Nazi Prince

   To be a good Prince one must accumulate a life time of knowledge and put it to use as intended. This knowledge was made available to everyone as it was condensed into a single book by Niccolo Machiavelli. In The Prince, by Machiavelli, the necessary attributes and actions required to maintain a Princedom are outlined and explained. Several rulers put Machiavelli’s ideals to good use over the centuries, but one Empire that failed to do so was the Nazi Regime. As seen in Maus, by Art Spiegelman, the Nazis failed to follow Machiavelli’s guidelines and as a result quickly lost their power.

            In, The Prince, Machiavelli essentially describes several basic rules on how to maintain a Princedom, and although the Nazis did not call it a Princedom, their respective governments had similarities. As his first rule Machiavelli explains that when invading a foreign country it is important not to weaken and already weak state. To do so would anger enough people to start a revolution, whereas if left alone the people would live peaceable without causing trouble. When the Nazis moved into a country they devastated the people especially the Jewish community. This targeting of specific groups caused enough grief to turn the entire world against the Nazis.

            The second mistake the Nazis made according to Machiavelli was that Hitler, the leader of the Nazis, did not come to reside in the countries he conquered. By coming to reside in a new province a leader would essentially make that province invulnerable to outside forces. However, Hitler for the most part remained in Germany allowing outside forces and the forces of provinces that had been invaded, to retake the land from the Nazis. This mistake of not coming to reside cost the Nazis many of the provinces that they worked so hard to take.

            Another mistake made by the Nazis as seen in Maus, and explained by Machiavelli, is the sending of troops into their conquered provinces. Rather than sending troops who created tension with the town’s residents, the Nazis instead should have setup colonies. A colony would have avoided tensions between the soldiers and civilians and would have allowed the Nazis to save more money for the war as a colony is self-sufficient. However, instead the Nazis sent troops to bully the citizens of their provinces losing the good will of the people.

            Lastly, for a new state to succeed it must have the good will of the people. The Nazis severely messed up in this area as they sought to exterminate the people of their conquered provinces. In, Maus, the Jewish community was rounded up without discrimination and murdered on a massive scale. This treatment of the Jewish community angered many people and the angry people eventually welcomed other powers into their country to take power from the Nazis. These mistakes cost the Nazis their empire as they fought to keep control over their own provinces while being attacked by outside forces.

Genocide: The big picture

After shifting through the blogs of several other students, the reasons for why genocide still happens today is clearer. Genocide usually happens due to a struggle for power fueled by religious differences. However, though these are the main causes for genocide, it can only happen because we let it happen. No one wants to get involved with mass killings because of the likely hood of losing lives to the conflict, and the potential political back lash. In Srebrenica, the UN could not get to involved with the struggle because of the fear of losing their own troops and all they could do was declare a demilitarized zone, which did nothing to stop the execution of some 8,000 people. Again in Rwanda, the UN withdrew from the power struggle between the Hutu and the Tutsi because of Casualties. It is unlikely that genocide will ever end due to the want of power, and the failure to commit to putting an end to it.

Modern Genocide

If you ask someone what genocide is most people will reply with the holocaust. While the holocaust is by far the most well known genocide, and quite possible the worse, it is not the latest one. Since the holocaust there have been a number of genocides taking place around the world one being the Somali holocaust now known as: “Worlds worst humanitarian disaster.”

             Beginning in 1991, Somalia has been in a state of chaos with several groups of warlords each vying for control over the country. After overthrowing the government in 1991 the attending warlords failed to agree upon a new leader for their country resulting in a power struggle between the clans. Somali insurgents with Ethiopian troops backing them are responsible for the displacement of over one millions civilians as well as crimes against humanity. These crimes include murder, rape, use of civilians as body shields, and looting. However, the worst of their crimes include the starvation of some four million civilians who are in need of food aid.

               In response to these crimes several unsuccessful attempts have been made to put an end to the chaos. In 1992 U.S. marines were sent into the capital city of Mogadishu to restore order to the city and protect relief supplies. During their time there two Blackhawk helicopters were shot down resulting in the deaths of eighteen U.S. soldiers. The death of the eighteen soldiers forced the then President Clinton to pull out of Africa and refrain from any future involvement. A UN peacekeeping force later went in but was forced to withdraw shortly after due to heavy casualties. Despite the attempts to bring peace to Somalia the power struggle continues and more innocent civilians die every day.

Sources:

http://worldwithoutgenocide.org/current-conflicts/somalia

http://www.genocideintervention.net/educate/crisis/somalia

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-africa-11216325

Fight Club

           The movie, Fight Club, has always been one of my favorites, and it was inevitable that when I made my story change that Fight Club would influence my story. The twist and turns throughout the movie make it unlike any other movie out there and it keeps you wondering until the end. Also, the use of an unreliable  narrator is something I haven't ever seen used in another movie. I think it was this movie that made me want to use an unreliable narrator. I want the reader to be wondering who my narrator is much the same way the viewer is trying to figure out whether they can trust the words of the unknown narrator in, Fight Club. However, I have taken the same idea of Fight Club, and I have tried to scale it down to a lower level so that younger kids are trying to figure it out and can come to the same realization as we do while watching the movie. I got these ideas while watching the movie.

