Words

A thought dawned on me today while I was in my room; it is absolutely amazing how easily we forget that everyone is human. Think about it, the little thoughts of judgement that run through your head throughout the day, is sickening. We are so quick to judge even if we don't say it aloud. And when we do say it aloud? The amount of hurt human beings cause one another is unfathamoble when we really think about it.

I have a new approach to how I desire to speak to people: imagine what you are saying is the last words that person will ever hear. When you think about it in that sense, even if you only have a slight conscience of right and wrong, you will be prompted to speak more good than evil. We all face our daily battles, but if what we say and think can take the burden off of someone or not add more of a burden, what do we have to lose?

Marriage

My sociology class discussed recently if marriage will even exist in the generations to come. With sex becoming less and less tabu in society, and that being a main reason people were married in previous generations, many find the means of getting married..well..unnecessary.

Previously marriage was seen as a sacred union between a man and a woman. Now, with divorce rates in the U.S skyrocketing, most people don't see the point in saying "I do" when the odds are set against them. So what does this mean for those of us who still believe in marriage and hope to have that one day? Well, seems like finding others like us is going to be one hell of an expedition. Less young people are interested in saying vows, and it seems like marriage is just going to disappear.

Socioeconomic status

So in my last post I discussed how our parents influence the people we become. With that said it prompted me to think of the socioeconomic status of our parents and how that influences the offspring's career and economic place. Lets be honest here; it's rare that people who came from the bottom of the totem pole rise to the top and become very powerful, wealthy and successful. Most of us end up like our parents. Those who come from wealth are more likely to follow in the footsteps of their parents because of connections and that "push" they are often given when growing up.

As for those who are consider to be in poverty; they end up that way for the same reason. Many people are in poverty because of spontaneous spending and irresponsibility, or addictions to drugs or alcohol. Unfortunately the behavior of the parents greatly effects the child's place in the socioeconomic realm.

It's all about leading my example. But there are some who break these molds and I plan to be one of them. My parents are at the lower end of the spectrum when it comes to wealth status, and I plan to not be that way. Their situation is unique in the sense it was a mixture of that financial irresponsibility and the misfortunes and bad luck of the world we live in. Regardless of how they came to where they are they are working to improve and I plan to do the same. I know what it's like to be a member of that lower class, and it is not what I want for my adult life or for my future children to grow up in.

Nature or Nurture

Certain aspects of our personality definitely come from the strengths or qualities that our parents lack. Lately I've been feeling like I always want to prove to myself that I am not like my parents; the parts of them that I feel aren't ideal or something that people should be like. My mother always says she's nothing like her mother even though she acts just like her more and more everyday, and that's not a good thing. Are we doomed to be like our parents for the most part? Is it more biological than psychological? Maybe nature is more dominant than nature. What I've realized is the more I try to not  be like the bad qualities of my parents, the more I become like that, and that scares me.

Maybe trying is the part where the failing comes in. We should just let whatever happens happen and not try so hard. The more I think about it, the more angry I get and the more I fail. I don't think we are doomed to be like our parents if we don't want to. Maybe that's what finding out who you are is. Taking the strengths of your parents and not inheriting their weaknesses; that's when you find out who you are.

Foundations of the U.S

I'm going to go off of my last blog post on the topic of gay marriage. The whole dilemma here is that the supposed "seperation of church and state" isn't really implemented. Why you might ask? Because how can you separate a nation away from the church when that is exactly what it's constitution was built on? The constitution is based off old English law, which comes from the basic principles of Christianity (primarily Protestant) and the bible.

I don't believe there will ever be a seperation of church and state even it supposedly already is; and I don't think there should be. Our founding Father's planted our nation on a foundation of spirituality and a closeness with a heavenly god. That is the basis, that is the origin. Why should we go against what the founding fathers implented? Because we are a "progressing" nation a.k.a a nation with diminishing moral ethics. No, you don't have to practice Christianity. Freedom of religion is legit, but those "progressive" thinkers who believe we should just throw the constitution out and start from scratch are ignorant and delusional. This is America, if you don't like the moral ethics and foundation this country was built on, leave.

(By the way this is In no means talking about gay marriage and it being immoral. I actually support it 100%. I think there are other serious matters that should take so much time to be debated on.)

Controversy

Since I enjoy blogging about societal issues, I figure I'll blog about one that has been coming up a lot lately in the news and in everyone's daily conversations-gay marriage. Today the supreme court will hear arguments of whether the government should withhold federal benefits to same sex married couples.

Here's my two cents on the matter. The sex of the person, or whom they are married to should NOT determine the benefits they receive. It should be the status of the person, and the value they withhold in society, not if they like men or women. I would rather a same sexed couple who works hard, pays their taxes and contributes to society to gain benefits over a straight couple who is on welfare, doesn't work, dabbles in illegal activities etc.

