Halloween is coming up, and you all know what that means. I'm getting dressed up as some random celebirty or well known figure, go knocking on peopls doors, and they have to give me candy. What better holiday could there be, besides Christmas? Which stands atop the holiday list simply due to the fact that you can pretty much tell people what to get you and its just an amazing feeling when you get a gift. Back to Halloween.
Considering how weird Halloween already is, there is one thing that seems extra-weird. For some reason some girls see it as an opportunity to wear whatever they want-aka the short and skin-bearing costumes. I guess if you want to dress up like its fine and I'm not against it but it just seems odd that some girls would decide to take it that way. I mean at least they don't go trick or treating with it on or in public, usually those types of costumes are in the parties, which is fine.
My final thought on Halloween would be: why is it on a Sunday. That ruins the night for anyone and everyone who had any kind of plans for after 11:00. The US government should just bump everything back a day so Halloween is on Saturday. Everybody would be happy. More candy = happier kids = happier parents. What could possibly be a problem?
Saturday, October 30, 2010
Saturday, October 23, 2010
A Grudge - Part Two
In my previous post I discussed grudges, and here's the second part of the post. A grudge is a common thing to come by in the modern world, but aren't usually the topic of a dinner discussion. They are seen as a bad thing by society, but nobody really takes initiative to end a grudge, which confuses me. Nobody really likes them, and they rarely have any positive effects, so why have them? Somehow I feel that pride, revenge, and inability to forgive come into play. For some reason when a person is overly hubristic and revengeful after they have been wronged is seen as good in society. When you forgive them, it's seen as weak or spineless, which is completely backwards.
A perfect example of this is wth Armenians and the Armenian Genocide. A lot of the Armenians despise the Turkish people (those responsible for the genocide), even though all those who partook in the genocide have died. One of the common sayings is to say "They are not people, they are shoon" when the topic of Turkish people comes up. Shoon means dog, so the Hye-Stansi's (or hardcore Armenians who are very proud of their heritage and history) call the Turkish filthy dogs because they were responsible for the genocide. This grudge has spanned over many generations and thousands of people, and still does no good for anyone, anywhere.
In conclusion, grudges are undesirable and useless. I cannot fathom as to why you would hold one, or even want to.They have no positive effect on their holders, and create hostile and awkward situations later on when you, undoubtably, see the person you are gruding against again. Moral of the blog- Don't hold grudges.
A perfect example of this is wth Armenians and the Armenian Genocide. A lot of the Armenians despise the Turkish people (those responsible for the genocide), even though all those who partook in the genocide have died. One of the common sayings is to say "They are not people, they are shoon" when the topic of Turkish people comes up. Shoon means dog, so the Hye-Stansi's (or hardcore Armenians who are very proud of their heritage and history) call the Turkish filthy dogs because they were responsible for the genocide. This grudge has spanned over many generations and thousands of people, and still does no good for anyone, anywhere.
In conclusion, grudges are undesirable and useless. I cannot fathom as to why you would hold one, or even want to.They have no positive effect on their holders, and create hostile and awkward situations later on when you, undoubtably, see the person you are gruding against again. Moral of the blog- Don't hold grudges.
Monday, October 11, 2010
Protected Speech
Freedom of speech is a privilege that we, as American citizens, can enjoy. 95-99% of the time there is no negative consequence as to what we say or who we say it to, but it's those few occurrences that can get us in trouble. Technically, we can be arrested for what we say. Hate crimes, sexual harassment, and verbal abuse are three prime examples of crimes having to do with speech. Words become bad and even criminal when they hurt others. I agree with these laws, but at times I feel that they are too touchy and sensitive. Not to mention they are manipulated by lawyers and attorneys to sway juries all over the country.
I'm hoping you're wondering as to why I said freedom of speech is a privilege, not a right. Rights do not exist. Humans made 'em up. When the first humans walked the earth, they could do whatever they wanted. Of course, this didn't work out too well and rights were invented by someone at some point in time. Don't get me wrong, I love my "rights", but they're not real.The thing that makes rights nonexistent is the idea of permanency, that no one can take away or remove rights. Alas, this is wrong as well. The Declaration of Independence states that men have "certain unalienable rights," meaning that they cannot be taken away. But rights can be given, as proved by our 27 or so amendments.
