The More Things Change, the More they Stay the Same.

Throughout it's history, America as a whole has undertaken many courses of action, in the name of both equality, freedom, and justice; from our very revolution which separated us from tyranny, to the abolition of the slave trade and civil rights movement, to wars fought with the outspoken purpose to uphold those standards we hold. Scout begins the book as innocent of the hardships and gritty truths of the world as any child is at that point in their lives, and through her eyes for those three years it is seen how fervently Atticus attempts to uphold those idealistic principles of equality, freedom, and justice laid down by the founding fathers; the same principles that every generation of Americans has since made a tradition of trying to prove that they can fight for them as well as their forefathers could. It is in this fashion that by the end of the novel, one is left with the overwhelming feeling that what Scout experienced, through that time was simply teaching her what every American child is supposed to learn; one can not rest until one has done everything in one's power to enhance the equality of those around them, if one is to truly be considered an American.

Every generation of Americans has followed in it's predecessors footsteps by trying to uphold their conceptual ideals, and yet at the same time, every new generation has strived to prove that it wasn't the same, and that it could make improvements to it's society. America has never been accepted the status quo. Each new generation strives to show that it is different then those before them, and that they can do things in a better way. Where Scout can never accept her Aunt Alexandra's insistance that she act more "Lady like", America as a whole begins to alter it's stance on a womans need to be stereotypicly feminine. Where Atticus refuses to let a man be condemed even though his skin color denotes society wouldn't find a problem with his wrongful incarceration, America as a whole begins to alter it's stance on the supposed inferiority of other races. America has no fear, and has the need to, in actuality, alter the status quo, whenever it see's fit.

America was established with the hope of creating a land of equality, freedom, and justice, and to attain those goals it's society was given permission to, and expected to do away with, and create anything neccesary. To be an American is to do everything in your power to help that American Dream become more of a reality. The American Dream, therefore, isn't about anything one american can achieve, but what can be achieved when every American is working towards it; and that effort, that need to help attain that Dream, is what it means to be an American. In that regard, Harper Lee has created the Quintessential American, in not a single character, but a combination of two. Atticus, and Scout represent the generation split that propels America so consistantly. Where Scout questions the need for some of what Atticus' generation have dubbed the status qou, she also learns from him the need to fight for the same conceptual ideals as he, and his forefathers have. The pair of them create a representation of everything it is to be American; strive for change, yet always keep the same end goal in mind. In short, change, but stay the same. America is one large, cohesive contradiction.

Guess and... well, I suppose you could check if it makes you feel better. (Prophets and Poetry final Essay)

Whether how we are interpreting the world around us is valid or not, is a question that many more people should have been asking themselves throughout the ages. The validity of our interpretations is the very basis of everything we think we know about the world, and for it not to have been at the forefront of more peoples minds in the history of the world is a mystery that no one will ever come up with a suitable answer for. Where the question of whether or not bias and even consensus cloud the search for true validity need be called into question simultaneously if any determination is to be made. In reality, this is the one quandary that impacts every single facet of existence for every single thing that exists… or that we perceive as existing.

Interpretation; how one perceives what one is presented. A simple definition for a very complex, and multi-faceted term, it doesn’t quite convey the full complexity of the matter, but it does, however, begin to put the word into a small easily graspable conceptual framework. The act of interpreting information happens with everything one comes in contact with, a conscious mind uses it’s senses to interpret everything around itself as best as it can, as close to the truth as it can. Senses can be fooled, and any interpretation of something can quite possibly be invalid, and not the real truth of the matter. Interpretation, in reality is how someone perceives the world around them and any information presented to them, be it physical information such as what is physically going on around them, or conceptually as can be entered into ones consciousness for interpretation through mainly the use of language. Conceptual interpretation is completely and utterly different in it’s intricacies, in the place of possible failure of ones senses to retrieve data reliably, instead the fault of incorrect interpretation falls solely on he thought process’ behind the interpreting of the pure information, and also the prior interpretation of that data from whatever source it was retrieved from. With all of that in mind, interpretation is simply how one perceives what one is presented.

