Hiatus of Insouciance

Franklin Delano Roosevelt once said, “there is nothing to fear but fear itself.” Why did he say this? He said this because a lot of variables that contributed to the cause of the Great Depression were due to fear. In fear of us not having enough money, we printed more money but ended up decreasing the value of every dollar we printed and every dollar in existence beforehand. When one sees gas prices going up, one goes out to buy gas quickly because we assume that it will be higher by tomorrow. Everyone goes out and buys gas. But because we now have less gas, the supply goes down, which means the value and demand of gas goes down, inherently raising the gas prices. Our reaction to fear is what fulfills that which we feared in the first place.

During the great Depression, the Austrian government froze their bank accounts, meaning no one could deposit or withdraw money from their accounts until further notice. This brought fear to Germans. They feared that the German banks might do the same thing, so everyone requested to pull their money out. But we all know that banks don’t keep all of the money at the banks. That would be virtually impossible. The money circulates because of investment, and that’s how banks get their money. So when people all at once try to pull their money out of banks, banks lose their leverage and have to borrow money from other banks, and then banks end up failing. Now the entire economy is messed up.

There is no evidence that such fears were founded upon. Reactions to problems that never existed and predictions of the future are what create problems and fulfill fears.

“for God gave us a spirit not of fear but of power and love and self-control.” - 2 Timothy 1:7 (ESV)

This question came up and I decided to answer it: Do you think that certain sports should be played by a certain group of people? Why? Should this stereotyping exist when it comes to sports?

I do not believe certain sports should be played by only one ethnicity, by only one race, or by only one type of person, for that matter, regardless of how one may discriminate between them. What I do believe, however, is that there may be physical and cultural characteristics present in specific races or ethnicities, and that these characteristics may give them an inherent advantage above others in sports and even academics.

To the point: The movie, The Boy In the Striped Pajamas, shows a sort of compromise between racism being taught and racism being hereditary. It is obvious, as my professor, Dr. Teresa Williams León, mentioned in her lecture on wednesday, that races often show various physical characteristics that make us all appear different. In the case of this movie and discrimination between Germans and Jews, there are very few differences between the way these people appear. Of course, the Germans sought out the “Aryans,” the light-haired, light-eyed, “chosen ones,” yet even Hitler did not fit the description, and he was the one who led the entire operation in irony. Because there are physical differences between races, depending on the mind of the individual who attests to such differences, one can develop thoughts about another that are very racist. 

I attended elementary school in Diamond Bar, a city notorious for its large asian population. I had never seen an asian person until the first day of my first grade year at Diamond Point Elementary. And I must admit, the first thought that came to my innocent, adolescent mind was, “What’s wrong with his eyes?” I am sure he looked at me and thought, “What’s wrong with his skin?” In this case, our racism comes from our innocence and, for lack of a better word, ignorance, not from what one of us was taught. Like stated before, it depends on the individual mind to take these observations and make of it what they may. I could have accepted the individual for who he was, which I did, or I could have discriminated against him for his differences. I was never taught to discriminate, and I do not think I was really even taught to accept others and their differences. Accepting others and their differences was just a part of my nature. 

For Bruno, in the movie, I believe accepting others was in his nature, too, because if it was not, he would have been very susceptible to the racist teachings of his parents. The reason I believe there is a compromise between racism being taught and being hereditary is because it may be in one’s nature to discriminate against another rather than to accept them. But let’s define and break down “discrimination” for a moment, because it’s negative connotation will often spark harsh thoughts of violence, oppression, and superiority/inferiority complexes. 

Here is the etymology of the word “discriminate”: 1620s, from Latin discriminatus, pp. of discriminare ”to divide, separate,” from discrimen (genitive discriminis) “interval, distinction, difference,” derived noun from discernere (see discern). The adverse (usually racial) sense is first recorded 1866, American English. Positive sense remains in discriminating. Related: Discriminated. Also used 17c. and after as an adjective meaning “distinct.”

Also, according to google, discrimination has two primary definitions: 

1. The unjust or prejudicial treatment of different categories of people or things, esp. on the grounds of race, age, or sex.

2. Recognition and understanding of the difference between one thing and another.

We often think of the first definition for discrimination, but we also have to consider the second. In first grade, I recognized the difference between him and me, and I eventually learned what it was and why it was that way, meaning I understood it. If we consider the second definition of discrimination a valid one, then I discriminated against the boy in my first grade class.

So I think we all discriminate, to not discriminate is to ignore the differences that races have, and that does not solely mean physical differences. Racism is one of the options we have after we discriminate. 

Racism is a belief or doctrine that inherent differences among the various human races determine cultural or individual achievement, usually involving the idea that one’s own race is superior and has the right to rule others.

Although typically unnatural, maybe there are some who will naturally cogitate oppression and violence toward those who are different. Who am I to say that there are not? In most cases, however, I must say that racism is taught, whether it be by observation or instillation. I hope this answers any questions and clearly delineates the slight compromise between the two ends of the “race” spectrum.