Lit Circle #1: Historian

This is Patrice Émery Lumumba. He lived from 2 July 1925 till 17 January 1961 and was an African anti-colonial leader and the first legally elected Prime Minister of the Democratic Republic of the Congo after he helped to win its independence from Belgium in June 1960. After ten weeks, Lumumba's government was thrown out in a rebellion during the Congo Crisis. Lumumba was then imprisoned and after assassinated under controversial circumstances. Patrice Lumumba continues to serve as a significant inspirational figure in the Congo as well as throughout Africa. (From Wikipedia)

Leopold II, King of the Belgians lived from April 9, 1835 to December 17, 1909 and succeeded his father, Leopold I of Belgium, to the Belgian throne in 1865 and remained king he died. Outside of Belgium, he is chiefly remembered as the founder and sole owner of the Congo Free State, a private project undertaken by the King to extract rubber and ivory, which relied on forced labor. (From Wikipedia)

Baudouin I of the Belgians lived from 7 September 1930 – 31 July 1993 and reigned as King of the Belgians from 1951 to 1993. He was the eldest son of King Leopold III (1901-1983) and his first wife, Princess Astrid of Sweden (1905-1935). (From Wikipedia)

Nikita Sergeyevich Khrushchev lived from April 17, 1894–September 11, 1971 and was the leader of the Soviet Union after the death of Joseph Stalin. He was First Secretary of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union from 1953 to 1964 and Chairman of the Council of Ministers from 1958 to 1964. He was removed from power by his party colleagues in 1964 and replaced by Leonid Brezhnev. He spent the last seven years of his life under the close supervision of the KGB. (From Wikipedia)

Dwight David Eisenhower lived from October 14, 1890 - March 28, 1969 and was an American soldier and politician, who served as the thirty-fourth President of the United States (1953-1961). During World War II, he served as Supreme Commander of the Allied forces in Europe, with responsibility for planning and supervising the successful invasion of France and Germany in 1944-45. In 1951 he became the first supreme commander of NATO. As a Republican, he was elected the 34th President of the United States (1953–1961), serving for two terms. As President he ended the Korean War, kept up the pressure on the Soviet Union during the Cold War, made nuclear weapons a higher defense priority, launched the space race, enlarged the Social Security program, and began the Interstate Highway System.(Wikipedia)

*Jeune Mou-Pro

Free Choice: 2

From the title and my last post I am sure you have derived the information needed to comprehend why it is I am writing this next post.

She stands limp and un-cynical of what I or anyone else might do.
She is by far the softest and most malleable of the bunch,
making her vulnerable in too many ways.
She wants only what she needs,
and she needs only the basics.
And this is by all means,
the only base for which she will take action or initiative in any part.
Though, she finds supplements for her wants,
her needs,
she begs only for what you want to give her,
and this, that you want to give to this small soul,
is evreything.

Free Choice

My class was assigned two free choice entrees for our blog, this is my first and you be seeing my second soon.
Tradition is a large part of many families. Not ours. Many families have secret family recipes and visit relatives for traditional religious holidays during various times in the year. Not ours. Though my family on both sides has a long and quite eventful history it has carried little through the years besides the family stories and myths that are sketchy to say the least. I use to long for a family wound tight together by an old farm where ancient history lies at bay in as close quarters as the upstairs closet or basement just below our feet. My family is held together neither by this fantasy nor by the strong binding arms of relationship. My family on the outskirts, though once as impenetrable as I longed for is layered on more or less, unstable soil. and yet at the root where me and my brother along with our two parents lie, i have come to realize, there is a clumps of roots knotted together, unreachable by even the strongest of words.

