Author: Samuel Senders

Earlier this semester I went to the Virginia Museum of Fine Arts where they sectioned off a part of the museum for a Roman exhibit. The exhibit was pertaining to the eruption of Mount Vesuvius and the effect that it had on the city of Pompeii. The exhibit had a variety of Roman artifacts from paintings, to sculptures, to the technology they had during the time period. I had taken Latin throughout high school which is what interested me in the exhibit. The detail and craftsmanship in each of these individual artifacts were incredible. The Romans for their time period were so advanced and ahead of their time with the technology they had invented. The Romans were the ones who had invented running water and drainage systems. Last year over winter break I had the privilege of going to the Roman Baths and witnessing the complexity of these drainage systems and it was extremely impressive. I was extremely happy to have had the opportunity to have gone to the museum and witnessed the amazing pieces of art and artifacts. The complexity and detail placed into them was astonishing.

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In the lecture I attended on October sixth a multitude of different topics were discussed. The speaker began the lecture discussing the irreversible damage that humans are placing upon earth. In his lecture, I quoted him as saying “Humans are a geological agent who has placed irreversible damage on earth.” He further elaborates on this idea by discussing the seventy five percent decrease in the insect population in the last twenty seven years due to the effects of global warming. This drastic drop has directly impacted the food chain causing shortages in food for certain species causing a domino effect throughout the hierarchy. He also discussed topics such as landscape archeology, industrial modernity, the Hittite empire, but what truly grabbed my attention was ISIS’s destruction of the Gardens of Babylon and ancient treasures/artifacts. After learning in his lecture that ISIS was destroying these ancient artifacts I decided to do some research of my own. What I discovered was sickening but the one that truly grabbed my attention was the destruction of a Roman theater in Syria using explosives. The reason for this is their belief in destroying ancient monuments or artifacts that contradict their views on the Islamic religion and describe such events as “cleansing”. The reason why they are destroying these cultural sites is due to their significant loss in territory. In an attempt to seek revenge they destroy these artifacts. It puts a sickening feeling in my stomach knowing that these priceless artifacts which draw in thousands of tourists are being destroyed. Not only are they depriving tourists of cultural experiences but they are also depriving these countries of tourism which brings a lot of money into these economies. With the destruction of these sites people have less reasons to visit these countries. The reason why ISIS is able to get away with these crimes is because of their control over portions of Syria along with the western and northern part of Iraq. Since there is no military in these areas under ISIS’s control there is no one and nothing to stop them. As mentioned above they justify their actions using religion and describing how these artifacts threaten their religion. The worst part is that ISIS documents the destruction via cell phone cameras and uploads these videos onto youtube. Placing these videos on a public platform is truly what aggravates me because the documentation is used as a scare tactic. An example of this is their seizure over the town of Palmyra as well as the nearby ruins. The ISIS militants initially promised to leave the site untouched but unfortunately this was not the case. They publicly executed the head archeologist as and released photos of the 1900 year old temple being rigged with explosives and the explosion that soon occurred afterwards. For the reasons stated above as well as many others that is why this topic in the lecture captured my attention. These artifacts once they are destroyed have no way of being restored or brought back which is truly sickening to me.  

