Final Blog - Awe

Rediscovering Awe

When I first read this piece I was uncomfortable with Schneider’s repetition of “the problem is” which sounded a bit like he was preaching.
Schneider’s ideas definitely resonate with me. The over use of the cell phone computer and other electronic devices has “dumbed” down the American. This is especially true of young people who can’t seem to live without being online for enormous amounts of time.
Schneider refers to “the capacity to be moved is the least appreciated pillar of child development.” Children are not taught to pause, feel and wonder. Having worked with small children for a very long time, I find that when they are about one through six, they do have a sense of wonder. Once they are subjected to school where they are taught to push for excellence, children get lost in a mire of preconceived notions that learning comes first, thinking comes later.
At the MYC students are given the opportunity to pause and ponder. While making a video whose premise was to produce a talk show, each girl contributed ideas. They chose the “hosts, guests “and what commercials they would do. (the commercials were made up from their own ideas.) With the help of their counselor they were able to discuss the process and what the outcome would be.
Schneider goes on to state that “the amplification of children’s capacity to feel is not the same as cultivation of their capacity to be moved.” Referring back to the girls at LUNA at MYC, I can see how this is true. The girls were too busy swirling around making plans, what costumes to wear, and who would say what. In my observations I did not think that “being moved” applied to this particular situation.
Schneider gives the reader many ideas of what needs to be done, but does not tell how we should do what he suggests. I wonder, with more and more technology, will there be a place to “pause and wonder?”

Isolating Awe....

The beautiful thing about awe is that it is uncompromising in its jarring you into the present moment. Awe grabs your attention and shakes all the loose thoughts out of your mind. Sadly, most of us don’t have time for awe. We don’t have time for the moment of captivation, because we are so concerned with where we’re going and what it’s going to be like then. I’m really not an Aerosmith fan but in one of their few songs there is a line, “Life’s a journey, not a destination” that came into my head as I was reading this chapter on Awe. We have lost our appreciation for the journey in our expectations of how much better it will all be once we’re there. I see this with many of the students at MCCS. They are in such a hurry to grow up, be tough, be cool, be accepted, be popular. They are always in a hurry to be something or prove something that I wonder if they would even know when they achieved whatever it is that they are striving for. I want to say to them: “slow down. Put down your phone and think. Your friends aren’t going anywhere. You don’t have to be in a gang to be accepted. You don’t have to destroy your life to be loved. Slow down and think. Think about your life and what you want it to mean.” But all that comes out is: “First you have to isolate X, then you divide by 10…” And when I look up they are texting or pretending to shoot one of their classmates. Sometimes I wonder if I am only making matters worse by trying to force math upon them. Am I only reinforcing their disdain for school? In the reading, the author said something that really resonated with me. He suggests,
The point is that if we are to respond with depth, attunement, and embodiment, then we will need to engage with as many sides of a problem as possible. We will need to immerse ourselves in the ambiguity if we are to emerge with conviction, intention and integrity. (p. 171)
This experience at MCCS has made one thing very clear: The problem isn’t just their math. Shit, the problem is probably everything and anything but math. So am I really benefiting these kids by tutoring them in math? I don’t know. I know that I’m trying. I know that if I wouldn’t have been a math tutor, I wouldn’t be asking this question and I wouldn’t now understand that sometimes inability to isolate X isn’t really about X at all. Sometimes it’s about everything but X.

Rediscovery of Awe

I think everyone to some extent needs to be in awe of something. It keeps us humble, centered and grounded, so that we have some sense of boundaries in life. The sense of awe that I referring to is a positive one, not one which would cause us harm.

Children are indeed inundated with so much technology now, until we have allowed them to become in a way in awe of objects and concepts. (pg 150) Naturally the high tech industry would be very appealing to Young people, it was designed to be that way, if i twas not no one, not even adults would be interested. I think that we as the adults (parents) need to do a better job of regulating the exposure and or use of technology. The High tech business is very useful, we just need to decide what things we will and Will not let our children use and how they use it. I think children still need the experiences of intellectual stimulation in their lives, because these are necessary components of human development in this world ; in order to be a well rounded individual. Technology can be integrated into this developmental process, but it should not take over and be in lieu of the basic skills.

I have found that people who have no faith tend to not fair well when they are faced with problems, dilemmas, issues, dilemmas, or in some cases basic decision making. If there is no sense of inner peace, the rest of your life is generally out of place for most people. They don’t have anything to hold on to when they are in need. Money and objects usually do not provide long term (life long ) solace. Most people without faith are always usually searching for something, wondering what is missing, never having a sense of long term contentment. Faith can give you what you need to keep you centered and have long term peace in your life.