So rights can be given, but not taken away. So what happens when I tell my brother: "I give you the right to take away my rights." Are they still unalienable rights? Doesn't seem right to me. Disregarding that perfectly logical argument, rights can be and have been taken away before. The President can remove our rights at the push of a button in a time of war, or, if he gets enough support, he can turn into a Stalin or Lennin or Mao Zedong or Kim Jong Il or any of those other dictators who methodically restrict the abilities of their citizens to protect their power. Which brings up another thing, are rights the same everywhere you go? But that's for another day. If you don't believe me about the taking away of rights, google any of those names or Japanese Americans 1942.
I'm hoping you're wondering as to why I said freedom of speech is a privilege, not a right. Rights do not exist. Humans made 'em up. When the first humans walked the earth, they could do whatever they wanted. Of course, this didn't work out too well and rights were invented by someone at some point in time. Don't get me wrong, I love my "rights", but they're not real.The thing that makes rights nonexistent is the idea of permanency, that no one can take away or remove rights. Alas, this is wrong as well. The Declaration of Independence states that men have "certain unalienable rights," meaning that they cannot be taken away. But rights can be given, as proved by our 27 or so amendments.
So rights can be given, but not taken away. So what happens when I tell my brother: "I give you the right to take away my rights." Are they still unalienable rights? Doesn't seem right to me. Disregarding that perfectly logical argument, rights can be and have been taken away before. The President can remove our rights at the push of a button in a time of war, or, if he gets enough support, he can turn into a Stalin or Lennin or Mao Zedong or Kim Jong Il or any of those other dictators who methodically restrict the abilities of their citizens to protect their power. Which brings up another thing, are rights the same everywhere you go? But that's for another day. If you don't believe me about the taking away of rights, google any of those names or Japanese Americans 1942.
Sunday, October 3, 2010
A Grudge - Part One
In the Crucible, many people grudges against one another. A prevalent grudge is that which Abigail holds for Elizabeth Proctor and vice versa. A shared lust for John creates quite the hateful relationship between the two women. Fortunately, holding grudges does nothing to improves one's life. In the best case scenario it motivates you to improve yourself to be better than the other person, and even that can only be applied in certain circumstances. Most of the time it sparks evil deeds, if any at all.
My current priest said to me once that "Holding a grudge is like taking poison and waiting for the other person to die", which, I think, couldn't have hit the head of the nail any more perfectly. A grudge is simply an idea that takes place in one's mind that the other person is mean and harsh, when most often they're not. Once a grudge takes place, the mind usually makes up all these ideas and reasons as to why the other person is unlikable but most often they are little nuisances that any other person wouldn't even notice. Like "She always taps her pencil and chews her eraser" or "Why does he wear that ugly hat/shirt/shoes" or "He says 'whatever' or 'like' too much". Again, most people don't take notice to these little things and usually only those who are looking for reasons to hate find them. Usually, those reasons aren't even there.
Personally I try not to hold grudges as they do no good in my eyes, but like anyone else I can't say with complete honesty that I am grudge-free. They're especially difficult to erase when a grudge is formed and then contact with the other person is halted. The chance for reconciliation disappears almost completely and usually the grudge sits until the other person is forgotten. If not, then a person will just keep on grudging (it's actually a word? Sweet.) Next week will be part 2 of this blog, specifically concerning the Armenian Genocide. Who knows, maybe a part 3?
My current priest said to me once that "Holding a grudge is like taking poison and waiting for the other person to die", which, I think, couldn't have hit the head of the nail any more perfectly. A grudge is simply an idea that takes place in one's mind that the other person is mean and harsh, when most often they're not. Once a grudge takes place, the mind usually makes up all these ideas and reasons as to why the other person is unlikable but most often they are little nuisances that any other person wouldn't even notice. Like "She always taps her pencil and chews her eraser" or "Why does he wear that ugly hat/shirt/shoes" or "He says 'whatever' or 'like' too much". Again, most people don't take notice to these little things and usually only those who are looking for reasons to hate find them. Usually, those reasons aren't even there.
Personally I try not to hold grudges as they do no good in my eyes, but like anyone else I can't say with complete honesty that I am grudge-free. They're especially difficult to erase when a grudge is formed and then contact with the other person is halted. The chance for reconciliation disappears almost completely and usually the grudge sits until the other person is forgotten. If not, then a person will just keep on grudging (it's actually a word? Sweet.) Next week will be part 2 of this blog, specifically concerning the Armenian Genocide. Who knows, maybe a part 3?
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