Thoughts about the Future

Chapter 10

When I think of the future I think of all the things that I will have accomplished from now until then.  I also think of the grandchildren that I will have and how I will make up for all of the mistakes that I think I’ve committed against my child.  In Rainer Maria Rilke’s poem titled The Future, he talks about future as being something that we might be frightened of because it’s “too large a morsel for the heart’s mouth” (Rikle, 2010) as if to say that we can’t handle the future.  Rilke also says about the future that “everyone is going there” (Rikle, 2010) and at first I didn’t agree because I think that not everyone will be able to live that long but what really is the future?  I think that the future is always painted as a time that is very far from the present but I don’t agree with that because the future is only seconds away and when those seconds pass then that is the past and we look on to the future once again. 

Rikle, R. M. (2010). The Future. In M. Krasny, & M. Sokolik, Sound Ideas (p. 891). New York: McGraw-Hill.

Getting Rid of the Prison System?

Chapter 6

In Michel Foucault’s essay Illegalities and Delinquency, he states that “the prison cannot fail to produce delinquents” (Foucalt, 2010) and I agree with him yet there is still a reluctance to get rid of that system altogether.  I think this is so because we, as a society, just don’t know what to do with people that don’t follow rules and act out with violence and malicious intent.  We would rather lock them away and put them in a system that just perpetuates this type of behavior instead of trying to figure out the reason why they are acting in this manner.  What we need is to go back to the days when we allowed God to be part of our children’s lives and we let parents discipline their children without ridicule and judgment.  Sure, there are people that take advantage of this and are insensitive to other’s beliefs about God or take discipline to the extreme but I do believe that the good outweighs the bad.  We need to bring back love and respect to the forefront of each and every person and then only then will we see a decline in this negative behavior. 

Foucalt, M. (2010). Illegalities and Delinquency. In M. Krasny, & M. Sokolik, Sound Ideas (p. 457). New York: McGraw-Hill.

 

Can the mind be trusted?

Chapter 9

Can the mind really be trusted?  The mind processes things and depending on different variables can the interpretations be wrong sometimes?  I say yes.  There are lots of times that we dream something so vivid and wake up the next morning thinking that what we dreamt was really true.  There are times when I hear people whispering around the corner and my mind interprets this as people talking about me when in reality they were just discussing a private matter that they didn’t want others to overhear.  When I grew up, I was forced to eat eggs because my step father thought I was just trying to get out of eating my breakfast.  I didn’t like eggs and because of these repeated experiences my mind has tricked me into thinking that I can never eat an egg or I’ll get sick like I did when I was a little girl.  Of course, this is probably not true but my mind says that it is.  In Ernest Hemingway’s, A Clean, Well-Lighted Place, he introduces us to an elderly man that is dealing with thoughts of despair and who has recently tried to kill himself (Hemingway, 2010) and I think that a lot of people dealing with these types of thoughts are facing the tricks that the mind plays on them.  They think that there’s nothing left to live for or that everyone hates them or that people are out to get them.  These things could very well be true or is it just the mind allowing us to think things that aren’t really true?

Hemingway, E. (2010). A Clean, Well-Lighted Place. In M. S. Krasny, Sound Ideas (pp. 775-779). New York: McGraw-Hill.

Hip Hop and the Relation between Reality and Mainstream

Chapter 8

In Stakes is High, Jeff Chang writes about Hip Hop and how the artists see their world and present this to their audience.  Chang writes that rappers 15 years ago presented their messages that asked questions like “What’s going on?” and “What is to be done?” but now “rap music today reflects the paradoxical position of the hip-hop generation” (Chang, 2010) and it’s now more about selling clothing lines, alcohol and various products.  In my opinion, Hip hop is about expressing art through chant and music.  I do believe that when rap started there was a point to the message and there was usually some sort of cause behind that message but now it’s about pushing products and making money.  I do not agree with Chang that this is how the whole generation sees their world however it is definitely a message that is prevalent throughout.    

 

Chang, J. (2010). Stakes is High. In M. &. Krasny, Sound Ideas (p. 643). New York: McGraw-Hill.

