The Us-Versus-Them Mentality In 2008’s Presidential Campaign Essay Example for Free

The Us-Versus-Them Mentality In 2008’s Presidential Campaign Essay The graphic novel, Maus, by Art Spiegelman, tells the story of a Polish Jew’s memories of his experience during the Holocaust. Drawn as mice, the Jews have faced a variety of psychological warfare, including xenophobia, scapegoating, dehumanization, and us-vs. -them dichotomy where the terrible events of the Holocaust were justified. The Holocaust was one of the most terrible events in human history, and decades later, scholars from many branches of academia still strive to understand such a dark historical event. Unfortunately, aspects leading up to the Holocaust still exist in the world today. While few current issues compare in magnitude to that of the Holocaust, such activities such as xenophobia, scapegoating, dehumanization, and divisive, dichotomous thought pervade populations everywhere. Although such negative sentiments always threaten negative results, in the US in the year 2008, one major historical movement and event occurred that promises a possible relief from such a divisive past. This historic movement and event is Barack Obama’s campaign, in which an African American ran for President of the United States and was the victor, becoming the first ever African American president of the country. But the campaign was not free of strife. This paper argues that while dichotomous, â€Å"us vs. them† elements in the year 2008’s presidential campaign were not systematically acted out as they were in the Holocaust, there existed similar instances of that mentality during the campaign timeframe. In the past decade, partisanship has set two major groups of Americans at odds with each other in the form of Democrat vs. Republicans. However, this past presidential campaign, or even in the past decade, the fever pitch of â€Å"us vs. them† has not escaped many people, and â€Å"Democrat† or â€Å"Republican† began to be expressed in layers of differences. Chuck Raasch of USAToday reports that: Americans fought a terrible civil war on all three fronts. A century later, Northerners saw Southerners as oppressors during struggles over civil rights, and Southerners viewed Northerners as meddlers. Even the Inside the Beltway label continues a deeply rooted, us-versus-them mentality of the nations capital. Despite the elevation of a black man and a white woman to the Democratic and Republican presidential tickets, respectively, the election of 2008 has played often to those divides. In her article Unleashed, Palin Makes a Pit Bull Look Tame, Dana Milbank of the Washington Post describes the crowd’s response, [who were] â€Å"waving thunder sticks and shouting abuse. Others hurled obscenities at a camera crew. One Palin supporter shouted a racial epithet at an African American sound man for a network and told him, Sit down, boy (p. A03). † While divisive expressions such as these seem far away from the Holocaust, one must consider Peter Suedfeld’s words regarding the genesis of anti-Semitism in the time before the Holocaust: Sherif et al. (1961/1988) demonstrated how leaders, by framing situations in terms of intergroup competition, can produce hostility and aggressive behaviour between component groups. We can see the workings of an ingrained us-vs-them mentality in experimental minimal groups (Tajfel et al. , 1971), which are composed in a completely arbitrary way and whose members never even meet each other (3). This explanation could very well describe the actions of leaders in political parties as well as group behaviors in response to leaders. Sarah Palin could be seen to â€Å"frame situations† such that â€Å"intergroup competition† occurs, as it does in the Republican furor over the Democrate presidential candidate. Partisanship was not the only exhibition of us-versus-them behavior during the past year. Dedication to one’s country came into question in which the concepts of American versus anti-American were introduced. According to Bob Lonsberry in his article â€Å"What’s Wrong With a Marxist? †, a person who is American is one who sees two irreconcilable extremes between Karl Marx and John Locke, and if a person takes into regard the writings of Karl Marx, then he or she is â€Å"anti-American. † If an American is to be truly American, they must adopt similar ways of thinking in which Marxism, communist, and other similar ontological principles must be absolutely shunned because they repudiate everything America stands for. These sentiments before the Holocaust were similar. In place of anti-Americans were the Jews. Andre Minaeu writes: To the Nazis, all things seriously afflicting Germany and the Aryan race were ultimately Jewish or Jewish-inspired. In this sense, the Jewish people were the quintessential enemy of Nazi totalitarianism. The latter elevated Jewry, so to speak, to the rank of an evil ontological principle against which struggle was to be universal (17). In this sense, anti-Americans are philosophically against everything Americans stand for and should be beaten politically, while Jews represented everything the Nazis stood for, which caused them to become an evil philosophical principle. No other dichotomy is more apparent in both Holocaust and the 2008 presidential campaign than ethnicity. The question of race—and one’s ethnicity—became a large factor due to the mixed-race heritage of Barack Obama. Historically, part of Obama’s ethnicity had been under the awful yoke of slavery and then the struggle of civil rights. One can see this in the words of Martin Luther King, Jr: I have a dream that one day, down in Alabama†¦ little black boys and black girls will be able to join hands with little white boys and white girls as sisters and brothers (60). The question of Jewsishness—both an ethnicity as well as a belief system—was subject of life and death for six million people during World War II. Historically, Jews have also been slaves, and their ethnicity and religion have played a large role in their struggles in past centuries. Paul Johnson explains this in his book The History of the Jews by quoting Dietrich Bonhoeffer, an ex-prisoner of the Nazis: We have learned to see the great events of world history from below, from the perspective of those who are excluded, under suspicion, ill-treated, powerless, oppressed, and scorned, in short those who suffer (2). It is not a subtle expression in either of these two statements that the writers and speakers felt that their world was divided in groups, and they were the â€Å"them† in the phrase â€Å"us-versus-them. † While the us-versus-them mentality might seem as if it would haunt human interaction for all time, there have always been historical figures who have sought to overcome the divisiveness by seeking common ground. Perhaps the most famous of those is Abraham Lincoln, who spoke these words: A house divided against itself cannot stand. I believe this government cannot endure permanently half slave and half free. I do not expect the Union to be dissolved I do not expect the house to fall but I do expect it will cease to be divided (Lincoln). Martin Luther King, Jr. is another figure who sought to overcome injustice and inequality through nonviolent means. Current scholars are improving and applying techniques for nonviolent conflict resolution (Suedfeld 2006, p. 7). In regards to the Holocaust, there are many studies about the tragedy in many areas of study, from psychology to politics to sociology, as evidenced by the books The Making of the Holocaust: Ideology and Ethics in the Systems Perspective by Andre Mineau and Canadian Psychology addressing Holocaust reverberations fifty years later. Lastly, the end of the 2008 campaign year drew to a close, and Barack Obama has been elected President. While he emerged from one of the two major political parties in the US, his own sentiments in his book The Audacity of Hope strive for a bipartisan rather than a divided approach: Maybe there’s no escaping our great political divide, an endless clash of armies, and any attempts to alter the rules of engagement are futile. Or maybe the trivialization of politics has reached a point of no return, so that most people see it as just one more diversion, a sport†¦ We paint our faces red or blue and cheer our side and boo their side†¦ But I don’t think so. They are out there†¦ those ordinary citizens who have grown up in the midst of all the political and cultural battles, but who have found a way†¦ to make peace with their neighbors, and themselves (pp. 50-51). Violence stemmed from rabid divisiveness is what made the Holocaust so terrible. Therefore, any attempts to heal the us-versus-them mentality would have to be the opposite: peaceful actions that strive to bring humans together. Fortunately, if one could take lessons from Mahatma Ghandhi, Martin Luther King, Jr., Abraham Lincoln, and Barack Obama, then the possibility that discordant sentiments in the human populace may never take seed. WORKS CITED Johnson, Paul. A History of the Jews. HarperPerennial (1988). King, Jr. , Martin Luther. â€Å"The Dream†. Speech. Lincoln Memorial, Washington, DC. 28 August 1963. Lincoln, Abraham. House Divided Speech. Speech. Springfield, Illinois, June 16, 1858. Milbank, Dana. â€Å"Unleashed, Palin Makes a Pit Bull Look Tame. † Washington Post. October 7, 2008: A03. Minaeu, Andre. The Making of the Holocaust: Ideology and Ethics in the Systems Perspective. Amsterdam; Atlanta, Georgea: Rodopi, 1999.

