The Importance of Getting History Right

Every country or society portrays their history and world history in their own way. Some societies place in their history books garbage about their “amazing” accomplishments. They barely dwell on their downfalls. On the other hand, there is a more truthful history that focuses on both the negatives and the positives. This method also tends to push for more critical thinking. In my opinion, it is important to get history accurate, even if it doesn’t always portray your country in the most favorable light.

For the past few weeks, I have been delving into 1984, by George Orwell. He tells the story of post WWII where people are only educated on their country’s success. The main character, Winston, even has a job, which consists of changing history books to make the country, Oceania, look better. The result is that people have little ability to reason or think for themselves. They simply accept their “false” history, without any objections. They don’t question the “whys” and “hows” of history. This brings the downfall of their society. If their history books had given accurate information, then the people would have been more educated and would have had the ability to question a government on its faults.

A program that focuses on the deeper understanding of history is Facing History and Ourselves (FHAO). They pride themselves on their ability to not simply look at the outside level of past events. They go through the mindsets of past historical figures and break down events into themes and ideas. Their goal is to make sure that certain horrible occurrences from history do not happen again. Therefore, they “face history” and then move forward in a positive direction. They not only get history right, but they manage to depict it in a favorable and beneficial way. They exemplify the importance of getting history right because out of their programming come informed student leaders.

On the other hand, the school systems in Japan seem to be going in the opposite direction. Most of their history books spend little time focusing on the time periods leading to WWII and WWII itself. They spend tons of pages focusing on Japan after the war and way before the war. They simply want to instill a sense of pride in their country after their major flaws in WWII. They are embarrassed by the atomic bomb and embarrassed by their past vulnerability. Therefore, their history books mostly leave that time period out, only including a few small details about the events. This can be a very scary practice because if the students and people of Japan don’t learn from their past mistakes, then they are bound to repeat them. Japan hasn’t really learned anything from WWII because their textbooks don’t include key information.

The importance of laying out truthful history outweighs building up a country’s patriotism. The people of Japan and Oceania have a burning love for their country, but this forces them to accept their situation and accept everything that is thrown at them. They lack the ability to question and understand. This ability is evident in truthful history, which allows for reasoning and thinking. If we get history right, we are more likely to move forward in the right direction.

Maya Lin's Vietnam Veterans Memorial

Maya Lin, a sculptor of the Vietnam Veterans Memorial, asserts through her art that the main way to pay respect to soldiers is by picturing yourself in their shoes and understanding their sad predicament. She supports this claim by making her memorial/sculpture reflective like a mirror and having it slope downward to depict sadness. Her purpose is to make people get into the heads of the soldiers who fought in Vietnam. She builds a close relationship with the viewers by making the sculpture reflective and personal with the addition of all the names of lost veterans.

1. The Vietnam Veterans Memorial contains lists of lost soldiers and an interesting design, which adds a deeper level to what the memorial embodies. It may seem odd that Lin chose to list all 52,000 names, but I think this is what makes it so personal. People who have lost relatives now have a connection to the memorial. They now have a place to remember, grieve, and celebrate their loved ones. The names add to the sculpture, rather than detract. Also, the reflective nature of the memorial adds a deeper level of personal attachment. One can see themselves in the memorial and imagine what these soldiers had to go through. It seems that Maya Lin’s main goal was to create a sense of closeness and realness between the dead and the living.

2. This memorial sends out a very important message regarding the army and armed forces. By listing each name of every soldier, Maya Lin depicts how each life had meaning. There wasn’t a collective bunch of people that perished, but rather 52,000 individuals that lived lives outside of Vietnam. When they died, their lives were cut off, and many families felt the massive loss of one person. Maya Lin pays respect to the individual by including every name. She shows how in the American Army, they value each soldier and how important one life can be. The viewers of this memorial get the message that life has value, and that the army stands by this ideal as well.

