"Nobody's Perfect I Gotta Work it" ~Hannah Montana

         An elementary school student neglects to put her name on the top of her worksheet and receives a zero. A middle school student forgets his calculator and fails his Algebra test. A high school student oversleeps and misses the first period essential exam review. People are not perfect, from youth to old age. We are human. We are forgetful at one time or another and learn from our mistakes and effects of those mishaps. Consequences teach responsibility. Postman argues in The End of Education that students must be taught to be “error detectors” and teachers must help them discover “inconvertible truths and enduring ideas,” (Postman 118). From 1995 to today, public education strives to create a “public” to be the future of our country.  According to the States Standard Initiative, common core standards have been implemented for students across the United States to be prepared for careers and life.  The standard of teaching this way in public schools has generated political and educational arguments. Specifically, people dispute over the fact that students are too afraid to try something new with the fear of failing, showing creativity, or thinking outside of the box.  Postman points out in The End of Education, “everyone makes errors, including those who write about error,” (Postman 119). I agree with Postman because making mistakes help society learn and improve as a public. 

         There is a trend within society that citizens are beginning to expect institutions to provide for them rather than providing for themselves though hard work and effort. New generations feel entitled, even when they make continuous errors or act inappropriately. The god of Economic Utility’s purpose shapes the entitlement that, “if you pay attention in school, and do your homework, and score well on tests, and behave yourself, you will be rewarded with a well-paying job when you are done” (Postman 27). Postman believes that this god is invalid because each career requires a specific educational background. Many graduates assume that they are entitled to any job position, and then as new employees feel they deserve second and third chances when the consequence should actually result in termination. Similarly, another public school goal is to control and prevent bullying, and form a public who respects others.  In the workforce, the new generation of employees feel entitled to respect; however, they aren’t necessarily practicing what they have learned in their schooling.  Unfortunately, the type of citizenry our twenty-first century schools are molding is suffering from some undeserving, disrespectful, and somewhat lazy people.

Works Cited

Postman, Neil. The End of Education: Redefining the Value of School. New York: Knopf, 1995. Print.

Elie Wiesel didn't "exist" but Sophie really didn't exist

According to philosopher Jean Paul Sartre, “man is condemned to be free,” (Gaarder 793). In Sophie’s World, this idea helps Sophie learn that we are free to make our own choices, but we are condemned to the consequences of these choices because we did not create ourselves. We are also condemned to be free because we are the only existing thing that is responsible for our actions, even though we did not ask for this life or our existence. I have decided to discuss the connection between Existentialism in Sophie’s World and Elie Wiesel’s, Night. Thank you Gabriella Sweezey.

An existential threat deals with human existence. As demonstrated in Night, Elie Wiesel shares his personal experiences during the Holocaust with the character, Eliezer. Eliezer is a jewish teenager struggling to discover himself, retain faith in God, and survive this horrible time for the Jewish people. He begins to question the meaning of life and the purpose of praying. Sophie and Eliezer are both taught the studies of mysticism. When Eliezer is taught that God is everywhere, his belief and faith in the goodness of the world are corrupted when he witnesses the killing of innocent lives. “Sartre says that man feels alien in a world without meaning. When he describes man’s “alienation,” he is echoing the central ideas of Hegel and Marx,” (Gaarder 810). Sartre believes that people attempt to escape meaningless suffering even when the effort causes them more pain, alienation, or death. In order for Jews to survive the Holocaust, they were forced to abandon or betray friends and family. In addition to Sartre, Nietzsche believed that “God is dead,” (Gaarder 809). Sartre and Nietzsche’s philosophy projects are revealed when Eliezer begins to take charge of his own destiny instead of trusting the will of God.

Another principle of existentialism is that human nature is not predetermined or quantifiable. Everything Eliezer is taught about humanity is being contradicted in the concentration camps. He witnesses family members killing each other because of their intensifying fear of death. Eliezer’s consciousness comes to an understanding that his existence is meaningless or absurd when he states, “We had transcended everything-death, fatigue, our natural needs. We were stronger than cold and hunger, stronger than guns and the desire to die, doomed and rootless, nothing but numbers, we were the only men on earth,” (Wiesel 87). Existentialism developed during World War II to deal with this devastating and life-changing event. In Sophie’s World and Night share the concept of existentialism by the philosophers, Sartre, Nietzsche, Heidegger, and Sartre.

Works Cited

Gaarder, Jostein. Sophie's World. New York: H. Aschehoug & Co. (W. Nygaard), 1994.

Wiesel, Elie. Night. New York : Hill and Wang, 2006.

A Horrendous Crime or a Crime of Humanity?

     In Bush’s speech he refers to the terrorists as following “the path of fascism, Nazism, and totalitarism.” He states how the terrorists “do not want to merely end lives but disrupt and end our way of life.” He goes further to state that, "it is the time to start the war back on terror.” These examples are how Bush validates the second 9/11 as a “crime against humanity.” 

     In a state of war, the consequences on human life and society allow us to defend measures taken in means other than a horrific crime as Chomsky has eluded to in his speech. When Robert Frisk refers to 9/11 as a “horrendous crime” this should have been dealt with in the matter that was in accordance to the American Judicial or Military Court System. Chomsky’s literation challenges us to question if Bush commits his own crime against Osama Bin Laden. The “crime of aggression” against Osama Bin Laden is also referred to as the “supreme international crime”. The “supreme international crime” is clearly defined by Justice Robert Jackson in a General Assembly resolution during the Nuremberg Tribunal. This is similar to the expression an “eye for an eye.”

     Operational Geronimo was being compared to a state of vengeance other than fighting the war on terror or humanity. When Osama Bin Laden was apprehended, he was assassinated, and laid to rest without jury or proper burial. In the passage of Chomsky’s work, there are even mentions that Osama Bin Laden was responsible for all that transpired on 9/11.

     Another example by Chomsky that illustrates American exceptionalism is seen in our involvement in the election of Salvador Allende in Chile. There were calculated and intentional deliberations to force Allende from office that eventually lead to his replacement by General Pinochet. There were many long term and disastrous consequences from this involvement, but it is another example of where the US may believe it gets a pass on the rules.

     While the above examples may appear this blog is defending Chomsky on his stance “Was There an Alternative”, it is merely qualifying or characterizing how he came to his conclusions. In order to better understand this blog post, I needed to demonstrate them accordingly. My personal beliefs, traditions, and heritage make it very difficult for me to see that there is an alternative. Especially when the function of a terrorist is to wipe out Western Civilization and replace it with his or her own evil ideology. Even if Chomsky is trying to state that 9/11 is only a horrendous crime, I am torn because we are still in a war on terror and fighting for our survival in humanity.