Monday, June 14, 2010

mandatory extra credit :)

Have you ever noticed how biased history class is? You sit there for an hour and are taught from a book. Which isnt even a reliable source, its known as a "secondary source." Your only shown one side of the story, you can either view the person as a hero or a villan. The United States isnt always honest about their history.

Back in elementary school we were taught to view Christopher Colombus as a hero, when we never really knew about what he really did. We were taught that Colombus "discovered" America, but how could he have done that if people were only living here? Colombus killed many by clearing out the people living here and bringing diseases, such as smallpox. More recently the U.S. can be blamed for things such as the abuse at Guantanomo Bay detention camp.

Guantanamo Bay is a prison run by the United Sates located in Cuba. One of the larger allegations of abuse at Guantanamo Bay has to do with the religion of the detainees. Of course the United States claims that they respect all religious and cultural ethnicities, but prisoners that have been released can say otherwise. One stated that the soldiers in charge had taken the "Quar'an"or Islams holiest book and have been found to flush it down the toilet, rip papers out, or write rude comments on it.

Some would argue that the United States dpesnt hide or cover up their history and that they are honest about what has happened in the past, but if that was the case more people would be educated on what really happened in the history of the U.S. as opposed too what you would find in one of your history books.



"Odysseus a hero?" hah nice joke. I chuckled to myself as the teacher rambled on and on about the Odyssey; Oh yeah, a man who cheats on his wife with almost every woman he comes in contact with. He kills almost all of his crew members, just to save his own life. Oh yeah.. What a hero.. For every good deed of feat or strength that Odysseus has accomplished there are several acts of selfishness to follow up with it. Odysseus is not a hero.

Odysseus was unfaithful to his wife by cheating on her with Calypso and Circe when arriving to Calypso's Isle. In Homers, The Odyssey "though I have been detained long by Calypso, lovliest among goddesses, who held me in her smooth caves, to be her hearts delight, as Circe if Aeaea, the enchantress, desired me, and detained me in her hall. But in my heart I never gave consent." A good leader is always known to put others first, but not Odysseus.

Odysseus risked the lives ofhis crewmen several times, which most of the time resulted in death. When spotting the Cyclops's land, Odysseus had the idea to stop and check it out. After Odysseus disrespected the Cyclops, he responded by killing two of his crewmen. Stated in he Odyssey "in one stride he clutched at my companions and caught two in his hands like squirming puppies to beat their brains out, spattering the floor."

No comments:

Post a Comment