Locke's argument of toleration is applicable to a number of controversies. One should strive for toleration in most aspects of life and most interactions with other. However, when it comes to the denial of scientific fact, bigotry, and other regressive ideals, toleration does not have a place.
For this reason, I do not think that toleration should be extended to the members of the Flat Earth Society. Members of the Flat Earth Society openly and actively deny basic, universally accepted scientific fact. Denial of science threatens the safety of global citizens each day, as seen in the abortion debate (does life begin at conception?) and many other controversial issues. If a member of the Flat Earth society was to hold a position in state government or cartography their dissenting opinion would most likely cause conflict and distraction within the work place. In this situation, dissenting opinion is not the issue, as diversity of thought should always be widely encouraged. Rather, the issue is that they are going against facts, so their dissenting opinion would cause inaccuracies and issues within the realm of policy, initiatives, and map-making. Even if a member of the society held a position in government or cartography and abided by the facts that are referred to and accepted within those spaces, I would still be in opposition, and see it as an issue of morality. This is because they would be going against what they believed in, in order to receive financial and career-related gain, thus acting out of their moral and philosophical compass. To me, this is wrong and yet another reason why Locke's argument of toleration should not be extended in this situation.
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I've been in college for about a month now, and I'm still waiting for the chaotic storm of work to hit me. Things have been surprisingly manageable and the only class really giving me some trouble is Russian. I am fluent in French, have some Mandarin under my belt, and of course, speak English. Despite this language heavy background, Russian is a whole new ball game, and the Cyrillic alphabet and all of the cases are a beast. I try my best to conquer that beast more and more each day. I'm hoping to be successful in Russian and continue with it. If not, I think I will continue on with my French studies.
When you think of people working in International Relations, you think of ambassadors, diplomats, and government agents. For so long, I have been set on a security and diplomacy based career in International Relations because that's what everyone around me has wanted for me. However, I've known for some time that that is not where my passions lie in global politics and that I want to pursue something else. After speaking to PTJ and Preston, I am determined to pursue sustainable fashion within International Relations. I'm striving to pave the way for those in IR to create a global economy and platform where sustainable fashion and environmental policy have a place at the table. I hope to research sustainable fashion in our research course and really make it my focus while here at American, and hopefully make a career out of it. I have started researching the topic in my WRTG-106 class, where I am writing a research paper. Hopefully, this will give me the head start I need to really be able to delve into the subject when the time comes. In my opinion, Diplomatic Risk is quite unrealistic. Fun, yes, realistic, no.
This game allowed the class to bond and provided a place for our competitive sides to come out. I enjoyed seeing my classmates engage in activity like this, as we all took ourselves very seriously and had fun messing with one another. I found the most unrealistic part of Diplomatic Risk to be the fact that we HAD to abide by certain rules. If this was the real world, I'm sure there would be at least one country to go rouge and pull something crazy. However, in a classroom environment, and in most simulations, there must be a method to the madness. Naturally, we had to abide by rules and conditions in order to keep the game going and maintain a level of fairness. In the classroom setting, I think this level of unrealistic-ness is warranted and helps the group immensely. It's just a game and in order to keep everybody playing, there has to be structure. (I know I'm posting this late, but I had missed the game for Rosh Hashanah and didn't know what to write, so I just decided to do it now. I understand and don't expect to receive credit for this post, I just wanted to write it). I had a pretty good week! A mad game of diplomatic risk has commenced, I got a good grade on my Russian quiz, made some new friends, and submitted my first ever college essay.
I enjoy college. The pace of it and the scheduling suits me much better than high school. The only thing giving me a bit of trouble is Russian, but I know that it’s manageable. I enjoy each and everyone of my classes and like and respect all of my professors. I am content with my academic life right now, and I am excited for the rest of the year. This past week, I experienced my first class meetings of college. I was nervous, but very excited. After a long and relaxing summer, I felt extremely enthusiastic and ready for class to start again. I was lacking a real schedule and felt as though I was wasting my own time by not spending my time in the presence of academics and devoting my time to learning.
In particular, I was nervous for World Politics, my class with PTJ. I felt intimidated and unsure of what to expect. However, I was pleasantly surprised. My classmates are welcoming and intelligent. Professor Jackson allows us to learn in a space where he does not control the discussion, nor the structure of the class. I can tell that my ability to think freely and converse on a higher level with my peers will only grow from here on out. Our first assignment was to read an entire novel titled The Truth About Awiti before class on Thursday. The content of the book was graphic, disturbing, and very adult, for lack of better wording. Despite that, I found it to be an easy read, flying through the book in a matter of hours. I was not particularly impressed with the depiction of beauty, sex, or the clear display of prejudiced colorism within the book, but I still enjoyed it. I thought it held cultural significance through the representation of immortality and African folklore while maintaining the credibility of what occurred during the slave trade and the hundreds of years following. It evoked plenty of emotion from me as a reader, which I believe was one of the top priorities for the author. Our first group discussion was focused on this novel. The class had a meaningful and constructive conversation. Not everyone agreed, but everyone was respectful and mindful of the opinions of those around them. This in itself showed me that I am not in high school anymore, but in a REAL college class! I'm rolling with the big dogs now, and I'm ready for it. This is what I've been waiting for-- a class with a topic that I am passionate about and peers who are just as eager to expand their mind as I am. I can't wait for the rest of the year! I believe that one can repair their past, whether it be what they have done or what they have experienced.
Although tragedy strikes and trauma ensues, one can always find peace within themselves. In order to find that peace, you must learn to understand that outside entities are out of your control, but you can heal through your own actions and choices. Perhaps Awiti would have achieved peace if she had used her powers for good. Rather than killing and causing mass destruction and sadness, she could have empowered her people and educated others. She could have applied her experience to the betterment of society and the opportunities of others. I myself have experienced bad things. Obviously, they appear trivial when compared to the incidents that occur each day in the name of racism and bigotry, but they were bad nonetheless. Despite going through heartbreak, depression, anxiety, and other personal blights, I have been able to overcome them and become a better person as a result of those experiences. Each thing that happens to you is a way to learn, and I feel that Awiti could have accepted her terrible experiences as lessons. Her lessons could have ranged everywhere from gaining new perspective on society to gaining new perspective on herself. Personally, this was a difficult prompt to respond to, as I was only able to offer my own point of view. Others experience things different than I do, so there is no way to clearly and perfectly answer this question. |
Hey there! I'm Halle Jaymes and I'm a first year SIS student from Southern California. I'm hoping to focus on Europe as my region of study and hone in on sustainable fashion and general fashion in International Relations. Archives
December 2018
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