         When I found out that the movie was actually based on a book I was actually somewhat excited to read something as my mentor text. Surprisingly, the movie, Fight Club, is a good representation of the book. However, regardless of how good the movie is, the book is always better. It takes the use of an unreliable narrator to a whole new extent. The book opens up with the un-named narrator explaining his current predicament, which involves him having a gun barrel in his mouth. This immediately puts questions into the readers head, as the reader wonders whether or not a man with a gun in his mouth can be trusted. Another thing I found interesting in this novel was the way that Chuck Palahniuk jumps around within the novels. Sometimes he will start off a chapter on one subject, leave it, then return to it again near the end of the chapter. Other times he will mention a topic in one chapter and return to it chapters later. An example of this is when the narrator mentions that Tyler works part time as a banquet waiter in chapter three. It isn't until chapter ten that the narrator goes on to talk about Tyler working as a banquet waiter. Personally I think that the jumping around is interesting and reminds me of the novel Slaughterhouse-Five. All together I think the novel, Fight Club, was very influential to my own childrens book.

Procrastination First Hand

In high school we read many stories about tragic heroes and their downfalls. These stories teach us how to avoid the same problems they ran into such as betrayal and love. However, though these are important life lessons, none of these stories manage to teach high school students about what is perhaps the greatest downfall for many of them. Procrastination, a word which every high school student has their own definition for, knows all too well, and yet continues to ignore. Someone needs to step up and remind everyone why it is that when report cards come out they already know they are grounded. And who better to remind them and forewarn everyone than a kid who has already gone through the experience, me.

                Procrastination and I go way back and we know each other all too well. However, so far this year has been by far the worst. Procrastination has reached a whole new level and my grades have hit a whole new low. Everyone knows that it would be so much better to go home and get all their homework done right away, but as soon as their computer turns on the battle is already lost. Sure, we start off on Microsoft word, but slowly and surely we find our way to the internet for a source. Then from there another tab opens and YouTube appears. Then another tab, and another, and another, until the paper due tomorrow is pushed back to the very far reaches of the brain. Eventually three hours tick by and as we close down, tab by tab, we come back to Microsoft word and find only our name and date. Technology should have made doing homework easier, but instead it has only provided us with more distractions.

                Right now it is 11:25 and I am just getting done with this blog post which was supposed to be in at 10:00. I’d like to say that procrastination has nothing to do with the post being late, however, I could have done this blog yesterday or even the day before. Then today comes and I find myself finally getting home at ten and I still have a blog post to accomplish. Procrastination is avoidable, but very few people realize this until it is already too late. Procrastination is a losing battle.

First Blood Vs. A Call to War

In David Morrell's novel, First Blood, a young Vietnam War veteran, Rambo, is back from war, and is trying to merge back into American society. He encounters trouble when a small town sheriff gives him trouble for passing through the town. Because Teasle, the sheriff, does not understand what Rambo has gone through, he threatens him, and tries to force him out of town. All Rambo is trying to do is get something to eat, but sheriff Teasle refuses to try and understand Rambo's situation. He arrests Rambo triggering a series of events. In jail Rambo has flashbacks of his time spent as a prisoner of war in Vietnam. Rambo escapes into the mountain and hides from Teasle and the National Guard. Rather than trying to communicate and help Rambo, Teasle, organizes a manhunt to take out Rambo. Teasle refuses to stop and look at the situation from another light, and his narrow minded view causes most of the problems. Rambo was simply trying to merge back into society the best he could, but that was not good enough for Teasle, and in the end it did not end well for either of them.

                This mentor story was pretty helpful for my story, and gave me a lot of ideas to consider. I think subconsciously, the Rambo movies helped influence my story choice in the first place, and First Blood confirmed that. The main theme behind my story is going to be how the veterans of Vietnam had trouble merging into society because of the narrow mindedness of people. The people back in America had no idea what people went through in Vietnam, and just like the novel, First Blood, I want to show how being narrow minded is dangerous to society.

Waking up to Music

                If there is one thing that the multiple differences between cultures proves, it is that people have very little in common. The differences, however, also makes it easier to see what every person in the world has in common, music. Music is something that everyone can relate to no matter who they are or how they are feeling. It can rejuvenate, express, excite, and take the place of love if need be. Music is the unsung hero of the emotional world.

                Lately music has gotten nothing but a bad reputation, and has been blamed for the faults of people. New music is all about who can spit out the most words in two minutes and thirty seconds, or who can make themselves sound the coolest. Close your eyes and pick a song that was released in the last year out of a hat. Chances are that song is about one of three things: Drugs, sex, or how much money they have. People these days, especially the newer generation, listen to these songs and wish they could be the person singing. And that’s all they do, wish. On the other hand you have the music that inspires. Music that makes people want to go out and be a better person, and to be the person that everyone said you can be when you were a kid.

                 I wanted to try and keep this blog proper and in third person, but the best way to show the power of music is to share my own personal experience. Last year as I was watching play-off hockey with my Dad a commercial came on. The commercial showed the greatest moments in the play offs with a song. The song was, “Meant to Live,” by Switchfoot. Hearing the lyrics to that song combined with the greatest hockey moments clarified my life. I knew as the thirty second commercial ended, that if I did not put one hundred percent into baseball, I would regret not knowing what could have been. Since then I have worked to create a playlist of more inspiring songs. Now I am waking up at four-forty-five nearly every morning to get my run in. I do something every day after school to improve my baseball skills, and if it hadn’t been for that song I would still be sitting on my couch watching cartoons.

                Music is a powerful tool, and one that is underused. It has the power to not only waste time, but to inspire. Everyone has a song that will motivate them to be a better person; they just have to find it. I found mine; maybe you will find yours too.