December Blog: Control

Control is one of the more complicated aspects of the human experience. There have been arguments that say humans really have no control at all and there have been arguments that we are totally in control. I wonder at the reality and have no answer besides the fact that we are doomed to try. We try to gain control of our minds, our lives, and sometimes of others, but we are creatures that understand cause and effect; therefore, we must try to change the cause in order to control the effect.

This is a topic that we have touched on in many works in class. In Oedipus, the titular hero attempts to control his fate and ends up sealing his fate in the process. In Waiting for Godot, we see characters who obviously have no control over anything at all. Ultimately, Vladimir and Estragon relinquish their control to Godot by waiting for him; this is something that many people do in order to avoid the responsibility of control.

In terms of the real world the concept of gaining control over one's life is exemplified on this very night. New Years Eve is the celebration of a new year, which is seen as a new opportunity for change. People make New Years resolutions; decisions to make a change during this new year. It's a cute concept, but often these resolutions are short-sighted and ultimately unimportant. If the change one wishes to make is important at all, then that change would have already been made. Using the new year as a reason to change relinquishes the responsibility of control of oneself to the calendar. For those who follow through with their resolutions, the new year is not an excuse for their past failure to be in control, but a challenge to improve themselves in some way with the new year. I can appreciate this.

I feel my blog getting more cynical by the minute and maybe even a little pessimistic. It is not my intention really to bash new years resolutions; if the new year is a source of motivation for you, then by all means, make a positive change in your life. I just feel that the root of the issue that resolutions bring up is control. It is my belief that we should all be in control of ourselves. If their is any way that we can make a difference, then it is with ourselves. We alone bear the responsibility of our selves, if not our fate. Perhaps our fate is determined, but our state of mind as we approach fate is within our control.

October Blog: The Upper Class

It seems that one of the defining qualities of a society is division. For people to be considered united as one people, they must simultaneously be separated by class. In history, classless societies have been imagined, but never truly realized; there have always been those in power and those not. I wonder why this is and come to the conclusion that I have no idea.

In America, we are all considered equal. Our equality is one of those things that politicians and patriots love to talk about when they call America the greatest country on Earth. While I admit that America is my personal favorite country, I have never been to another country, which seems to diminish the value of my opinion. Despite our claimed equality, within America we have a class system. This is one of those things that politicians and patriots love to ignore when they call America the greatest country on Earth. For some, particularly those in the lower classes, the upper class is considered villainous. In America today, many people worry that America is headed toward a communist state due to the alleged vilification of the rich. I don't think that the rich are villainous. However, in a capitalist nation, those with all the money have all the power, which contrasts sharply with the tenets of a democratic nation. Due to the fact that the rich are able to have power through undemocratic means, it is not unwarranted for people to worry that they may abuse their power.

Criticism of the upper class is something that has existed for many centuries. Often this criticism is hidden within satire, which we have read some of in class. Both The Importance of Being Earnest and A Modest Proposal are satires of the upper class. The fact that their targets are the same is no accident. The nature of societies seems to be that the upper class oppresses the lower class. It is this oppression that prompts authors to satire the rich. I've never really felt like this oppression was completely intentional. What I mean by this is that I don't think that the rich are sitting around maliciously plotting how to keep the poor down; at least, I hope not. It seems to me to be more that there is just a massive misunderstanding between the two classes. Neither is a member of the of the other class, so they don't understand their respective natures. In Earnest, the upper class is portrayed as superficial and contradictory; they don't seem to understand the world as it actually is. It is this perceived misunderstanding that keeps me from hating the upper class. As long as I believe that most people do not carry ill will for their neighbors, I don't think I'll ever see the rich as evil. We'll see how that turns out. Stay tuned.