just as much human as pig, as ant, as dog.
“As far as I know we just don’t have any intrinsic instincts for evil.”- Abraham Maslow. So where does evil come from? He admits that it exists but contradicts himself in that we come from evil yet we have no “intrinsic instincts”. Maslow says less than 2% of the population will become self actualized. That is a good thing. As humans are naturally evil if they base their lives off their inner motivations they are going to do some bad things. Basic question that only biblical view can answer is “where does evil come from?”.
Pernicious lie of our society- Follow own needs, it is all about me, I am basically good so what is the harm in doing what I want.
Saturday, January 17, 2009
Good Things
What are good things? To me something that is good is something that evokes a positive emotion. But why is it so hard sometimes to get this emotion, free of the negative emotions that the positive are bonded to. This is where I can see the adage "ignorance is Bliss" have some merit. For if one is ignorant of the negative emotions then they only experience the positive- enjoying a life of bliss. The problem is that true ignorance is does not exist. For if we are free human beings (speaking in an American backdrop, for more ignorance occurs when a culture is immersed in bondage but we won’t go there now). So if we are free human beings we are not truly ignorant as freedom is knowledge. Granted there are levels of ignorance, and I feel the more ignorant you are the happier you can be. That is when putting equal amounts of energy into something. For a person who has the capability to think will understand the concept of consequences and how EVERY action can have a negative consequence. This statement is difficult for the thinking man to overcome. For that is like telling him to kill one man in order to save his brother. The one man is the negative consequence the positive is his brother is saved. An ignorant man kills the other guy for he doesn’t comprehend the negative aspect of taking another man’s life, a man that was created equal in the image of God. So the ignorant kills and doesn’t feel the negative emotion due to ignorance and just experiences the positive emotions. The thinking man understands death, and therefore struggles with the choice. This struggle will not allow him to experience the positive emotion to the fullest. Therefore either way he chooses he fails, simply because he thinks. This leads me to wonder why advancement is so great; it just sets us up for failure. Take medicine for an example. The human race would probably become extinct without medicine; it is a crutch that we will never be able to remove. If we had no corrective lenses we wouldn’t be able to see and would die being blind how can one get food or avoid dangers, they couldn’t and would perish. But the fact that we would all die without medicine and technology is a mute point because we can’t go back now it is too late. But is a philosophical point, how great is advancement look where it has put us, more vulnerable and susceptible to dangers than ever before. So why is it stressed so much in our society? I am not trying to provide answers I am just pondering over the problem. I do not feel there is an answer and maybe everyone has seen this problem realized there is no answer and moved on a long time ago and I’m just the slow guy. I don’t know, I just feel like ignoring the problem isn’t the answer cause we cannot be truly ignorant, if we were that’s different, be we aren’t. so we need to man up see the problem and well I don’t know it’s like the man choosing the other guy or his brother what do you do? No one has the answer to this dilemma and this is why no one has the answer to the individual issues of how to experience good things better and more often. So if there is no answer to the big thing then there can be none to the little, and we must give up. Thankfully I have found something rather someone called God, in whom the answer is found for he is outside the box. Everything I have said thus far has been logic and reasoning inside the box of this world. But the answer is found outside. I can only speak for myself in all of this for it is a personal quest to obtain contentment in the problems and flaws of this world.
Friday, January 16, 2009
Who Are We?
Who I am, who you are and who anyone is, can be defined many different ways; but first and for most is our name. Names are particular to a person; it is the first step in creating an identity. Yet it is completely out of the person’s control. A person’s last name and sometimes even their first name are already decided before their birth. The implications of a person’s last name are great. The most obvious is genetic s, which defines how we look, or what we are. How much control does a person who is born with Downs Syndrome or Cystic Fibrosis have over their life? Then there is also the other side of the spectrum with professional athletes who are born with huge physical advantages, or geniuses who are born with a larger than average mental capability. Granted these are the tails on the bell curve, but does it not also show that the mere concept of being in the “bell” or on a “tail” is also out of our control? A last name also tells of the family situation the person will grow up in. This situation impacts who a person is through what type of morals and character will be taught to the child. All of our actions are based on our morals, or what we believe. A name impacts both our outer and inner person.