Living Like Weasels

Annie Dillard, in her essay “Living Like Weasels” (1974), claims that just like the weasel, we as humans should try to behave on instincts. Dillard supports this idea by first describing an anecdotal encounter with a weasel and then analyzing the weasel's traits. Her main objective is to prove that the weasel acts without regret and jumps right into situations, which is how we should act. She creates an informal relationship with the audience by speaking in first person and addressing those who like to contemplate every single move in life.

1. Each section in the essay is numbered, which creates a clear image of how the encounter with the weasel went about. The first section is merely background information, setting the tone and maybe building up suspense. The second section introduces the story of how Dillard met a weasel. The third section consists of the actual meeting and her reactions. The fourth section is her analyzation of how she and the weasel go about life. The fifth section is her regrets in life, and the final section is the conclusion. Dillard’s method has a clear structure and shows how she processed the event in a logical manner. In a sense, it fits the classical prototype of an average story. It has the rising action (background, buildup to encounter), the climax (actual encounter), and the falling action (exploring the encounter in greater depths). The numbers are perfect because they clearly mark a shift in the story.

2. The line “noticing everything, remembering nothing…” sheds light on an important life lesson that is constantly overlooked. People tend to get caught up in the constant hustle and bustle of the world. However, they get caught up on the smallest things, which sets their day into a downward spiral. Everyone has that one moment in their day, and I am no different. Last year, there was a span of almost two months where the school kitchen didn’t have Rice Krispies for breakfast. Everyday, I would leave breakfast in a funk, angry at the subpar cheerios that I had been forced to eat. If I had taken the advice of the weasel, those morning blues wouldn't have fazed me. The weasel sees everything around him, but doesn’t let it get to him. He doesn’t remember the bad or good, he just keeps moving forward to the next instinct. Pushing forward is a key lesson that the weasel embodies.  

5. Throughout this essay, Dillard puts an emphasis on the need for the “wild” in daily life. In my opinion this may seem contradictory to what most people do. People pride themselves on their rigid work schedules and habitual lifestyles. Some students even have their whole lives planned out before they even reach college. When Dillard mentions the “wild”, she focuses on the freedom and easygoing nature of the outdoors. There is no structure or way to go about life. There are simply instincts that push animals to live and thrive. The “wild” mentality is somewhat unheard of in modern-day life. Dillard’s “wild” people would simply be looked at as lazy, but in truth they are living in a more free environment. Dillard makes the outdoors seem inviting and calm because that is one place where the hardships and structure of society fall aside.

An Uprising from Oregon to Tennessee

Bruce Vanwyngarden, an opinion writer for the Memphis Flyer, in his article "Making Tennessee Great Again!"(Jan. 7th, 2016), claims that he will holdup the Big Hill Pond State Park in response to his disgust with the Tennessee Politicians. He supports this assertion by satirically setting up parallels between his holdup and the Oregon Militia Standoff. His main goal is to create a fictional situation of him holding up a state park in order to shed light on how absurd the Oregon Militia Standoff is. He creates an entertaining relationship with audience who are probably just as outraged and amused at his actions and the actions of the Oregon Militia.

The Oregon Militia Standoff at first comes off as amusing. Here we have a bunch of cattle ranchers holding up a bird watching house, screaming for justice and freedom. Do they actually think they can make a difference? Does anyone care that a bird watching center is being occupied? In truth, their motives are important. They are standing up for the injustice felt by the Hammond family. Two of their family members are being charged for terrorism, but in fact, they only set crops on fire to stop a massive wildfire. The US Fish and Wildlife Service and the Bureau of Land Management have been after this family for a while. On top of that, they have harmed many ranchers in the area as well. Ammon Bundy, the leader of the militia, deemed the incitement of the Hammond family as the last straw. Although his methods look radical, he is receiving attention, which is the main goal. It doesn't really matter where he occupies, as long as he is getting media coverage. The government and people need to be aware of the unfair treatment. These ranchers have lost hundreds of thousands of dollars to the FWS and BLM. They have every right to rebel, and I don't think this situation should be taken lightly. 

