As I sit here on the eve of my graduation from college, I can't help but look back on the years I've spent here. I started off at University of West Georgia, then transferred to Kennesaw State University. I've been at KSU since 2007. I've made friends, gotten to know professors and staff. It has been an amazing experience.
I have learned a lot from my time as an undergrad. How to do research. How to write a paper. How to coherently express my ideas. In the last five years since i graduated high school, I have grown from a shy young girl to a confident, intelligent, young woman. I have learned to stand up for myself and my ideas. I have learned that I can survive on my own. I have a new set of skills and an education that I can be proud of.
As this chapter of my life closes, I look towards the future. It is unknown and veiled in shadows. I await acceptance letters. But I have faith, and hope, that I will receive that desperately awaited letter soon. With that letter, I will be working on graduate work. To gain my Masters and then my Doctorate in World History is my ultimate goal. To spread my knowledge to other people. To open their eyes to new perspectives. To understand that history is still something worth learning. To inspire people to think. To reevaluate what they already know. That is what i aspire to. To through teaching and writing, that people might walk away from me knowing a least a little bit more than they thought they did.
Tuesday, May 10, 2011
Sunday, May 8, 2011
Generalizations
Hello all, this is your friendly neighborhood outspoken historian. I'm here for another blog to put my thoughts out there on a subject that is at least, vaguely related to history. Enjoy.
So I was talking with a friend on Facebook about a group of Christians who are stating that the world will end on May 21st 2011 (which is worthy of a blog all onto its own). She got upset with me and asked me not to generalize all Christians into one group because not all Christians think the same way. So this got me to thinking. Why should i NOT generalize?
As I look around me, I see people generalizing other people into groups all the time. I turn on the TV and I see complaints about Muslims. All Muslims and all countries with high Islamic populations. Even though it is only a small group that is radical. But if you look outside at American Christians, there are radicals who also call for extreme measures.
Also, I see the generalization of all non-organized religions, including Pagans, Druids, and Wiccans, into Cults or Devil Worshipers.
Then all people from China are generalized into a stereotype of 'Chinese.' All Russians are the same. All of the French are rude and unclean. All Canadians are unintelligent. All Hispanics are from Mexico and they are all illegal. All men are loud, dirty, and horny. All women are bitchy, emotional, and nags. All African Americans are lazy, loud, and expect everything handed to them. All whites are racists.
No one likes to be generalized. However, people do it all the time. Sometimes for dramatic effect. Sometimes to prove a point. Sometimes to be mean. and Sometimes because they are ignorant.
I admit to generalizing on occasion. Often to prove a point or a trend over time. Though never, in my experience, have a I heard people complain more about it all then I have heard Christians. It amazes me at how vehemently people will object to the generalization of Christians than any other. Its ok, in so many people's eyes to claim that all Muslims are terrorists, but saying that Christians over time have predicted the end of the world over and over again, that is worthy of objection. That is an interesting fact.
So I was talking with a friend on Facebook about a group of Christians who are stating that the world will end on May 21st 2011 (which is worthy of a blog all onto its own). She got upset with me and asked me not to generalize all Christians into one group because not all Christians think the same way. So this got me to thinking. Why should i NOT generalize?
As I look around me, I see people generalizing other people into groups all the time. I turn on the TV and I see complaints about Muslims. All Muslims and all countries with high Islamic populations. Even though it is only a small group that is radical. But if you look outside at American Christians, there are radicals who also call for extreme measures.
Also, I see the generalization of all non-organized religions, including Pagans, Druids, and Wiccans, into Cults or Devil Worshipers.
Then all people from China are generalized into a stereotype of 'Chinese.' All Russians are the same. All of the French are rude and unclean. All Canadians are unintelligent. All Hispanics are from Mexico and they are all illegal. All men are loud, dirty, and horny. All women are bitchy, emotional, and nags. All African Americans are lazy, loud, and expect everything handed to them. All whites are racists.
No one likes to be generalized. However, people do it all the time. Sometimes for dramatic effect. Sometimes to prove a point. Sometimes to be mean. and Sometimes because they are ignorant.
I admit to generalizing on occasion. Often to prove a point or a trend over time. Though never, in my experience, have a I heard people complain more about it all then I have heard Christians. It amazes me at how vehemently people will object to the generalization of Christians than any other. Its ok, in so many people's eyes to claim that all Muslims are terrorists, but saying that Christians over time have predicted the end of the world over and over again, that is worthy of objection. That is an interesting fact.
Monday, May 2, 2011
My take on Current Events.
