Genocide

We are reading Night in English class. Amazing book so far, in my opinion. The reason I bring it up is not the book, but the term genocide.

My teacher was basically saying that genocide is inflicted upon a specific race or ethnicity, but not just through systematic killing. Sterilization, destruction of culture, and forced transportation of children away from their families are other ways of committing genocide.

Now I looked at this definition, and after a few seconds an idea sprung into my head. What about America's own genocide? What about our own homegrown hate? So I raised my hand and asked that with the definition given couldn't the atrocities committed on the Native Americans be considered genocide.

NOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!

That was the reaction I received from my classmates. Granted they didn't yell that, but I could hear the scoffs, the groans, and the mutterings of my peers. Then I also heard the rebuttals of "Yeah, well we didn't put them in concentration camps, and we didn't kill them just because of their race."

I was just amazed at the outright anger that I witnessed from my classmates. Yes, the Holocaust was genocide, and it wasn't done on American soil. Yet, the killing of millions of the native population by early and later European settlers also fits into that category. God forbid we as Americans admit to the bad things our country has done in the past.

In an effort to defend my self, I explained my viewpoint a little more clearly. Then a boy in my class raises his hand and tell the teacher he hasn't understood a word I said.

Blarg.

Secrets

Secrets interest me quite a deal. I never really have many myself, but I love to find out others. Sadly, I'm a bit of a blabbermouth too. If someone tells me a secret and doesn't expressly instruct me not to tell I will most likely tell a few people or more.

Now, there are some secrets I have never told anyone, and I acquired one of those secrets last night. This is one I know I will never tell. With the telling of this secret to me, the relationship between that person and I was cemented even more than it was before. It made me feel great knowing that that person could trust me, and that my reaction to the telling, being accepting, has made that person feel so much better.

I never really believed that idea that sharing a secret brings people closer together until now. My love for this person has grown deeper than it already was and it makes me happy.

I'm usually never this sappy. I don't have a romantic bone in my body. It's a first, I guess, and I'm seeing it as a good sign.

Ponderings

Warning:

Complete randomness without a central theme is to ensue.


College

I'm sick of that word, that idea, that future, that question. If I could, I would just forget how to read and join the circus (forgetting how to read would just make it more interesting, I suppose).

I'm assuming a lot of this hate is from my fear of college. Will I do well? Is U. of M. the right choice? What do I want to do with my life?

Another reason for the hatred is over saturation. I hear about college more every year, and I heard about it quite enough my Freshman year. And considering an increase in its discussion every year, I have met my tolerance.

I wish it was all over, I was in college, and in the swing of things there.


Personality Traits

I'm at a crossroads. To forgive or not to forgive. Forget and move on or remember and become even more bitter.

Maybe I just need to let go of the hurt I have inside me. For some reason I still feel that that is not an option. Considering a majority of this hurt has not been apologized for, I don't feel it fair that I have to forgive and forget things that people have done when they either don't know or care about how much they have hurt me.

Maybe I take things too personally. Maybe I see things as mean or as an insult when they are just meant to be a joke and not intended to hurt me.

I used to forgive too much, allowing people to walk all over me. I'm just worried that if I forgive someone then I'll fall back into that cycle of giving those people the ability to make my life hell because I become understanding again.


Music Snobbery

I love various forms of music. Granted, not every form by far and some genres are beyond me ever loving. I have been labeled by certain individuals as a music snob. They claim that my distaste for much of the Top 40 is due to my music snobbery. Is it bad to expect more? Insult a band because I find their music terrible? Avoid the Top 40 station because of the majority of the music they play?

I don't really consider myself a music snob, because the reason I hate some bands or artists is the reason I love another. I'm ridiculously inconsistent and don't pick apart the music I listen. I will give something a listen before dismissing it, but I know what I like and don't like.


------------------------------------


I am done for now . . .