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I attended a presentation by L. Antonio Curet titled life, death, and remembrance at the center of the Cosmos. While I thought Mr. Curet was a fascinating man with a  wealth of knowledge. I believe the way in which he delivered his information, as well as his presentation style, was lacking in a variety of ways. I felt as though he came into the presentation underprepared and found his points of discussion during his presentation. In addition, I wish he would have placed more text in his individual slides to highlight the main points he was trying to convey allowing the audience to understand the main topics. I hate being so critical over his presentation style but I felt as though if he was able to communicate the information in a more effective manner I would have been able to understand his presentation. What I did understand from his presentation was this Pre-Columbian culture called the Saladoides which is in present-day Venezuela as well as the Carribean. It is believed that this culture is from the lower Orinoco River near what is today Saladero and Barrancas in Venezuela. They migrated from the Orinoco River and established themselves in the Lesser Antilles, Puerto Rico, and Hispaniola. They inhabited the wetter and more fertile islands which allowed for their success in agriculture as well as their profound skills in pottery making, bead making, and jewelry making. The craftsmanship and details placed into their ceramic bowls as well as jewelry were incredible. The Saladoides were present from 300 B.C. to 600 A.D. which after that the Ostionoides came into the picture. The origination of the Ostionoides is still debated and they originally were thought to have come from the Saladoides but new research indicates that they primarily evolved from Archaic people who had migrated from Central America into Cuba and Hispaniola. This society of people was known for their complex societies and skilled agricultural practices. However, unlike the Saladoides their pottery and craftsmanship were far less complex. Their pottery was known to have simple black smudging, basic structuring, and an orange-red slip applied to the entire ceramic piece. Many of these artifacts which have been recovered today have chips in them due to the thinness of the pottery. Whereas many if not all of the Saladoide artifacts found today are in perfect shape. As mentioned above their pottery was far more complex due to the natural resources which allowed for better quality clay. On account of this better clay, the Saladoides were able to trademark their pottery with elegant designs such as rectilinear incisions, crosshatched designs, punctuation, appliqué clay ridges, and small geometric and zoomorphic lugs. What was also very interesting about the Saladoides is that for burials they would bury the dead in one place with marking. The reason why this was the case is to express the idea that during and afterlife this culture of people will always stay together both throughout life and throughout death. 

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Allison Archer provides some interesting insight into the relationship between the media and politicians. She opens her article by using a quote from Donald Trump discussing how the press is “The enemy of the American People.” I find this relationship between politicians and media fascinating and at the same time confusing. In addition, I find President Trump’s remark about how the media is the enemy of the American people humorous because the only reason why he is saying this is due to CNN what he calls fake news. What I believe he means in saying this is the media that disagrees with and opposses his view points is the enemy. The reason why I believe the relationship between media and politicians is one of hate because the media challenges and dissects each politicians view points, political stance, and so on. The media essentially calls into question whether this specific politician is capable of being a strong political figure. 

 

However, on the other side especially in today’s world these conservative news channels such as FOX support Trump’s ideals, view points, as well as policies. Which is an example of a positive relationship between political figures and media. The reason why there is such hatred or a perceived hatred between the two because we only pay attention to the differing side. The saying is the bad outweighs the good and in this sense of the matter it holds true. We tend to pay attention to the news stories that contradict and call into question the policies of these political figures and see the bickering between the two political parties. We do not see the sides of the media that support that politician’s views because controversy is more interesting than agreement so we pay more attention to those news stories/media coverages.

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Before watching this video I knew of some of the controversies regarding the Vietnamese war. However, I did not know of the extreme amount of chaos and social uprising that this war brought about. I was unaware that similar to WWI and WWII that men between the ages of 18-26 were forced to enlist and of those men only the ones of lesser intelligence were forced to go. This caused anger throughout the college youth and a feeling of injustice which sparked rioting at universities, rioting at major metropolitan cities, as well as violence against police and military officials. Many people did not believe in the war we were fighting halfway across the world which created this unrest amongst military-aged men and citizens of the United States. This caused extreme division against citizens of the United States and caused anger amongst the man deployed and why they were forced to fight when these other men were not obligated to do so.

 

I did some further research on this topic and discovered that Vietnamese women, as well as children, were forced to fight in the war as well. This caused again extreme unrest amongst American citizens and as long as US soldiers were being sent into Vietnam to fight Vietnamese women, as well as children, would continue to fight. It made me question what my actions would have been if I was a college-aged student during this time period. Would I have protested or would I have served my country in Vietnam? This also calls into question the psychological principle of mob mentality where people take actions they would not usually take if their identity was known because there are no immediate repercussions.

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Both of these stories while interesting to read were extremely disturbing and had extreme twist endings. The first story the Omela’s describes essentially a Utopian society in which everything is perfect. The people are happy, the city is beautiful, essentially saying there are no problems with this society. However, the article towards the end discusses how there is a child locked in a room who is neglected and malnourished. The reason for this is that without his neglect the Omela’s would be unable to live in this utopian society and if they were to care for this child they would lose all their happiness. It essentially calls into question the trolly example. Asking in a sense if it makes sense to kill one and save multiple people. In the case of this story, it is essentially asking is it ok for one person to suffer in order for thousands to flourish. I think it also discusses the idea of how nothing in life can ever be perfect and sometimes for people to succeed others are sometimes neglected or are left behind.c

In the second story, the lottery described this lottery-based system in which representatives from each family had to pick a slip of paper from the lottery box without getting the black dot on the paper. Bill Hutchinson picked the piece of paper with the black dot on it. His family had to go up and place the black dot piece of paper in there with blank pieces of paper for the remaining family members. Tessie picked the piece of paper with the black spot and rocks were thrown at her for human sacrifice to ensure that their crops would grow. Discussing the idea of how some rituals are not worth holding on to. Believing that sacrifice would ensure crop growth is a ridiculous connotation/implication. Also,  it is ironic how winning the lottery in this sense means death whereas, in our society winning the lottery is associated with profit and essentially is a great thing.

