Its funny I remember that "the fall of the wall"

I remember Regan's speech, "Mr. Gorbachev, tear down this wall!" No I don't remember it word for word, but I do vividly remember sitting in my parents living room at the age of 12 (shhh don't tell anyone) and watching history take place. I recall this because I was ticked off that our only TV was occupied by a news program that was keeping me from watching whatever it was that I wanted to watch.(maybe Fantasy Island reruns, I loved Tattoo) This makes me wonder how much we gloss over in our daily lives that will be history textbook worthy in years to come. I guess it is my age that brings this to my attention.

I can understand now how easily horrible and wonderful things can happen around us with little attention paid to them. The pulse of our daily lives clouds our vision of key events that can change the direction of civilization. This is why we study history. The acute focus of the historical record allows us to remove the veil of everyday life that clouds our vision. By examining the events of the past, with focused sight, we can identify the events in our own time that are pivotal to the future course of our, or other, societies. We use the historical record to police current events so that we can stop the repetitive evils of life.

I have really enjoed the time spent in our history class this semester. It has re-introduced me to the work level and expectations of today's students. The class has restored confidence in my abilities as a student and has solidified my decision to reenter our university as both an absolute good and absolutely necessary. Thank you, Jennifer, for your efforts and encouragement.

Were they Idiots, fools, naive, or complicit

No I'm not referring to the current batch of U.S. Congress men and women. I'm referring to the populations of Italy and Germany during the rise of fascism in the early part of the twentieth century. Who was to blame for the atrocities committed by the fascist regimes leading up to and during World War II? Obviously, the leaders of these regimes, Hitler and Mussolini, deserve the brunt of blame. They are the ones that carried out the oppression, violence, war, and eventually genocide, it is their fault. This brings up some different questions, how could anyone have allowed these men, capable of so many horrible atrocities, to be placed in positions of power? Were the people ignorant and naive of the consequences of giving away so much power? Were the populations fooled by the propaganda that was fed to them? Were the people simply complicit and sympathetic to the doctrine of the fascists? I believe that all of these things played a role, however, I also believe that sometimes crazy can be sane.

Let me explain, I lived for just under 10 years with a person who is all but clinically insane. Not the strait jacket type of nuts but surely narcissistic and (I'm not a head doctor but) bipolar. Living with crazy can shift your point of view. Things you would never be able to independently rationalize begin to make sense. You kind of lose yourself in the "propaganda" of the insanity. This happens in large part due to your own fears and insecurity. This is what I think happened in Germany and Italy. People were immersed in the misery of post war Europe. With little hope of rapid change away from their own reality, the people bought into the rhetoric of the Fascist. With no hope to help them rationalize the consequences, they allowed the weathering away of their freedoms and personal power in order to feel secure. The insanity of the time caused the paradigm of the people to shift away from personal freedom to the insatiable desire for security. Thus creating the perfect storm for the rise of Fascist rule.

getting inside the heads of combat soldiers

Can you get inside the head of a combat soldier? I don't pretend to know. After reading the letters from the World War I British officers we attempted to interpret the mental state of the officers. A lot of people (including myself) seemed to think we could get in their heads. After class, I began to wonder if our statements and assumptions about the writing had any validity at all. The answer, I don't think that anyone who has not been under fire in a war zone can come close to relating to these writings. Yes, we can interpret the words on the page. We cannot, however, relate to the experience that those same words describe.

So what can the common civilian take from the words in these letters? We can certainly learn from their perspective of the horrors of modern war, learn to respect these men for their sacrifices, and hope that we can pay them back by living good and full lives provided by their sacrifices. I am in no way saying that reading these letters are a fruitless exercise. We need to learn as much as we can so that we can about these past conflicts so that we can avoid the same mistakes that made them so brutally difficult. We have a tremendous responsibility to these soldiers and all of those people who have laid down their lives for others.

You are like school on saturday...... No Class

The discussion we had about the effects that the second industrial revolution, in the late 1800's, had on the middle class made me wonder, "What is class?" I guess it really depends on how you use the word. Class can be, a group of students that are instructed by an educator, a collection of things sharing a common attribute, a ranking or grouping of people with common means, values, and methods of behavior, or just a method of behavior. What is it that we take into account that place people in classes in our society? Many more questions could be asked, but like my buddy Karl, I don't think that they are necessary so I am going to leave them out.

For our discussions in class we were talking about the ranking or grouping of people with common means, values, and methods of behavior. This social ranking was being accomplished by display of consumption. The more extravagant and over indulgent (wasteful) the display was the higher your perceived rank. We may find this to be ridiculous. I even heard in my own head, "that's the wrong way to be, I don't think our society is like that." Upon further review, that is exactly how our society works. Not in the classical bourgeois way, but in our own slightly more twisted way. The people with this bourgeois mentality in the late 1800's would buy a house that was way too big for them, fill that house with extravagant furniture and other pithy belongings, hold dinners, throw party's, and show off their wealth in any other way they possibly could. In the upper echelons of our society this behavior has not changed very much, though it is hidden, as much as it can be, by those whose livelihoods depend on the approval of the lower masses. This behavior has to be hidden because in the middle class in our society it has become the status symbol of higher class to be a conservationist, recycler, crusader, or at least to walk and talk like one. Waste is rapidly becoming taboo. People seeking higher status are now looking to attack the areas of waste in our society, or at least act like they want to. Don't get me wrong, I think that people who, out of a sense of morality and commitment, try to leave the world a better place than they found it, have a special place in heaven. I also believe that people who make a big show out of their verson of morality and by extension their class status are really no better than what they are complaining about. I am not sure this helps anything, maybe I just needed get this out of my head.