Why do people ignore tragedy?

People choose to ignore tragedy because it's an unwanted reminder of their own mortality. They are reminded that, no matter who they are, no matter what their occupation, no one is able to "cheat" death. After the tragedy, they cannot escape the stories that emerge from that fateful day. The backstory of the victims suddenly becomes the central focus of every news channel on television as their pictures pop up on the screen. A photo of a short, brown-haired girl with two missing teeth smiling up at the camera -- nine-year-old Becky Sue who wanted to become a doctor when she grew up. John Smith: a tall, slightly-balding, devoted father of three, who liked to build birdhouses in his spare time and volunteered at a soup kitchen two saturdays a month. The news channels aim their melancholy stories to pull at the heartstrings of their viewers.
People ignore tragedy because they just can't face the truth. They would rather live an ignorant, happy life than deal with life's struggles. The people in The Plague are choosing not to call this epidemic a plague because once they put a name to that epidemic, it becomes a real tragedy. Everyone has heard the horror stories of the mass deaths from the other plagues, so nobody wants to think that they must also face this as well. Going through tragedies is awful and sometimes, people just can't deal with it. The only way they know how to get through it is to ignore it. Ignorance is bliss especially in the face of a tragedy.

Letter to the Jarrets

Dear Mr. and Mrs. Jarret,
You two have lost a son and almost lost another one. No one can tell you how to deal with your grief, but for the sake of Conrad you have to figure it out soon. Mr. Jarret, Conrad did try to kill himself and I know that you feel terrible and guilty because you think were missing the signs, but you can't over compensate for that now by constantly being worried and checking up on him. You have to give him room to heal and grow. If he feels like you can't handle his problems he won't come to you when he has one. I know that you care and so does he. Part of that over compensation is probably because you feel like you have to care enough fo you and your wife seeing as though she just seems disinterested. Mrs. Jarret you lost your first born and then your other son tried to commit suicide. It is okay not to be okay, but you act like it's not. You never really grieved over you losses which is not okay because you have to get past them. Everyone knows that you have something against Conrad and maybe if you actually talked to him you could work something out. He feels like you'll never forgive him and your husband doesn't think you will either. I feel like leaving is not the answer yet. If you just talked about how you felt maybe things would be different. You wouldn't even have to go to a specialist.
Mr. and Mrs. Jarret you guys are not bad parents or anything like that. You just could've gone about things in a different way. Maybe group therapy would've helped but who can be sure. Just know Conrad is trying to be better and so should you.

Sincerely,
A Friend

Civic Duties

There are a lot of things that everybody should do, but there is this one thing that I believe needs to be done by everyone. I think all people should watch Grey's Anatomy. It should be a requirement that every person watch the show. It would make socializing so much easier. Whenever you met a new person there is automatically something to talk about. There could be new icebreakers, like who is your favorite character and why? It would definitely increase my quality of life seeing as though I relate almost everything to Grey's Anatomy. If this was everyones civic duty then everyone would understand my show references. There are so many times I say something and then I'm just like nobody understands me. If everyone watched the show no one would have to go through life feeling misunderstood all of the time because there would be someone out there who could relate to them about something. This Civic Duty wouldn't just appease me it could make a lot of peoples lives easier. Say you work in a an office and there is this one person you always have awkward conversations with or you just never know what to say to them, with this requirement in place there is at least one thing you can talk about whether you love it or hate it. I just feel like everyone should watch Grey's Anatomy and in doing so the world would become a better place.

Is Poverty a Choice?

Poverty is not a choice. To live in poverty is to live under the minimum standards of living set out by the government. I don't think anyone would just choose to live in such a manner. Slipping into poverty can happen by making a series of bad choices or just one bad choice. Some times people end up in poverty by events that they couldn't even help. It can happen from getting an illness and the medical bills becoming too overwhelming. Times can get hard and people get laid off of work. It's also possible to born into poverty. So no, I don't think poverty is a choice. There are people who live miserably in poverty and others that live happily and try to work their way out of it. Ending up in poverty is not a choice, but choosing to stay there without trying to do better is.

In the book All Souls the MacDonald family lives in poverty, but they don't let that define them. They live the life they choose to with whatever they have. They didn't make the choice to live in poverty certain circumstances lead them there. they did however make the choice not to live in misery. So I say again that poverty is not a choice, but how you handle it is.

Malcolm X

A lot went on in the first half of this book. Malcolm X went from being born to being in jail and getting saved.  I found it crazy how Malcolm X used to be a hustler on the streets. I had no idea about Malcolm X's life before he was a ciivil rights activist, so to learn that he didn't have a direct path into the civil rights movement was interesting. He went to prison and got saved. That is very common now. Generally men who have been imprisoned turn to the Lord to help them. While locked up they tend read the bible. Malcolm X was just a regular guy who found a God to turn to in prison. I found it interesting that prison and all its horrors can actually lead to a reform, well at least it could back then. Malcolm X's imprisonment led to his wonderful legacy. Even his old hustler friend Sammy got his life together. Now it seems like prison breaks people and when they're released they have difficulties staying out of the system, forget about doing something to make a difference. Malcolm X used prison as an opportunity and made it work for him. He found something to work for, and that plus the lack of distractions he had in prison made him who he was.  If prisoners today could have aspirations and motivation I think the world would be different.

Direction the Class Needs

I really like the way our class is structured. I like the way we have discussions. I feel like i get so much insight from the other classmates. In previous classes it has been mostly lectures, but this stems away from that in an effort I guess to perceive things the way we choose without the bias of a teacher. I don't really like the group works that much because we rarely actually do them in a group with a mini discussion of the text like we should. Sometimes the questions just end up being homework after the fact.
The blogs I feel have diminished a little bit but sometimes I feel like they are interesting to write and read about, but others I don't enjoy that much. I also feel like we should go over the blogs in class more often. As for a direction the class needs I think we can just keep on the same path with more discussions that start from a more abstract question and less group work. I actually like the class as is, so I wouldn't want to change much.

King Still King?

With Martin Luther King's birthday just passing and the observation of it coming up I start to wonder if people still remember him. I don't mean remember who he was, but more of what he stood for. He is definitely more than just another day off of school he fought the good fight and I'm starting to worry that people don't even pay attention to it anymore. Segregation and racial inequality aren't as fresh in people's minds anymore because of the amount of progress that has been made. If a person doesn't necessarily feel directly related to the issue they don't really care. Yes, there is still inequality when it comes to race, but I feel that people let that slide. In letting that slide  I feel that those people are moving away from King. Like he is becoming a faint memory. There are definitely more inequality issues that have taken over and other people have stepped up to fight the current battle. With this happening I'm afraid that Martin Luther King Jr. is losing his prevalence in societies mind. He will always be a historical figure and will always be remember, but I don't think King is still King.