Creative Exploration

For my creative piece, I used the theme of hopelessness that was present to the victims during the holocaust.
The way I set up the piece shows how the people in Nazi Germany during the holocaust weren't allowed to be free or accepted unless they were a part of the Aryan race, and for many the fact that they were born the "wrong" race meant death.

Artifact

The blood and honor youth knife was given to children as a reward, and was a part of the uniform in the Nazi youth program. The Hitler Youth program installed Nazi ideals and anti-Semitism within children at a young age, leading to adults who were fully loyal and support Nazi ideals. The reward helped instill the ideals and served as a reminder to the children about their loyalty to the Nazi regime. This anti-Semitism is exhibited in Maus when Art's dad, Spiegelman, is walking down the road, and some kids recognize and identify him as a Jew, and run towards their mothers, screaming for help, that the Jew was going to eat them. Spiegelman has to act like he's not Jewish and reassures the kids and their mothers that he won’t eat them. This fact that the mothers don’t apologize for the racist comment, but for mistaking him as a Jew instead shows how Hitler and the Nazis were able to plant the ideas into the population’s head. Jewish or not, Spiegelman would not have eaten them, because any civilized human being would not have cannibalized and eaten those kids. This shows the Nazi party's ability to convince a majority of the German and polish population that the war was caused by the Jewish population, and that they, the Jews, should be punished. The Jewish were seen as an inferior race, and often weren’t even seen as human. The public believed in these ideas, and were rewarded for believing in them. After the war, there were groups of younger German and Polish resistance that still held Nazi ideals that rebelled against the Allied troops. By teaching the Nazi ideals to the population when they were young, the Nazis were able to reinforce the ideas throughout their childhood so that the kids never forgot it when they were older.

Essential Question

Essential Question: How can something like the Holocaust happen?

The Holocaust was an example of a large scale genocide that stemmed from a psychological situation as well as differences between race, culture, or background.  People will justify their actions, and not care about the moral consequences. The psychological Stanford Prison Study run by Zimbardo shows that when rules are removed, in a moral “free-for-all” guards will act cruelly against prisoners and people with authority will tend to abuse power.  The psychological study had to be stopped early because it became morally corrupt so quickly. Researchers concluded that the situation, instead of the personalities of the participants, caused the behavior.  This is one reason behind why the ordinary German and Polish people, when placed in questionable situations like becoming the guards of the prison camps, did not help the Jews.  In fact, the recent Iraqi prisoner abuses at Abu Ghraib are an example of how instead of a situation where there are a “few bad apples that spoil a barrel”, good people can be led to do bad things.

Genocide still happens today, as is evidenced in the Cambodian genocide. Like the Holocaust, the government that was in control blamed a minority group- in this case, intellectuals and the religious. The government, the Khmer Rouge, used the idea that they needed to rid Cambodia of outside influence to justify the killing of two million people. This is similar to the holocaust, where Hitler blamed the loss of WWI on the Jewish population and other minorities, and decided to purge them from Germany, first by the Nuremburg laws, and finally by the creation of death camps. Hitler was able to achieve his goal by not only being very systematic, but by getting people to support and believe in the same values as him. By using propaganda, the Jewish and other minority groups like homosexuals and gypsies were portrayed as an “alien race”, and enhanced already present negative stereotypes against the Jews.  The book The Poisonous Mushroom blatantly establishes these ideas to children, who are brought up in an environment where anti-Semitism is prevalent. These children were also required to participate in youth programs such as Hitler youth, which were made with the purpose of instilling Nazi ideals and removing class consciousness. Activities like youth rallies were created to show the undying support for Hitler and firmly root ideas in their minds. By teaching the ideas of racial superiority and inferior races were sub-human to children at young ages; it removed the concept that exterminating those that did not fit the Aryan mold was morally corrupt.   The racial and social class differences between people were the perfect reason for people to justify their murder of faceless millions.

The World Today- What I am reading now 3/30

Effects of climate change seen everywhereRice, Doyle. "Report: Effects of Climate Change Seen Everywhere." USA Today. Gannett, 30 Mar. 2014. Web. 30 Mar. 2014.

http://www.usatoday.com/story/weather/2014/03/30/climate-change-report-ipcc/7085937/
This article discusses how climate change is affecting people around the world, but little to no government action is being done about it. There has been an increase on the amount of information known about climate change and global warming, but since humans are dependant on fossil fuels, the emissions are causing global warming to happen quicker, The article states there will be an increase in hunger because of famine and flooding of coastal cities. This is mostly an objective article, and the language does not state any outward bias, but the purpose of the article is to convince people to stop being wasteful with resources.

