During our final class discussion, we discussed a variety of topics, both those covered in class and those not. Throughout this course I have gained knowledge and insight on a variety of historical events and what each of them did to influence our world today. It was really interesting to me to just have an open forum discussion as such and to hear everyone's open and honest views on everything we talked about. It was eye-opening to me to see just how much human experience changes each of us on individuals and influences the way in which we view the world around us.
Within this discussion, we discussed political issues, such as the Black Lives Matter Movement, societal issues, such as the way social media and media in general influences society, and a variety of other topics. The discussion really brought the class full circle, analyzing how things have changed as times have progressed and what the world looks like today, either better or worse off than it was before. The end of the discussion posed the following question: If you had to put a name for the so-called “era” we are living in right now, what would you name it and why?
If I really had to put a name to this era, I would choose to call it the “Turn Back The Clock Era”. It is no secret that as history has progressed, there have been countless numbers of events that have occurred over time that greatly influenced the world as we live in it today. However, with that being said, I think society has slowly inched backward in some ways. This, therefore, cancels out the progressions we had seen over the years thanks to some of our nation’s most influential leaders, including but not limited to, president’s, Civil Rights activists, theorists and more. While I do not believe there is one singular catalyst to this effect we are seeing, there are a variety of things that have greatly altered our world that are oftentimes overlooked, most of which coming to mind for me being covered in our class discussion.
One factor covered in our discussion, in my opinion, would be religion. I strongly believe that over time, religion has become a major basis for the thinking of not only our nation’s people, but more specifically political leaders. Religion seems to now have influence on how courts may vote, something that was looked at in a very different light in say the 1950s. This lessens the faith of the people in the political system, since politics have become so divided, as the people strongly believe in following those that have morals and views that align with their own. One of the more recent examples of this would be Amy Coney Barrett becoming Supreme Court Justice after the passing of Ruth Bader Ginsburg. The two, not only having completely opposing political views, have totally different views on almost everything else. This was a monumental moment in the Supreme Court and has been very controversial in society.
Another crucial factor I’d like to consider is the effect social media and the media as a whole has on society. While times were changing and developing, commemorative historical events occurred all the time, social media, radio, television, newspapers etcetera, some of these things did not even exist. The things that did exist were not nearly as advanced and widespread as we see media influence today. Media as a whole plays a huge role in the idea of polarization, the divergence of attitudes away from the center, more towards ideological extremes. This can be on the basis of political views, morals, race and a variety of other factors. The goal of our nation and many of its leaders, as a whole, was to work towards a more integrated, equal society and culture. This is oftentimes being displaced by things, such as social media, causing a digression in unity and peace amongst the nation’s citizens. Further, media has played a huge role in the way in which we receive, process and share information. When a media outlet releases a story, it oftentimes is eventually talked about with biased opinions, influencing the way we decide upon our own views on matters that influence our society. We have gotten so used to the media and know it so frequently talks about influential topics. As Professor Smith said, “A dog barked and the caravan moved on”, which I feel most accurately represents the weight of this topic. We hear a story, we talk about it for a while and then like nothing, it disappears. It gets swept under the rug by other things, sometimes never to be heard of again.
If we continue down this path with our ignorance to significantly important things, such as gender equality, racial equality and so on, we will make no progress. Consequently, we will continue to digress as a societal whole, as I believe we already have begun to do. Think of our most well-known leaders towards civil and human rights, Martin Luther King Jr., Harriet Tubman, and some of our nation’s greatest presidents. The list goes on. If all of these people were standing here today, would they be proud of the society they saw before them? Would they be ashamed of what they saw? Would you be able to confidently say that society has continued to progress only forward and will continue to do so at the rate we are going? I for one, cannot, and I firmly believe that in taking a look at the world as it stands today, if things continue down this path, we are in for a rude awakening. Our nation may begin to crumble, and who's to say if we will have the proper leaders and representation to overcome and rise above it? It is time to make a change, while we are still able, and the time is now. The “Turn Back The Clock Era” will quickly become the “Erase History Era” if we do not see change.
No comments:
Post a Comment