Empathy Tours

Rainbow Gathering

In a shaded forest where dim sunlight plays peek-a-boo with the dark green leaves, all sorts of people begin to appear. Beaded braids, rainbow colored t-shirts, pants or headbands, long skirts, scraggly beards, unique insignias plastered on skin, a few scattered marijuana pipes, and half naked (or fully naked) humans are all part of the scenery. These people ideally congregate in the barren wilderness to promote peace, love and harmony. Recently however, things have gotten out of hand at these annual meetings. In her article, Grace Wyler interviews a rainbow spokesman who reflects on the recent changes;

"The crowds has changed," said Savoye, with a  touch of sadness. "For many years, the Gatherings were against the use of drugs, except maybe a little pot. Partly, that was to preserve a sense of community. Now, we're dealing with kids who come to gatherings and use drugs to incite violence. And the Rainbow Family is not really set up to deal with that kind of behavior. "

Admission, food and activities are all cost-free, though the rainbow family is expected to help with general chores around camp like cooking (WARNING: graphic content). Gatherings occur annually on each continent, excluding Antartica. Hobos, hippies, nomads, tree-lovers, junkies, philosophers, lovers and outcasts all rendezvous at these global gatherings in hopes of finding peace and love. They are plainly a group of people who listen and help each other, kind of like a giant therapy group. They think, "I will listen to his [or her] sadness, even when I'm deep in my own. " Though there have been passive gatherings in the past, it is not surprising how these gatherings would attract the more dangerous in their attempt to escape normality. This world is a strange, cruel place and sometimes we all just crave comfort in the crazy. Before judging them, we have to look inside ourselves..."At the exit, there is sunlight and clean air. This is something. But you catch sight of yourself in the darkened glass of your minivan - your cheeks black, neck black, lips black- and the truth is you look like a devil too."

Works Cited

"Love, Bums, And Drum Circles: Postcards From A Modern-Day Hippie Paradise". Vice. N. p., 2017.               

          Web. 8 May 2017.

"Rainbow Gathering". Spokesman.com. N. p., 2010. Web. 8 May 2017.

"The Dark Side Of The Rainbow Gathering". Vice. N. p., 2017. Web. 8 May 2017.

"The Empathy Exams". Leslie Jamison. N. p., 2017. Web. 8 May 2017.

Savoye, Rob. Rainbow Family of Living Light Unofficial Home Page. N.p., n.d. Web. 08 May 2017. 

Empathy Exams

Paragraph:

"Empathy isn't just something that happens to us- a meteor shower of synapses firing across the brain- it's also a choice we make: to pay attention, to extend ourselves. It's made of exertion, that dowdier cousin of impulse. Sometimes we care for another because we know we should, or because it's asked for, but this doesn't make our caring hollow. The act of choosing simply means we've committed ourselves to a set of behaviors greater than the sum of our individual inclinations: I will listen to his sadness, even when I'm deep in my own. To say going through the motions - this isn't reduction so much as acknowledgement of effort - the labor, the motions, the dance - of getting inside another person's state of heart or mind" (Jamison, 23). 

This passage, not only standing out as exceptionally well-written (seems almost like flowing poetry), teaches us a lot about empathy. I always felt guilty because when I offered to listen to or help someone, it felt forced. I never felt like I was doing it simply for the act of being a good person. This made me feel very guilty, and I felt that I should genuinely care about helping. Jamison states quite the opposite, that the act itself is empathy. That the act of helping outweighs individual inclination. I especially liked her sentence: "I will listen to his sadness, even when I'm deep in my own." Even if you had second thoughts about helping, and are just listening someone talk about their troubles, you are there and that is all that matters. She emphasizes that being there is very important. When she was going through the process of her abortion, she was alone and nobody was really there for her. I have been at points in my life when I feel like nobodies there (I still feel that way today). However, one can help someone else by being there, even if that person was not there for you, you can help that person. It is confusing yet reassuring lesson on empathy and I learned a lot from this single paragraph. 

