System Examples

In the news story of the Chinese man and the Countrywide system, a language barrier caused a man to lose his home. The man could not speak English and had Parkinson disease. He was taught not to open junk mail and thought that a piece of mail that was important was junk mail. Because he spoke a different language than us people in America and that he had a disease, he was classified at the bottom, and insignificant. This relates to Jesus' time when the sick were rejected, because of the disease they had. They should have gave him another chance, because it was purely accidental. We should not discriminate others and take into consideration the case and what had happened. We have different moral responses, because of the way we were brought up, our environment, and those who surround us.

In the Stanford prison case the students took on the role as guards and prisoners. As soon as the students took their job and put on the costume, they changed. They became someone different. As people when we have a role, we take on that role and become something different. In this case the students that were not normally mean and abusing, but became mean and abusing, because they were given a certain role . Once you are given power you change and want more power and do things you wouldn't normally do. Systems normally give power to a certain group, which causes the people to conform and take on the roles to keep their power.

Rachel Barge is a student a UC Berkeley, who started Steam. Steam is The Sustainability Team , which is a student internship program dedicated to creating, implementing and leading a variety of projects aimed at establishing sustainable practices. The group created the first recycling program in student union buildings and founded the first organic, local, student-run cooperative produce stand on campus. She found out that there was a lack of money to fund certain projects that help the environment. The Green Initiative Fund which is signed by students raises money to fund those projects. I think that she went outside of self-interest, because she realizes that self-interest only makes more problems for the world. She was very in-your face to try to per sway people to go with her ideas, which shows her dedication to the environment.

self -serving systems

Most systems that are created to beneficent, end up being self-serving, because the creators started out with good intentions to be beneficial, but end up having the drive to make for money for them, than the charity itself. In some charities the administration and high powered employees make a huge amount of money. In some cases if someone donated 100 dollars, maybe half or 75% would go towards the employees, instead of the charity which it was intended to go toward. I think that systems are like that, because they feel good because they think that they are helping the cause and helping themselves in the process. Except they end up helping themselves more than what truly needs the help and full support. They think about helping themselves, but don’t feel all that bad for it, because they are still helping the cause, but only a little.
Example; Here is a high school student starting to apply to college. She starts a reading club for seniors at a nursing home. What do you think she really created the club for? Was she doing it to help the old people or was she starting it to look good on her college application? She might have started it to help seniors, but most highs choolers would do that to be self-serving so it would look good on their college application. A lot of people tend to be this way now a days.
Example; This whole blog ties back into greed of America, only serving themselves, and not fully keeping their promise to help Africa. They started out with good intentions to help, but ended up being self-serving and caring only about themselves.

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Systems become cycles built on manipulation, self-interest, and ignorance. Most systems usually reflect the point of view of the creator, benefiting their own interest, without mutual benefits to others within the system itself. Systems are created to organize and cause the participants to assimilate and conform to it. These systems consequently give power to those who organize it, causing corruption. People on the top are seen to be essential, while those participants on the bottom are seen unnecessary. However, in order for a system to work, they are often interdependent. The organizers are dependent on the participants to be compliant while the participants are dependent on the organizer in order to act accordingly for the system. Because participants are seen to be more dependent on the top, this causes the organizers to abuse and become unethical with the way they run the system.

The unmerciful servant

1. The main character is the high level servant. The servant is the main character, because his life was on the line and he asked for time, and the king dismissed his debts. Then when the servant saw his fellow servant who owed him little debt, the servant demanded him for the money. The man asked him the same question he had asked the king, and yet he didn't dismiss the debt. He didn't learn from the king, because he only cared about himself. His life was on the line and didn't care who he had to harm to get something that he needed to save himself.

2. The king decides to forgive the debt, because he has enough to where he doesn't need to harm someone to survive, unlike the servant who has nothing and feels the need to abuse someone to get something they need. The king forgives the debt because he saw that the servant couldn't pay him back and dismissed it, hoping that the servant would learn from him and forgive others.

3. The servant doesn't forgive his fellow servant, because in a way he only cares about his life. He was only thinking about what would happen to him and not what would happen to the other guy. He did what he thought he needed to do for his family to survive, because he had nothing. I think that because he was forgiven he was expected to learn from the experience, but because he was let off easily, he didn't fully understand and go through the consequences.

4. God is like the king. In the beginning of the parable Peter asked Jesus how many times should he should forgive his brother, which is the natural human response when someone sins against you. Jesus is teaching to not put a limit on forgiveness . The Kingdom of God doesn't limit how many times it forgives us. Keeping track of how many times we forgive is not forgiving at all. The debt that we owe God because of our sins compares to the ten thousand talent debt. It is so great that we could never repay it. But God forgives that impossible debt endlessly.

U.S. Involvement

38. Why is the Israeli - Palestinian conflict so important on the global stage? Why does the rest of the world care, and get so involved, in this conflict in such a small place?
The reason why everyone was getting involved with such a small place, is for strategic and personal reasons. The personal reasons were for national, ethnic bonds, and religion. The strategic interests were mainly for military and economics. Palestine was also in the center of three continents and at the center of trade. In order to stay tied to the U.S other nations had to have a good and friendly relationship with Israel, because Israel was the 2nd or 3rd closest ally with the U.S.

39. What is the international response to the Israeli- Palestinian conflict? Is there international agreement?
The international response to the Israeli- Palestinian conflict is that the deal of the 242 agreement was more than a trade for land and peace. They thought that the land that Israel had captured should be returned to whom it belonged too. So the international response to 242 was not very good. Palestine was not represented in the U.N and only allowed a seat there.

