Tuesday, April 7, 2015

The Universal Language - Unit 3

The Power of Relationships

Relationship is defined as “the way in which two or more concepts, objects, or people are connected, or the state of being connected.” In Humanities this quarter, we focused on The Power of Relationships, and learning about it through two different relationships: the relationships the citizen and
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the government, as well as the relationships of characters throughout a story.
After evaluating different government, as well as state laws and citizen rights, I can conclude that citizens and government are truly interconnected, having strong ties that bind each other. Each one is dependent of the other, and if one fails to work properly, it can harm, and potentially destroy the other. We read a book called The Giver this quarter, and the meaning behind the story has a lot to do with each individual’s rights as well as the government’s rights. In this society, the government has failed to strive properly, and has spoiled its citizens. However, at the same time, they can make each other better, and improve on one another. One example would be through peaceful protest; if the government has a strong and good relationship with its people, it will strive to improve on what they criticize.
We can also evaluate how the characters in the book, The Giver, build a strong relationship. There is the situation present that the government has failed to strive, but citizens do have immediate reactions. Because of the relationships between characters going through the same struggle, it allows them to communicate through feelings, which can help them go against the opposing force. In the book, the Giver and Jonas have a very strong relationship that allows them to understand each other properly, and learn from each other mistakes.
What is the Power of Relationship? We can tell that they are strong, and connect people in positive, as well as negative ways. Nevertheless, why are they so powerful? I read a book recently, called the Alchemist, and it talks about relationships in a strong context. There was a concept that amazed me called the “Universal Language”. Everyone can speak this language, no matter who or where you come from. A Language is communicated through relationships. By how you feel and express yourself to others. This would be my definition of a relationship. Without relationships, we would not be able to communicate properly. It is what makes us human. If we cannot relate to each other, how can we understand each other? Another book I read that also includes this theme is the Infinite Sea. In this book, there are groups of “Others”, who want to take out the humanity out of humans. Nevertheless, this humanity is what allows them to fight back. The fact that the main goal of the protagonists is to help humanity prosper, is what allows all humans to have a strong relationship. “The Others” claim that something such as love should be gotten rid of, as it is a weakness. However, this is entirely wrong, as love can fall into the category of a strong relationship. Because of love, we earn to take care of each other, and make each other better, instead of making sure that you and only you “survive”. The Power of Relationships is one of the most important factors of allowing the world to strive properly.

Narrowing Down

In a democracy, individual citizens have their own rights and responsibilities. and it varies in each society.   Citizens in different democracies have various rights and responsibilities. Foremost, citizens have somewhat say in their government. In the USA, all citizens are responsible for controlling
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their government’s decision, through voting (of age 18 and over). This is an encouraged responsibility, meaning that it is not mandatory (about 30% of the population votes). Germany is quite the same, having encouraged voting for citizens of ages 18 and over. However, in Ancient Greece, only free men that had citizenship were allowed to vote, and it was a requirement. If you violated this requirement, or didn’t show up at an assembly, you would be publicly humiliated. Another responsibility common in many democracies is the taxation system.  Citizens are required to pay taxes, which end up going to the government. This system goes along the same guidelines in the three different societies I evaluated (Germany, USA, Ancient Greece). Military Service was also a requirement for some societies. When men reach a young adult age in Germany, they are required to serve the military either in armed forces or through community services (helping elderly and working in hospitals). In Ancient Greece, citizens were also required to defend their country. A more modern encouraged responsibility, more of which found in the USA, is to be educated on current events, particularly what’s happening in your community. A basic requirement is to follow the constitution and obey the law of the country. This is an example of the strong, interconnected relationship between citizen and government.
A democracy is the best form of government (according to a class vote), however, it is not the easiest to create and maintain. The first step to create a democracy is to have a responsible ruling government, that is capable of creating a society that can be ruled by the people, for the people. This can be very hard, as many world issue related to government have to do with corrupt elected officials. Another very controversial topic is how the society wants to focus on: the protection of individual needs or the provision of the general welfare. We did an essay on this, and I stated that it was best to focus on the protection of individual needs, but I do believe they are both equal. A democracy that includes both of these can be very difficult to obtain, since there are topics involved that can create a big debate. In our class, we debated three of these questions, having the topics of Gun Control, II Amendment; Separation of Church and state; and the Freedom of Speech. If you believe these are easy topics to support one side, take a look at our debates. It might change your mind quickly. It might be difficult to maintain a democracy, but at the end, it is always worth the risk.

Debates

               Should a person who is required to wear religious garb by their belief system be exempt from laws of state that contradict their beliefs? I was told to defend the yes side; people are exempt from the law. The main topic this question focuses on is the separation of church vs state. If there is separation, then the government should not be able to interfere with the religion of other, and cannot impose laws that go against them. I was in favor of the individual rights of each person, meaning that everyone has the freedom of religion. The other side was against the separation, following the provision of the general welfare, in where they focused on the safety of others.
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               At first, I did not agree with what I had to argue; I thought that the law definitely had priority over a few religions. Nevertheless, after researching about how to defend my side, I changed my mind. I thought that each religion should be equal; no one should have priority. However, I was not looking at what the other side could say. After the debate, I switched again. I forgot that the good of the people should prioritize over the good of one religion. I am still a little confused on my topic, as it is very controversial, but do believe that it is easy to defend either side.
               I helped my debate group by contributing research, as well a strong arguments. I always made sure we had something to say, no matter who was going to talk. I encouraged some teammates to talk, since not everyone got a chance. I believe I was very responsible in this debate, since I was always making sure I had enough to talk about, and if the debate flow stopped, I would try to bring in a new idea that had not been discussed. I did face some challenges. There wa one teammate in my debate group who had a lot to say, so my team let him; however, at some points, he would say some of the arguments I was planning to say. That made it hard for me express my ideas on the debate, since we would run out of time, and I would run out of arguments.

Recap

               Overall, I sincerely enjoyed this quarter. I loved the book we read so much, I decided to read the rest of the series. It by far has been one of my favorites next to the Power of Development. I do look forward to what the next unit has in stock for me!

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