Blog on Awe

This piece starts "[T]he most important thing...to know [is] that beyond the absurdity of one's own life, beyond the human viewpoint...there is the fact of the tremendous creative energies of the cosmos that are using us for some purposes we don't know"(Awe, 8). This quote is simply to say that beyond what we know as human beings we are also being pulled to a greater purpose. This makes me think of the work we have been doing with our community partners. No matter who we have been working with, we have been striving to do something good for the community around us. We started this to do our hours for service learning for ethics but hopefully most of us have gotten much more out of this. By trying to work with these community partners we have been opened to something that could possibly be our calling. Perhaps some of us would have never been turned on to helping other people had we not been asked to work with them for class. This higher calling that we are unaware of could be to help people such as these. To save animals, provide clean needles, helping students to succeed, or making the economy greener, this class could well have sent us on our way to becoming the people we are suppose to be. Whether we are meant to stay with these community partners or move on with the knowledge we gained from this, we have effected the lives of many. Whatever it is that our higher purpose may be we are now better people for what we have done. Whether we acknowledge what it is we are suppose to do or follow the mondain drag of everyday life we now know what it is like to be a part of a bigger goal that the "cosmos" have pulled us towards; a goal meant to better hummanity.

The big picture!

Ok something just popped into my head in the reading and since this is extra credit...I'm going to rant a bit.
In the reading when talking about a world made smaller by adhering to one religion or one belief the author said "We cannot flourish in such a world, we cannot soar." (p.165)That is when it hit me. What these kids need is to understand the world outside of County, the world beyond graduating high school! I succeeded because I understood "ok get through high school, go to college, become a famous singer" All these things were seen as necessary steps. What the kids at County see is "get out of county so that these teachers and parents will stop bugging me." That is why it is so important to have them stay in touch with the outside world by visiting colleges or having guest speakers with different professions come in or by doing community service. If they don't see a world outside of this school...why even try? All their friends are here and the only future they are seeing is later that day...not the BIG PICTURE!
ok...
So I also see that some of the kids "get it". They see that they need to do their work to get the credits to graduate...but that is just the first step...they also need to actually DO the work. "The shock and the awakening are only preparatory. The next crucial question is how and whether one pursues, engages with, and emerges from one's struggle." (P144) A lot of the kids can see what they need to do, they just don't do it. All of the students are intelligent but not all of them have been awakened mentally as to what they need to DO to succeed. The students see the struggle ahead of them but are not willing to do the work to make it so that it is no longer a struggle.

Extra Credit--prompt for Rediscovery of Awe

I'm sure there's many ways you might connect this reading with service but here are some ideas if you want to use:
Schneider writes about the concept of a fluid center that "provides an alternative to [the] debilitating extremes" of "extremist-fundamentalist religions and . . . postmodern free market anarchy" (143). He explores the idea that ambiguity is one of the essential elements of our condition and requires an ethic that "calls upon the deepest energies of democracy, the fullest engagement of dialogue, and the keenest perceptions of context" ( 146). He calls this ethic, "awe-based" and states that the "capacity to be moved" may be the catalyst for opening oursleves to the complexity of our ethical being in the world (147).

Are there ways in which your service has opened you to ambiguity, to the gray areas, and at the same time expanded your capacity to grapple with this complexity in forming your own views? Do you have an example of an exchange or moment when you understood this challenge?

Responsibility--" Linked with mystery is responsibility, the challenge to respond. It is precisely out of uncertainty that we are called to responsibility. . .But what does it mean to face uncertainty [ambiguity] head on? It means that individuals (as opposed to outside authorities) must bear the brunt of decision-making, but it also means that there is a dimension beyond which individuals are able to make decisions. . ." (161-162). I hear echos of many of our other readings, especially Arendt. What have you learned from your service about this challenge to respond in the face of uncertainty, unknown outcomes? Can you describe a situation in which you began to experience the depth of complexity that surround the meeting between our personal values and the collective social issues with which we are faced every day?

Story or Lie?