Me as: Ruth May at: Punahou

I saw a hat with yellow smiley faces and black stripes. It looked like something one of the Congolese children would have worn. Many of the Men from the tribes of Ham have taken fancy to Father's hat, they always point and laugh at it. I hope they don't steal it like they did Saint Mathew. If Saint Mathew where here, I'm sure that he would like it too because it's yellow which would remind him of bananas. I wish I could have a banana; Mama says that they are healthy and that's why the lord put them on this earth. If I eat a lot of them, then maybe I'll grow really tall and if I'm really tall I could probably reach the top of the hat, Saint Mathews would have climbed to the top, but I won't because Mama says I need to stop climbing around on things like a monkey and god says I need to listen to my Mama and to Father or else I might turn into one of the tribes of Ham and get a big old belly and loose all my curls. I hope I won't turn into one because if I do, oh, boy. I'll get it from Father.

10 Quotes from 2nd Reading

This time we were made to find 10 quotes (two from each chapter) that were in some way signifigant and then to give a breif explination of why or how we find them so.
Leah:
1."In the begining my sisters bustled indoors, playing the role of mother's helper with more enthusiasm than they'd ever shown for housework in all their born days."(35)
This quote significant to the book as a whole. It shows much of the behavior and dinamics of the Price household. Apparently the 3 daughters being here observed are rather of a less than "mother's helper" status. I imagine Leah follows suit.
2."Not everyone can see it, but my father's heart is as large as his hands.And his wisdom as great."(42)
Leah in this quote gives us heart pure opinion of her father. She sees him as a Saint himself. In her eyes, he can do little wrong. After this quote she proceeds to tell us of all her fathers wordly and not acomplishments. This gives us a ligitamite explination as to why she feels so devoted to her father and it also gives us an insight to her "father-follower" role she will most likely play throughout the rest of The Poisonwood Bible.
Rachel:
1."As a matter of fact, a man walked into a tree in front of our house and knocked out a tooth, thanks to Mother's stretch pants"(43-44)
This quote is interesting because it not only shows Rachel's veiw of the Congolese people by the attitude exuded in this quote, but also the Congolese people's oppinion to the Price family's attire by the contents of the quote. You can also see what it is that Rachel chooses to tell us about; clothes and appearences.
2."He had envisioned a baptism. The whole point of Easter in July was supposed to be an altar call, followed by a joyful procession down to the river with children all dressed in white getting saved. Father would stand waist deep out there like the Baptist Saint John and hold up one hand, and in the name of Father and tha Son and the Holy Ghost he would dunk them under, one by one. The river would be jam-packed with purified souls."(46)
You can see here, what the Prices, the reverend particularly not only envisioned for their Easter in July, but most likely for their entire soul-purifying stay in Congo. We can see how hard reality has or will hit.
Ruth May:
1."He's near about big, like my sisters, but doesn't wear a thing on God's green earth but an old gray shirt without any buttons and baggy gray underpants. He has a big old round belly with his belly button sticking out like a black marble. I can tell it's him because of the shirt and underpants, not because of the belly button. They all have those. I thought they were all fat, but Father said no. They're hungry as can be, and don't get their vitamins. And still God makes them look fat. I reckon that's what they get for being the Tribes of Ham."(50)
Ruth May is the youngest and their for perhap the most ignorant. She recognises these "other" beings by their skin and cothes, but by nothing else. Ruth May also believes that the reason these people are starving is because God is punishing them for being the Tribes of Ham. This is interesting to me because it shows us what types of stereo types Ruth May has and I wonder if they'll change.
2."They won't talk about the bad things in front of my sisters, but me I can listen all the livelong day while I'm getting me a banana in the kitchen house and peeling it."(51)
It seems like though, Ruth May is young and inocent she is sill constantly being underestimated by people, eespesially her family and maybe even us. Ruth May seems to comprehend everything she hears just as well as any of her sisters would but, because she is young, her mother pays her little mind.
Adah:
1."Living in the Congo shakes open the prison house of my disposition and lets all the wicked hoodoo Adahs run forth"(55)
I don't quite understand this quote but, it still seems significant to me because she is telling us plainly what the Congo is doing to her and how she is reacting to it. We have heard many comparison between the Congo and Bethleham, but this is particularly significant because Adah tells us so plainly how she feels about it.
2."Leah went first as always, Goddess of the Hunt, her weasel-colored pixie haircut springing with energy, her muscles working together like parts of a clock. Then came the rest of us: Ruth May with pigtails flying behind her, hurrying mightily because she is youngest and beleives the last shal be first. And then Rachel, our family's own Queen of Sheba, blinking her white eyelashes, ficking her long whitish hair as if she were the palomino horse she once craved to own. Queen Rachel drifted along several paces behind, looking elsewhere. She was almost sixteen and above it all, yet still unwilling for us to find something good without her. Last of all came Adah the monster, Quasimodo, dragging her right side behind her left in her body's permanent stepsong sing:left... behind, left... behind."(62)
Adah seems jelous of her sisters and lonely. Her family doesn't understand or acknowledge her. She is always being left behind and i think she longs to lead her sisters, to be first in line, or just not last.
Leah:
1."My father witnessed the progress of every new leaf and fat flower bud. I walked behind him, careful not to trample on the vines"(64)
This again confirms the relationship between Leah and her father. Litteraly, Leah follows her father being carefull not to trend on his vines.
2."Once in a great while we just have to protect her."(68)
This is the first significant quote i found regarding Mrs.Price. Her daughters though, they do not cherish their mother, feel some attachment to her and want in many ways to protect her.