The Mathematical Aspects of Lewis Carrolls Alice in Wonderland Essay

The Mathematical Aspects of Lewis Carroll's Alice in Wonderland The story Alice in Wonderland was written about a little girl named Alice who was a child of the dean of the Church of Christ. Alice Liddell was the one who convinced Charles Dodgson (Lewis Carroll) to write down the verbal story originally known as "Alice's Adventure Underground".Actually, the book is known by several different names, Alice's Hours in Elfand,Alice's Adventures in Wonderland, and Alice in Wonderland.I found it interesting that the Mid-Continent Public Library once listed the book under Lewis Carroll and has recently changed it to Charles L. Dodgson. If one looks on the side of the book, Carroll was actually crossed off and Dodgson written over(Lewis Carroll Biography, The Victorian Web). As I began reading the book Alice in Wonderland, it was very obvious that Lewis Carroll was a logical mathematician.The contemporary math class that I am currently taking has opened a new level of understanding for myself; if I had read the book anytime prior it would have read simply as an unusual child's fairytale.I find it interesting that the book Alice in Wonderland follows the first couple sections of our contemporary math book.I actually see the mathematics behind the story.I never knew that math could be turned into a fairytale(Johnson/Mowry 46-47). The book begins with Alice and her sister sitting by the bank as Alice grows tired.Alice believes she sees a white rabbit running by and decides to run after it.The rabbit jumps into a hole and Alice follows.I believe Lewis Carroll was a very intelligent man and like to state his complex ideas through the use of Alice: "for you see Alice had learned several things of this sort in her lessons in the sch... ...ting effect(Weber,Food ,Drink,and Public Health in the Alice Books). Works Cited Carroll,L.(1952). Alice in Wonderland.Philadelphia Toronto:The John C. Winston Company. Johnson,D.,& Mowry,T.(1988).Mathematics,A Practical Odyssey (3rd ed.). California: Brooks/Cole Publishing Company. Connell, Kate. Opium as a Possible Influence upon the Alice Books: December 1993. Brown University/Victorian Web. July 17,2000 <http://landow.stg.brown.ed/victorian/carroll/aiw14.html. Lewis Carroll: Biography: December 1992. Brown University/Victorian Web. July 17,2000<http//llandow.stg.brown.ed/victorian/carroll/dreamchild/creamchild2.html.> Weber,Anya.Food,Drink,andPublic Health in the Alice Books: December 1995. Brown University/Victorian Web.July18,2000 <http://landow.stg.brown.ed/Victorian/Carroll/weber.html.> Reflection - Alice in Wonderland

