Women's Rights

Over that past years women have increasingly become more active and fought for more rights. They have been very successful too. I feel that this is a good thing. Women are part of this world too, and should have just as much rights. I mean without women, what would us men do haha. Women have a big impact on the world today. They do just as many jobs as men, except for the presidency, so far. Women keep it balanced out too. Too many men doing the same job can cause problems, fights, aggravations, and boredom. Having a mix of men and women in the workplace keeps things happy and fun, and in some cases, it's the only way to actually do the job by having both. Keep fighting women!

Violence vs. Nonviolence

If a country could be completely nonviolent, it would be the ultimate place to live. There would be no problems dealing with violence. Everyone would get along. Now, obviously this will never happen. At least, I don't see it ever happening. Too many things in this world are only here because of violence and they have become popular and even necessary to some cultures. I feel that a completely nonviolent country, or even world, would be wonderful, but it wouldn't work. You could not sit even 5 people in a room for an hour maybe and not have any violence among them at all. It's bound to happen, which is sad, but true. Violence does have a big impact on our lives. Half of what we eat comes from animals, and by killing them, we are committing violence. We love our sports, but there wouldn't be sports if we lived in a world of nonviolence. The point is that sometimes, "violence" is necessary.

MLK

Martin Luther King, in my opinion, was a great man. He stood up for what he believed even though he didn't quite know what he was getting into. He was a little known preacher who became the face of African Americans during the Civil Rights Movement. The people believed in him and listened to him. The bus boycott, led by him, was a huge success. He didn't know what to do at first and ended up leading a huge successful event. He fought for a great cause clear up until he was assassinated. His speeches were very motivating, especially, the famous, "I have a dream." He didn't live to see it fulfilled, but it did happen. His dream came true. It was all because of his courage and desire to fight for minority rights that they are what they are today. He was a wonderful man and is well missed.

Gandhi

I think that Gandhi's ways and techniques were absolutely amazing and wonderful. The things he went through to accomplish what he did are amazing. I would not be able to be physically abused and thrown in jail for no reason. I would flip out and fight back. It's in my blood. I would not stand there and take that. So, I can't imagine the courage and belief for a cause this man had. He had unique techniques as well. He planned everything out usually, and he got so many people to follow and listen to him. That is probably the most amazing part, that he can stand up and say, "Do not fight back, take the abuse and die for what you believe if you have to because I will" and have so many people willing want to do that. No one resorted to violence. That is the biggest reason it worked for Gandhi because he got overwhelming support and cooperation from the people that followed him. I just feel that it is all unbelievable what he did.

"Heros"

Men have always been seen as the "dominate", "masculine" figures in society. Women have been traditionally seen as weaker. This may/may not be true that is totally an opinion of every person. However, a "hero" can be male or female. They can be small, large, smart, dumb, white, black, any other race, and any other characteristic. A hero is just someone that does good for someone, for the society, for the country, or for the world. It can be as simple as helping someone across the street to as large as saving a Nation from being overtaken. Traditionally, a hero has been seen as someone that does a great act that makes them the most popular and loathed person in the city, country, or world. That doesn't have to be the case though. Like I said, you can be a hero for doing the smallest thing no matter your race, age, or gender, as long as, it helps someone, and they appreciate it.

Pacifism

There is a student who lives in my dorm who I have come to know is very pacifist. I won't mention his name because he may not like being talked about. Anyway, I have talked to him with my friends many times and have gotten into really deep discussions and he is a very unique individual. He absolutely does not like killing of any kind. I mentioned how I hunt to him before and he was disgusted that I kill animals. We had a friendly talk about the current war, and the past wars of our country, and he mentioned how much he hated war and how he truly wished we would bring our troops home. I said how I feel war is a way of accomplishing goals and dominance and sometimes necessary. He kept saying how there are many alternatives to war and how we should start using them more. I personally love to go hunting for everything possible that is legal, and I believe war is necessary sometimes. He would not agree with me, but that doesn't make him hate me, or anyone. He has his views, and I have mine. We're all still friends.

Cultural Violence

During football season, I witnessed a few acts of cultural violence. This is due to the different races of the players on the team. Overall everyone usually got along, but sometimes there would be discriminatory words said and fights because of that. This was usually between "white" players and "black" players. I broke a few up because it's stupid to fight your own team mates. This kind of cultural violence isn't as bad as say Hitler's hate of Jewish people and etc., but it is still verbal and physical violence towards different races of players. I feel that it is very wrong, even though I'm guilty of it in the past. No friendships were lost over this so, in the end, it's all good.

Nonviolence

When we talked about Nonviolence in class, it made me think about a friend of mine from where I live. He was no Gandhi, but he tried to be as unviolent as possible. He would always try to fix situations between my friends and even me with my friends a few times. He never really got mad at anything, that I saw. If he saw a fight or argument he would approach the persons involved and calmly try to solve the problem. He'd say things like, "Now guys there is no need for physical confrontation", and "Hey guys lets solve this in a peaceful manor. How about it?" Sometimes guys would get mad because he would step in the middle of fights to break them up, and attack him. He never fought though. He would always say, "I'm sorry. I was only trying to help, and I will not resort to violence so please step away. I'll leave." He was just a good guy overall.