If there is one thing in this world that has a very high likelihood to stay the same no matter what else happens (as long as free conscious thought is still in existence, that is) it would be he existence of a differing opinion from that of the more widely accepted consensus on just about every intellectual debate that might come up. This may be caused by bias either on the side opposed to the consensus, or bias on the side of the consensus. In truth, bias is somewhat unavoidable, it being present in the interpretation part of information gathering and digesting. Bias however does not automatically mean that ones ideas hold less validity then those of one who has magically eliminated bias from themselves somehow, it just means that the biased one is less open to the chance that there perception might in fact be invalid. Consensus brings with it the false security that since it is accepted by the majority, it has a higher chance of being valid, this is mentality is not valid. Bias does not ensure lack of validity, and Consensus does not ensure validity, in short.

A valid interpretation is one that indeed is the truth to what is being presented; as opposed to an invalid interpretation which is not the truth of the matter, it is not what is actually happening, there is no clearer distinction than that. How to actually determine whether or not an interpretation is valid is merely a system of guesswork. It is literally an impossibility to prove beyond a doubt. Proof is subjective; people see what they want to see. The validity of a claim can always be called into question no matter what is used to “support” it. Overall, there is no way to truly know beyond a doubt that one is believing in something valid, or invalid; the only thing anyone can do, is discover what makes the most sense in their head, what feels right and hope beyond hope that even if you are wrong, which you very well could be, that the consequences for such a mistake are not very grave.

Guesswork and hope, the consensus would be that that claim is invalid; however, without realizing it, every single consciously thinking being uses it. Take, for instance, religions, from Christianity, to Judaism, to Buddhism, to Hinduism, to Islam a word is quite often associated with such belief systems; faith. Faith being quite close to hope, and not so very far away from guesswork as most would think, gives a bit of credit to the belief that the only way of interpreting is through said guesswork and hope. Religions don’t generally rely on systems of information gathering and deductive reasoning in order to try and make people believe in them, instead, generally one is to put faith without the need for outright physical “proof” that the word of the religion is indeed valid. Usually a religion is a belief system that gives simply states that the word of a single person, or prophet, or being of any kind is more valid then that of any other means of interpretation. In essence religions of any kind are a walking reminder that there is no set way to interpret the world around us, as our very scientific, physical “evidence craving society would have us believe. No one will ever be able to truly decipher beyond a doubt what claims are truly valid, in the end interpretation is just a large system of guess and hope.

Defining Desttruction (History Week something Thematic Question Post)

America was once not the land of the free and the home of the brave, it was once the land, and home of a people that have become known incorrectly as Indians, and more appropriately as Native Americans. This changed through years of conflict and gross violence. An entire way of life was almost eradicated, and greed persisted in a grand struggle. Semi-recently, general opinion has shifted into feeling as if this was an unjust course of actions, and that Native America, as a whole has been disturbingly unjustly treated, and that nothing modern America has done could make up for the pain and suffering already caused in what is being labeled, and thought of as, a large scale version of the name change from Battle, to Massacre of Wounded Knee. Language carries so much weight, that that one simple word change changes the entire mood and perception of the event. However, neither of these words truly conveys the entirety of the issue.

When Europeans whose descendants would eventually become known as Americans first started colonizing the continent of America, in places like Jamestown and Plymouth, contact with Native Americans on a regular basis was completely unavoidable. From these few first permanent settlements the tone at which all of our dealings with the people that were here before us was set. That tone was a very violent one. From our very first dealings with Native Americans, in retrospect, it is very clear to see that our two cultures would never be able to strive side by side in a heterogeneous, mutually beneficial society. Where the myth of the thanksgiving dinner becomes interesting is when you place it next to the cover up that was the “Battle” of Wounded Knee, and other smaller incidents. A pattern in our dealings with Native Americans, a very bloody, prejudice filled pattern was started in those first European settlements. At times the two cultures would attempt to cooperate, and work together, but such arrangements always fell apart eventually and more blood was shed, such as at the Jamestown Massacre. This pattern would be followed for more then a century.

