1984 Dialectical Jornal: Part Two

The quote I chose was "the essential act of war is destruction, not necessarily of human lives, but of the products of human labor. War is a way of shattering to pieces, or pouring into the stratosphere, or sinking in the depths of the sea, materials which might otherwise make the masses too comfortable and hence, in the long run, too intelligent. Even when weapons of war are not actually destroyed, their manufacture is still a convenient way of expending labor power without producing anything that can be consumed.
This quote is important because it explains the slogan "war is peace." The war is really for power because all three super continents know they will never win because they are so evenly matched. The war is just a way to get rid of excess products and labor work. This way the people don't get "too comfortable" which prevents them from becoming more intelligent. The party fears intelligence because there whole government is based off of keeping the people ignorant. If the people become intelligent about what is really going on in there government and realize that the masses could easily overthrow big brother then the people would revolt. Intelligence is a threat to their society.
This relates to the war in Iraq. The US originally intervened because the said they were searching for "weapons of mass destruction." No such weapons were found, but our troops are still in Iraq. Now they are saying that they are there to try to fix the government. I think the US government is trying to keep us ignorant about the situation in Iraq so we don't try to stop what they are doing there.

1984 Dialectical Journal

The first quote I chose was "The children, on the other hand, were systematically turned against their parents and taught to spy on them and report their deviations. The family had become in effect an extension of the Thought Police. It was a device by means of which everyone could be surrounded night and day by informers who knew him intimately." This is an example of oppression. In 1984, their right of thought, speech, and privacy is taken away. They are being watched at almost all times. This is similar to when the government wire taps onto people's phones at anytime they want to see if they are a threat to the government or people in general.
The second quote I chose was "The preparations for Hate Week were in full swing, and the staff of all the Ministries were working overtime. Processions, meetings, military parades, lectures, waxwork displays, film shows, telescreen programs all had to be organized; stands had to be erected, effigies built, slogans coined, songs written, rumors circulated, photographs faked." This is an example of propaganda and brainwashing. The government in 1984 is advertising and promoting negative thoughts towards Goldstein when he is really trying to help the common folk. The government is trying to make everyone believe what benefits them. This relates to the real world such as advertising and commercials. Commercials and advertising try to get you to believe in something so you will support them or buy their products. They tell you things to et you to believe what would benefit the person or company making the advertisement.

Interview Reflection

Dear Jin Jingzhi,
My reaction to your interview was shock. I was appalled at the way you were treated. This seemed like a horrible time to live in. It must have been life-changing to get the chance to partake in the national affairs of the People's Congress. It must have been a big advance for you. It is depressing what the power cost you, though. Having your house searched for several days must have been terrible.
I'm sorry for what happened to your husband during the Cultural Revolution. I can't believe the Party would call your husband an anti-revolutionist with no real evidence. It must have been pure agony to be away from your husband for so long and to be worried all the time of if your husband was still alive. I'm sorry you had to watch your in so much pain where you felt helpless because you couldn't do anything about it. I'm glad you were reunited with your husband once he was released from prison. It must have been devastating to realize you were at the bottom of the social class and targeted by many. I'm glad you gained higher stature in society, but I am sorry for all that you have lost.
3 questions: How did you feel when you first heard the rumors that your husband was an anti-revolutionary? What was it like seeing your husband in prison? Did you want to change how the world was during the Cultural Revolution?

MUN Reflection

MUN was nothing like I had expected. I dreaded having to make the speeches because I get terribly nervous and forget what I am going to say. MUN day was a lot more exciting than I ever thought it would be. Although I was very nervous, I think I got better at making and presenting speeches as the day went on. I really enjoyed acting through my countries perspective instead of my own. I also enjoyed interacting with the other countries in caucuses to make a resolution for the two topics. Combining resolutions made them a lot stronger. My favorite part was when Romania and I decided to make our own resolution instead of following all the other countries in making one big one. We didn't agree with all the things included and our input wasn't acknowledged so we decided to break off and make our own resolution on reducing CFC emissions from a different aspect. Although our resolution didn't pass, I am still glad that Romania and I made our own resolution with Poland's help. I still think I need to work on making comments because I didn't make that many. Overall, I had a lot of fun and I think I learned a lot about resolutions, global issues, and got better at giving speeches and interacting with new people.