North Korea Vows to Use ‘New Form’ of Nuclear Test

Sang-hun, Choe. "North Korea Promises ‘New Form’ of Nuclear Test." The New York Times. The New York Times, 30 Mar. 2014. Web. 30 Mar. 2014.

http://www.nytimes.com/2014/03/31/world/asia/north-korea-promises-new-form-of-nuclear-test.html?_r=0
North Korea promises a new type of nuclear testing. While N. Korea did not specify, U.S. is worried that N. Korea means they are developing small, sophisticated nuclear missiles. China's efforts to persuade N. Korea to stop missile testing are less effective now, and the article states that if N. Korea does fire any missiles, we will go to war with them. This article is slanted against the Koreans, and this is understandable, since it is written by and for Americans.

London skeletons reveal secrets of the Black Death
"London Skeletons Reveal Secrets of the Black Death." Jackson Hole News Guide. The Associated Press, 30 Mar. 2014. Web. 30 Mar. 2014.

http://www.jhnewsandguide.com/jackson_hole_daily/our_world_people/our_world/london-skeletons-reveal-secrets-of-the-black-death/article_aa45a1f9-c420-57b2-af3a-1b3243e961de.html
During an evacuation of a site for a new subway in London, skeleton remains were found in a grave. the grave was full of skeletons from different time periods, leading researchers to believe that the grave was used many times. From teeth and spines, scientists were able to discover that all 15 skeletons had and most likely died from the Black Plague. The DNA extracted from the teeth will help scientists discover and learn more about the disease that still impacts people today. This was an objective article that was really fascinating. Its amazing what science can do nowadays!

The World Today- What I am reading Now- 3/30

Benjamin Netanyahu accuses UN of 'hypocrisy' over human rights votes

Tait, Robert. "Benjamin Netanyahu Accuses UN of 'hypocrisy' over Human Rights Votes."The Telegraph. Telegraph Media Group, 30 Mar. 2014. Web. 30 Mar. 2014.

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/middleeast/israel/10732788/Benjamin-Netanyahu-accuses-UN-of-hypocrisy-over-human-rights-votes.html
This article is about Israeli prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu and his anger at the UN's decision to condemn Israel's human rights. Netanyahu states that the UN is deciding to focus on a minor problem when there are other more serious issues, like the Syrian war. This article is mostly objective, but tends to sympathize for the Israeli. The article also briefly touches the conflict between Israel and Palestine, and how peace talks are coming to an end between the two.

Russia plays down impact of Western sanctions before talks with US

Heinrich, Mark. "Russia Plays down Impact of Western Sanctions before Talks with US."Reuters.com. Reuters, 30 Mar. 2014. Web. 30 Mar. 2014.

http://in.reuters.com/article/2014/03/30/ukraine-crisis-lavrov-sanctions-idINDEEA2T05C20140330
Russia has acquired Crimea, and states that Moscow has no intention on acquiring Eastern Ukraine. This article mentions that Russia and the US have been talking to each other, and that the US Secretary of State and Russian Foreign Minister will meet in Paris to work out a way to reduce tension between the two countries. It hopefully will bring an end to the tension between the US and Russia, which the article states is the "worst East-West confrontation since the Cold War ended." This is an objective article that does not side with either the Americans or the Russians, and simply states the time, date, and facts about the meetings. 

Despite sighting of floating debris, still no confirmed signs of missing Malaysian airliner

Yang, Jia Lynn. "New Debris Sightings but No Confirmed Signs of Missing Malaysian Airliner." Washington Post. The Washington Post, 30 Mar. 2014. Web. 30 Mar. 2014.

http://www.washingtonpost.com/world/despite-floating-debris-still-no-confirmed-sign-of-missing-malaysian-airlines-jet/2014/03/30/5aa638a4-b811-11e3-96ae-f2c36d2b1245_story.html
After three weeks of searching, the malaysian flight MH370 that disapeared over the Indian Ocean still hasn't been found. There has been some discoveries of debris found in the ocean, ut after investigation, it turns out to be just debris. People have been unable to go out and search because of bad weather, but on Monday, the search should be able to continue. There is only one week left for us to find the black box, which is emiting signals and  contains cockpit audio and flight data from the flight.   

