In
the Presence of Fear has a very different take on the aftermath of
September 11th. In Wendell
Berry’s first essay Thoughts in the
Presence if Fear the section that struck me the most was XX (20). The idea
that violence leads to more violence is an idea that has been instilled in most
of us since childhood, but as adults we tend to put that idea off to the side
when it comes to war. My mom has always told me that when my twin nieces fight
and are hitting each other she sits them down and they talk about what is going
on instead of her spanking them. She told me she does this because it doesn't
make sense to her to teach them not to hit by hitting them. That’s what this
section reminded me off, why are we trying to stop violence with violence. It
is almost like the U.S is a rebellious teenager who is just trying to get even
with the country that hurt them, and while the U.S in past wars always wins do
people take a step back to see what we have lost in the progress.
In Wendell
Berry’s second essay In the Presence of
Fear, The Idea of a Local Economy he
focuses most of the essay being very negative to how the U.S. handles their
business he has very few good words to say throughout the whole essay. I think
the part of this essay that grabbed my attention the most was when Berry was
writing about moving goods and debts from the present to the future. This
struck me because that is what caused the economy crisis in 2008, we moved our
debts to the future and that came back to bite us in the butt so to say. Berry writes, “—that if ever we are going to
do good to one another, then the time to do it is now; we are to receive no
reward for promising to do it in the future” (15).
One concept
that Berry continuously writes about is the idea of a “free market”. Merriam-Webster
dictionary’s definition is “an economic market or system in which prices are
based on competition among private businesses and not controlled by a
government” (Merriam-Webster). Since this concept is discussed many times in
the essay I thought it would be good to know what it truly means. Knowing the definition
of this really helps when I’m reading because it is a major part of the essay.
One
question I was wondering was how many countries use a free market system? Only
five countries have a totally free market as Berry suggested in his essay. One
website I found extremely interesting is http://www.heritage.org/index/ This
website tells about mostly every country’s economic standings and has a lot of information
that I found very interesting.
I really liked what you said about your mom and nieces. It is true that we sometimes think that the toughest person wins. But I think that sometimes that countries, such as ours, can become power hungry and a little quick to try and use force. Your mom is very smart in teaching your nieces by talking to them instead of using force.
ReplyDeleteI agree that violence shouldn't be handled with violence. It's a notion that becomes so con-diluted once you get to the end of it. By then no one really knows what really happened and why. I liked how you used your mom and nieces as an example of that, but growing up I was spanked when I acted out of line. I honestly never looked at it as violence used to end violence or anything else. Not to engage in a confrontation with you, but there's a fine line between hitting and discipline. Some people take it way too far and some people look as discipline as abuse. The truth of it is, it's not. If someone, or let's say a country for example is reeking havoc on another country. Diplomacy only go so far. At what point do we say "enough is enough"? When do we protect those who are in need? When do we stand up for ourselves and fight against the tyrants who are standing at our front door? Do you believe, for example, that World War Two could have been stopped if the allies would have aimed toward diplomacy instead of declaring war on Germany and Japan? History shows that our country did try that notion before and during the war. Take a look at history and step back from yourself and what all you stand for, and see what we are as a species and individuals. Don't pay any attention to who was wrong or who was right. You'll see that history is violent. People are violent, and if pushed into a corner, we'll defend ourselves to the end. Don't get me wrong, diplomacy can work, but you need everyone's attention. The question is, will they give it? Then that's when you ask yourself when does diplomacy end and war begin?
ReplyDeleteHi Alex,
ReplyDeleteI agree with your response for most part except the part you describe the author’s view on Local Economy. I think he strongly believes in building a local economy and shared his opinion about how he would build a better economy for local markets and the community.
I really liked your take on declaration 20, it's sad but so true. We seem to want to solve everything with violence which only leads to spite and more violence. You would think that after all this time throughout history we would learn that but we seem to be so violence driven.
ReplyDeleteGood example of using your mom and nieces to describe how we shouldn't use violence to get back at someone to stop because it will make matters worse. Instead we should negotiate with what should be done in order to make peace with people and other countries.
ReplyDelete