Saturday, January 25, 2020

Arguments of Christopher Browning versus Daniel John Goldhagen Regardin

Arguments of Christopher Browning versus Daniel John Goldhagen Regarding The German View of the Holocaust The arguments of Christopher Browning and Daniel John Goldhagen contrast greatly based on the underlining meaning of the Holocaust to ordinary Germans. Why did ordinary citizens participate in the process of mass murder? Christopher Browning examines the history of a battalion of the Order Police who participated in mass shootings and deportations. He debunks the idea that these ordinary men were simply coerced to kill but stops short of Goldhagen's simplistic thesis. Browning uncovers the fact that Major Trapp offered at one time to excuse anyone from the task of killing who was "not up to it." Despite this offer, most of the men chose to kill anyway. Browning's traces how these murderers gradually became less "squeamish" about the killing process and delves into explanations of how and why people could behave in such a manner. Goldhagen's book however, has the merit of opening up a new perspective on ways of viewing the Holocaust, and it is the first to raise crucial questions about the extent to which eliminationist anti-Semitism was present among the German population as a whole. Using extensive testimonies from the perpetrators themselves, it offers a chilling insight into the mental and cognitive structures of hundreds of Germans directly involved in the killing operations. Anti-Semitism plays a primary factor in the argument from Goldhagen, as it is within his belief that anti-Semitism "more or less governed the ideational life of civil society" in pre-Nazi Germany . Goldhagen stated that a "Demonological anti-Semitism, of the virulent racial variety, was the common structure of the perpetrators' cognit... ...d in is own home. He was found by Soviet men in his home and taken to Siberia, because he was too young, in their point of view, to not be a member of the Nazi party. This is a man that Goldhagen cannot say is a fanatic anti-Semite and because of his own story to me I cannot deem the entire German population to be Goldhagen's 'ordinary Germans'. It is not an easy debate and will probably never be one but I would hope that someone could see that we cannot say something about an entire population. We would have to look at each member individually and then I am sure that we would find that some were those 'ordinary men', that Browning believed and some were the 'ordinary Germans' that Goldhagen believed in. Bibliography: Browning, Christopher R., Ordinary Men. Harper Perennial,New York, 1993 Goldhagen, Daniel Jonah. Random House, Inc. New York, 1996

Friday, January 17, 2020

African American Athletes Essay

American student athletes have always faced stereotypes in and out of the classroom, being seen as self-segregating or â€Å"dumb jocks† that really wouldn’t be at school if it weren’t for their athletic ability. Although these stereotypes are applied to both white and black athletes, African American students, especially men, feel it more than their white counterparts. African Americans are already, for the most part, seen as intellectually inferior, so when they are seen in an academic environment they are automatically judged. If they didn’t get into school just for being black, they got into school for being a black athlete. Excuses are made as to why African American student athletes and pro athletes dominate in the world of sports in general. From the time the black athlete stepped into the sports arena and began to compete with whites, white people have been looking for an explanation. In his article Sailes looks into the myths and stereotypes surrounding African American athletes, most of which have been created by whites. In loosely replicated the experiment that Sailes conducted with his students and in doing so I found that the stereotypes he discusses do exist and many people strongly believe in some of the myths. I interviewed both male and female athletes and non-athletes alike and surprisingly most of their answers to my questions were the same. I asked them all the same five questions; 1. Do you think African Americans dominate in sports? 2. Which Sports? 3. Are there certain positions they are better at? 4. Why? 5. Is their demeanor on the field or court different than that of a white athlete? and 6. Have you heard any myths about why black athletes are better? Interviewee #1, A white female on the basketball team at Gettysburg College felt that black athletes were better at all sports and in all positions, but particularly in basketball and football. She has learned from experience that black athletes are more loud and aggressive. It was her belief that African Americans are better at sports because of genetics. She also said that it could be because historically they have done hard labor and had menial jobs, so their physical condition has evolved. The one myth she has heard is that African Americans have an extra bone in their leg which makes them capable of jumping higher and running faster. Interviewee # 2, an African American football player stated that blacks are better at all sports, but especially football, in such positions as cornerback, running back, and wide receiver. When asked why he felt that this is true his answer was â€Å"because we’re just nasty like that. † In regards to myths he recalled one of his high school classmates expressing to him that the reason blacks were better was because they still had some monkey left in them. Interviewee # 3, a white college graduate, non-athlete articulated that blacks are better at any sport they try but not in any positions that require brain power or thought. He said that they are not usually good quarterbacks because they aren’t smart enough. When I asked him why, his response was, â€Å"because they are dumb N’s†. He believes that they become athletes because they have no other options to get a job or get rich, unless they can rap. He also stated that the reason they can run so fast is because they are used to running from the cops. Interviewee # 4, A white male who is a former athlete said that he believes that African Americans are superior in all sports except for lacrosse and hockey, and that the reason for this is because they are much more expensive to start up and maintain- as opposed to soccer/football/basketball where all you need is a ball really. He thinks black people on the whole start out life economically feeble compared to whites and believes in the myth that they have been evolved into more muscular and stronger people because of the process of natural selection during slavery where the slave owners bought the biggest and strongest, and they’re offspring are the ones that created the people that are dominating in sports now. My last interviewee was a female African American basketball player who felt that African Americans dominate in football and basketball because it is the only sport they want to play so they strive for it. She also said that blacks are more aggressive because it means more to them. In the majority of my interviews the participants mentioned what Sailes referred to as the Mandingo Theory, in which the physical superiority of African Americans is attributed to the selection and so called breeding process along with the manual labor performed during the days of slavery. The psychological and dumb jock theories were also articulated in the answers I received from the white students for they all said at some point or another during the interview that African Americans are intellectually inferior and all they have going for them is sports, and even in the world of sports there are positions that they are mentally incapable of occupying. The one thing that I believe all the participants agreed on both black and white is that African Americans are somehow genetically different. I was really taken aback by my findings. Even though I have learned throughout this semester that people are more racist than I ever thought they were, I didn’t realize that this racism is existent in literally everything. I’m not really into sports and do not pay attention to them, so I had no idea that people felt this way about African American athletes. So, it seems as though African Americans are battling this war on racism on yet another front.

