Wednesday, November 9, 2011
Self Reliance
In Emerson's, "Self- Reliance" he talks about how we should not care about slavery because it does not directly involve us. Then he says that we should not give to the poor becausedo not belong to them. Also he mentions how even the smallest ideas can be great ideas and how one should think for himself. Does our society think these ideas today??
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I think that our society is different in some aspects such as charity than how Emerson describes it. We create and donate to charities that not only help people that are close to us (emotionally or location wise), but people in other countries that we might not have met with or interacted with ever before. However, we are encouraged to think on our own, and trust our own ideas. This really helps our society grow and expand because new ideas aren't being held back. They are getting shared right away rather than being hidden for a long time in case someone might disagree with them.
ReplyDeleteI think that are society is very similar to the society back then because they believed in charity, and helping others, it was Emerson who did not want charity. He said these things to shock people, and if they were shocked by somebody who did not think charity was a good thing then that is very similar to our society now. Charity is very important to us even if we don't know or are not connected to the person and i think it was important to people then also, other wise Emerson would not have written these things as a way to shock people.
ReplyDeleteI agree with Lauren. Our society does believe all of those things are good and he did just say those things to shock people and to get attention. But today people are more concerned with themselves and their own problems and thoughts and ideas rather than other peoples or other problems that happen other places that they are not directly involved in. This doesn't mean they don't care it just means that people are naturally going to care more about themselves and things happening around them. As apposed to thinking about others first and problems that don't directly affect them.
ReplyDeleteI think society today has been influenced differently compared to how Emerson thinks in "Self-Reliance." Society today believes in helping one another through charity, because we keep close knit communities and support. We also feeling strongly about subjects such as slavery, even though they do not directly effect us. We can use the example of the famine in Africa to show our support for things happening around us, but not directly to us. However, many people in the world are selfish and only care about themselves and things that directly affect them. Emerson's views are very shocking, and do influence some people still today.
ReplyDeleteI agree with everyone that our society puts a huge emphasis on charity as a good thing for people to do. We value sympathy for people that have no connection to us and scorn people who are too selfish to care about others no matter how distant they are. However I do see Emerson's point that we only think charity is a good thing becuase that is what our society values. I think it is kind of extreme to say that charity is bad just becuase our society encourages it, but we should accept that a big part of the reason we believe in charity is becuase we have grown up believing that its a good thing.
ReplyDeletei like what john said about society being selfish. though we give to others and charity is valued, the average american would rather spend money on a fancy meal, than donate the same sum of money to starving children in some third world country. though charity is valued in our society today, i think that people tend to prioritize themselves over others.
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