Daughter Response up to pg.35

After reading the first 35 pages of The Poisonwood Bible, we were to respond to it by predicting what we supposed would happen throughout the rest of the book as far as the position and development of character in the four Price daughters.
Leah seems to be a very neutral character in the book with a subtle personality and an apparently gifted mind. She seems somewhat of a kiss-up and perhaps she is a
favorite of her father. I think that throughout the rest of the book
she will be a very steady and supportive character towards her father.
Ruth May is the baby of the family and so I think that she will always be treated as such. She may despise it, but at times it is probably what saves her from being exposed overly difficult situations that she might not be able to handle. Her childish ignorance is amusing and will probably slip further and further away throughout the book.
Rachel seems just as ignorant as her youngest sister Ruth May. She does
not seem to care much about anything besides herself, though I think we
will see that there is more to her than her appearance.
Adah, to me is one of the most interesting characters and I expect she will
remain so. I like the way that she narrates the book and the
perspective with which she sees things. She as all of the other daughters
has an unsettlingly strong faith in God and all that comes with him. I look forward to seeing all four daughters develop throughout the book.

Response To Genesis Chapter 1 verse, 28

We just began reading The Poisonwood Bible. My assignment was to:
1.Interpret the quote
2.What does it imply about how people should behave?
3.How might this frame chpt.1?

My direct interpretation of the translation is:
God told them,
Be effective make progress and expand your population (bearing children etc.),
and revitalize the earth,
And push it down: and have domination
over the fish in the ocean, and over the birds in the sky,
and over every living thing that moves on the earth.
This quote, though I do not agree, seems to be suggesting that we as people should dominate the earth and everything on it. We should multiply and spread throughout. We should strive for profit and be effective. I think that because the quote sets up such a strong moral code and foundation for how people "should" act, in the rest of the book people will probably act accordingly with this Genesis, or try. Also, because we already know that this book is about missionaries who go to Africa, the missionaries are probably attempting to force this Christian foundation onto the natives whether they will have it or not.

Cycle Paper #1: Do I have an obligation to my fellow human beings?

Every cycle I will write a cycle paper on an assigned topic this cycle paper assignment was to respond to the question: Do I have an obligation to my fellow human beings?

