My Thoughts on the first 12 Chapters

I am a big fan of the Malcolm X autobiography. He was never really a civil rights activist that was touched upon in history books or in history class. It was always just Martin Luther King Jr. and Rosa Parks who were focused on as the big civil rights leaders. Malcolm X was always given a little snippet, but always portrayed in a negative light, and as violent. It was nice for once to read about a different civil rights leader, and also a leader and figure who didn't always propose peaceful protesting. When learning about civil rights, I never really understood how so many people could just peacefully protest, as it was such a volatile time, and at least someone must have been extremely angry. Also, MLK and Rosa Parks were always seen in a positive kind of goody two shoes light, whereas Malcolm X had a violent and criminal background, and for him wanting some type of equal rights is kind of a redemption for him, as he completely changed his lifestyle to become an activist for equality. The most interesting parts of the book was learning about his upcoming, and when he was the same age as me, he was hustling the streets with drugs, and engaged in criminal activities that could have led to his death. His transformation in prison also shows a very different type of prison as it is portrayed as now. For Malcolm X, prison actually reformed him, and put out a better man than who came in. Nowadays, some people like being in prison because they know how to work the ropes, and it doesn't really reform people. In all, this was a great book, and it was a shame Malcolm X was assassinated.

King Still King

I think that Martin Luther King Jr. is still important in today's society and hasn't been forgotten.  He is remembered for all he did for civil rights and making all citizens in America equal. President Johnson signing the Civil Rights Act into law was the direct result of Dr. King's actions along with other prominent civil rights activists. His message is one of peaceful civil disobedience and protesting, and people are still inspired today by this. I think that he is not really relevant nowadays along the lines of dealing with racism, which is a good thing. I think most people really don't need to worry about racism in our every day life interacting with others (at least what I see in Chicago). One thing about racism that I randomly thought of while writing this (as an inbound college student) is what would Dr. Kings views be on Affirmative Action. My personal view on it are that it is a blatantly racist policy. For those of you that don't know what Affirmative Action is, it is a set of quotas saying that certain percentages of people should be specific races in the workplace or school to ensure diversity. Within the current education system, AA makes it easier for minorities to get into schools if they have the same scores as white kids, purely based on their race. This is racist against every party and race included. AA is saying that if there is a certain standard for whites for a certain school, minorities should be let in with more leniency respective to their grades and scores to make the school more diverse. For one, these schools are insinuating that minorities aren't as smart as whites, which is completely false and racist. Here at Whitney Young and around the world, some people are smarter than others because they just are, they have something in their brains that works better than others. This has absolutely nothing to do with race or skin color, and I think there shouldn't even be a spot to show what race one is on application forms. I know intelligent and dumb people of all races, and what race they are has nothing to do with intelligence. I personally think Dr. King would be opposed to this policy, as he advocated an equal playing field for everyone, and saying some should be accepted over others based on race is preposterous.  I think we should always remember what Dr. King did and accomplished, and try to view everybody as equals no matter their skin color.

A Change Is Gonna Come - Sam Cooke












We Shall Overcome - Pete Seeger

The Wanderer.

Zooropa album cover

Johnny Cash in 1993

U2 in 1993

One song that I have recently discovered, and one that I believe to be exceptional is "The Wanderer," by U2. It was first released in 1993, on their eighth album, "Zooropa". The whole album was a break from their distinct, post-punk, new wave, and 80's sound to a more electronic and alternative rock sound, which they started to dabble in with their previous album, "Achtung Baby." But this blog isn't about the whole album, (definitely not one of my favorite U2 albums), lets get to "The Wanderer." It is the closing track off the album, and is one of the most distinct songs in the U2 catalogue, because none of the band members sing lead vocals on the song. Who does then? Many of you most likely ask. Get ready for the big surprise. Johnny Cash. Bang! Bet you didn't see that coming. U2 asked the 61 year old country legend to lend his famous baritone voice to what I believe is U2's and Cash's best song. The main underlying sound is a synthesised bassline delivered by bassist Adam Clayton. One can also hear the faint drumming of Larry Mullen and a muted acoustic guitar in the background. The Edge (U2's guitar played) provides harmonizing background vocals throughout the whole song, and in the middle of the song, delivers a short guitar solo. Bono doesn't come in until the very end, delivering a country-like yodel to finish off the song. The title fits in with Johnny Cash's "outlaw country" persona, and also with how he is aging, with less and less people listening to his music, he becoming a wanderer himself in the faster growing world of the 1990's. The lyrics are very graphic and descriptive, talking about a man searching and wandering in a kind of post-apocalyptic world for someone, what I believe to be a woman, heard in the lyric "yeah I went with nothin', nothin' but the thought of you, I went wandering" and later "I went with nothin, but the thought you'd be there too, looking for you." He has with him a bible and a gun, which I think incorporates both Bono's and Cash's religiousness. While wandering, the narrator says he is also looking for another person, just one good man left. No matter your interpretation of the song, I think it has just a great sound with some nice vocals, and recommend it to all. 
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=d-dZvQxYX1g

