What happened in 2009 and it's happening right now already happened in 1929 with the Stock Market Crash and the Great Depression. As corporations grow, they were able to hire lobbyists and give money to politicians to make them pass pro business laws and to keep the status quo, getting more powerful than ever.
In the meantime normal people are left with crappy jobs and bankers present them with the offer of the next bubble, which is going to pop sooner or later.
Is this just again evidence of the fact that human beings don't learn anything from past history and that they have to face themselves a problem to realize that it exists?
Monday, February 28, 2011
Great Depression... Great Nation... Great People.
Well, well, well... The Great depression. That`s an intense topic to talk about, but here, I am not going to talk about how it was horrible and many families and dreams were fell apart. No. I am going to talk about hope and patriotism.
When I first went to the National Constitution Center I was with my host family, and inspired by the mini White House, we were discussing [or trying to] about Obama, the political system and the economic system. And then, I came up with the question "but, if something like the Great Depression had happened again, what would you have done?!" and one of the girls answered me "we rebuild, like we always did". End of discussion.
Then I saw how people truly believe that no matter what happens, America will overcome the obstacles. And learning about The Great Depression and what americans went through in the 1930s only replenished my faith in people and made me believe that nothing is impossible when we have a cause.
When I first went to the National Constitution Center I was with my host family, and inspired by the mini White House, we were discussing [or trying to] about Obama, the political system and the economic system. And then, I came up with the question "but, if something like the Great Depression had happened again, what would you have done?!" and one of the girls answered me "we rebuild, like we always did". End of discussion.
Then I saw how people truly believe that no matter what happens, America will overcome the obstacles. And learning about The Great Depression and what americans went through in the 1930s only replenished my faith in people and made me believe that nothing is impossible when we have a cause.
Monday, February 21, 2011
Liked it... Well, the end was pretty fun
I've always, since I was a boy, loved reading. Not everything, but a piece of this and that. Literature, for sure, is not my favorite genre. It always revolves in an authors objective to prove something or to show some truth in it's text, and, even though I'm not a terrible metaphor reader, some elude me. The great gatsby was one of those books until it's end. If it wasn't for class discussion I believe that I would not have understood a thing.
But, with help, we got trough the rough parts and unscrambled an interesting story about love, money, music and the American dream. With that I think that I can, quite surely say, that the great gatsby is indeed a master piece. The work that F. Scott Fitzgerald made with the descriptions in the book are so inpiring that people seek it before writing anything that envolves the same thematic.
I enjoyed the deepness of each character and how the story unfolds trough rapid dialogues. But the best part, for me, was the end. The last two chapters are filled with emotion and action and made the whole novel worth reading.
But, with help, we got trough the rough parts and unscrambled an interesting story about love, money, music and the American dream. With that I think that I can, quite surely say, that the great gatsby is indeed a master piece. The work that F. Scott Fitzgerald made with the descriptions in the book are so inpiring that people seek it before writing anything that envolves the same thematic.
I enjoyed the deepness of each character and how the story unfolds trough rapid dialogues. But the best part, for me, was the end. The last two chapters are filled with emotion and action and made the whole novel worth reading.
The Jazz Age or the Golden 20's
It's very interesting to see this huge change in the span of a few couple of decades in the history of US. From the harsh conditions during the period of war to the sort of short term dream of the Roaring 20's and its collapse in the 30's. Women had lead to big changes generally and in this situation isn't any different, there was a big change in women behavior, also known as the flapper period for them; they started to get involved in the working field, a sense of equality was gaining popularity and as a result women change dressing, started to use make up among other changes. At the same time with prosperity in the economy people in general wasn't worried about money, extravagant parties were likely to be attended by them and Jazz Music was the final ingredient in this cocktail. The result the Golden 20's a time were alcohol was ban to manufacture and sale but not to posses, a short term cocktail followed by the big depression.
