The Solution?

How I miss the days of Kindergarten, where we would sit and do simple math problems like 2+2. Those problems always had a simple solution. Unfortunately, as I grew older, this ceased to be the case. Now I see problems to which I do not think there are any solutions, or if there are, they aren't very practical. One example would be the "anti-police issue". People often become corrupt when handed power. The police are no exception. So there are many cases of police brutality occurring, and these cases are sometimes reported on the internet. Now the problem arises when there has become so many instances like this that the internet in general seems to be conjuring up this sense of anti-police or police hate. Now of course, this is not something we want, because the police are there to protect us and there are plenty of good cops out there. But when this feeling finds its way into the people, a barrier or wedge is set between the people and the enforcement. And as history has shown us, this never turns out good. So we need a solution that still allows people to complain about police brutality without promoting a sense of anti-police. In class, we came up the idea that every officer should have a morals check before being enlisted. This would result in a drastic decrease of police brutality. So there would be a decrease in the overall hate as well. It may not be the perfect solution, but it's as close as we can hope to get.

The Truth

Once upon a time, the truth was simple. It was clear what was true and what was false. Now, in the 21st century, I'm not so sure we can say the same about truth anymore. I'm not sure we can say it's as simple and clear as it was before. This week in class we discussed the attack of 9/11 in detail. We also discussed the long lasting impacts it left on the country that still effect us today. On 9/11, two sad things happened: 1) 3,000 Americans died, and 2) 1.8 billion Muslims were labeled as "terrorists". There is no doubt that the attack was truly devastating, and it fueled an immense amount of grief in all the people. But unfortunately, it seems like the people chose to convert all this grief into anger, and searched for something to direct all this anger at. And they chose the religion of Islam. Now airport security has been extremely heightened, and there are "random" checks performed on people that all happen to have Arab names. A general sense of hate has been conjured for Muslims in America, and is promoted massively by the media.

Now all negative actions of Muslims are highlighted, and are all tied back to the "violent" religion of Islam. I find this particularly ironic because the word Islam is the Arabic word for "peace", and so associating things like terrorism and violence with the religion of peace just shows us that people really need to look into what they are saying, instead of just "going with the flow". Groups like Al-Qaida and ISIS commit actions that go against the teachings of Islam, and so therefore cannot call themselves true Muslims. They are no more Muslim than the Ku Klux Klan were Christians. They simply borrowed the symbol for its power, but twist it to satisfy their own needs. That, my friends, is the truth. 

Connection of Discrimination

I've noticed a rather interesting similarity between American Studies and American Literature. In American Studies, we learn about how different groups like African Americans and women were discriminated against. They were treated poorly and unfairly. In American Literature, we learn in Maus about how the Jews were discriminated against, and how they were treated poorly and unfairly by the Nazis. So in both situations some sort of discrimination takes place. This got me to thinking the big question, "why?". Why is discrimination a common pattern throughout history? I compared this to a school system, and how there are kids who bully other kids based on things like the clothes they wear and the food they eat. These kids bully those kids to cover up their own insecurities within. They make fun of the flaws in others so no one will notice the flaws in them. They also believe that due to this, they are more superior than the others. This has led me to believe that these groups such as the Nazis have the same concept. They pick on those who they believe are flawed in order to protect their own image. This is quite a significant problem, because not only does it hurt others, but it causes disunity among the whole. The solution to this is to establish a system where no one feels insecure, but rather, they feel safe, so that everyone can work together with no barriers coming between them.