Last night at about 11pm EST I got the news. We came in from our Beltane celebration (a pagan festival of prosperity and fire, details of which are information for a different blog entry) and rushed to turn on the news. Then, honestly, I went to bed without giving it much thought. I awoke this morning to a news station that believes that nothing else important could have happened today or over the weekend, and my Facebook friends posting all about it. I guess you can say that I am jumping on the bandwagon with this blog, but as a historian and a scholar I just felt that I needed to put my thoughts out in the mix with everyone elses.
10 years ago I was 13. It feels like most of my life has been lived under the shadow of 9/11, Bin Laden, and the wars in the Middle East. It seems a little surreal. Like a child learning that the Boogie Man that you have lived in fear of coming out from under your bed for years... is now dead. Over the years, I have come to know people who have fought, people who have waited for those to come home, and I have been lucky enough to not feel the loss that many others have felt.
I admit to being critical over the last few years. I still am very critical. I will be the first to admit that. I will also state that I have studied history. I have studied wars. I am critical of every war, past, current, and future. For example, in many ways, the Revolutionary War can be viewed and treason. It is all in the perspective. But I digress. This blog is about the death of Bin Laden, not about perspectives on war.
Today I wonder what this death will truly bring us. Today I wonder if it is a good thing that the man is dead. Today I ponder the moral issue of murder. Today I wonder if whoever will take over and fill his shoes will be worse or easier to take out or manipulate. Today I wonder what the backlash will be. Today I wonder if it was worth it.
No one can say for sure right now. It is a bit like we are between a Roc and a hard place.Sure he was bad, Public Enemy #1 or something like that, but there is the uncertainty of his successor. It is like a new chapter that is beginning and all we have to go on is the last sentence of the previous chapter. "And Bin Laden is dead." Like reading a suspense thriller that isn't finished. All we have this the chapter heading of the subsequent installment.
I can hope that this means the end. I can hope that with the head cut off that another will not grow back. But I have to admit that am not too optimistic. Wars have been happening in this area for centuries. And the United States' current position in the World's Political Sphere does not easily provide peace. There are many reasons for opposing groups to hate the USA. There are many reasons that are even logical. And unfortunately, while we were retaliating (after 10 years) against a crime against Americans, the horrible cycle of revenge is just as likely to continue as it is to not.
We can praise his death. We can celebrate. But we also have to understand that a whole new can of worms has been opened. And consequences for actions must be accounted for no matter what noble intentions the actions may have been carried out under.
And those are just my thoughts on the matter.
10 years ago I was 13. It feels like most of my life has been lived under the shadow of 9/11, Bin Laden, and the wars in the Middle East. It seems a little surreal. Like a child learning that the Boogie Man that you have lived in fear of coming out from under your bed for years... is now dead. Over the years, I have come to know people who have fought, people who have waited for those to come home, and I have been lucky enough to not feel the loss that many others have felt.
I admit to being critical over the last few years. I still am very critical. I will be the first to admit that. I will also state that I have studied history. I have studied wars. I am critical of every war, past, current, and future. For example, in many ways, the Revolutionary War can be viewed and treason. It is all in the perspective. But I digress. This blog is about the death of Bin Laden, not about perspectives on war.
Today I wonder what this death will truly bring us. Today I wonder if it is a good thing that the man is dead. Today I ponder the moral issue of murder. Today I wonder if whoever will take over and fill his shoes will be worse or easier to take out or manipulate. Today I wonder what the backlash will be. Today I wonder if it was worth it.
No one can say for sure right now. It is a bit like we are between a Roc and a hard place.Sure he was bad, Public Enemy #1 or something like that, but there is the uncertainty of his successor. It is like a new chapter that is beginning and all we have to go on is the last sentence of the previous chapter. "And Bin Laden is dead." Like reading a suspense thriller that isn't finished. All we have this the chapter heading of the subsequent installment.
I can hope that this means the end. I can hope that with the head cut off that another will not grow back. But I have to admit that am not too optimistic. Wars have been happening in this area for centuries. And the United States' current position in the World's Political Sphere does not easily provide peace. There are many reasons for opposing groups to hate the USA. There are many reasons that are even logical. And unfortunately, while we were retaliating (after 10 years) against a crime against Americans, the horrible cycle of revenge is just as likely to continue as it is to not.
We can praise his death. We can celebrate. But we also have to understand that a whole new can of worms has been opened. And consequences for actions must be accounted for no matter what noble intentions the actions may have been carried out under.
And those are just my thoughts on the matter.
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