The "Great" Gatsby
This novel filled me with different and contrary feelings. I like it, i hate it. I found it interesting but sometimes extremely boring. The overwhelming and exceeding decriptions of the characters, places and situations made it hard to understand. The contradictions of the characters made it interesting for me. Gatsby was a respectfull character for me at the beginning even though he was a liar and an unreliable man. His efforts to find his true lover deserved appreciation but after a while when i read the following chapters i lost my respect for Gatsby and Gatsby became a miserable, pitiable and dishonourable character.I dont want to talk about the end of the story because it was unintelligable and not creative. I think the writer didn't choose a proper name for the novel. I think it should be The Hapless and Miserable Gatsby.
Unlucky Gatsby
Poor Gatsby... From the day he fell in love with Daisy, Gatsby has dedicated his life for her, to get her back; and what is the result: failure. He died tragically whithout having lived his dream life with Daisy. Even if i haven't been engrossed deeply by "The Great Gatsby", it remains a pretty good novel.
Monday, February 14, 2011
Church... not my cup of tea
Going to church has never been a usual activity for me and my family. We usually go there twice a year in average. This is due to the fact that we live in a canton (state) where religion is not very popular among young people and new generations. At school, students who go to church are usually targets for jokes, because it is a common thought to associate church with “old people”. That is the reason why religion has never drawn me.
Questions
Religion is supposed to give people answers. Life has always eluded man, they couldn't find proper answers to a lot of the questions they had like: How life began? Who were the first human beings? Who is watching us? Who created the earth?
Religion has been trying to answer all these questions for a long time, and, some have succeeded in giving those answers, creationism is the best example we have at hand.
But what happens when religion stops being healthy? Fanaticism, in my view, is not something to be proud of. It creates violence towards other people and other religions. It dissimulates respect and love. It transforms a person into it's religion.
I've always had religious education in my schools, and something that I've. Learned while studying is that having a lot of religions in the world is not a problem, it's a solution. Diversity. What makes us different always makes us stronger, and whether you believe in God or not, whether you believe in the bible, or in the Koran, or in nothing at all, we're a human being that are always looking for answers. In religion or in science, we always tryto answer some impossible questions.
Gabriel García Marques wrote a book called The General in His Labyrinth, and while reading Looking For Alaska by John Green I stumbled across a reflection of Simón Bolivar's, the principal charecter in the book, last words.
He said: " Damn it, how am I ever getting out of this labyrinth?"
And in the reflection the author changed the quote from labyrinth to labyrinth of suffering. Looking at this question again, after this week, I could finally understand that the labyrinth is life, and the way to get through it is believing. Believing in yourself or in a greater force, but you just have to believe. And people know that, hence the fact that there are Over 34,000 christian faiths in the world.
I've spoken about questions.Something that we tried to answer in class but failed to is " what do we believe in?"
In what you want? In what seems right? In what your parents belive?
I'm not trying to reach any kinds of conclusion here, but I believe that that is the question in most of peoples head today.
Religion has been trying to answer all these questions for a long time, and, some have succeeded in giving those answers, creationism is the best example we have at hand.
But what happens when religion stops being healthy? Fanaticism, in my view, is not something to be proud of. It creates violence towards other people and other religions. It dissimulates respect and love. It transforms a person into it's religion.
I've always had religious education in my schools, and something that I've. Learned while studying is that having a lot of religions in the world is not a problem, it's a solution. Diversity. What makes us different always makes us stronger, and whether you believe in God or not, whether you believe in the bible, or in the Koran, or in nothing at all, we're a human being that are always looking for answers. In religion or in science, we always tryto answer some impossible questions.
Gabriel García Marques wrote a book called The General in His Labyrinth, and while reading Looking For Alaska by John Green I stumbled across a reflection of Simón Bolivar's, the principal charecter in the book, last words.
He said: " Damn it, how am I ever getting out of this labyrinth?"
And in the reflection the author changed the quote from labyrinth to labyrinth of suffering. Looking at this question again, after this week, I could finally understand that the labyrinth is life, and the way to get through it is believing. Believing in yourself or in a greater force, but you just have to believe. And people know that, hence the fact that there are Over 34,000 christian faiths in the world.