Siddartha Quotes 3-6

The third quote that I chose to talk about is " You are the first woman to whom Siddartha has spoken without standing with downcast eyes. Never again shall I lower my eyes when a beautiful woman meets me." This means Siddartha thought woman were beneath him and he realized that this was false. Now he values people more on what kind of person they are rather than their outer appearance. I can apply this to my life by not judging others by how they look or first impressions. I can get to know people more instead of judging them.
The fourth quote I chose from Siddartha is "At times he heard, deep in his heart, a very faint, still voice that quietly admonished him, quietly lamented, so it could barely be perceived. At such times he became aware for an hour or so that he was living a strange, that he was doing nothing but playing a mere game, that although he might be serene and might sometimes feel joy, true life was nevertheless passing him by without touching him." I think this means that Siddartha was making a mockery of life. The only reason he was living the way he was was to fulfill meaningless desire that he didn't really care for much in the first place. Without trying to fulfill his true desires, he wasn't living life they way he wanted to, so he would never truly be happy. I can use this in my life by never giving up on my hopes and dreams, and not settling with whatever easiest or just with whatever I think is the most profitable. I have to live life the way I want to so I become self-content.
The fifth quote I found that I think is important is "And it now appeared to him that it had been his inability to love anything or anyone that had previously made him so ill." This is referring to when Siddartha wanted to learn the "childlike joy and childlike folly" from the child-people. He wanted to fully give in to the love he had for people but he couldn't achieve that until he felt it for his son. When he fully gave into his love for others, in gave him happiness, desire, and a purpose. Without love he felt kind of empty inside. I can apply this to my life by remembering to love others and not block people out of my life. If I don't love my family and friends I will feel like there is something missing from my life.
The last quote I chose from the book is "When someone seeks, it is all too easy for his eyes to see nothing but the thing he seeks, so that he is unable to find anything or absorb anything because he is always thinking exclusively about what he seeks, because he has a goal, because he is obsessed by that goal. Seeking means having a goal. But finding means being free, remaining accessible, having no goal. You venerable one, are perhaps really one who seeks, because, pressing after your goal, you fail to see many a thing that is right before your eyes." I think this means if you have only one goal and that is all you want to achieve, then you will miss a lot of great opportunities. This is because if you are only searching or trying to achieve one thing in life, then you are not going to pay attention to anything else in life. If you don't pay attention, you will lose out on a lot because you are not paying attention to your surroundings. I can learn from this by not fixating too much on one goal so I don't miss out on other important things in life. If I focus too much on a goal, then I won't pay attention to what's going on around me so I will probably lose a lot of good opportunities and I won't be very open to other things besides my goal.

Siddartha Quotes

The first quote I chose from the text is "Everything in your teachings is perfectly clear and fully proven; you show the world to be a perfect chain, never and nowhere interrupted, an eternal chain fashioned out of causes and effects. Never before has this been seen so clearly, never so irrefutably presented; truly, every Brahman's heart must beat more jubilantly in his breast when, through your teachings, he sees the world as being perfectly interconnected, without a gap, clear as a crystal, not dependent on chance, not dependent on gods." I think this means that Siddhartha admired that Gotama's philosophies because they were based off of facts and things he saw with his own eyes. They were not dependent on gods and chance, things you can't see and prove, like other philosophers knowledge was based off of. I can use this in my life by not just believing what I hear from others, but trying to test these theories or by doing research and looking at the facts. This way I can prove everything I know and fully believe it is the truth.
The second quote I chose from the text is " I was afraid of myself, I was running away from myself! I was seeking Atman, I was seeking Brahman, I was determined to dismember my self and tear away its layers of husk in order to find in its unknown innermost recess the kernel at the heart of all those layers, the Atman, life, the divine principle, the Ultimate. But in so doing I was losing myself." I think this quote means that Siddhartha realized that in his quest to find nirvana, he had been trying to get away from himself and was losing everything about him. He had been trying to get away from the world and him as a person. I can apply this to my life by remembering to never lose myself in trying to fulfill my ultimate goals and desires in life. I should never let go of who I am to try to achieve my goals because if I do not achieve my goals by still being me, I won't be happy with life.

Feng Shui

Feng Shui is the practice of having balance with nature and the environment. The arrangement objects and the use of the five elements are to make the chi flow well in your space for good luck, prosperity,health, etc. The five elements are water, wood, fire, earth, and metal.
For this assignment, we were supposed to Feng Shui a room in our house. I decided to Feng Shui my dining room. First, I cleaned up all the clutter in the room so the chi could flow freely. Next, I added the five elements to the room. I put the five elements in the dining room by adding plants in the corner for wood,a candle in the corner for fire,crystal-like glass ornaments on the ceiling for earth,and a wind chime by the window. For water, I couldn't move the fish tank to the dining room so I hung a painting of koi splashing in the water on the wall. I put the elements in the order of the productive cycle so the chi would flow well because the elements weren't conflicting. I also added a mirror on the table facing towards the freeway to deflect excessive chi. The first two pictures are the before pictures, the two on the bottom are taken after I Feng Shui'd the room.