Tuesday, 20 December 2011
Internet Censorship Debate
Recently in World Issues we have had a debate on Internet Censorship in general and in Canada. I was for internet censorship fir many reasons. First I want to mention that we want internet censorship within reason, so in other words when the websites harm society. Many comments were made by the anti-censorship side that it infringed on our rights and freedoms but actually it would stand under the "reasonable limits" clause. This is because the government would monitor websites that are harmful for society. An example of this is a website called the Anarchist cookbook where it tell you how to hack computers and create homemade boms. These are the kind of sites that would be censored.
Tuesday, 6 December 2011
Blog Post 7: A Quote for Humanity
"Courage is not simply one of the virtues, but the form of every virtue at the testing point."
C.S. Lewis
In order to be a global citizen you have to have faith, hope, persistence and courage. But at the root of all those virtues is courage. You have to have courage to have faith. You have to have courage to hope. You have to have courage to keep going even when things get hard. So to be a global citizen you need courage. If you don't have courage you don't have anything. Also, this quote says that when you have failed and fallen so many times that hope and faith seem impossible and when all you want to do is give up, it takes courage to keep going to stand up even if you are alone (I know that sounds really cliche but it's true). That is why this quote is so powerful is because it is true. People talk about determination, persistence, hope, faith and even courage but few people recognize how they are all connected and how at the root of everything is courage. You should have hope and determination but courage is is what you need to be strong. Courage is what you need to be a change maker. Courage is what you need to a global citizen.
C.S. Lewis
In order to be a global citizen you have to have faith, hope, persistence and courage. But at the root of all those virtues is courage. You have to have courage to have faith. You have to have courage to hope. You have to have courage to keep going even when things get hard. So to be a global citizen you need courage. If you don't have courage you don't have anything. Also, this quote says that when you have failed and fallen so many times that hope and faith seem impossible and when all you want to do is give up, it takes courage to keep going to stand up even if you are alone (I know that sounds really cliche but it's true). That is why this quote is so powerful is because it is true. People talk about determination, persistence, hope, faith and even courage but few people recognize how they are all connected and how at the root of everything is courage. You should have hope and determination but courage is is what you need to be strong. Courage is what you need to be a change maker. Courage is what you need to a global citizen.
Responding to the Quote
"All that it takes for evil to triumph is for good people to do nothing." - Sir Edmund Burke, 1769.
To me this quote has a simple but powerful meaning. Evil is everywhere. Look around you will see it. There are small examples like bullying and big examples like the holocaust. But if good people stand up against evil it will crumple. If you stand up against a bully then they will fall because you aren't the only one who thinks what the bully is doing is wrong. Sometimes in order for other people to act they have to see someone go first. But I think that is the single most vital flaw. A lot of people need a leader and if everyone needs a leader no one will lead, no one will stand up against evil. So this quote also speaks to me about courage. Sometimes you might really want someone to go first but that doesn't always happen and you have to bit down your fear and know that what you are doing is right and have faith in that alone. Take the holocaust for example, if no one said what Hitler was doing was wrong then we would live in a horrible, different world and thousands of more lives would have been lost. When we went into that war we didn't know how it was going to end all we knew is that what Hitler was doing was wrong. That was enough for us so we stood up against evil and it fell.
Friday, 2 December 2011
Blog Post 5: To Act or Not To Act
Readers,
Has there every been a situation where you saw something bad happen and for what ever reason you chose not to act. This is very common. People go through there lives thinking that if the situation should arise they would have the courage to take hold of the situation and stop it. Bullying is a classic example. How many people have seen bullying in action but didn't stop it. Even if you like the person there aren't many of us who would stand up for them. As much as it sickens me, I am not an exception.
In grade nine I was part of a rowing team at my school and there was another girl who not many people liked. I wasn't friends with her but I didn't not like her either. She rarely crossed my mind for no reason other than I didn't talk to her in my regular day. I don't know how many of you have been on a rowing team before but in my school's case rowers must be at the boat house for 5:30 am. So one early morning we were done our practice and we were back at the school to get ready for classes. A friend and I went to the dinning hall to eat breakfast. The other girls went down to get ready for school. While eating my friend mention what was going to happen. "Did you hear." she said. Of course I hadn't and asked her what was happening. She proceeded to tell me that the other girls were going to put pudding in another girl's shampoo. I felt a lump rise in my throat. "Really?" I asked. My friend nodded. Alarm bells went off in my head and I wasn't sure what to do. This person I wasn't really friends with was going to the victim of a cruel joke. I had two options. 1) Tell this girl and risked being hated my the rest of the girls who were in on the prank. Or 2) carry on and be part of the joke. As I looked over at my friend (who by the way I had been friends with for essentially my whole life) I chose to be part of the joke.
A harmless prank I thought. I convinced myself that it was just a little joke, nothing to get worked up about. It didn't mean anything more than a few laughs around friends. When breakfast was over and my friend and I walked into the change room. The girl was just putting a towel through her hair. Her slick, shiny, pudding lined hair. To say that I felt like garbage for the rest of the day is an understatement.
Why didn't I act. I can't say I really know but if I were to guess I would say that I was in grade nine. And like all grade nines I was eager to climb the social ladder. I was afraid to be an outcast. I as shallow and didn't give thought to others. In a way the reason is irrelevant that fact that I didn't do anything and the feeling I got afterwards is enough to scare me out of not acting again. Ever.
Has there every been a situation where you saw something bad happen and for what ever reason you chose not to act. This is very common. People go through there lives thinking that if the situation should arise they would have the courage to take hold of the situation and stop it. Bullying is a classic example. How many people have seen bullying in action but didn't stop it. Even if you like the person there aren't many of us who would stand up for them. As much as it sickens me, I am not an exception.
In grade nine I was part of a rowing team at my school and there was another girl who not many people liked. I wasn't friends with her but I didn't not like her either. She rarely crossed my mind for no reason other than I didn't talk to her in my regular day. I don't know how many of you have been on a rowing team before but in my school's case rowers must be at the boat house for 5:30 am. So one early morning we were done our practice and we were back at the school to get ready for classes. A friend and I went to the dinning hall to eat breakfast. The other girls went down to get ready for school. While eating my friend mention what was going to happen. "Did you hear." she said. Of course I hadn't and asked her what was happening. She proceeded to tell me that the other girls were going to put pudding in another girl's shampoo. I felt a lump rise in my throat. "Really?" I asked. My friend nodded. Alarm bells went off in my head and I wasn't sure what to do. This person I wasn't really friends with was going to the victim of a cruel joke. I had two options. 1) Tell this girl and risked being hated my the rest of the girls who were in on the prank. Or 2) carry on and be part of the joke. As I looked over at my friend (who by the way I had been friends with for essentially my whole life) I chose to be part of the joke.
A harmless prank I thought. I convinced myself that it was just a little joke, nothing to get worked up about. It didn't mean anything more than a few laughs around friends. When breakfast was over and my friend and I walked into the change room. The girl was just putting a towel through her hair. Her slick, shiny, pudding lined hair. To say that I felt like garbage for the rest of the day is an understatement.
Why didn't I act. I can't say I really know but if I were to guess I would say that I was in grade nine. And like all grade nines I was eager to climb the social ladder. I was afraid to be an outcast. I as shallow and didn't give thought to others. In a way the reason is irrelevant that fact that I didn't do anything and the feeling I got afterwards is enough to scare me out of not acting again. Ever.
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