You will be asked to read the following articles about war and violence during class.

Each class, you will be required to write a response to the article using the prompt
"I used to think, now I think" and post it on your blog. You may want to consider
starting a new "tab" or page for your journals. The topic is war and violence.
What is something that you learned from each article, or something that gave you
pause and made you think? There is no maximum length requirement, however, you
should have a minimum of a paragraph and make direct reference to the reading.
Articles:
1. Terrorism as cannibalism
I have been thinking a lot about war and violence lately. However, before reading this
article I had never thought about the reasons why it is still occurring even when we are
trying so hard in so many ways to create solutions. The analogy between terrorism and
cannibalism add a new perspective for me to take another look at the current global
society. It is a fact that, the society nowadays is about cosmism, about social media, about
ourselves, our own enjoyment. Meanwhile, because of all the things we rapidly consume,
all cultural were brought together in a crazy speed. In such condition, it is reasonable to
make the analogy between human and animal in cage. Like animals in cage, we were
pushed together, we did loose a huge chunk of privacy, and we did become greedier and
paranoid. The highly exposed society has no room for us to develop identities and
discover the beauty of the world. Therefore, we fear even more about losing what we
have or our mind. Conformity became the dominance in our life, we live in similar house,
share similar information, and is educated with similar ideologies, which eventually lead
to zero tolerance in deference. At this stage, violence forms against the individuals, to
protect the group that we think we belong to.
What did we do to solve these problems? Up until today, weve been dropping bombs and
soldiers over seas, we interrogate the suspects, we catch the crimes, kill them or through
them into some small jail out of the publics site. What we've been trying to use violence
against violence, which in this case will just level up the hates. What we do is demanding
others to change, to give up their ideology, and to conform to us. Why dont we educate
each other about our thought, culture and identity? I hope that maybe one day we can use
the fast spread of information can help us truly understand the surroundings and open our
minds with curiosity and love instead of fear and hate.
2. Manhood and violence
I very much agree with this perspective of putting education, media and stereotype under
on spot light to analyze social issues and violence. Often when I am think about social
conflict, I focus on religion and the cultural rub between cultural group, and fear as
human nature. Before reading this article stereotype and the mind sets that are formed
under certain education with bias had never catches my attention. Thinking about my
childhood, children were surrounded by gender stereotype. I was taught to confined
myself or to do any big boy movement. For boys, like my brother, my father would
always tell him to fight back with fist when others tease him, they would mock fights and
kongfu at home. We always hear people tease about boys be a man.
Chimp Case

After reading this case study, I have come to my own conclusion. In my opinion, human
is not born with violence, but there are primary human natures that trigger violence and
learn the please of violence. For the sake of survival, chimps and human developed two
main, basic and equivalent natures, fear and desire. Chimps fight with other groups for
resources like living space, food and water, they need to win the position in the food
chain and they lust for the sake of reproduction to inherit the species. All of these
behavior, are originated from fear, the fear of dying, the fear of suffering from hunger and
the fear of being eliminated in the food chain and being controlled. The reason for why
we interaction with things out side of our body is that we fear of dying and desire for
survival. Human has the same fear and desires that chimps have, we want to live a good
life, we want out genes to pass on. For example, in my opinion, why Hitler targeted Jews
in WWII is because, that he is afraid of this group of people who thinks differently has
the potential threats for getting a superior or dominant position in society that could
control or affect the amount of resource Aryan Race get. Many people in Canada
protest against Syrian refuges because, they dont know about those people coming in,
they consider them as threats in the community that may influence their culture and
challenge their safety. At the beginning violence was necessary, but as history progresses,
humans and chimps brain started to interpret killing and the feeling taking control others
as joy and excitement. It is proven biologically and chemically that when we kill and
perform violence, our nerves are stimulated, and our brain secrete chemicals that create
joyful feelings. Violence is like drugs, they eat away our body and spirit, but many of us
are addicted to them. In my eyes, violence is not innate but it is so easily to be triggered
by our nature of fear and desire, that we falsely interpreted as one of our nature. Because
we are human, the instant like of violence is inevitable, just like what happened among
the chimps. However, we are different from the chimps that we have intelligence and self
awareness. From getting to know ourselves, others and the world more, some of us are
able to recognize their nature of fear and desire and distinguish violence form them. My
assumption is that if more people is able to realize the nature of violence and use their
brain to make better choice, the world would be a better place.
3. Case study 1 & 2
The most boring and impossible thing in the whole universe being identical, yet its what
majority of humans desires. Not even two robots are identical, how can two vivid lives be
identical. In the two case studies, the common place scenario of individuals being
targeted and harmed by majority for loving different people or having different skin color.
For me, the past experience in QMS, an international school, where I am always
surrounded by classmates from all over the planet, had made diversity essence of my life.
I see myself as a unique individual, who is able to argue about religions, listen to other
peoples opinions, and is courageous to become the voice of myself. However, I also
witness many of other people around me fall in to the discrimination patter, conceal their
true ideas, conform to the mainstream and became bystanders. Meanwhile, I also know
there are teachers and influential people that help me to be brave and speak out.
Therefore, like what Gandhi said, every moment on I would be the change I want to see
in the world. I will demonstrate my love and passion to everyone surrounding me,
showing them that I am who I am, that my nationality, skin color and sexual orientation
do no effect what I believe and how I treat the world. I wish that by doing so, I can
influence many people to start reflecting on what the see every day and process their

thinking before they act, and to dare to love. Hopefully, by doing so, there will no longer
be people like Zeinah and Jason who suffer every minuet in life.