Who one loves should not determine their status in this country and what they receive. All legal citizens of the United States should have the same rights as anyone else. I have been raised in a protestant, evangelical church my whole life. The church does not believe in same sex marriage. Of course since many of my facebook friends are my fellow church goers, my news feed is blown up with their opinions. One comment I found absolutely wonderful in "hitting the nail on the head" was a childhood friend of mine who attended church with me and now identifies himself as a homosexual. Another friend of ours posted a status about the fact it doesn't matter what side we are for on the issue, it's only causing greater division. In response to someone saying the bible calls homosexuality an abomination in the eyes of the lord he said this
"Leviticus contains laws for stoning, eating shrimp, raising sheep, selling your daughters, touching women on their periods, all of which were cultural and had to be repented by sacrifice. If you believe that Jesus died on the cross and created a true new testament and religion, then you would believe that his sacrifice denounced the cultural ways of Judaism, which would be called Christianity under the new laws.The reference to it in Romans was not something God or Jesus said, it was a letter to the romans on how to live more purely for god. At the time pagan temples were incredibly common in Rome, and one of the practices of pagan worship was to have religious prostitutes. Back then, women were not allowed to hold any ranking in the house of god, so all of the prostitutes were men. That reference is not referring to the love between men, but it's telling them not to enter pagan temples and take part in their practices."

The issue will forever be controversial, but if the only argument you have for not supporting gay marriage is that the bible says it is wrong, take a seat. This issue can be argued both sides with biblical evidence. The more Christians are going to preach that gay marriage is evil, the more no one is going to want to give their Jesus a chance. As someone once said "don't judge someone because they sin differently than you." As Jesus said to the adulteress I say to people opposing this issue "Let he who is without sin cast the first stone."

Destiny

A question that I am constantly going over in my head is whether or not we are in control over our own lives, or if some form of higher power has it all planned out. Can we really change our own path or are we predestined to a certain path before we are even born? Is it possible to make some sort of mistake and miss out on what was meant for you?

I think the answer is a mix of yes and no. I do believe in a higher power and I do believe that higher power is in control of all and has the "final say," if you will. But I also believe we can miss out on our "fate." But sometimes missing out on fate may not be a bad thing. Maybe you weren't suppose to catch that train that the man with the piercing blue eyes was on; it was a good thing you dropped your cellphone retrieve it. Maybe that man who you felt you had a "moment" with would steal your heart, but maybe he would turn out to be a psychopath years later and leave you with nothing. Maybe that dream job you thought you had in the bag really wasn't your dream job after all; and whoever is "up there" watching over has a much greater plan for you than what you can think up for yourself. Unfortunately the answer is not that clear and simple, we just have to hope for the best.

Self Serving Nature

I was having a discussion with someone recently who calls themselves a socialist, we were discussing, well more of I was explaining why his beliefs could never be carried out in this country, or really any country for that matter. Though socialism looks good on paper, it just could never happen and function efficiently, ESPECIALLY in a nation that has always had a capitalist system. Now socialism isn't really what I desire to talk about. What I want to discuss is why it won't work, because of selfishness and greed.

The human instinct is to progress and gain more in one's life. Greed is a human trait that simply cannot be avoided. As much as I want to believe I am a "good person," which don't get me wrong I believe I am; but I understand that I am indeed greedy and selfish at times. I am not always thinking of myself, in fact I find myself to be a pretty selfless person by nature and my upbringing. My father has always been a very selfless man, doing whatever he can with the little he has to help other people and that instilled in me what I call "bleeding for someone who is bleeding." When someone close to me has a burden, I feel as though I share that with them. And I like to help in whatever ways I can and I do. But I know for a fact I have a selfish nature because I am human and it is inevitable.

I know for a fact if I lived in a system where everyone was paid the same regardless of their job title I would definitely pick the easiest and most simple career. Why would I spend time and money in university when I will make the same amount of income if I am working at a coffee shop or flipping burgers? Human nature is selfish, and yes we can overcome our selfish desires most of the time, but at the end of the day every human being has the same instinct regardless of how "selfless" they think they are. Selfishness is the root of all evil because from selfishness all the other "evils" branch. That is just where it begins.

Relationships

Lately I've been thinking a lot about relationships, relationships of all kinds. Whether these relationships be friendship, romantic, work related; they all need effort and time to flourish and survive. But all relationships at times need a little space. And if relationships aren't given that necessary space one may begin to resent the other. So is it possible to have enough "space" in a relationship without it fizzing away to nothing?

