Penguins

  I am a big animal lover, so I looked up the animal talks when thinking about what to write this blog on.  I saw this one talk about penguins, and I have always adored penguins since I was a little girl.  Every single time I went to the zoo, I had to always go see the penguins.  It is so sad that the population of penguins is declining drastically because of climate change and the effects that humans have on the environment and also on the ecosystems of animals.  Penguins are such cute, innocent, and smart animals, and I can not think of anyone who would ever want to hurt them intentionally.   
  I have heard some different sad scenarios like this one with the penguins, and it is so sad.  I am not a PITA or a big animal rights activist, but the things I have heard lately have really bothered me.  I heard about how the Japanese kill tons of dolphins recreationally and now this with the penguins.  Unlike the dolphin situation, people are not purposefully harming the penguins.  The presence of humans and the industrial world that humans live in and bring with them to their environments and surroundings are what harm the animals. 
   I decided against doing anything related to religion in the slightest sense, so that I avoid any hot topics.  I really am interested in this talk and others that are similar, but I do not know how I could possibly turn this into a research paper, or I can not think of any topics that are related to this talk that I could write an entire research paper off of either.

I had decided a while ago that I wanted to use a religious TED talk for the My Search research paper, so I searched TED and found this talk. I really liked it.  Karen Armstrong has an interesting background that makes this talk more powerful.  I agree that the Golden Rule is very important to Christianity, but I do not agree that the Torah is basically the Golden Rule, "Do unto others as you would have them do unto you," with commentary.  The Torah and Old Testament is so much more than that.  In the New Testament the religious leaders tried to test Jesus to prove that Jesus is not the Son of God by asking Him, "Teacher, which is the greatest commandment in the Law?"  Jesus replied, "Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind.  This is the first and greatest commandment.  And the second is like it: Love your neighbor as yourself.  All the Law and the Prophets hang on these two commandments."  This is taken from Matthew 22:36-40.  I agree that the Golden Rule should be applied to global politics and relations in general.  She is right that religion is about behaving differently, but I disagree with her statement that religion is not about believing things because you have to believe things that change your life to behave differently.  So the first step is deciding whether you believe in God or not, even though that is not what she says. 

A continuation of contextual analysis

          The cartoon's elements reflect the sensitivity and the controversial nature of the issue of the Second World War. The cartoon is harsh because it had to be in order to grab the necessary attention to make people rethink their position and see the fallacy in the isolationist viewpoint. The harsh attitude also signifies the importance of the issue. The involvement of the United States could mean life or death for the other countries and was vital for the defeat of the Nazi party.
         The cartoon carries some cultural and political implications in the message. The cultural implications accuse the people for being selfish and not responding until there was a direct attack on the United States, making it impossible to avoid the war anymore. It challenges the morals of the people for not helping the other countries and causes people to wonder if the American culture had begun to disintegrate because the U.S. had always been that international police officer. The political implications imply the ignorance of the belief that the Nazis taking over the world would not influence the U.S. Also, it reveals the arrogance of thinking that the Nazis would not come to attack the United States.
          The initial audience probably would have responded to this cartoon in anger if they supported isolationism. This cartoon was offensive and certainly aroused the emotions of any American. However, the message was clear and important enough that the audience would have had to sit down and think about it and the truth of the matter. If the audience did not support isolationism, the cartoon would have served as a battle cry and would have encouraged them to make a difference and get involved in the war effort.

Start on my contextual analysis

The isolationist position can be defined as the United States unwillingness to become entangled in wars or alliances of Europe but also even abstaining from economic relations with European countries.  The supporters of isolationism believed that the United States had a different perception of the world than the European countries, and that the United States did not need war in order to encourage the spread of democracy and freedom.

            The American people held many different beliefs that caused this isolationist policy in the United States during the beginning of World War Two.  First, they saw their involvement in World War One as a dreadful mistake.  The U.S. suffered around three hundred and twenty-three thousand casualties in the First World War.  Secondly, people thought that the First World War caused the Great Depression.  Next, pacifism was becoming more popular because of the brutality of World War One.  Lastly, some people thought that Europe was not worthy of our help.  All these reasons faded away, though, when the Japanese bombed Pearl Harbor December 7.