Negativley, no, in my mind no one has any obligation to anyone else human or not. Many people make up their own obligations and rules, but there is no built in “human obligation”. If someone feels that they want to help others or fulfill some type of “commitment” to others, that would be a personal choice not an obligation because the “commitment” itself is an imaginary figment of its creator. I do not believe that there is such thing as an “obligation”. This does not however mean that I feel no need or want to help and give to others. The definition, as quoted from dictionary.com of obligation is ”something by which a person is bound or obliged to do certain things, and which arises out of a sense of duty or results from custom, law, etc.” Law, custom and duty are all fictitious ideas, unsound, fabrications made from human necessity. I am not saying that I do not believe in what they represent however I do not believe that they are real or that anything based on them (such as obligation) have any more substance than they do themselves. But, even with all of this there is part of me that says there is such thing as obligation and moral sanctity, something that sets humans or life in general apart from everything else. Is it true that if "we run the risk that many will shrug their shoulders and say that morality, so conceived, is fine for saints but not for them?"(Singer solution) then all of Human compation will disintagrate and fall away? Maybe as fluid and flakey as moral obligaton is, it holds all the worlds gifts and generousity inside.

Quintessence Piece

For homework we each chose an item that was quintessential to ourselves. We then were required to write a piece, any type of piece, about the "quintisential" item. I chose water.
Water is quintessential.
Some say it is the blood of the earth.
Water feeds.
My soul, my body, my health, my happiness, my life.
If it weren’t for water.
Where would I swim?
What would I drink?
What would give me satisfaction?
Or moisturize my soul?
Every day I drench my body in
The blood of the earth.
My parched insides finally slaked with it
My cracked and arid smile quenched with water.
Water moves through me and the earth
A cycle
The cycle of life

Interview of "The Gift" reader

In english class we have been reading essays and discussing our class's two essential questions: What kind of world is this and how should we live in it? So, far we have read the Singer Solution for World Poverty and a biographical essay on Zell Kravinsky called The Gift. After we read the essays we interveiwed a classmate and asked them any signifigant questions in the form of an interveiw.