And what happens when one side feels that they are putting in more effort than the other? Is it easier to try and make it work than to simply walk away and take your cards off the table? It seems like no relationships can ever be in perfect harmony; but maybe they aren't meant to be. Maybe our relationships are a constant reminder that as humans we are imperfect, and working together is the only way to function.

Leap of faith

In my last post I discussed fear. As I've been thinking about fear, I also began thinking about what to do when you have big decisions to make. What to do you when suddenly your everyday life seems mundane? What do you do when you realize you are not where you are suppose to be? Many things can prompt this feeling. It can be a sudden surge of boring over your life, or someone could be making you feel like you should be somewhere else.

What's worse than feeling like you're in the wrong place? Feeling like you don't have the means to get you to where you need to be:finances, time, maturity.. So is anything really possible if you set your mind to it? Cam you pack up and move, or love someone who is far away, can you do these things without fear and still be happy?

Fear

Every single member of society is familiar with how it feels to fear. Whether they fear burning alive, drowning, death or in some cases even love; everyone fears something. A lot of what comes with fear is change-the fear to change brings along fear in other forms. So why is it that so many of us fear change? Is it because anything out of our normal routine seems daunting? Or is it because our minuscule minds have wired us to not want to step out of our comfort zones and experience something different?

When speaking for myself, I'd say I do not fear much. Of course the fear of dying in a gruesome way is something I would say frightens me a bit; besides that not much scares me. I've never been afraid of change and I've never been afraid of love. I believe both go hand and hand because when you love someone, whether it be romantically or a platonic love, it changes you.

This is what is wrong with the world, I believe. Everyone is too busy thinking about themselves and worrying about tomorrow that we don't stop and take part in what needs to be done now. Because of our inability to love and not to fear wars break out, riots begin and revolutions sweep nations because everyone is putting themselves first. So many people are afraid of putting others before themselves (we can blame this on selfish human instinct.) But this whole fear of change and fear or effecting one's norms can severely effect those around us. Whether we ignore the homeless man begging for change when we think he is just some bum loser; worried he will take our money and buy drugs or booze, or if we block out a potential lover for the fear of getting hurt. Fear keeps us from stepping out of the comfort zone of our everyday lives and doing things that can CHANGE someone's life in a good way; even our own.

Underlying Issues of Hysteria

I am going to begin to shy away from the examples of Mass Hysteria throughout history simply because I am running out of events to discuss. But I do believe what I would like to talk about still entwines with my orginial ideas mentioned in previous posts. I plan on my future posts being about human nature and the different behaviors and attitudes in society that contribute to the general issues (mass hysteria can be seen as one of them)

I believe ethocentrism is a huge issue in all culturals and especially today. Living in America, this is is the melting pot of the world. Though the majority of us living in the U.S are more aligned with Western Culture, we do have sub cultures as well such as Mexican Americans, Asian Americans etc. These sub cultures all practice different ideas and beliefs, and this can cause conflict. A great example of this is seen in gang wars (if any of you have seen Freedom Writers you may have a better understanding of what those are.) For some reason human beings are unable to get along and be accepting of one another. Ethocentrism is the belief that one's culture is superior to anothers. Prejudice is still a gigantic issue, and not just white people against people of color, it's every race, no one is excluded from this. It is an issue that is on going and seems to have no solution. Until people begin to be more accepting, chaos in society will continue to flourish.

How It All Begins...

Let's take a look here at how mass hysteria begins and what it can turn into. It usually starts out with a group of people obsessing about something, and many people thinking it is nothing; but before you know it, they gain more and more followers. What does this result in? An epidemic of hysteria that usually brings along hatred.

I want to look into the Westboro Baptist church. They remind me a lot of the Nazi party. The Nazi party started out small; seeming like a bunch of crazies that had extreme view points that really wouldn't amount to anything. All it took was one man to bring them to power, and ended up slaughtering millions of innocent people. Right now the Westboro Baptist church seems like a group of crazies, but isn't this how it all starts? People say there is no way these people can amount to anything, but where their is followers and people with extremist views, their is extreme motivation as well.

The Westboro Baptist church is known for their extreme hatred towards Jews and especially homosexuals; their website is www.godhatesfags.com If you ask me that says enough. This group has been known for the protests at military funerals, and even stomping on the American Flag. Now do I think this group is going to become the next Nazi party? Absolutely not. With how tolerable this nation is in this day and age there is no way they will be slaughtering in the masses; but I do believe if this organization birthed about 50 years ago, they might have had potential to do some serious devastation. Please feel free to respond on what you think about this group and if you think they have potential to rise to power in this day and age or if they could've in the past.