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The first article “Slavery Without Submission” reinforced a lot of my prior knowledge on the justification of slavery. The Government justified slavery because it provided an economic boom in the US economy. Slaves were able to pick millions of tons of cotton a year which was the main source of revenue for the south so taking away this industry would cripple their economy. In doing so poor whites, middle-class whites, and upper-class whites were able to benefit from the hard labor of African Americans because it created jobs for them. What truly upsets me is the forms of punishments African Americans would receive for disobeying their masters. The article described a story in which an African American women provided some food for a starving poor white man. Once her master discovered what she had done she received 50 lashes for feeding the starving man.   What was also extremely upsetting to me was how African Americans would use gospel songs and dance to retain their humanity because without doing so they would be completely and utterly miserable. 

 

What I found to be very interesting in this article was the fight against slavery as well as the actions African Americans took to fight slavery. Learning about how slave revolts took place and the way in which they would gain followers. One being Turner’s Rebellion where slaves would take arms with axes, picks, hatchets, rocks and so on because muskets would draw too much attention. They would take other slaves from plantations once the owners were murdered. In addition, learning about Harriet Tubman’s nineteen journeys between freedom and back to lands of slavery was extremely impressive that she was willing to risk her freedom for others. She said something along the lines of we will either get freedom or die. If we cannot get one we will take the other. Finally, what I also thought was very fascinating was how Frederick Douglas was able to become educated as a slave and then escape freedom to produce many amazing literary works.

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When Americans think of the Revolutionary War we think of fellow Americans taking up arms together to fight off foreign control. However, after reading this article I discovered that there was much more politics involved within the American war. In 17th century America, the disparity of wealth and oppression against the poor was for a lack of better terms at an all-time high. In Boston, for example, the wealthiest individuals (upper 5 %) owned roughly 50% of the assets located in Boston. This enraged the lower class citizens and caused them to riot against the upper-class citizens. With England still having a grasp on the colonies the elite discovered that they could harness the anger of the lower class citizens to get the English out of the colonies and that’s exactly what happened. Obviously not what I would have thought would have occurred during the American Revolution. 

I find it extremely interesting how these topics we learn in middle school, as well as high school, do not provide us with the full story as to what happened through history. For example, in elementary school we were taught that Christopher Columbus discovered America where in actuality he massacred an entire nation. Another example is MLK and the impact that he had on Civil Rights. Nowhere was it ever discussed the impact Mrs. King had on Civil Rights and after Mr. Kings’s death the impact she continued to have. Now also learning about the American Revolution it truly opens my eyes and makes me question a lot of history I have learned throughout the years. 

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The first article is broken down into four categories of temporary inequality, permanent inequality, dominants, and subordinates. Temporary examples of inequality are those between parents and children and students and teachers. This inequality is not explicitly stated but it is implied in the relationship structure of these two groups. The superior person has the ability to positively impact the lesser person in the relationship in a positive way. In a sense, it is their duty to do so as well. This type of relationship has the most amount of gray area in it because people are unsure how much power they are to give to the “lesser” person as well as their ability to express themselves openly. The article next discusses the topic of permanent inequality which mostly consists of your sex, nationality, religion, and other factors you are born with that you do not have control over. The goal in this is to not end the inequality but rather keep the inequality and have the superior take advantage of the lesser. Relating to dominants the dominants define a group as inferior they are known to be defective or dumb. The dominant tend to talk down to the inferiors and try to knock them down rather than build them up. Whereas subordinates have to focus solely on basic survival. Their main goal is to please their superiors. 

