Malcolm X

What I really like about "The Autobiography of Malcolm X" is Malcolm's honesty. He is always upfront about everything. When he talks about his times of being a hustler, he tells all the details of his hustles. He includes how he was a drug dealer, a burglar, and more. He even gives advice through the eyes of a burglar: to protect your home against burglars, leave the light on in the bathroom. He speaks of his constant drug usage and how he was "trigger-happy." All of these details make Malcolm's story much more memorable and realistic. We see the whole story, not just parts that make someone seem better. We see what Malcolm has come from and what he's gone through, which has all led him to the person he is today.

Malcolm's attention to detail also helps complete his story. He remembers where he learned what in which book. He remembers big chunks of his speeches. He describes what he felt during each situation. He also includes the story of Mr. Yacub. While I don't agree with the story (one shouldn't blame an entire race for all of one's problems and not everyone from that race is the same), it's one of the sections I remember most in the book. It's full of information and sets the basis for Malcolm's religion. 

In general, Malcolm X is a talented writer. The way he tells his story interests me and I want to see what would happen next. The reader gets a good idea of what led Malcolm to become who he was.

Is King still King?

Of course Martin Luther King Jr. is still king. Just the fact that he has a holiday helps prove this. Everyone knows who he is and what he did. I even had to memorize part of his "I have a dream" speech in Spanish for spanish class. King's ideas still live on. He fought for human rights, and, to this day, we are still fighting. His methods of peaceful demonstration and boycotting are well-known and widely-used. King set the stage for future generations to come. He prepared well and helped lead our country to be a better country. We can take from his example and see that individual people can help bring about big changes. It is hope for the future. It is assurance that every group of people can fight for their equal rights. King helped start something big and it still lives on today.

Music Review: Matt & Kim

Matt & Kim and are an upbeat duo from New York. My favorite song from them is Daylight. It has a happy rhythm and gets stuck in my head easily. The lyrics are carefree and, simply put, convey joy. They don't necessarily make that much sense all the time, such as "and in the daylight we can hitchhike to Maine, I hope that someday I’ll see without these frames" or "slip and slide on subway grates, these shoes are poor mans ice skates, fall through like change in the daylight," which only leads to the song being more carefree. What makes Matt & Kim even better is their performance. I've seen them live and it was great. Their stage presence is unique and the fact that they are a couple sort of puts it all together. After the concert and seeing some of their interviews and the way they interact with each other and others shows that they really love what they do and they love that they do it together. Even the way they write songs- their album, Grand, was recorded in Matt's parent's house or how they come up with a beat and melody first and lyrics last. The process of writing their lyrics is bizarre, in the words of Matt; Kim writes random sentences when she hears the melody and Matt chooses random parts of these sentences and then fills in the blanks. Their songs are cheery and as Kim says, they "just want people to have a good time," which is exactly what their songs convey.

Links:
Daylight  

Interview with Matt and Kim

Frankly Speaking

Frankl brings up a lot of good points in Man's Search for Meaning. Not only does he describe some of the horrors of the Holocaust, but he talks about his reactions and what he was thinking at certain parts. I've always been interested in people's reactions to things and how everybody's reaction differs. As we discussed in class, an abnormal reaction to an abnormal situation is normal.

I like that Frankl not only told us about the concentration camp, but also told us the after part and about logotherapy. Reading about his ways of therapy have interested me in psychotherapy and different methods to help someone. I don't know much about other methods, but I'd like to learn about them all and compare them. Logotherapy also makes me think more about life's meaning. Can everyone truly find it and realize when it changes? What is my meaning in life for now? How can one choose a single thing? And what if someone thinks their meaning is power or pleasure, which Frankl says are side effects of life, not the main goal. How can someone tell that person that their meaning in life really isn't their meaning?

My response to "No Exit"

"No Exit" really made me think about the concept of hell and heaven after death. The idea of forever and ever and ever is tough to grasp. We all know life ends because death comes. But once you’re dead, there is nothing else. It’s death and possibly heaven or hell. And that’s why I’m starting to see why people liked the idea of reincarnation; you supposedly get to live again. And in life, you have the whole world. You have billions of people, billions of places to go. You could even go to the moon if you really tried. But if you die and you go to hell, that’s it. It’s you in a room forever, with nothing to look forward to. You can’t tell yourself you’ll move to another city or country or switch jobs or go on a great vacation. It’s just you and the room forever and ever. And maybe some people to torture you.

After finishing "No Exit," I was reminded of a scene from this movie, "Setup." A group of friends tries to steal a diamond, but there’s betrayal and revenge and so on. Anyways, in the movie someone is wondering about why there is good and evil in the world. They come to the conclusion that God created good and evil so that humans can choose between the 2 extremes because they have free will. If all was perfect, then we’d already be in heaven. Both “No Exit” and this scene make it seem as if heaven really is perfect. And then that made me think about whether you’re guaranteed that heaven is better. What if all your favorite people in the world go to hell and you somehow manage to go to heaven? I know I would not be able to fully enjoy what heaven has to offer if I knew I wasn't ever going to see my favorite people ever again. 

In “No Exit,” they always refer to Earth as “down there,” which goes against the usual idea that hell is “down there” and heaven is “up there,” so I thought that was an interesting concept.

“No Exit” also makes it seem as though Sartre believed hell is mostly psychological torture not physical torture. It goes against the usual idea that hell is a place that’s always hot and everyone is thirsty. Maybe that wasn’t hell for Garcin, Inez, and Estelle, which is why their hell is them being stuck in a room with each other. Which makes me wonder whether my hell would be psychological or physical torture. Hopefully I won’t have to find out. 

A Direction the Class Needs

I like the way our class is going. This is one of my classes that is actually affecting me. It's not something stupid like calculus, because honestly I am never ever going to major in math or become a mathematician or architect or engineer or some other job that requires math like calculus. I'm still not sure as to why I took that class. Anyways, in this class I've honestly learned so many philosophical ideas and I've begun to question so many things. I can see myself applying this class to real life. And not even applying it, but just completely affecting my outlook on life. I'm realizing more of who I am and what I think of life. I like when we have our big class debates because even if we don't say anything, we're still getting something out of it. I like that on days when I'm just plain tired, I can sit there and listen and I'll still learn something or change my opinion about something or even just completely reconsider something. And of course, we can always throw in our own opinions and ideas whenever we want to. I like that groupwork usually starts off a class discussion and it's not something random just to waste time; it actually helps us understand our readings and see if we're getting all the hidden meanings. I like the way this class is going. All I'd say is continue, please.

Who would Camus and Voltaire vote for?

                If Camus is slightly similar to Meursault, I think he would vote Libertarian. He thinks everything is meaningless. He doesn’t seem to care much about what each person thinks, but yet lets them think what they want and act according to that. He wouldn’t care enough to follow politics, so he’d choose Libertarians, who are the ones most likely to not interfere in his life and leave him alone to do as he pleases, because libertarians want maximum freedom, minimum government.

                Voltaire would vote Libertarian as well. The moral of Candide is that everyone should cultivate their own garden, which says that everyone shouldn’t worry about other things and working will keep them from doing bad things or being bored. Because Voltaire is basically saying that everyone should keep to their own business, Libertarians are the most similar. Libertarians want total social freedom and minimum government interference.