Don’t Know Much About History - Introduction/Body for Research Paper

            You come home from a long day at work, exhausted, and collapse in a giant heap on the mangy couch you found on the street. You breathe a sigh of relief and switch on the box television, suddenly sad that you cannot a newer flatter model. Static appears at first, but then clears out to show the well-dressed, perfect looking news-anchor. “BREAKING NEWS” was spelled across the top of the screen in big, blue and flashing capital letters. The camera zoomed into the face of the news anchor while she began reporting, “Breaking news at Channel 11 News headquarters. Earlier this evening, U.S. air troopers bombed a building suspected to house the terrorist leader Osama Bin Laden. It was found that Bin Laden was not there, but he had been. The search continues, while U.S. troops prepare to move into enemy territory and find the terrorist who initiated the cricis that killed our loved ones. Stay tuned for updates.” You mute the volume as the channel goes to ads, and think with hatred of the criminal Bin Laden. “We should just have bombed the whole country to get him, he killed our civilians!” Though you did not know anyone personally who died in 9/11, you felt a lot of anger towards those who killed innocent Americans.

            That was a fake story, from a fake day, though it does represent some realistic events. 9/11 was caused by terrorists, not Afghanistan. The U.S. declared war on Afghanistan, not only the terrorists. Millions upon millions of INNOCENT Afghans died in this war. The amount of people that died in 9/11 was a miniscule number compared to those who died in Afghanistan. The Channel 11 News failed to mention any of these facts. They just portrayed Afghanistan as a war-torn area, where everyone is a potential terrorist. Imagine someone who only watches Channel 11 news and does not check to make sure that they are telling accurate information. They would be misinformed citizens due to the news stories that manipulate them by excluding some facts and exaggerating others.

            Only 32 percent of American citizens trust the media (Bernstein). It is quite sad when you think about it. If only the media stated the whole truth instead of the half-truth that it uses to manipulate viewers. Trust has become a problem in the United States, and the deficiency starts with the manipulation of others using stories.

            Stories have existed for a long time, for as long as humans have existed for all we know. They have been used to understand human complexity, to entertain children and adults alike, to inform, and sadly, they have also been used to manipulate. The telling of stories first started as oral story-telling. When humans learned how to write, stories began being copied down into books. We know now that stories, though they are beautiful and creative, also have the power to change the mind. A good story can be the basis of claims and dreams. President Trump, for example, told a simple yet straightforward story; “Let America be great again.” Some speculate that this story may have won him the election. Stories can change our view on anything basically, as they make us understand and reflect. In a way, all stories have the potential to change a reader’s view. It is when changing the reader’s view serves ulterior motives or becomes harmful, that stories become a problem.

Got Issues?

1. Public school start times, democrats vs. republicans, abortion and gun rights, pay of teachers, best sport teams, RELIGION. 

2. Stealing/robbery, smoking/drinking, parking!, bus systems, campus size (for UMN), homework regulation, the best/worst professors

3. Will we be able to see glaciers or polar bears in the wild, in twenty years? Will me and my family be prosecuted in the U.S.? Will the deterioration of the natural environment make planet earth inhospitable in my (or the next generation's) lifetime? Will overpopulation become so bad that mass disease will break out? 

4. Freshman Composition, Physics 2 for scientists and engineers, Chemistry principles 1, Multivariable Calculus, Intro to programing in C++

Issues include; government in all of my classes (presidency, law enforcement, international relations), the declining state of the environment in physics, hacking in computer science and regulation of chemicals in the food industry (chemistry). 

5. Would the environment deteriorate to inhospitable conditions in my lifetime? When we look back to the beginning of this problem, we can see that (in one case) the fuel emissions started growing exponentially in the 20th century. If it continues at this rate, and evidence points to that conclusion, there may well be a good chance that our earth may be damaged beyond repair. This is a problem that many people ignore. They say that it does not affect them now and why should they care about it? When we actually see the consequences of this disaster, then it will be too late to fix it. We have to start now, everyone has to contribute something, and most importantly, I believe that all of us should be taking this issue a lot more seriously. 