Thursday, January 9, 2020

Your time is limited... - Free Essay Example

Sample details Pages: 2 Words: 653 Downloads: 3 Date added: 2019/06/10 Category Philosophy Essay Level High school Tags: Value of Life Essay Did you like this example? Your time is limited, so dont waste it living someone elsers life.(Steve Jobs). Life has a special meaning because it was given to us by God. However, individuals have a habit of forgetting to be grateful and thankful of their own. Don’t waste time! Our writers will create an original "Your time is limited" essay for you Create order In the speech of Steve Jobs, it explains how people only got one chance at life, so they have to enjoy it now while they can. Also, individuals need to value their life more. In Steve Jobs quote, Stay hungry. Stay foolish., it has connections towards other authorrs articles. The theme is to keep moving forward at life no matter what. Amanda Ripley, Roger Ebert, and Steve Jobs all have connections to Stay hungry. Stay foolish. because they all stood hungry and achieved at life and they stood foolish by taking life changing risks. Amanda Ripley gave the same meaning as Steve Jobs did on cherishing life. She explains how you can not trade life for anything because it is so much valuable: to place as much of a value on that lost loved one as they can. So here is where they seek to amplify the value on that lost loved one as they can. They seek to amplify the value of that memory. (Ripley). What this quote says is that life is too valuable for it to be lost. She states that individuals should be wanting more for than what they lost. Ripley also argues that all life is equal: She says, (all lives are equal (Ripley). This quote is saying that equality should be in all lives of humanity. Another connection is Roger Ebert who also was diagnosed with cancer. The advice in his article is to never give up. Cancer changed Ebertrs perspective on life and it made him to cherish his own life. Also, he did not give up from this brutal disease. Ebert is still himself: He says, Itrs saving me. When I am writing my problems become invisible and I am the same person I always was. All is well. I am the same person I was always. (Ebert). This quote is saying that Ebert is not afraid of death because he did everything and acomplished so much in life. Roger Ebert taught people when something does not go in our way in life, never give up. Steve Jobs was a man who changed his perspective on life. Jobs had his own company, Apple. He, in fact, was the creator of Apple. However, he was later kicked and replaced out of his own company, but Jobs is did not let this stop him from getting his company back. As he was planning to get his job back, Jobs was diagnosed with cancer. He stated his cancer was the best thing that ever happened to him because it drove him to not give up and try new and better things. This later resulted in getting his job back as director of Apple: He says Remembering that Ill be dead soon is the most important tool Ive ever encountered to help me make the big choices in life (Jobs). This quote shows that Jobs kept moving forward even though he was diagnosed with cancer. Cancer was his drive to keep trying new things in which resulted in getting his job back. A call to action is to not let anyone nor anything have a bad impact on your life. The secret for a good life is to keep on cherishing life, to not give up, and to keep moving forward. These advice are what the authors and Steve Jobs gave individuals. In conclusion, Steve Jobs quote, Stay Hungry. Stay Foolish. has connections with Roger Ebert, Amanda Ripley, and not other than Steve Jobs himself. Works Cited Jobs, Steve. Youve Got to Find What You Love. Stanford Report, 14 June 2005 Jones, Chris. Roger Ebert: The Essential Man. Esquire, 16 Feb. 2010. Ripley, Amanda. What is a Life Worth. Time, 11 Feb. 2002.