Questions for The Gift’s Readers
Host: Hello, and welcome to Philanthropy through Philosophy! Today we will be introducing a very special guest to our show and discussing the life and Philanthropic movement of Zell Kravinsky through his biography, The Gift and here she is ladies and gentlemen, our very special guest!
VSG: Hello everyone I am very happy to be here, and look forward to tackling this essay with you all. Where shall we begin?
Host: Well, let’s first discuss perhaps the reason lying behind Kravinsky’s captivation and devotion to giving; Zell had mentioned to the author of The Gift that he gives all that he does so that he can get out of himself and escape from his “ego.” Do you think that this is the only reason for his “gifts,” and if so, does this mean that his real goal is to not to help others but to help himself?
VSG: I think in some ways he really wants to help others, but I think that maybe his main reason is trying to fulfill himself in ethical ecstasy because he never really talks about the people who received the stuff from him except for the lady who received his kidney.
Host: That’s true. Do you think that Zell feels some responsibility for the emotional and personal side of his children and family’s well being, rather than just their physical health and security?
VSG: I think that he does, but that there are people more needy than his children, there are people with bigger problems than his children, so he feels that he has to help the people with bigger problems.
At first, I thought that he really cared about giving toward his family, like he put his job aside—“quitting real estate would bring him closer to his family. ‘I said I’d have more time for the kids.’”
Host: I agree. Zell mentioned that anyone who is not giving away their kidney and/or devotes their whole life to others is a murderer, so does that mean that Zell is the only one who is not a murderer or who is a moral person in this world?
VSG: I think that Zell Kravinsky thinks that everyone is a killer to some degree because they could be saving someone else if they just gave a little more. I don’t think that Zell Kravinsky thinks that he’s a completely moral person because he could still give more.
Host: Good point. Why do you think Zell feels such a need to supplement the needs of others in the first place?
VSG: Mmm, maybe just because he feels that he can, like he has the resources to supplement for others.
Host: Well, do you think Zell is morally decent?
VSG: Ya, I think he’s morally decent because he’s just trying to do what his morals tell him is morally decent. And because he knows he’s doing as much as he can to help others in need.
Host: If he was he was doing everything he is doing for others now, but, didn’t consider himself morally decent would you still consider him morally decent?
VSG: Hmmm…well, I think part of the reason he is morally decent is because he is trying to help others but he’s not doing it for some ulterior motive.
Host: So, it’s the way in which he approaches it that makes him morally decent to you?
VSG: Ya.
Host: Why is his motive so important?
VSG: Mmm…I feel like if I were donating everything to other people because I wanted to help them then I would feel more morally fulfilled than if I were doing it to impress other people or if I had another reason, like if someone told me to donate everything or some other reason.
Host: Would you consider yourself a morally decent person according to Zell’s standard?
VSG: No.
Host: Why not?
VSG: Umm, well because Zell Kravinsky would probably think I was a murderer like on the first page when he was talking to his friend after the second paragraph, like someone umm, well somebody asks Kravinsky “Do you mean that anybody who is not donating his or her kidney is taking someone’s life?” and then Kravinsky says “yes”.
Host: And so how does that make you immoral to his standard?
VSG: Umm, well, o.k. After Kravinsky says yes, his friend asked if then he was a murderer and then Kravinsky says yes. And so I guess I would be a murderer and I don’t think that Kravinsky would think that some one who is a murderer is a morally decent person.
Host: Do you consider yourself a morally decent person to your own standards?
VSG: Um, yes. Like I think that I’m a morally decent person but um I think that I could do more to become a morally better person.
Host: What could you do? And what does morally “better” mean?
VSG: Um I guess I could like do more community service and just like try to help others more.
Host: So what does morally better mean?
VSG: Hmm, wait, I guess to just improve my lifestyle by using morals more frequently to make decisions.
Host: What do you use to make decisions now?
VSG: Well, sometimes my morals, but I don’t really think about that too much... I guess I just make decisions on what I feel like doing or what I think that out come will be by doing certain things.
Host: What do you think Kravinsky uses to make decisions?
VSG: Umm, I think well Kravinsky uses logic in numbers and stuff that like help him make decisions but he also uses his morals because he is able to rationalize with himself like by giving so much more he can save so many lives and um, ya, so like I think it’s like on his conscience like when he spends his money he thinks about all the needy people who he could be saving, I think that like how most Americans don’t really think about the people who are really needy but Kravinsky sees all the numbers and like how much he can help if he makes certain decisions.
Host: Do you think that after reading this article you might think more in numbers than in feelings from now on?
VSG: Hmm not really.
Host: Why not?
VSG: Um... I can’t, like, like the numbers don’t compel me as much as they probably do Kravinsky.
Host: Why do you think that numbers are more compelling to Kravinsky than to you?
VSG: Umm, I’m not sure why numbers are more compelling to Kravinsky than to me but sometimes I’m just like, if some on tells me a statistic or something I’m not always like oh my gosh, like I don’t consider myself someone who get s that enthusiastic over numbers and statistics and all of that.
Host: Do you consider Kravinsky to be more or less moral than yourself?
VSG: Um, I think Kravinsky is probably more than myself because he is probably making more of an effort than I am.
Host: Do you wish that you would think in numbers and would this make you more moral?
VSG: Um, I don’t really, well I mean I’m kind of used to my thinking. I don’t think I’d really want to change it but I think anyone, not matter how they think can be as morally decent as any one else.
Host: Who is the most moral person you know?
VSG: I don’t know because like I guess if I talked to everyone I knew, I don’t know any one person who would have the most morally decent life because I don’t know their definition of what a morally decent life is and I don’t know what they are doing to become a morally decent person.
Host: Kravinsky tries almost too hard to be moral, and knowing from The Gift what he considers to be moral, would he be a candidate for being the most morally decent person you know?
VSG: Umm it’s hard to say because I don’t really know him like I think he’s a really morally decent person, so maybe he’s a candidate but I might be more inclined to choose someone who I know and who I’ve seen the sacrifices of and what they’ve had go through emotionally.
Host: Thank very much, but unfortunately we are just about out of time. Ladies and gentlemen please tune in with us again next week, as we will be going over the just as controversial, Singer solution to world poverty.