40. Why hasn't the U.S been part of that consensus?
The U.S thought that only they should be allowed to trade with Israel, because they thought if other nations got involved with Israel, they would be ganged up on.

41. Why is the U.S the central player in the middle east?
The main reason for the U.S involvement was power. The U.S had just won the war and they were doing good and were the only ones who survived the war. Another reason for involvement was because the U.S was hungry for oil.

42. What explains the U.S- Israeli "special relationship?
To the U.S Israel had the potential to have an outstanding military, because they had just defeated 3 or 4 Arab areas and showed strong and powerful signs of great potential, which was good for the U.S to have allies, with strong governments.

43. Is the U.S and "honest broker" in the conflict?
The U.S was never in agreement with international nations getting involved with Israel, so no I don' t think they were. That was the only info I got down, because I didn't finish reading this one.

Summary of 3-7

3. The British withdrew itself from help making a Jewish state in Palestine, because they were unable to make a political solution that would satisfy both Jews and Arabs, and could not prevent the war that broke out among the two. The British handed over the job to the U.N. They decided to partition the territory. The Jews needed somewhere to stay, because there were Holocaust survivor's without homes. The Jews were given more land in Palestine than the Palestinians. The Arabs left, because they were forced or were afraid. Many wars broke out during the time of Jews taking over Palestinian land.

4. The Six day war changed the borders of the Middle East, changed military and political perceptions, and it brought the United States into the mix as a permanent factor in the region. The land of Israel was surrounded by Arab states that were threatening to push Israel into the sea. A miscommunication was sent to Arab that the Isralies were going to attack and so Arabs sent threats like; closing the Gulf of Aqaba to shipping, cutting off Israel from its primary oil supplies. Israel had to prove that they did everything to prevent war and this war was the last resort. The Israeli army had conquered the sites holiest to Judaism. The war changed Israel. Arabs broke off from the U.S, because they thought the U.S was on the Israeli side.

5. Egypt and Syria attacked Israel in the Yom Kippur war. The Palestinians had really nothing to do with that war. They were only trying to regain their land that was taken from them. Israel was overconfident and caught by surprise by the war. They still won, but were weak in the beginning. Egypt and Syria got into an argument and the U.S thought it would be a good opportunity for them. The Palestinian movement was created to have a Palestinian state in the occupied land, which left behind the idea to kick out Israel. In the West Bank and Gaza war broke out, because the Palestinians didn't want the Israeli's there(intifada). Arabs and Israelis said there would be no more blood shed. Palestinians thought that Egypt betrayed them, and Egypt got back Sinai, and didn't really negociate for Palestine.

6. Israel and Palestine signed the Oslo agreement(self-government) that was meant to bring peace, but didnt. It ended up dying and started a whole new intifada. Palestinians were very angry and felt violated. A traffic accidence where Israel killed Palestinians started the whole dispute. The intifada went on for years and some of Israeli's thought they should end it, because it would hurt them economically and morally.

7. Palestinians couldn't see where anything benefited them. Erafatt's method and style of governing also contributed to the failure of the process and he also violated some of the terms in the Oslo agreement like; by importing arms, by having much bigger security forces than they were entitled to, and by not laying the foundations for a democratic regime that respects human rights. At another agreement process Erafatt should have said look here's what we will accept. He neither had the courage, the foresight,or the intelligence to do those. They can't understand why Jews suddenly appeared in Palestine and started to take it over. They can't understand why they must agree to the Jews' taking over 80 percent of their land and they only get 20. The two groups failed to try to agree and didn't put their past behind them. The Israeli's were not forced to sit down and decide anything, which caused them to not want to agree on anything, which over time made them not want to give up the terriotory they occupied.

Wicked Tenants

kThe Parable of The Wicked Tenants starts off with a certain class being oppressed because of their class. The man who farmed the vineyard created all the drama, because he blocked out a certain class and took away something from them that they cherished and thought was given to them by God. The man was so rich, he was able to leave his land fallow for four years. He also was rich because he had enough money to get up one day and randomly go on a vacation. He sends servants to the tenants to collect the food that was produced, because he was lazy and knew that the tenants would be aggressive because of what the farmer was setting up. The problem was the tenants didn't want to give that food up, because they planted it and it was their land originally. The farmer was setting himself up for all of this because he planted a vineyard that doesn't produce grapes for four years, and the tenants didn't want to give up that food because they needed to survive. Once the first act of violence occur ed, they realized "o well we might as well go all out." Jesus is not telling us to resort to violence, but to stick up for ourselves. When the tenants were killing the servants being sent by the farmers, they were digging them selves into a hole, that would cost them and others their lives. Jesus is trying to tell the farmers to not create a system in which you block out a certain class of people, because that only creates violence in this cycle: oppression, revolt, and smash. Ultimately he is telling the poor to become apart of the system and for the elite to not create a system that sets up oppression. Jesus wants there to be a society where everyone is welcomed, the poor and the elites. Jesus is telling the Jews, just because you don't like the structure of society, you can't just start over and destroy everything. Jesus tells them that they can add and try to fix the structure of society. Jesus is telling the Jews they need to work with what they have. Jesus is also giving the elite a role. He tells the them that having all this power comes with responsiblity to make sure those on the bottom are taken care of. The stones that have been rejected by the builders are the tenants. The parable is saying that those stones need to be preserved and made the cornerstone, which is the support stucture. Without the cornerstone there would be no structure. That is similar to the tenants ,the roles they play, and the structure they provide and contribute to.