 

The topic on dominants made me reflect back upon what I learned in my Leadership 102 class relating to implicit biases. The examples used were that of African American men, white women, African American women, and white men relating to car salesman. They discovered that more minority groups and women that a significant price increase was placed upon the price of the car. Black men were offered the second-highest prices, and black women were offered the highest prices because there is this implicit bias around them that they lack intelligence. I also took an implicit bias test relating to my preference for skinny vs. obese people. What I discovered is that I had an implicit bias against obese people. The reason being that they are seen as unintelligent and lazy due to their weight.    

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The two articles dissect as well as discuss the differences and similarities in Transactional as well as transformational leadership. Transactional leadership occurs when someone takes the first step into contacting others with the intent to exchanged items of value. It is mainly used for personal benefit and after the exchange is over they have no other reason to continue the relationship. Whereas with the transformational leadership style people or just one person interact with one another in a way in which both the leader and the follower motivate one another to reach higher levels of morality. Essentially the main differences are in Transformational the leader inspires, intellectually stimulates, and is considerate of them. Whereas transactional is in it for the end goal of a personal gain. 

 

An excellent example of a transitional leader is Mahatma Gandhi. He changed as well as transformed an entire nation as well as it’s people. He did so by learning how to empathize with the nation and appealing to their values as well as feelings. He was able to get his people to accomplish their goal of gaining independence from British rule. An example of a transactional leader is Bill Gates. In order to get Microsoft as a multi-billion-dollar company, he had to align himself with many others to perform transactions in order to promote himself as well as the company. 

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The article begins by asking the reader what qualities make for a good leader. It discusses a set of values but list the value of humility as one of the most important as well as forgotten characteristics needed in order to obtain strong democratic leadership. The qualities usually associated with leadership are those of firmness, decisiveness, assertiveness, strength, power, etc. Unfortunately the value of humility/humbleness does not quite make the list. This is ironic because leaders are far more likely to succeed in a democratic society if they have this attribute. Humility as described in the article is “A space where a leader can have the courage of his or her convictions, while still being open to learn from others and one’s own mistakes. Humility is not arrogance.” Being able to have confidence in their beliefs/decisions but at the same time accepting that those beliefs and decisions may be wrong. If this is the case allowing themselves to understand the mistakes made and learn from them. 

 

The article goes into depth discussing three political figures George Washington, Abraham Lincoln, and JFK as leaders who possess great humility. For Washington through his humility he was able to establish a bond between himself and his soldiers thus allowing him to gain true authority and legitimacy. He also discusses the concept how authority is less in the person and more so in the office (oval office) where members past and present will and have been with that power. For Lincoln, he discusses how those in the past sacrificed so those in the future could benefit and how it is the job of the present population to do the same for future generations. He very much so respected American values and wanted these values to be fulfilled while he was in power. On top of that Lincoln had a strong sense of intellectual humility. After the Civil War when he was trying to mend the US back together in all of his speeches he addressed everyone as we. Showing the elements which make up humility (mercy, judgement, confession, penitence, reconciliation, and retrust) thus allowing for the US to properly mend back together. For Kennedy it was his ability to apologize and understand the mistakes he made with the Bay of Pigs invasion. Through his ability to learn from his mistakes he made all of the proper decisions during the Cuban Missile Crisis.

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John W. Gardner in his article Leaders and Followers starts off with a very strong quote that states “Leaders are almost never as much in charge as they are pictured to be, and followers almost never are as submissive as one might imagine (Gardner).” setting the tone for the article and describing one viewpoint for the relationship between leaders and followers. Followers play a crucial role in the leader follower relationship because if there is no one to lead the leader does not exist. Leaders cannot be in positions of power unless followers are willing to be led or believe in the leaders authority. There is a debate as to which type of leadership style is better one of which being the “tight ship” style in which there are a lot of constraints and controls or would a more laissez faire leadership style work better and decades of research have not given a clear answer. However, there has been support for the idea where the leader helps the follower(s) develop their own thoughts allowing for them to contribute more to society. Instead of being robots and responding directly to the leaders command they have the ability to make their own decisions. A good leader is both consciously as well as unconsciously followed because the people understand and recognize that he has the ability to help them and resolve their adversity as well as problems.     