One of the largest causes of conflict between “Native” Americans, and “Foreign” Americans was the ever growing scope of land which those of European descent had their eye on obtaining, and claiming for their own. “Foreign” Americans were not content with holding anything less but everything from the Atlantic, to the Pacific. “Manifest Destiny” is the greatest example of the inherent sense of privilege of those that have come to be known as Americans, which in all truthfulness should rightfully be used in reference to those that were here before them. It set the stage for the entire nation to start thinking of themselves as being entitled to an entire continent which had already been inhabited for ages before they arrived. Americans, as they are actually called, swept across every bit of land in sight, and simply claimed it as their own, without any real right to it, no matter how one is to define someone’s right to land.

With this addition of people to land that had been lived in by others for centuries, came inevitably the aforementioned pattern filled with violence and greed. Tragic events like the Massacre of Wounded Knee happened innumerable times, and the victims were of both nationalities. America was not simply handed over to those who now control it, essentially without openly declaring it, it was won through fighting a war. The setting for this war is one that had been seen many times before: People thrive in their own land, others see this and decide that they would like the others land, and then find that the only way to take it is by force. When broken down to it’s purest of forms, the gradual shifting of control of America was indeed a War. As with any such brutal contest, people lost their lives in a fight over a prize, in this case that prize happened to be the right to call their battlefield home.

When this war was over, and America had become a single nation, and the competition for their “prize” had ceased to exist, Americans slowly began to see their earlier actions for what they were, acts of greed that caused immense pain and suffering to many people. To try and make up for this, and essentially apologize for what had been done, today Native Americans are granted many immunities and privileges, the least of which not being reservations. In essence what is now America almost destroyed a way of life in what was, for the most part, a two way battle, in a fit of greed, and after the dust had settled realized that they had committed disgusting immoral acts, and tried to make up for them with care and help as much as they thought they could. Knowing that nothing could be undone, America has tried to do it’s best to make amends for what its actions caused.

Before their culture was ever even threatened, many tribes of Native Americans lived on this continent, none of them seeing the whole of Native Americans as a single group of people. With this diversity of tribes came conflict. Tribes would war amongst themselves, and people would die and suffer for the gain of various things, just like in every other civilization in the history of the world. The only difference between what had been happening between Native Americans for centuries and what happened with the descendants of Europeans is simply the scale on which things took place. Never had any one force controlled the entire landmass from sea to sea, in order for that to happen many people who had been controlling parts of it had to die, however, that same rule applies to any other conflict between nations. The war for America had very little difference to any other war in history, including those between tribes of the Native Americans we now think of as helpless victims.

The Massacre of Wounded Knee was without a doubt, a one sided massacre, as its newest name implies; however, not every bloody encounter between Euro-American, and Native American cultures was a one sided affair, in fact the majority were very two sided in their bloodthirsty killing natures. Throughout the entirety of the modern Americans take over of the country, many people of all ethnic backgrounds were killed. This, like any other war, held no group safe from the possibility of brutal death at the hands of those opposing their side. This, like any other war held nothing but gross, immoral actions made in the name of greed from both sides.

Native American culture has had a very large attempt to crush it, it’s people have been brutally killed, and it’s ways have been all but extinguished. In that respect, yes, the New Americans have mistreated those that owned the land before them horribly, and inexcusably. Yes, no matter how much they try to make up for it in the present, they couldn’t possibly begin to eliminate the suffering caused to so many people. Yes, America has treated Native American Culture completely unfairly. However, this can be said about the losers and winners of almost every war that has ever been fought. Underhanded, terrible, greedy, destructive actions are taken in every conflict between human beings that has taken place in the history of the world, and the same will continue to happen over and over again. The War for Control over America is not the exception to the list that makes things not okay, every other war contains just as much unjust action as this one, and to single out one set of people as an evil, uncaring lot for their actions and greed is to condemn every culture in the world (Which should be done). Instead of looking at injustice on a small scale, instead examine the cruelty that the human race has shown as a whole over the last few thousand years, and there you will find a group of people who have treated others unfairly: Everyone.