SRC on Resilience

Summary: In her article, "The Profound Emptiness of Resilience," Parul Sehgal ascertains that people tend to blame real social problems on lack of resilience and character. She discussed how nowadays government agencies and universities include in their mission goals the idea of resilience. However, people tend to think that college students are weak and need parents, which is pretty much saying that they lack resilience. Sehgal said that the use of guidance counselors at schools has almost doubled. Students are simply more emotional and let things get to them. However, we can't let this fact cloud our judgement regarding racial issues in school settings. Just because the students are more emotionally weak, does not mean that racial harassment isn't occurring as often. There is now a new form of resilience were these students have started to speak up against racial discrimination. They are being resilient by continually making a stand and growing as a result of their grit.

Response: Many of Parul Sehgal's points resounded with me because after all, this city of Memphis has been built on grit and grind. We strive to get better each day and go through trials and tribulations to reach success. However, Memphis still faces issues of racism as well. There is a large amount of division between different classes and races. Therefore, I think that we shouldn't look at college student's stands for racism as emotional weakness, but rather as resilience to push for a better and equal country. In Facing History and Ourselves, we strive to speak out, break down barriers, and remain resilient in these dark times. There have been countless police shootings against black civilians, which shows how out of touch two races can be. The powers of grit and grind have to be put to work to ensure an end of discrimination.

Citation:
Sehgal, Parul. "The Profound Emptiness of ‘Resilience’." The New York Times. The New York Times        Company, 1 Dec. 2015. Web. 7 Dec. 2015. <http://www.nytimes.com/2015/12/06/magazine/the-        profound-emptiness-of-resilience.html?_r=1>.

Last Lincoln Blog

Abraham Lincoln, the 16th President of the United States, in his Second Inaugural Address, claims that the South caused the war, and due to differences on both sides, the war was simply unavoidable. Lincoln supports this assertion by first summarizing the causes of the war, and then discussing his hope for reconstruction of the South. His main goal is to show the South as the producer of the war and depict how their future will look like, whether with vengeance or rebuilding. He uses a strong voice to address the whole country, but specifically calls out the South. 

Upon reading Lincoln’s speech, I found a few points that resounded with me. Lincoln points to the South as the perpetrators and calls for the blood of slavery to be redeemed. This was a strong statement, and at first glance, it seems that the South has two options: win and live or lose and die. Luckily, Lincoln doesn’t leave them out in the dry because he offers a solution to their troubles, which is “to bind up the nation’s wounds.” One of the most important traits in a leader is to fix the enemy and not neutralize them. This task is not an easy one because as we have seen in history, sometimes a nuclear bomb gets the job done. However, sometimes coming to an even ground with the enemy allows a chance to reach peace. Lincoln wants to “win the peace,” and this characteristic defines him as a good leader.

The Power of Drones

Gail Collins, an Op- Ed columnist for the New York Times, in her article “Dreading those Drones”(October 30, 2015), asserts that although drones can be used for recreational activities, they have the capability to put safety at risk. Collins supports this claim by first differentiating between toy airplanes and drones in accordance with the Federal Aviation Administration and discussing examples of drones harming safety in sports complexes, airports, and jails. Her main goal is to prove that drones need to be regulated in order to ensure security. She creates a relationship between her and anyone who might have or might want a drone by sharing the dangers of a simple flying device and urging the government to make regulations.

After reading Gail Collins’s response to drones, I discovered that although she may have made some good points, her overall logic is flawed. She claimed that drones are dangerous because they have gotten in the way of fires, have attempted to give weapons to prisoners, and have the ability to take pictures of anything from the air. Her points are valid, but she never mentioned the good that drones can do as well. They can be used to help intelligence organizations put bad people behind bars and can fight wars without having to send any troops to another country. It could help by sending medical supplies to hospitals, not just sending knives to a prison. In my opinion, the drawbacks of the drone do not outweigh the potential it has for success. Do the cons really outweigh the pros?

Link: http://www.nytimes.com/2015/10/31/opinion/dreading-those-drones.html?partner=rssnyt&emc=rss