Another inherited aspect of life that applies is the social/economic class that a person is born into. The place a person is from can have a large impact on this constraint. Compare a person who is born into a middle class suburban family and one who is born into a low income housing project. For the first eighteen years of life, a person is confined to the situation they are born into, and have very little control over how to change it. A main contributing factor to this would be education. As the typical person has no control over their primary education, and with education being so valuable in one’s ability to have control in the decisions in their life, it is easy to see how little control a person has. Yes, there are stories of people who fail having had every opportunity, and people who succeed without opportunities, but these are outliers. These outliers probably occurred due to an event that had the same chance of occurring or not. For example, a student in a poor school has equal chance of getting a teacher who expands their mind or not. In either case, the outcome seems out of the student’s control.
When the bigger picture is examined; the culture, government and era that we are born into are completely out of our control. I have been blessed with the freedoms of America, but were I to have been born in North Korea how different I would be. Would I still have my Christian faith, would I spend so much of my time pondering how to make the government better? I cannot say I think this would be the case. Then there is culture. American culture is very materialistic in comparison to a third world country where the average citizen is just trying to stay alive. The era we are born in greatly affects who we are and how we view the world. If I was born in Georgia in 1820 I would have most likely been a supporter of slavery. I feel slavery is wrong today, but how much of that is what I believe and how much of it comes from the era I was born in, an era of equality.
The general populous is set on a track for their life from the moment they are born. So much of who we are is out of our control, yet so much value is placed on decisions. Maybe because every choice is a chance to take control. What I can say for certain is that I am fortunate and humbled at the situation that I have been born into. I have a wonderful family, a comfortable lifestyle where I have plenty of luxuries but they do not come without hard work. I have the opportunity of a fantastic education, and live in a time and culture where love for fellow man is free to roam. Due to this, I have chosen to live my life and the decisions I do get to make , by the adage “to those that much has been given much is expected”.
Another inherited aspect of life that applies is the social/economic class that a person is born into. The place a person is from can have a large impact on this constraint. Compare a person who is born into a middle class suburban family and one who is born into a low income housing project. For the first eighteen years of life, a person is confined to the situation they are born into, and have very little control over how to change it. A main contributing factor to this would be education. As the typical person has no control over their primary education, and with education being so valuable in one’s ability to have control in the decisions in their life, it is easy to see how little control a person has. Yes, there are stories of people who fail having had every opportunity, and people who succeed without opportunities, but these are outliers. These outliers probably occurred due to an event that had the same chance of occurring or not. For example, a student in a poor school has equal chance of getting a teacher who expands their mind or not. In either case, the outcome seems out of the student’s control.
When the bigger picture is examined; the culture, government and era that we are born into are completely out of our control. I have been blessed with the freedoms of America, but were I to have been born in North Korea how different I would be. Would I still have my Christian faith, would I spend so much of my time pondering how to make the government better? I cannot say I think this would be the case. Then there is culture. American culture is very materialistic in comparison to a third world country where the average citizen is just trying to stay alive. The era we are born in greatly affects who we are and how we view the world. If I was born in Georgia in 1820 I would have most likely been a supporter of slavery. I feel slavery is wrong today, but how much of that is what I believe and how much of it comes from the era I was born in, an era of equality.
The general populous is set on a track for their life from the moment they are born. So much of who we are is out of our control, yet so much value is placed on decisions. Maybe because every choice is a chance to take control. What I can say for certain is that I am fortunate and humbled at the situation that I have been born into. I have a wonderful family, a comfortable lifestyle where I have plenty of luxuries but they do not come without hard work. I have the opportunity of a fantastic education, and live in a time and culture where love for fellow man is free to roam. Due to this, I have chosen to live my life and the decisions I do get to make , by the adage “to those that much has been given much is expected”.
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