This week in class we talked about loads of stuff, not so much about english itself but more on life. For example, we watched this neat movie called Did You Ever Wonder and it showed kind of strange things about what is really going on in this world. Watch for yourself. We also learned about tools on the internet that are useful such as Google Reader. Google Reader is pretty cool because it allows you to see whenever a site that you like gets updated and what got updated. Finally we talked about the book The Wave which is a very interesting book and I recommend it to people that love to read. Since The Wave talks a lot about power we did our own little opinion of a quote that goes like this: “Power corrupts. Absolute power corrupts absolutely.” My opinion to that quote was this:
This statement is true because for the most part if you give someone/something power then they seem to use it to their advantage towards the acheivement of ‘their’ Greater Good. Take Hitler for example, he strived for everything that made life right… for him at least. In my opinion he had too much power and didn’t know what to do with it so he just toyed around with the world and said it was for the Greater Good. Another example is teachers. I mean back in the day that is because they pretty much beat the crap out of people if they thought it were necessary, which I think is over usng the power given to them. Also think about companies. It’s almost creepy to know how much they contrl you. For example, have you ever noticed all the different types of iPods that vary in size and such and how every one of them has their own accessories that you just have to buy. Well that’s on purpous, because the company intends the iPod to break or you want a new cooler iPod or something like that and when you buy that iPod they know for a fact that you’re going to want to buy accessories for your new up-to-date iPod. They also advertise it by saying that you aren’t cool unless you have the iPod. That for me is the scarriest type of power.
That’s just about all I can say about that quote for now that is. We also did a pyrimid on how our life is controlled by power. Mine goes like this:
Top: God
Parents
Government
Teachers
Sports
Friends
Electronics
Me
Food
Music
Young Kids
Bottom: Fashion (I don’t really care about)
I learned a lot from the video that we watched (which is meant for teachers) even though some of the stuff it talked about got me confused. I also learned how to use Google Reader effectively which is a big deal since I like to know about updates ondifferent things such as Sooner sports (Oklahoma University) and other interesting things.
Entries (RSS)
March 2nd, 2008 at 9:55 pm
I like your post, but I think that in your power chart, that the government would be above the parents, because they should obey the law which is part of the government and the laws are their decision.
March 2nd, 2008 at 11:56 pm
You said, “not so much about english itself but more on life” Does there need to be a difference?
You said, “he just toyed around with the world and said it was for the Greater Good” Can you think of governments doing that today? What is the greater good? Can you make connections to the video?
March 4th, 2008 at 5:25 am
I thought your entry was really good!! My question is how do we let people get so much power and who’s going to be brave enough to stand up to a dictator or someone powerful?
I also agree with you when people have too much power they don’t know what to do with it for instance Kim Jung II. He has so much power that his people can’t read magazines or newspapers about other countries because he’s afraid that his people will see how good life is in other countries and how limited his people are.
Also I saw your power pyramid and it got me thinking. Why aren’t you on the top of your power pyramid?
March 4th, 2008 at 7:36 am
I think that it is very interesting how power always seams to corrupt people. I mean, when you give a person a little power they thrive and thrive on it and beg for more and when they get it they just want more and more. It is a never ending process until that person has gained so much power that he completely takes over everything.
Take Hitler for example, he gradually begged for more and more and look where it got him, dictator of Germany and leader of the Nazis. If we would just give everyone a little power and give none more we wouldn’t always be in this situation.
That is also the reason communism doesn’t work you have you put too much power in the hands of one person.
I wonder what the world would be like if we only gave a little power, but to everyone.
Personally I think we wouldn’t be having all these problems with wars and the world would be peaceful.
Signed,
Hotdog Bob
March 6th, 2008 at 7:40 am
Great post on power, Will!
If you want a great guy to study about power, check out the Mao, the communist ruler of China a while ago. The book The Red Scarf Girl is a great place to start.
I really liked that bit about Ipods, thought that last sentance about the most “terrible power” didnt really fit in with a MP3, though I know what your talking about.
The power pyramid was neat too. I noticed that you put friends above your own thinking, which goes to peer pressure.
Keep thinking!
-Pebbles