I've spoken about questions.Something that we tried to answer in class but failed to is " what do we believe in?"
In what you want? In what seems right? In what your parents belive?
I'm not trying to reach any kinds of conclusion here, but I believe that that is the question in most of peoples head today.
Sunday, February 13, 2011
...And faith will make you blind...
Religion as all the things in the nature evolves. At first there were pagan religions, polytheist, and with little organization but then some of them became highly organized institutions. With that they added an unprecedented power to the concept of religion and the evolution of these religions ended up making almost all other forms of pagan religions obsolete. Now these are considered the greatest religions of today and almost all of them share the same traits:
1. They are very organized.
2. They have written rules to follow.
3. They teach their own moral code.
But more important, and that's what allowed them to maintain such a big power over the centuries:
4. They promote unquestioning faith.
I totally disagree with the last statement: its purpose is to maintain control of the believers who cannot question at all anything said by the institution, and this has resulted in absolut power from generation to generation through the centuries. However, this method is not perfect, there is a breaking point, which is the reason why the overall percentage of people subscribed to a particular religion has declined in the last 50 years: education.
The more educated the person, and society, the easier it is to understand the reason why these institutions operate as they do. That is, as many religions say in many passages, " The truth shall set you free", really ironical but true.
The key point is that it was not God (or any other deity), who founded these institutions, it was, in fact ordinary men. Also these institutions do not follow their own rules, they have changed their views with the passing of the years. Like the case of Galileo, which was condemned by the church for saying the Earth was round and it revolves around the sun. Obviously the church retracted that behavior, and now they have a statue of him in the Vatican. That means that the rules are not absolute, so that the current rules should not be regarded as unquestionable truths and that today's truths are very likely to be changed in the future, as it suits or not the institution.
Then are you part of a Religion or of an Organized institution?
1. They are very organized.
2. They have written rules to follow.
3. They teach their own moral code.
But more important, and that's what allowed them to maintain such a big power over the centuries:
4. They promote unquestioning faith.
I totally disagree with the last statement: its purpose is to maintain control of the believers who cannot question at all anything said by the institution, and this has resulted in absolut power from generation to generation through the centuries. However, this method is not perfect, there is a breaking point, which is the reason why the overall percentage of people subscribed to a particular religion has declined in the last 50 years: education.
The more educated the person, and society, the easier it is to understand the reason why these institutions operate as they do. That is, as many religions say in many passages, " The truth shall set you free", really ironical but true.
The key point is that it was not God (or any other deity), who founded these institutions, it was, in fact ordinary men. Also these institutions do not follow their own rules, they have changed their views with the passing of the years. Like the case of Galileo, which was condemned by the church for saying the Earth was round and it revolves around the sun. Obviously the church retracted that behavior, and now they have a statue of him in the Vatican. That means that the rules are not absolute, so that the current rules should not be regarded as unquestionable truths and that today's truths are very likely to be changed in the future, as it suits or not the institution.
Then are you part of a Religion or of an Organized institution?
participants of religious education
The importance of the religions in humans' life is unarguable. Religions exist since the first human "Adam" was created. The religions will stay being important until the last standing human being dies. In addition to being the only creatures which can think, human beings are also the only creatures which have the ability to believe. It is almost impossible to fill the emptiness of a human who doesn't believe, even this belief is believing in nothing.
The first people whom a baby first met are his or her mother and father. Their beliefs play a crucial role in his/her life. According to our belief, newborns are pure and innocent. At first, his/her family shape the future of the child. In kids' world everything must be explained with love.Because of this, religion must be taught with love too. Firstly, kids must love, then respect God, then they should learn how to live by the rules of their religions.
Believing, literaly means the freedom of choice. A person who lives his/her life with respect to other people's lifes and beliefs is a real independent person. To provide a healthy environment for kids in which they can live, think and believe independently is the most important duty of a family and a government. Governments should be in same distance to all religions and belief systems. They should step in to provide necessary conditions for citizens' independent religious lifes.
