Cover your eyes, Cover your ears, and cover your mouth!!!!!!!!!
Reading the world has meant a lot to me. I focused on social inequality in the world as well as social problems in the world today. I think that reading the world is important because it is important to present you views. You should share your opinion on the world around you by presenting it to other people. Tell people what you care about. The first thing that I observed was the song Where is the Love by The Black Eyed Peas. This song is about social issues and injustice in the world around us. It brings to light some important problems with society in a unique way. The second thing that I explored was an article written by New York Times columnist Nicholas Kristof. In a world of unfairness and inequality in the mainstream media, he is a less known columnist who stands up for the rights of people in third world countries by writing about it. I read the article The Man Who Stayed Behind which was very moving. I hope you take away the inequality in this world and that our world is much worse off than we hope and believe. I hope that you readers will take off the media blindfolds and stand up for what you really believe in.
Where is the Love is a truly great song. It is extremely moving and is one of the songs that I hold in high regard and try to live my life by. I first heard it when I was younger and I didn’t understand the true meaning of the words to the song and how it was a reflection on which way our world is going. I believe that the main idea of the song was that people need to get back on track. They need to focus on doing good in this world and work towards a better place for the generations to come. We had a golden age of justice in the last century, but we have veered off the path that is right. There was the supposed end of segregation with the civil rights movement and there was the end of sexism with the women’s suffrage movement. There was also WWII to end racism by the Nazis and the holocaust.
In the first stanza, it states “What’s wrong with the world mama? People livin’ like they ain’t got no mamas”. This is the main idea of the whole song. It means that people are living like they have no shame or conscience. They act as if no one would be disappointed with them for the atrocities that they produce or turn a blind eye to. The chorus says,
“People killing people dying
Children hurtin’ you hear them crying
Can practice what you preach
Would you turn the other cheek?
Father, father, father help us
Send some guidance from above
Cause people got me got me questioning
Where is the love?”
This is extremely strong to me. It makes a church comparison. A lot of people go to church, but this asks if you can say yes to if you have truly been doing the right thing? Have you not been selfish? Have you turned the other cheek?
Turning the other cheek is a principal of Christianity, but in this mainly Christian country, we have not done this. President Bush led us in a revenge rampage throughout the world, but a good Christian should have turned the other cheek. Instead of turning the other cheek, we went on a manhunt for terrorists. Also, Bush used it as a reason to start a war with Iraq. There was no reason to the war besides oil that is plentiful in the region. This is what they mean when they say “The wars' going on but the reasons' undercover. The truth is kept secret, swept under the rug. If you never know truth then you never know love.”
There is repletion throughout the song of “Where is the Love”. This is a main point that is made. My favorite lines are probably:
“Whatever happened to the values of humanity?
Whatever happened to the fairness and equality?
Instead of spreading love, we're spreading animosity
Lack of understanding, leading us away from unity
That's the reason why sometimes I'm feeling under
That's the reason why sometimes I'm feeling down
It's no wonder why sometimes I'm feeling under
I gotta keep my faith alive, until love is found”
I love these lines because they show how they feel about what is going on. It asks what happened to the good times? What happened to being fair and just? What happened to everyday courtesy? What happened to the people who wanted a better planet? Why did everyone get so greedy? Why does money make people do terrible things? It also gives you a ray of hope in that we have to keep going until it takes a turn.
I think it has taken a turn though. There are people protesting on Wall Street which gives me hope. There might still be a bright future. We must take responsibility for our actions! Will you strive for a better tomorrow? I read the article The Man Who Stayed Behind by New York Times columnist Nicholas D. Kristof. It is about a thirty year old guy named Ryan Boylette from Florida, is trying to bring light to the problems of Sudan, Africa. He has been living I a mud hut in Sudan dodging bombs while trying to alert governments. He made a conflict between the Nubans and the Sudan government his problem. Most Westerners fled the area after the conflict started, but he stayed to stick with the natives and not desert. He is currently trying to have this atrocity noticed, but no one is paying attention.
I think that this is a big problem in the world today. Western governments and people of more powerful and wealthy countries turn a blind eye to the problems of the less fortunate people in third world countries. It’s as if they don’t count as people to them. In my view, they are just as important and of the same importance as any American or European. Not enough people pay attention to their problems.
The front page always has the stocks on it or something about the country on it. Heck they even have the sports on the front page of the newspaper. Despite this the problems of third world countries never are front and center, but are hidden away. It is unfair that the media does this. Politicians don’t want to talk about it because if they talk about it, they have to make an effort to do something.
No one is brave enough to take a stand and say “We must help them!” The media and politicians want us blindfolded into thinking that problems only exist where we live and that our problems are much worse than anyone else’s. I think that is the mentality in general. We don’t think of others, but all that we think about is ourselves. There are much more important problems out there. People are starving in Africa! Yet we can’t take our eyes off the stock market to fix our other problems.
We can’t split up our world into countries, but we must look at the world as a whole. Everybody is equal no matter where they’re from and everybody deserves the same attention. We are all countrymen and we have to stick together. Stand up for what’s right and against what’s wrong. Treat people the same and this world will turn for the better. Stop bias in the media and get leaders who are willing to stand up for what’s right. Ask yourself, am I in the right? Am I part of the problem or am I working for a solution?
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