 

In American society today “Cynical spectator-citizens wait for the right type of leader(s) to resolve for them the critical problems in their neighborhoods, communities, states, and country…Leaders appear detached or stripped of communal identity…citizens…choosing instead to pass on unrealistic expectations to public leaders. A way in which this can be combated is with the development of citizen leaders.  In addition, there is a divide both physically as well as mentally seen between leaders and their followers. For example students in California were asked to draw what leadership meant to them. What they got was the leader being depicted much more prominently than the audience, they were divided from the audience by a physical barrier, and were always placed above the audience. Showing the idea how these leaders are not the same as us but rather different and superior/cannot accurately reflect the crowds viewpoints. Describing how the development of citizen leaders would help combat this and allow leaders and followers to feel as though they are connecting with one another. 

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After reading the articles I have mixed emotions towards the execution of King Charles I. One of the reasons why I feel that his execution is justifiable is because it is the 17th century rather than modern day and their viewpoints are completely different than today. After losing the first Civil War he was extremely embarrassed and made a secret pact with Scottish forces to place him back on the throne by force. Rather than working out a deal with Parliament he decided to backstab Parliament with the pact between him and the Scotts. Thousands of British soldiers had perished after this first Civil War and he purposely started a second one to regain the throne. As the article The Trial and Execution of Charles I says “He was a man of blood who sacrificed innocents and went against God’s providence. For those reasons stated above that is why I believe his execution was justifiable.  

 The reason why I am against his execution is because “No monarch ever left the world with more sorrow: women miscarried, men fell into melancholy(uk.tv.co).” The fact that a king was executed brought so much sorrow and despair upon the country. In addition, as stated in The Trial and Execution of Charles I “Many Parliamentarians did not want to execute Charles.” Also after he was beheaded the crowd released a sad moan, the executioner went against against tradition and did not raise the kings head and say the famous coined phrase. Soon after his head was sewn back upon his body and his execution was listed as martyr status.   

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I personally thought before reading these articles that tyrannicide was very much so a justifiable act. My thought process as discussed in the first article was cut the head off and the body will follow in suit leading to the demise of tyranny in that country. However, after reading these articles I discovered that actually killing a tyrant is not always what is best for a nation as well as what constitutes the justifiable murder of a Tyrant leader. In my opinion, as mentioned in the readings, the only way that tyrannicide is justifiable is if it is sure to bring positive results to that nation. It is not justifiable if it is being conducted to seek vengeance. The reason being killing a tyrant can bring uncertainty into those countries making them even worse than before. Sadly, what often happens is their successor is even more extreme in their beliefs. 

 

This unfortunately holds true in Iraq with the falling of Saddam Hussein. It has been shown that in Iraq after Hussein’s end in power brought total chaos and anarchy has taken over the country. In the moments after his death 75 Iraqii people were killed in which Sunni’s were targeting and murdering Shiite’s. Thirteen years later the country is in even worse condition. Millions of people became refugees, a new terrorist organization called the Islamic state was founded, and the Shiite theocracy now had control over the Iraqi government. Thus proving how tyrannicide is not always the best option for a country’s success. 

Bardenwerper, Will. “Saddam Hussein’s Death Was Supposed to Mark a ‘New Era’ for Iraq. It Didn’t Last Five Minutes.” The Washington Post, WP Company, 30 Dec. 2016, https://www.washingtonpost.com/posteverything/wp/2016/12/30/his-death-was-supposed-to-mark-a-new-era-for-iraq-ten-years-late-sadaam-hussein-haunts-me/.

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Charisma as defined in the reading is a quality that people have that allows them to relate to and inspire others on a deep emotional level. Throughout society, many people have been able to lead so effectively because they have this quality(s) (emotionally expressive, enthusiastic, driven, eloquent, visionary, self confident, and responsive to others.) They have the ability to communicate with people in both small settings as well as large setting and the ability to connect with people in a personal as well as emotional way. 

 

A perfect real world example of this would be Adolf Hitler the leader of the Nazi party. Hitler was an exceptional public speaker who used a lot of expressive gestures and emotion in his speeches to arouse his audience. He had the ability to articulate his words extremely well and paint a picture in the German people’s minds as to what Germany could look like under his control. In addition, as the reading discusses many of these charismatic leaders rise to power in times of distress. This is exactly what happened with Hitler because the German’s were in a terrible depression after WWI and the German government was failing its people. Which is exactly what allowed Hitler to rise into power. He was able to connect with and inspire the German people on such an intense level that they wanted to follow his every command. 

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