Geisel was very outspoken in his political cartoons about his feelings towards isolationism and the Second World War.  He was angered by the United States' lack of assistance in the fight against Hitler until the attack on Pearl Harbor.  He was a very patriotic person that felt like America was not doing its part in the world's affairs. 

Children of Men

    I really liked Children of Men.  It really kept me thinking and constantly paying attention and alert to figure out what was going on and why.  It was confusing and hard to follow at times and understand all the random different factors and how they play in in the big scheme of the movie.  After seeing the real life events that occurred that the movie symbolized, the movie makes more sense to me. 
     The movie was really interesting and evokes a lot of emotion, using pathos, especially with the lack of the ability to reproduce in the world.  It also evokes emotion with the prison scene where Miriam is taken and probably tortured and killed.  She was the only alive person in the movie at this time that could help Key and this baby.  Also, the story behind Theo and Jilian and their child.  It was depressing that they lost their baby boy and then separated for whatever reason.  Then when Theo is kidnapped by Jilian's people, we see this odd relationship.  Jilian made her crew stop being mean to him, showing she does have some feelings for him still, but it seems so weird since she had him kidnapped and just how the whole thing was handled.  Next, Jilian kisses Theo right before they go somewhere, which gives light that maybe there is hope for this relationship.  Then Jilian is killed by her own people, which abruptly destroys this hope.  This movie is constantly showing a tiny sliver of hope and then destroys it with this awful tragic event, except for at the end with the boat "Tomorrow" approaching Key in the little dingy. 

Unemployment

    This political cartoon is very realistic, unfortunately.  It relates to all kids in college who are working towards a career, kids in high school wanting to start working after graduating, and the people who just graduated from college.  Tennessee's unemployment rate was 10.1% as of June 2010, and the nation's unemployment rate altogether was recorded as 9.6% in June 2010.  Both the nation and Tennessee were around 6% from 2002 until 2009, when it suddenly skyrocketed to as high as 11.3%.  This is very high, and it seems like many people are constantly losing their jobs and searching for new ones, just so they can feed and provide for their family.  This is a very sad situation.
    This cartoon really does illustrate the economic situation perfectly, as sad as it is.  It is much easier to find a war to join and have something to fight for, rather than being able to find a job.  The soldier, all dressed and ready for war even with his gun over his shoulder and pack on his back, is speaking to the student that just graduated.  Neither of the men are smiling.  Both look irritated and kind of surprised at the bad economic situation.  They are facing different directions, going on their ways in opposite directions, suggesting the separation in the paths.  This cartoon does not offer another option or a middle ground or a combination of the two.  Both men are holding their papers tightly rolled up in their left hands, maybe suggesting that they are both in a similar situation.  This cartoon appeals to the emotions of struggling to find a job and the patriotic pride that comes with a U.S. soldier.

More Analysis

The cartoon appeals to Americans and to the patriotic pride instilled within every American heart by depicting Uncle Sam, but the cartoon's intent is not to encourage or endorse the current policy or actions; but the cartoon's purpose is to shame them for taking such a ridiculous, irresponsible, and insensitive approach and turning their back on the rest of the world when they are so desperate.  The United States had been viewed as the international police officer for decades, and now the police officer is turning a blind eye to an international crisis.  Geisel appeals to the inner sense of responsibility to help others that the Americans had always harbored.  It entreats the people to think if it is morally and ethically sound to ignore the Nazi party conquering people group after people group, country after country.  The cartoon is designed to reveal the selfishness in continuing to ignore the cries for help and twiddle our thumbs and shut our eyes. Geisel beseeches the United States to look around and see the worldwide destruction as a motivation to fight for the freedom of others and suppression of the strong Nazi party, so that no one country controls and rules over the entire world.

            President Franklin Delano Roosevelt addressed the nation on December 8, 1941 as the nation desperately looked to the leader of the country during this distressing and tragic time to figure out the next move.  He bravely declares:

Yesterday, December 7, 1941 - a date which will live in infamy - The United States of             America was suddenly and deliberately attacked by naval and air forces of the Empire of           Japan...As Commander-in-Chief of the Army and Navy, I have directed that all measures be      taken for our defense...With confidence in our armed forces - with the unbounded                     determination of our people - we will gain the inevitable triumph - so help us God.

Was it ethical and the right decision to wait until our country was attacked and devastated to join the war, or should we have come to the aid and support of our fellow countries to help and defend them against the Nazi party?

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