Each country, especially the United States, had an almost isolationistic view of their role in the world. Today, however, we face the challenge of enemies who do not think rationally and will die for what they think is the greater good, so the view of seclusion is not longer valid. The suicidal attitude of these new adversaries makes these types of people’s actions very hard to predict and track which leads to a danger that is unpredictable and around which we cannot devise a defensive plan. Another idea is that the civilized world believes that the economically developed countries take care of the less developed countries. In an article written by James G. Pradke called “Idealism vs. Realism: a Modern Approach to Capitalism Vs. Socialism,” dated April 16, 2010, he quoted Merriam-Webster’s dictionary (2010) which “claims that realism dismisses idealization and presents a theory which focuses on concern for fact or reality while rejecting
An exception to this would be in times during war. Both men and women would participate in acts of homosexual intercourse to presumably satisfy their sexual needs while away from their spouses (Pomeroy, 2004). Homosexuality was also considered acceptable when used in education and in no way due to a sexual attraction. Sappho has proved otherwise in her poetry. With her erotic and provocative descriptions of women, she shows a desire to be with a woman in more ways than the ones deemed as socially acceptable.
Also, knowledge and history have been thrown away in the hopes of creating a world unaffected by its past and unthreatened by progression. As well, religion and spirituality no longer exist. Lastly, the true meaning of happiness is reversed becomes a temporary aspiration. Ultimately, the cost of creating a so called perfect society is the creation of a world that is decidedly not perfect; all aspects of society are negatively affected. While trying to create the perfect world, what love is and how it is shown have completely been morphed and are now meaningless aspects of society.
Although she is a used character, readers can infer that she possesses herself. She is respected to the point where the Johnny jumper’s don’t come by her shack to cause trouble as they do to others. Though she is respected by many, she, herself has different view points on how a women should present themselves to men. “Soon and very soon you goin` be taking man” Circe constantly tells Lilith. She thinks that women have to have sex in order to be women.
Disobedience: A Double Edged Sword Somebody once said: "Any law that uplifts human personality is just. Any law that degrades human personality is unjust." Ever since the human race fell into his first sin, man has been rebelling against immoral obedience and. However, the first steps of transforming into a full human began with a simple step of disobedience and with it came the responsibility for one’s own acts. Nowadays, our society raises us to believe that obedience is good and disobedience is bad.
“Honor, purity and innocence.” Why is a woman considered honorable, pure and innocent if she is sexually inexperienced? Virginity in America is most commonly referred to during adolescent, every boy is dying to have sex, and many girls are too, but are repeatedly warned of the same sexual curiosity. Virginity is spoken of like it is inherently valuable for a girl to have it, and to lose it to someone that really matters to them. The difference is, a woman’s value in part largely depends on how “good” or “pure” she is while a man’s is
Thoreau wrote the Essay on Civil Disobedience, in which he addressed the question, “when do larger moral imperatives justify violating a law supported by the majority”. His response was that when a law “… is of such a nature that it requires you to be the agent of injustice to another, then, I say, break the law’’. This follows from basic English Common Law, in which you can do something as long as it doesn’t hurt someone else. Thoreau’s philosophy is that you disobey a command (law) when it is hurting someone else. Another area of his thinking is that government is symbolic of a ‘machine’, and man should commit non-violent disobedience to ‘gain access to the machine’.
“Unsung Heroes” follows the same line of thought. It enumerates explicitly false heroes that are often found among former US presidents and military people. Zinn reminds us of the crimes each of them has committed. He suggests that these undue idols be taken off their pedestals and be replaced by real heroes, people who have sacrificed something to make a change, even if it was a small one. Being a war-opponent and social activist, Howard Zinn’s most likely intention in writing “Unsung Heroes” was to educate people about the mistakes (and deliberate lies) that are, in his opinion, very common in the perception of American history.
Hobbes idea that “people orbiting their ruler” leads me to the idea of socialism/communism (Sayre, 2012). His belief in the social contract theory led him to believe humans should be controlled by fear, and that they should willingly submit to governance. His thoughts on how people giving up their freedom, and submitting to their ruler seems a lot like slavery. He believed humans were servants to their ruler, and if they followed and obeyed the ruler they would have peace. John Locke would respond to Hobbes ideas on government by stating that humans were capable of governing themselves (Sayre, 2012).
The Significance of a “Brave New World” Huxley is trying to get a lesson across, that technology is destroying the basics of society: family, cultural diversity, art, literature, science, religion and philosophy. He specifically uses John for this purpose. He also uses John to get his warning across about socialist and communist attitudes and to some degree his opposition to a capitalist consumer society. He uses some of the themes of the book to warn humanity as a whole about the use of technology to control society, the dangers of an all-powerful state and the incompatibility of happiness and truth. These warnings are relevant to today’s society because technology and media are changing the way we look at human feelings and rights, trying to avoid a society where people are not so much denied human rights such as free speech and expression but conditioned to not care.