The first people whom a baby first met are his or her mother and father. Their beliefs play a crucial role in his/her life. According to our belief, newborns are pure and innocent. At first, his/her family shape the future of the child. In kids' world everything must be explained with love.Because of this, religion must be taught with love too. Firstly, kids must love, then respect God, then they should learn how to live by the rules of their religions.
Believing, literaly means the freedom of choice. A person who lives his/her life with respect to other people's lifes and beliefs is a real independent person. To provide a healthy environment for kids in which they can live, think and believe independently is the most important duty of a family and a government. Governments should be in same distance to all religions and belief systems. They should step in to provide necessary conditions for citizens' independent religious lifes.
God bless secularism
Even though my knowledge about religion is not as complete as should be. Every-time that I learn something about it, makes me think that the best decision is to remain agnostic, every new or old religion has its own biases.Therefore I try to follow this simple rule "When I do good, I feel good; when I do bad, I feel bad, and that is my religion"—Abraham Lincoln
Is "Jesus Camp" an horror movie?
Children in tears with convulsions and some of them even looking possessed: this would be the perfect plot for a new horror movie. Sadly, we are talking about a documentary, named "Jesus Camp", about an authentic evangelical summer camp for kids and their families.
Talking about "Jesus camp" and being impartial doing it is really difficult. Actually, it's almost impossible for me.
A good thing about this movie is that the directors realized a very balanced product, in which the attention to the protagonists never becomes derision, nor they try to show us just the most interesting parts of the protagonists' personality.
The things that got me really upset about this camp are not the ideas that they are trying to teach to these kids, such as abortion as a murder or the non existence of the global warming. I don't agree with them, but everyone is entitled to their own opinion. The problem is how they teach them these ideas, turning them into acts of violence. They practice this indoctrination to kids that are four, five year old using brain-washing methods, also used by the best marketing experts. Their final goal, as one of the protagonists says, is to create an army of God. What can we understand from this declaration if not an obvious desire of religious war?
It's also true, as Becky Fisher, one of the directors of the camp, says, that in the Middle East exist camps like that one, just for muslims. But, since I hate every kind of fundamentalism, it being religious or atheist or whatever, I think that this Bible camp is just scaring.
They treat topics like abortion or president Bush in a very superficial way, without using irony or any boundary that are always necessary when you talk to really little kids.
The three kids that are followed by the documentary crew are really interesting not just for their strong faith but also for their optimism. They really want to change the world and spread the ideas they believe in.
I don't doubt that these kids, as grown-ups, could really use their belonging to God's army as a way to make the world better, but I can't help myself thinking of them as strong opponents of the civil rights or as the next invaders of an helpless country.
Talking about "Jesus camp" and being impartial doing it is really difficult. Actually, it's almost impossible for me.
A good thing about this movie is that the directors realized a very balanced product, in which the attention to the protagonists never becomes derision, nor they try to show us just the most interesting parts of the protagonists' personality.
The things that got me really upset about this camp are not the ideas that they are trying to teach to these kids, such as abortion as a murder or the non existence of the global warming. I don't agree with them, but everyone is entitled to their own opinion. The problem is how they teach them these ideas, turning them into acts of violence. They practice this indoctrination to kids that are four, five year old using brain-washing methods, also used by the best marketing experts. Their final goal, as one of the protagonists says, is to create an army of God. What can we understand from this declaration if not an obvious desire of religious war?
It's also true, as Becky Fisher, one of the directors of the camp, says, that in the Middle East exist camps like that one, just for muslims. But, since I hate every kind of fundamentalism, it being religious or atheist or whatever, I think that this Bible camp is just scaring.
They treat topics like abortion or president Bush in a very superficial way, without using irony or any boundary that are always necessary when you talk to really little kids.
The three kids that are followed by the documentary crew are really interesting not just for their strong faith but also for their optimism. They really want to change the world and spread the ideas they believe in.
I don't doubt that these kids, as grown-ups, could really use their belonging to God's army as a way to make the world better, but I can't help myself thinking of them as strong opponents of the civil rights or as the next invaders of an helpless country.
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