Ubuntu

Our society is very filled with hate, we really need to follow the lead of the people in Africa and start practicing Ubuntu. The word itself comes from the Bantu dialect of southern Africa and is directly translated to mean "I am what I am because of who we all are", but more simply put it means that we are all connected. The idea says that there is a common link between all of us, and it is through that link and our interactions with others that we discover our own human qualities. Through Ubuntu, your pain is my pain, your suffering is my suffering, your joy is my joy. I feel that this is a very interesting idea. What if we thought this way every day, all day? Would there be poverty? Would there be starvation? Would people be begging on the streets to feed their children? I feel like this philosophy, while slightly utopian, is a very effective way to end all the problems in the world. I know that this seems a bit extreme, but even if it didn't solve all of our problems, it could solve some of them. By helping others, we show our humanity, which often times doesn't get the chance to shine.
This ideology really relates to Rifkin's RSA video very closely (you can access it here). We all need to work together to form a better world, not only for ourselves but for all lifeforms living on the planet. We need to forget all of the mental boundaries we have set up around ourselves (political views, religion, social class), and work together as a united group to better our world. We should adopt both of these ideologies, and we should embrace our link with others and break down the barriers we put up to form a society where we all work together to solve problems.
This idea is very relevant to our hope and the human spirit unit. When we face problems, we can either break out into chaos, or we can band together to solve that problem. People who overcome extreme situations obviously choose to band together with others rather than simply giving up.




http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ubuntu_(philosophy)
http://www.africafiles.org/article.asp?ID=20359

All the Lonely People

I really enjoyed the blog posts All the Lonely People, and A Meeting of Solitudes by Roger Ebert, and the article Being Human Online by Ezra Klein, and I took something away from both of them. In both articles, the author talks about how the Internet is a way for certain people to get out into the world. I found this really interesting, and was reminded a lot of James Cameron's Avatar. In the movie, the protagonist, Jake Sulley, is a paralyzed ex-military man, and he is able to do all the things that he cannot do through his Avatar, a giant blue alien. Another similarity that I noticed between the two was the name, the player that the gamer controls is called an Avatar, and Jake's other body is also called an Avatar. Coincidence? Perhaps, but I feel that both share the same idea. When a severly handicapped person is able to battle monsters and interact with people he would otherwise not have encountered, I think that they experience something special. Something better than hope, because for a while they're just like everyone else.
Ebert's blog posts got me wondering, what makes someone lonely? Why is it that someone should feel that there is absolutely no one there that can sympathize with them? That really cares about how they're feeling? I know that when we did our I Am campaign at the middle school (for those of you who don't know what I Am is, it was a program where we went to Northern Burlington Regional Middle School and taught the students there about bullying because of appearances.), that we told the kids that there was always someone that they could talk to. I truly feel sorry for these people, because I have an amazing family that loves me, and friends who support me. I know that if anyone were lonely they could come to me, because I think that no one should have to feel that way.

“Learn from yesterday, live for today, hope for tomorrow.”-Albert Einstein

In class the other day, we read an article about Roger Ebert, the famous film critic (http://www.esquire.com/features/roger-ebert-0310). The man who was once the opinionated film critic now speaks only through blue post-it notes and typed words on his Macbook Pro. The article chronicles Ebert's battle with cancer, and how every day is a struggle. After countless surgeries, Ebert's lower jaw has been removed and he has lost his ability to speak; blue post-it notes and his Macbook Pro being his only means of communication. Even though Ebert can no longer speak lovingly to his wife, sit to watch the movies he loves, and tell the world his opinion on films, he has a constant smile on his face.

Why is it that this man was able to keep hope alive through everything that he's been through? After his first surgery why didn't he give up? After his second? His third?  After his best friend died of cancer, how did Ebert keep his will to live? Ebert should be an example to everyone, he never gave up even when the darkness had nearly suffocated him.

This article taught me that you have to appreciate each and every day that you have. Ebert didn't know when he would be speaking his last word, or drinking his last cup of coffee. He didn't know when he'd eat his last ice cream cone have his last spoken  discussion on a movie. You really never know when something bad can happen, so you have to enjoy everything that life brings your way.

“We are all in the gutter, but some of us are looking at the stars.”-Oscar Wilde

When I heard that our second unit of the year was, Hope and the Human Spirit, the first thing I thought was Wow, that's a really broad topic. I mean, everyone has experienced hope at some point in their life, hope that Santa Clause came during the night to give you presents, hope that the teacher will be absent so that the test that was scheduled would be postponed a day, hope that you will be the one chosed for that big promotion. If you can find one person that has never experienced hope in their entire life, then they have to be the ablsolute most morbidly depressed person on the face of this earth, and they deserve your sympathy. What is the world without hope?

Then, as I thought more about hope I realized that in difficult situations it's hard to find hope. What kept the Jews in the concentration camps from just giving up and letting their body fail them? What if Martin Luther King Jr. had just accepted his lot as a second class citizen because of the color of his skin? What if those with terminal illnesses just let the disease ravage their body without a fight on their part? In some extraordinary cases people experience hope where others would only experience fear. These people are amazing, and should be commended. I feel that this unit was created to recognize those who pushed through their extremely bad circumstances using hope, and to try to understand why they were able to do so.

You Say Goodbye, But I Say Hello!

Hey there! My name is Lauren, and I'm a Junior at Northern Burlington Regional High School. I play field hockey, and I am one of the biggest Harry Potter nerds in the universe. As I'm writing this, I'm waiting to board a plane to Orlando, where I'll be visiting the Wizarding World of Harry Potter. I can't even begin to tell you how excited I am! I live for music, and you'll always see me walking around listening to my I-Pod.

I'm writing this blog for an assignment that I recieved in my Gifted and Talented Class. Our second unit is on Hope and the Human Spirit, I know some pretty heavy stuff. I really hope to grow from this assignment and to learn more about my fellow human beings. This blog will show you my journey to discover just what hope means, and why the human spirit is so strong.