Women

Even with modern times, women still don’t have an easy time achieving leadership roles. I have every faith that a woman can be just as good of a leader as a man can be. If someone has what it takes to be a leader, it does not matter what sex they are. However, I do agree that woman have to “man up” in order to gain the role. It is not good for anyone who is emotional to be in such a major position of power. In order to be elected into a position of leadership women and men need to be stable and able to put their motions aside. Women are seen as the emotional sex and therefore have a harder time breaking the mold of the male leaders in the world and its history. Hilary Clinton, for example, has made herself appear both strong and stable, rarely showing her emotions. She has made a name for herself despite the fact that her husband has already made a name for their family. However, recently she broke down and cried for the public. To some this shows a sign of weakness, and other as a genuine sign of a real human and not a robot. I would have to agree with those that said it is a sign of weakness. Getting emotional in such a high position worries the country and is not a good thing at all. I understand that she is human and will break at some points, and I’m sure even male leaders do too, but it should not be shown. Leaders are supposed to be strong for those of us who aren’t or at least appear to be. In Macbeth, Lady Macbeth show her strength when her husband can’t be. She takes the daggers back to the scene of the crime because Macbeth can’t. She puts aside her emotions in order to get the job done. Again I have every faith that woman have the ability to be just as great as men. In order to achieve this greatness, however, I think they need to be able to swallow back those tear and put on a strong face for their followers. Women get put down a considerable amount for our gender and what history has made us look like. We are supposed to be the weak, emotional women that take care of the kids and clean the house. In order for any one of us to gain a position of leadership, we have to be that much stronger, strong enough to break the barriers and take the criticism of our race on top of the criticism for our political views or beliefs.  I believe women can do it and will do it.

Learning from Voids

    I think that in life or death situations, the bystander’s role is very important. If one person reacts, it could cause a chain reaction and actually have an effect. Also, as humans, it’s our duty to stand up for those who cannot stand up for themselves. One example I think of for this situation is the last episode of Seinfeld. The characters are witnesses to a crime that they could have prevented had they done something at the time. They filmed the crime and even made cruel jokes about the victim. They end up in jail because they did nothing. In my mind, they were just as guilty as the criminal mugging the overweight victim. In events such as the holocaust, the people that agree to do the executions are guilty as well. Sure, if they refused to do the executions, someone else would have, but it’s against the morals of any decent human to not participate in a mass murder. Victor Capesius saw people he lived with, interacted with, and even helped rid of disease yet he still did not have the guts to stand up against the people who were forcing him to watch these innocent people die. Not only that, but after going to court he did not express any remorse. I think he was completely guilty in this sense. He knew what he was doing, and didn’t show any signs of resistance. That’s unforgivable. Jarausch didn’t do much better. He did send letters expressing his guilt and his sympathy for the prisoners he was holding, yet he didn’t act upon these feelings. It’s obviously difficult and not many people, if put in the same situation, would have done different. Still, you’d think that more people would have stood up against those cruelties of an attempt to wipe out an entire race. I think it is very hard to stand up against evil on your own, but I don’t believe there is a way to take part in evil event like the concentration camps and still maintain your moral convictions. Macbeth also acts rather cruelly towards the people he comes into contact with all because he wants power. Power is usually the incentive humans have to act so mean and impulsive as to take another person’s life just so that they can gain from it. It is an awful and unfulfilling way to live and I don’t understand how people who participate in such things can live with the guilt they have.