Frankl-y Speaking

Man's Search for Meaning showed me a very different view on the Holocaust.  I was used to reading books like "Number the Stars," "Night," or "The Diary of Anne Frank." These books showed me what the Holocaust was like in a more censored way than how it was described in Frankl's book.  Never did these other books explain how Jews were turned against Jews (the Capo's for example) and were not as graphic in detail and in the horror that Frankl's book describes.  Also, I found it very interesting how Frankl used these experiences to develop his own method of psychotherapy, logotherapy, that focuses on the future to calm people and show them how thier lives are meaningful, considering that Frankl himself has quite a lot to look back upon in his past, and still looks to the future.  I also really liked his idea of a Statue of Responsibility on the west coast to complement the Statue of Liberty in the east. I googled the current plan to build this statue in San Francisco bay (which at the moment is being developed, but with little funds) and got some pretty cool pictures of what is trying to be built. It would be two hands clasped together, working together (the hands are pretty much replicas of the Statue of Liberty's hand holding the torch). The idea that with freedom and liberty, we need responsibility is a great one, and I really like the idea of building this project.

Thankful for A Classmate

It's hard to believe that this year is almost 1/4 over already.  In that time, I think this Philosophy class has really opened my eyes to some ways of seeing the world, and from points of view I would have never even thought of before. In our class, I am thankful for both Johns. John Vitzileos always has something to say in our discussions, and the points he makes always spark more debate; the debates being something in our class that I find very insightful, and really like participating in.  John has some good ideas and is a good debater, which I think is essential to dissect what we do in our class and be a good philosopher. John Cetnicar too has some good discussion ideas, and isn't afraid to interject them. Also, whenever I don't know if we have homework John C is always a reliable guy to check what we have to do and he knows whats going on. Thanks Johns!

How the Class is going

I really like the direction our class is moving in and what we do in class.  I'm a fan of the books we have read so far, and the discussions that come out of them. I think we should have more "circle" discussions where as a class we really debate what we think about certain things.  I don't really have a problem with the groupworks, as I had a class last year where group works were pretty crazy and extremely long and in my opinion sometimes unneccessary. I guess we could always have less groupworks, that would be nice. Another thing I would like to add is I really like how you incorporate music to a lot of what we learn and do in class. Music is a passion of mine and it's really fun to learn about new music and relating certain songs to what we are learning. For my English class last year, we would watch a movie after we finished a certain book, whether it is the film version of that book, or a movie that didn't seem to have to do with the book itself, but had very similar underlying themes and related to what we just read in a very interesting way.  So, watching a movie that related to what we read would be interesting, and I'm not just trying to waste time or anything, this was just something that I thought was really cool with my other English class, and a suggestion that you may incorporate it into our class. Otherwise, awesome class!

Voltaire and Camus are voting for....

Nobody. At least Camus isn't voting for anyone. In his mind whats the point in voting? Life and existence is meaningless and absurd so no matter who is in office, that person will have no point or use.   Besides, everyone is going to die anyways so voting would just be a waste of our short, minuscule, pointless lives that already have no purpose or impact on the universe.  So just sit at home and do nothing, because you can't commit suicide to end your pointless and meaningless life. That would be cheating (which then gives living a purpose, and creates a paradox loop that will never end) Camus needs to chill a little about how pointless we are, just have some fun and try not to think. Heck he should go vote and prove his life has meaning by having an impact on a country's new leader.

Voltaire is voting for Candide.  He is a naive person who doesn't have any corruption of the outside world and hopes for the best.  No matter what comes in Candide's way, he could only be living in the best world there is, so just forget about it and push ahead.  Candide could bring some real change and positivity to the political spectrum. As long as the skeletons in his closet of killing people don't get out, he should have a pretty good chance against that Nothing candidate.