Todays Hysteria

Mass hysteria exists today even if we don't realize it. The people involved in the witch trials and the red scare probably didn't recognized what was going on in their society at the time would be seen as prime examples of mass hysteria in history. A good example to reference hysteria in todays society is the outlook of many westerners after 9/11. Let's be honest here, the majority of us began shaking in are boots when we saw someone with a hijab or a turban on. Why? Because A FEW people from that religion took their views to the extreme and slaughtered thousands of innocent people, thus creating trouble for those of the Islamic faith who also get slaughtered by the SAME group of people. These extremists Muslims kill their own people everyday. It is a very complicated religion full of extremists and those who are not extremists.

Back to the original topic at hand here; events by small groups of individuals have the capability to cause hysteria in the masses, as we've seen by the Islamic terrorism attacks on the Western World. This has all been done before people!  Innocent people get scrutinized and even murdered because of other people's fears from one event. Society never will learn. If we keep being intolerant of other peoples views and beliefs, events like these will repeat for all of time.

I would like to connect these events of mass hysteria to my world view; society and the world will continue to be a horrible place as long as people keep being intolerant of one another. And let's face it, human beings have been intolerable for all of time. Christians against Muslims, Muslims against the Jews... it is all one big pool of hatred. To comment on my country, nothing is going to change until we take a firm stance against this intolerance.

Terrorism is a great example of hysteria because it effects Americans so strongly these past 12 years and is the biggest threat we face today. In my opinion, this country needs to stand its ground, stop worrying about offending people and protect our citizens. We are a nation of tolerance, but we are far too tolerant when it comes to beliefs that completely go against any sort of moral. If someone's belief is to slaughter innocent people in the name of their God, we as a nation shouldn't tolerate it, and put an end to it.

Red Scare vs. Witch Trials

It is seen that mass hysteria erupts when communities are under stress. When this occurs these communities begin to point fingers at those who seem to be breaking the "norms" of society. After these events, many accusers began to feel surges of guilt at their ignorance and lack of better judgment.


In my last post I discussed the Salem Witch Trials. This event was later looked upon as foolish, ignorant and lack of better judgment by individuals involved. You would believe something society saw as a huge mistake would not be repeated again, but it was in the 1950's with the Red Scare.
The similarities between these events connect extremely on the fact that both hysterias gained their momentum by targeting individuals who did not fit the norms of society, or if their specific stories did not line up perfectly. Examples of this is seen through conviction of foreigners in the Witch Trials as well as the Red Scare. Both events fueled off of scape goating others.

Though the events are eerily similar, they have minor differences; though these differences do not change the identical theme of the events. The witch trials were fueled by adolescents and the Red Scare was fueled by adults in professional fields. The Red Scare made their accusations based off of reasons like someone registering as a communist decades previous while the witch trials accusations were mostly based off of religious doctrine.

These events perfectly illuminate the idea that history repeats itself. Though one event was based off of puritan religion and the other political unrest, they still evolve around hysteria sourcing from unreliable accusations. Both events display the xenophobia of Americans; more strongly in the Red Scare because at this point America was seen as the melting pot of diversity. The problem with society is the inability to learn from their mistake; thus causing similar events through out history and the future.

Witch Trials

Within 3 months, 19 men and women were tried and convicted of witchcraft in Salem, Ma. They were sentenced to death by hanging. Besides these 19 citizens, dozens were kept in prison without any trial. It seemed as soon as the hysteria began it was over. What could have possibly caused such hysteria that was so gruesome and violent but is now looked upon as a bunch of made up nonsense? The closed minded, strict religious environment of Salem at the time could be to blame. Those who were even slightly not fitted to the "norm" of that time were outcastes, making them prime candidates to be accused of witchcraft. The idea that witchcraft had taken place in Salem began with the strange illness of the Reverends daughter and niece. What seemed to be some sort of spell put on the girls was actually their sheer boredom; causing trouble to entertain themselves.

Those accused of casting spells on the girls were accused because of reasons like ongoing family feuds, one woman because she was homeless, and the other because she was from Barbados. Out of these 3 instances, these people are all out of the "norms" of the society at the time. It is easy to point fingers at those unlike what is considered normal. Everyone was afraid of being accused, so they accused one another, causing hysteria and uproar throughout.

Introduction

I'll start these blog posts off with introducing myself. I'm Carli Bellmer, I'm 18 years old and I am a journalism major. In my studies of American history and World history I have always found it interesting how certain events in time are eerily similar to other events. Because of this I have come to my own conclusion that history does indeed repeat itself. A certain situation that always seems to reoccur over what later turns out to be a bunch of nonsense is mass hysteria. Examples of such foolishness are seen in the exile and genocide of Native Americans, The Salem Witch trials, and both Red Scares. These events are only a few examples of how hysteria is contagious amongst society. In upcoming posts I will go into detail of these events and by doing so I believe they will show societies inability to learn from previous mistakes, thus causing history to repeat itself.