Why Bother!

Love is more powerful than hate. It is true that hate creates wars and conflict, things that have destructive power. But love creates unity and happiness. Conflict will always be there, that is true. But love will be there as well, trying to balance out the conflict. When we see the news and hear about all the bad that is going on, know that we are not meaningless, we can make a difference. By giving to others instead of taking, you will not only help the community around you, but you will help yourself. Acts of kindness, though they may seem small, do change the world in a better way. In a study of 600 U.S. citizens, social psychologist Lizz Dunn and her partners found that spending money on others generated more happiness that spending money on oneself (McConnel). We can change the world with one small act at a time. 

For more information on the survey, visit: https://www.psychologytoday.com/blog/the-social-self/201012/giving-really-is-better-receiving

Review Essay Rough Draft

How Amazing Are You!

            “What can you contribute to our corporation,” the straight-to-the-fact interviewer in an unscathed business uniform asked? “Well I am a hard-worker, I am very creative and I am easy to work with,” I replied, in an uncertain voice, hoping that I sounded somewhat confident. “But what are you good at, what did you accomplish in life?”, pushed the interviewer in an overly-confident voice that clearly outshone and diminished my shaky and nervous appeal. “Well I was a cross-country captain in high school, I won the national merit scholarship, I graduated from Stanford university with honors in Physics, I won a national chess tournament, I have consistently won the presidential award for volunteering every year since 8^th grade and I started a charity the homeless that has grown nationwide.” I breathed sigh of relief and thought, “What a long list!” The interviewer jotted down some notes on her clean and orderly notepad, with a very expensive looking, and shiny, ballpoint pen. “Ok that will be all, you may leave,” was all she said in a very bored voice.

            In a world where we rush to get from one job to another, or one extracurricular to the next, we often label ourselves as great based on our accomplishments, wealth or popularity. This façade called the “American Dream” often pushed us the brink of exhaustion, just so we can feel validated by our jobs or hobbies. We let our jobs or wealth define us, and sometimes we use it to justify that we are better, smarter or more amazing than others. This can sometimes lead us into a nationwide rat race, where we just keep thinking that what we are is not enough. Though many look to the American Dream as an idealized goal, I would say that it is a misguided notion that is leading us into despair. Here, I will explain why.

            The “American” dream, not the European dream or the worldwide dream, just “American” dream. The dream does not even refer to Canada, Mexico, Latin America or South America, which are all indeed part of the Americas. It just refers to those who live in the United States, which is amazingly exclusive. Though some may argue that the American Dream was meant to encourage and inspire the citizens of a growing nation that was founded in July 4^th, 1776, it really did not turn out that way. It was first used to encourage the so-called “Americans” to expand their territory, which was, for the most part, taken forcefully from the Native Americans that lived there. The reason we took the land, we say, was because we believed that we were better than those savage Native Americans who did not practice Christianity, the greatest and most powerful religion.

Now you might be asking how this applies to the current day United States. “We apologized to those Indians (the term we called them and still do today, even though they are not in fact Indians) and the abusive treatment of the Indians leaves a dark mark in United States history,” you might say. Well I say, “Have we ever returned their lands? Have we ever apologized for manipulating them into signing land treaties, instead of just apologizing for their bad treatment?” I believe in the saying that “old habits die hard”. We thought we were better than the Native Americans throughout the 18^th to 19^th century, and yet now we believe that we are better than the world in the 21^st century.

This cultural basis of superiority destroys us from within as well, since not only do we think that we are better than people from outside the U.S., but we think that we are better than other U.S. citizens as well. According to Mark Manson, author of the essay, “The American Dream is Killing us” the misguided American Dream leads us to exploiting others, justifying people’s value on what they achieve and enforces the belief that people get what they deserve. It is no wonder how these actions lead to mass competitiveness for popularity, smartness or wealth.

