The Boy in the Striped Pajamas

Over the weekend I went to see a movie called The Boy in the Striped Pajamas, a story of an 8-year-old's perspective of the Holocaust. Bruno's father is a Nazi soldier, and his family ends up moving to a building not far from a concentration camp so that Bruno's father can continue his work. Bruno ends up exploring the grounds, and he befriends a boy in the camp through a barbed wire fence. He is told by his father that the camp is a farm for workers. I don't want to ruin the ending so I wont say how it continued, but by the end I was balling my eyes out, and it really made me start thinking about Emerson's History Essay and how history always repeats itself. Is that really possible in this situation? Could the absolutely horrific nature of that time period be repeated? I honestly couldn't fathom it or imagine it ever happening. I still don't understand how some people in Germany don't believe it ever happened. That's just ignorance in my opinion. 

If society is like a wave that never advances or retreats as Emerson put it, will we really learn from the mistakes in our past? Is that not our duty as citizens of the world? We talk about these utopian communities in class, and really, thats what the Germans were trying to do. The question that needs to be asked is, where do we draw the line between creating perfection and creating a genocide? The Germans killed millions of innocent people to "cleanse" their country, and how did that help anything? How did that make matters better? Sure, there was propaganda, but like hell if thats an excuse. Utopia's aren't created by wiping out all races. Utopia's aren't even possible, there will always be issues in a society.

As we always say in class, we can never really, truly learn history unless we immerse ourselves in it, and relate it to ourselves and live in it. When I watched The Boy in the Striped Pajamas, I felt like I was living the hatred, suppression and cruel behavior that occured during every scene. I will never understand the hardship the Jews went through, but in seeing this movie, I at least got a taste, and that's better than nothing. Check out the movie though, its really amazing!

Victory for the Gay Community

Gay marriage has now been legalized in Conneticut, which, for many gays living in Conneticut, is a tremendous feat. Personally, I think that gay marriage is something that should be granted indefinitely everywhere, because based on what we have been talking about in class, everyone has a right to, "Life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness." If this is supposedly true, don't gays have the right to be happy? And to have liberty? My paper for the Constitution is about how the ideals of the Declaration of Independence were not fulfilled, and this is yet another example of how they weren't. Who knows if gays even existed in 1776, but right now it is a prevalent issue that deserves attention. In 1996, the Marriage Defense Act was passed, and it ruled that marriage was limited to a man and woman union for the purpose of federal law. This excluded gays entirely, obviously, and it angered them deeply. However, the act does not require states to abide by their rules, they can make their own on gay marriage if they choose. California declared banning gay marriage unconstitutional, making it legal. Vermont, New Jersey and New Hampshire have laws to acknowledge the relationship between gays and they have the rights that opposite sex marriages possess, but they are not called marriages. There are still twenty six states that do not allow gay marriage, and to me, this is really surprising. The Constitution is about equality, and this is not represented in the ban on gay marriage. It's actually quite disappointing, because America has the government that every foreign country looks up to, and for gay rights to be unattainable in some states is not a true reflection on what our country prides itself on.

Gay marriage in Conneticut Article

Gay marriage rights information 

White Supremacy? Really?

Recently on the news and in the newspaper I have seen allegations for two men being convicted of plotting to kill now President-elect Barrack Obama. To me, this really just makes me sick. In class we have been talking about the Constitution and how slavery was "put off" for twenty years, from 1776 to 1808, in the document to avoid issues with the South. Since then, slavery has been abolished and blacks have gained rights equal to white men. The African American society has come so far from where they were before, and I really feel like this happening was a major step back from the progress made because this biggot-like behavior, believe it or not, is still occuring. The fact that our new president is black is a major achievement in black history, and for this conviction of two white supremacists to happen just amazes me. I really didn't think there were people like that anymore. People I have discussed our new African American president with have said that some of their extended family did not want Obama to become president simply because he is black. This showed me that it wasn't so long ago that blacks were severely discriminated against. Our grandparents witnessed the protests and speeches of Martin Luther King...this wasn't something that happened a million years ago. On the news when Obama was elected president they talked about how teens around my age and young adults in their twenties don't see Obama as a "black man," they see him as a symbol for change and an incredibly smart, enthusiastic person. Our grandparents and even some of our parents, however, still have that identification of him. This shows progress for our country as a whole, and how prejudice is being minimized. But the allegations toward the two White Supremacists, among all this evidence of progress, had a really big impact on me. 

Oh, heres the article if you're interested

Declare Yourself

VOTE

I found the Youtube clip of this commercial after seeing it because I thought it had an incredibly interesting approach to voting and getting people vote. The entire commercial is around five minutes long and includes several celebrities who are known for their humor, talent and confidence. It starts out with a ton of little clips of each person telling the public NOT to vote, using a reverse effect to get people to listen. This is pathos and ethos at the same time. The actors talk about how healthcare, abortion, taxes, the war and so many other things "don't matter" and that they really have no effect on the world. Obviously these things aren't true, and thats the point they are trying to get across. Then the commercial goes into issues that if the public cares about, they probably should vote. The conversational attitude towards the whole thing makes it most appealing and allows the issue of voting to be brought up on a more personal level. The excerpt ends with the celebrities persuading people to vote, talking about how easy it is and using a ton of jokes to make it seem casual and personal. This method of getting people to vote makes the public think about their constitutional right to vote and the fact that they have natural-born rights to begin with. Our country has come a long way with voting qualifications, and now any American citizen has that right. Exercising the right to vote is something that all Americans should take advantage of and be proud that they can contribute to the leadership of our country. I think that in these times of peril with the economy, we could all use a little patriotic flare. This commercial was especially important because of how huge this election is, and what it means for our country for who will be the next leader of the United States.