Thoughts on Self Progress December 29, 2008

PC: "Why are people so willing to wrap themselves in the blanket of ignorance?"
JG: "Because they are content."
This is a line of dialog which I found myself in when talking to one of my friends Jon. The question I was wrestling within my mind for a period of time was easily answered when I posed the question to him. A very simple answer, but the one that travels straight to the core. It does so because it rings with crystal clarity, as the truth always does.

It seems that people are unwilling to expand their knowledge and improve themselves in order to understand and respect one another. I believe I can attribute this to a simple proverb: "Ignorance is bliss." But how blissful can an individual, never the less a people, be when conflicts which consume so many lives are born out of ignorance? Man has a natural fear of the unknown. That is why when we are children we have a fear of the dark. The dark represents unknown, for man is not a nocturnal creature. Same deal applies to an alien culture. We do not understand, so we grow fearful. Fear turns to anger, anger turns to hate, hate turns to suffering.

In order to advance ourselves individually and thus as a species, we must seek to understand all cultures, even those whom we may not agree with. The United States has long been split over partisian propoganda, whose liberal and whose conservative, Republicans agianst Democrats. But party lines should not stand in the way of unity and seeking to do what is best for our fellow man.

Too often in today's society, people are unwilling to question. At least when someone has a question it shows that the individual has an inclination to expand their knowledge. If the person or organization being questioned cannot come up with an adiquete reply, then it shows that they do not know what they are talking about. Perhaps it shall show that they need to re-evaluate themselves in order to either realize they have misinterpreted their values or that they have allowed themselves to be manipulated into a position which goes strongly agianst themselves and their values.

People should not be afriad to stand up for what is right. However, because people are content to live in ignorance for it gives them comfort, people shall close their eyes and thus plead the "I don't know" clause. To do so is irresponsible.

An example of a time when people were willing to be ignorant, unquestioning, and close their eyes to various injusticies within a country was a time referred to as The Holocaust.

Another example which is directly responsible for making the German people desperate enough to live in ignorance to regain dignity and pride stripped from them would be the Treaty of Versailles. This resulted because the exclusive members of the allied forces (not even all of them, Japan was excluded) wanted revenge. Woodrow Wilson lifted his head out of the sea of ignorance and hate to see the clear blue sky. He alone had the perfect peace plan because he regonized that both sides of the conflict suffered terribly. He was open minded. Unfortunatly, the other leaders were narrow minded and ignorant of history, so they and their children were doomed to repeat it, resultant being WWII and The Holocaust. If President Wilson's peace plan went through, the German people would have never allowed Hitler to gain power and put into effect his reign of terror.

As individuals, we must strive for self-improvement and make ourselves better than what we currently are, for that is what makes us human. As a whole we must do the same if we are have respect for our fellow man, which leads to tolerence which is stemmed from love which results in peace. As Richard Nixon puts it, "It is the U.S.'s goal to not just have peace in the sense of absence of war, but rather peace with justice." Good night everybody.