A testament to this vicious cut-throat nature, is seen in the introduction. No matter how much you do, there is a part of you that feels that you are not enough. American society encourages this, making you feel inferior and inspiring you to continue working yourself to death to validate yourself. I personally have seen this in my High School. It seems scary that this attitude has spread to the younger nature, but it has. Walking through the bustling, way too bright hallways I recall why I left high school to do PSEO. My group of friends was termed as the nerd group and they kept with their title as if it proved that they belonged there. I always felt off with them. I never realized it until I left. All they cared about was studying and working. They rarely had fun or free time, keeping busy with orchestra, band, soccer, tennis, volunteering or the multitude of other extracurricular that they felt required to do. They never could just sit and read a book, or watch TV. They could never relax because they could not let themselves. They had to work so much, and I agree that some did it for passion, but it was not very long before that passion turned into something more manufactured. I know this, because I was like them up to a point. I drove myself crazy thinking that I needed to be doing something with every second of my time. Up until a year ago, when I escaped that rat race, I never realized that there were other, more important things in life.

Though the idea of American Superiority dominated the mind in the 18^th and 19^th centuries, the competition for material wealth became heavily emphasized in the 20^th century. According to Kimberly Amadeo, writer of the essay “What is the American Dream Today”, “Over time, the definition of happiness started to change. In the 1920s, it became the acquisition of material things, as exemplified by the novel The Great Gatsby. A pursuit of happiness driven by greed was not attainable because someone else always had more. This greed led to the stock market crash of 1929 and the Great Depression.” The pursuit of happiness is still something that exists very much today. But, if happiness is not the acquisition of wealth or material belongings, like the American Dream states, what is it?

According to the World Happiness Index, the U.S. is ranked at 13 out of 53 countries. For a country that promotes the pursuit of happiness as a part of the American Dream, shouldn’t we be ranked higher on the list? This implies that working is not everything and it is certainly not the basis for happiness. To look into what happiness is, we are going to look at an interesting survey that recorded the top regrets of people before they died. In a list of 5 regrets, the second biggest regret is “I wish I hadn’t worked so hard.” Nowhere on the list did people regret not having enough fame or wealth. Other regrets included, “I wish I had stayed in touch with my friends, I wish I’d had the courage to express my feelings and I wish that I had less myself be happier.” When I tried to figure out what happiness is, I happened upon an interesting conclusion. Happiness is a choice, it is not a race, it is not an unattainable object, it is a choice.

I did not intend to completely bash the United States, I just wanted to point out some key flaws in something that I think can greatly be improved. There are better definitions of an American dream. Amadeo states in her article a new dream, “For example, the Center for a New American Dream envisions "... a focus on more of what really matters, such as creating a meaningful life, contributing to community and society, valuing nature, and spending time with family and friends."” Happiness comes from within. Ultimately it comes down to one choice, work on industrialized passions or find a real passion and spend time with those you love? The choice is ultimately up to you, but always remember that one of the biggest regrets in life was “I wished I hadn’t worked so hard” not “I wished I had worked more”.

Works Cited

Amdeo, Kimberly. “What Is the American Dream Today?” The Balance. N.p., n.d. Web. 19 Feb.

2017. < https://www.thebalance.com/what-is-the-american-dream-today-3306027>.

Hrala, Josh. "The World Happiness Index 2016 Just Ranked the Happiest Countries on

Earth." ScienceAlert. N.p., n.d. Web. 19 Feb. 2017. < http://www.sciencealert.com/the-world-happiness-index-2016-just-ranked-the-happiest-countries-on-earth>.

Manson, Mark. "The American Dream Is Killing Us." Mark Manson. N.p., 30 Jan. 2017. Web.

            19 Feb. 2017. < https://markmanson.net/american-dream>.

Moore, Susie. "The 5 Biggest Regrets People Have Before They Die." Greatist. Greatist, 07 Feb.

            2017. Web. 19 Feb. 2017. < http://greatist.com/live/most-common-regrets>.