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Epigraph was ironically taken from a diet book by Deborah Waterholes which explains the chocolate is a requirement for women! Lexical (word choice) Throughout the text, the author has used a large selection of sensory words which has been used for effect to describe the food. Examples of these sensory words would be words such as â€Å"Mouth-watering' and â€Å"Cinnamon- flavored†. It has been done to create a more effective Genre response from the reader and also to make the simple foods it speaks about seem more luxurious.By using verbs such as â€Å"divine† is creates a more luxurious atmosphere around it and makes it seem much more opulent. The use of the word Glory is very efficacious as it is repeated in the title to make it seem like the chocolate which is being spoken about is so glorious. Which then follows n to the oxymoron in the title Naughty But Nice. Presentational The presentational features all makes it looks like a longer poem then it is because of how spread out it is. It usually has three lines in each stanza which means that it is short.In the first consentingly Glory Be to Chocolate, the words have been printed in italics to symbolism the difference in the poem. Link In the exam I would link text 6 to text 5 because they both discuss in depth the exploration of cross culture and the experiences that could be shared. In text 6 it suggests that he wants his audience to feel as appreciative towards coco beans the way he does as view they re importance just the same. Likewise, in text 5, James Berry is exploring the way in which the Caribbean culture has adapted into the life into London.Attitudes and values The attitudes in this piece towards food are really positive as they think very highly of this food. It is very positive towards not only chocolate but it strongly supports the idea of cross culture and the love of luxurious food. It thinks that people should value food in w way which most people over look, meaning that more people are taking food for granted. Contextual detail This is an extract from the English â€Å"Food Hygiene Regulation 2006† which was put into place to solidify the safety and all laws for all business operators and suppliers e. . Shops, restaurants and etc. In England. These notices were put into place for all establishments to abide by to ensure the safety and protection for all those who use the services. It is the job of the Government to guarantee the safety of the people who are using the services it provides. Extract from Food Hygiene (England Regulations) 2006 This text is an extract from regulations that are set by the government to ensure the requirements are met by all establishments to achieve safety specifically for food.Audience Every company of business who provides a service that sells food egg restaurant, shop, school. This also applies to people who have to enforce these rules upon these types of places. Purpose The point of this text is to have an underst anding of all food being safe for all consumers. It is to inform the audience Of the regulations that the text is enforcing. It is to ensure that all establishments that supply any sort of food or beverage are safe and good enough for consumption. They are to guide ND lead companies into the correct manor and leadership.Because of the nature of text 15, it has many small sections which are labeled by subtitles and then divided by numbers and further subdivided by letters. Each of letters has its own topic and that is why it is separated and labeled. Likewise it has been done this way to make it seem a lot easier to read. Each one of the paragraphs is very short and they all flow from one to the other. It has been laid out this way so that it is easy for the audience to read. It makes it clear and it also makes it visually simple. Additionally, there re that many subjects that it is required for there to be so many paragraphs.

The Salem Witches Real or Imagined - 1289 Words

The Salem Witches: Real or Imagined? The Salem Witch Trials began because of a mysterious illness contracted by 11-year old Abigail Williams and her cousin Betty Paris (Burgan). Instead of looking for a logical explanation, the community immediately jumped to the conclusion that witches caused the girls curious behavior. Doctors commonly would diagnose an unknown illness as witchcraft, rather than looking for other explanations (Wolfinger). Erot of Rye, which causes severe contortions and hallucinations, could have caused their strange behavior (Burgan). Abigail and Betty also could have faked their bewitchment to receive attention or avoid work. The Salem Witch Trials took place based accusations, rather than solid evidence. Though frowned upon by many in modern society, people considered witchcraft a terrible crime, punishable by death during this period in time. Many scholars in Salem believed that witches actually signed away their soul to the devil in return for earthly favors and special powders (history.com). Tituba, an accused slave girl acknowledged this belief, and confessed to have written her name in blood within the devil’s book. She only evaded execution because she saw others also writing their names in the devil’s book. With Tituba still alive, she could identify other potential witches. Soon after the â€Å"bewitched† girls accused the first witch, Tituba, many more followed. 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