 

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Environmental Awareness versus Environmental Activism

Chapter 7

Environmental awareness is the conscious effort to understand nature and its affects.  In Ralph Waldo Emerson’s Nature, Emerson writes about how when man studies and absorbs nature that there is “a certain reverence” (Emerson, 2010) that is awaken in man.  He continues that “all natural objects make a kindred impression, when the mind is open to their influence” (Emerson, 2010) and goes on to explore the beneficial relationship that can occur between man and nature.  Environmental activism is not only understanding the benefits of nature but taking a stand against those that threaten its continued viability.  In Rachel Caron’s From Silent Spring, she writes about man’s “assaults upon the environment is the contamination of air, earth, rivers, and sea with dangerous and even lethal materials” (Carson, 2010) and even though we’ve paid attention to the environment these last few years we have such a long way to go to ensure that we are not the cause of nature’s rapid deterioration. 

Carson, R. (2010). From Silent Spring. In M. &. Krasny, Sound Ideas (p. 569). New York:

     McGraw-Hill.

Emerson, R. W. (2010). Nature. In M. &. Krasny, Sound Ideas (p. 562). New York: McGraw-Hill.

My Thoughts on War

Chapter 5

I understand what drives a Country to go to war and I support the men and women who take on the responsibility to fight the battles that ensue.  What I don’t understand is that we spend our whole lives getting taught to love one another and to work our problems out in a civil manner and we then grow up to teach our children those same values yet wars still continue on throughout the ages.  Is it because people in other cultures don’t support these same values?  Is that why we find ourselves fighting for the rights of others when they are being taken advantage of?  Will humanity as a whole ever learn that love and respect is the key to living in peace and harmony with each other?  I read The War Prayer written by Mark Twain and I have to say that I was sickened by the images that were portrayed of the war.  In the first paragraph, the feeling of the country was described as “a time of great and exalting excitement” (Twain, 2010) as if war is an exciting event.  Twain went on to say that the “drums were beating, the bands playing, the toy pistols popping, the bunched firecrackers hissing and spluttering” (Twain, 2010) which to me just glorified the war but how can war be presented in this way?  We’ve learned so much over the years and throughout the many wars of history and at least today we don’t paint a rosy picture of this horrible event.  War is ugly and it costs many lives and although it may be an inevitable event I still hope for the day that we can settle our differences through respectful means.

 

Twain, M. (2010). The War Prayer. In M. &. Krasny, Sound Ideas (p. 388). New York: McGraw-Hill.

A Story of Love or Hate?

Chapter 4
 

When I read Raymond Carver’s essay titled What We Talk about When We Talk about Love, I thought about my stepfather and how he treated my Mother while they were still married.  In Carver’s essay, a character name Terri talked about her previous relationship and how “the man she lived with before she lived with Mel loved her so much he tried to kill her” (Carver, 2010) and it took me right back to my childhood.  I never really understood my parent’s relationship as my stepfather hardly ever showed any emotion towards my mother.  I remember one Christmas Eve where all of a sudden my stepfather pulled my mother onto his lap and let her sit with him.  I guess to him, this was his way of saying he loved her.  But then, money got tight and we almost lost our business and he asked us to leave so my Mom went out and found a job in another city and before long we were packing our bags.  One night, he asked my Mom if she would stay and she wouldn’t continue the conversation while he was drunk so he waited for her to go to sleep and then tried to kill her while she was sleeping.  I came home from a babysitting job that night and my memories couldn’t be more vivid of my Mom running from the neighbor’s house and telling me to quickly pack a bag and of the stepfather sitting in the chair looking like he had done something so very wrong all while my stepbrother sat beside him as a guard protecting his family.  We saw him a few years after that because we were tied to him because of the three children he had before me and my Mom met him.  It was hard on all of us but we got through it and many years later he even hosted my Mom’s 50^th surprise birthday party in the house where I almost lost her at the age of thirteen.  So, I ask you if this is a story of love or hate?   I say it’s a story of love, hate and forgiveness.

Carver, R. (2010). What We Talk about When We Talk about Love. In M. Krasny, & M. Sokolik,
     Sound Ideas (p. 327). New York: McGraw-Hill.