The World Today- What I am reading now 3/16

Crimeans vote overwhelmingly to join Russia

"Crimeans Vote Overwhelmingly to Join Russia." Irish Times. Irish Times, 16 Mar. 2014. Web. 16 Mar. 2014.

http://www.irishtimes.com/news/world/europe/crimeans-vote-overwhelmingly-to-join-russia-1.1727351

This is an objective update on what is happening in the world today in Ukraine and Russia. Over 90 percent of Crimeans have decided that they would rather join Russia than stay with Ukraine. This strains East-West relations, as the US does not want Russia to claim parts of Ukraine. The author of the article does not state their own opinions, and only states the facts of the situation, making this a good non-biased article.

Search Widens for Missing Malaysian Airliner

Corben, Ron. "Search Widens for Missing Malaysian Airliner." VOA. Voice of America News, n.d. Web. 16 Mar. 2014.

http://www.voanews.com/content/search-for-missing-plane-now-involves-25-countries/1872213.html

This is relatively objective, and talks about different theories behind the missing airplane. There are more countries looking for it than before, and  the plane's course was changed and communications turned off during the flight. People now believe that the plane may have been hijacked and pirated, and not crashed at all. It then talks about how the south east Asian airplane companies need to tighten security. The author's ideas on what should be done to prevent this from happening again, and by comparing this to 9/11 makes it more opinionated. 

China Unveils Long-Awaited Urbanization Plan

"China Unveils Long-Awaited Urbanization Plan." The Wall Street Journal. Dow Jones & Company, 16 Mar. 2014. Web. 16 Mar. 2014.

http://online.wsj.com/news/articles/SB10001424052702303287804579444112058812626

China plans to implement new urbanization goals. This article is very objective, and only states China's plans. It plans to help farmers by loosening restrictions on registrations, letting people move between rural and urban areas. China hopes to have 60% of it's people in cities by 2020. 

The World Today- What I am Reading Now 3/6

 Are Opponents of Arizona's Anti-Gay Law Eager to Deceive?
Powers, Kirsten. "Are Opponents of Arizona's Anti-Gay Law Eager to Deceive?"The Daily Beast. Newsweek/Daily Beast, 03 Mar. 2014. Web. 06 Mar. 2014.

http://www.thedailybeast.com/articles/2014/03/03/are-arizona-anti-gay-law-opponents-eager-to-deceive.html

This is an opinion paper about the Arizona anti-gay laws that did not pass. Powers states that republicans are trying to cover up the failed bill by claiming it was never going to hurt same-sex couples. The conservative arguments that are presented seem ridiculous and weak, and there is a scathing tone about the whole bill. The bill would have let business owners discriminate against those who went against their religion, so it would not only legalize discrimination against same-sex couples, but would also let owners discriminate against other minorities.

 Jan Brewer's Foolish Veto
 Lowry, Rich. "POLITICO Magazine." POLITICO Magazine. Politico Magazine, 26 Feb. 2014. Web. 06 Mar. 2014. 
http://www.politico.com/magazine/story/2014/02/jan-brewers-foolish-veto-104014.html#ixzz2ujkubCRJ

This article is an opinion paper about the recently veto'd Arizona anti- gay law. Lowry states that the law held no anti- gay sentiment, and only would have served to "clarify the sate's Freedom Restoration Act." She fails to mention how if the law had ben passed, it could be used to legally discriminate against people. She also, although she states that the bill itself does not explicitly say "anti- gay" ,  clarify the bill and is elusive and vague about it. Her post is critical and disapproving of the way the media is responding to the bill, and she believes that it should have passed.  She uses quotes from other political journals and newspapers aimed against Christians, and says everyone is overreacting.

 Antigay Laws Gain Global Attention; Countering Them Remains Challenge.

Sengupta, Somini. "Antigay Laws Gain Global Attention; Countering Them Remains Challenge." The New York Times. The New York Times, 01 Mar. 2014. Web. 06 Mar. 2014.

http://www.nytimes.com/2014/03/02/world/africa/antigay-laws-gain-global-attention-countering-them-remains-challenge.html?_r=1

This article briefly covers anti-gay laws around the world. For example, it mentions the recent Uganda and Russian laws, along with how recently there has been an outcry against these anti-gay sentiments throughout the world. This is read from a more objective standpoint, as it only serves to explain and educate what is going on in the world today. This article mainly focuses on how the USA might react to anti-gay sentiments throughout the rest of the world, and if it will continue to support such countries.