People are myth making creatures. What I mean by that is that we try oh so desperately to explain the unexplainable, as a way to make it seem less distant, perhaps even connected to us. Our ability to tell stories has served us well in the beginning of our development, but as we developed in our thinking, our story telling abilities also grew. We began to reject these stories as lies and began to make new stories to fill the void we have just created. Now for me the question becomes an obvious one; at what point does the story we cherish and embrace now become the lie that we ridicule and call backwards thinking?
In the Precarious Life, the issue of censorship and justifications we try to make towards the evils committed during wartime and other times of conflict. I see this as our myth making ability in full effect. Instead of embracing the world as is with all the evils we have created, we try to hide them from public view. We tell ourselves these stories of how it’s not as bad as it seems, or that our actions are justifiable and other types of stories that distract us from the truth that is sitting right in our faces. We deliberately try to pull the wool over our own eyes so we don’t have to see the mess we’ve created. But sadly to say, these myths cannot last. Just as we dismissed the myths from our barbaric times, so too will these myths dissolve. Soon our stories won’t be able to cover our actions, and when that happens those stories will be tossed aside and replaced like the Greek gods were.

Language and Violence

While reading “The Precarious Life” by Judith Butler, I found her discussions involving language and justifications for violence to be very interesting. This inspection of how we use language as a means of violence was a consistent theme through out the reading. When explaining the interactions between Saudi Prince Alwaleed bin Talal and New York major Rudolph Giuliani, Butler illustrated a great example of how United States politicians as well the United States media changes the meanings of words around to create a reason for violence or use it as ammunition for their agenda. In this scenario, Alwaleed offered the Word Trade Center relief ten million dollars and stated, “the United States takes a more balanced stand toward the Palestinian cause” (12). Giuliani quickly rebutted this statement by refusing the money and saying the World Trade Center attacks “had no moral equivalent…” (12). What really upsets me about this interaction is that there are multiple moral equivalents to this attack. Yes, the United States itself has only come under attack less than a handful of times, and yes many innocent people died that day, but what is unfair about this whole situation is that events like this occur everyday in other place. This statement goes along with my favorite quote of the reading: “Will those hundreds of thousands of Muslim lives lost in the last decades of strife ever receive the equivalent to the paragraph-long obituaries in the New York Times that seek to humanize-often through nationalist and familial framing devices-those Americans who have been violently killed?” (12). This quote brings up the point that our self-importance as a country has greatly affected how we respond to world events. And such behaviors have caused us to ignore other countries that have suffered greater than our own. This rhetorical question also shows how language was used in the media to invoke emotion and a sense of “patriotism” within their audience. Butler also takes explains how the word “terrorist” has been consistently manipulated and misused to justify violence. The Bush administration and media has used the word make the country look like a victim defending itself. This use of language was able to manipulate most of the United States to lead them to believe that violence is the only way to defend itself.

"Those who commit acts of violence are surely responsible for them; they are not dupes or mechanisms of an impersonal social force, but agents with responsibility. On the other hand, these individuals are formed and we would be making a mistake if we reduced their actions to purely self-generated acts of will or symptoms of individual pathology or 'evil.'" (Butler, 15). That quote struck as the type of thing people say when a person commits a violent crime and then blame it on the t.v. show or video games they watch and play. Those arguments always irk me a little, okay a lot. I have played violent video games and have watched violent t.v. shows, but I am not a violent person, except the five years of football and eight plus years of hockey I played. I am not sure this was the point the quote was talking about but it is what I thought about. I feel that if people where that brain washed by video games we would have a lot more plumbers in the world with how popular Mario Brothers are. I just feel that when people use movies, t.v. shows and video games, heck even "Catcher in the Rye" as a reason for a violent act it's a cop out. I read "Catcher in the Rye" and I was excited thinking this book must be great with how "controversial" it is. It was extremely boring! I couldn't believe it. I think that people need to learn how to take responsibility for their actions, that also goes for parents. Parents need to take responsibility for their kids actions. The last is also a thing that bugs me. Parents just plop their kids in front of a t.v. or video game and don't take part in the child's life anymore. I think the main point I am trying to get at is being responsible for ones actions and do not use random things as a reason for ones stupidity.

Precarious Life

While reading through the Precarious Life I was caught off guard by the way the author was "Either you're with us or you're with the terrorists" (2) This is a prime example of positionality. I don't agree with this statement at all, there is more than just two options to one situation. After the September 11 event most Muslims were discriminated against. While the Muslim culture faced endless problems and harassment most Americans didn't feel safe. When something takes away a countries safety; people take things into their own hands. This causes country spread fear and havoc!

"United States has brought this state of events on itself. "(9) I also don't agree with this quote. I know every country has their enemies and problems but no country deserves to loose as many people has the united states did on September 11. Nor does a war fix what has happened. But I guess by human instinct it is survival of the fittest. This brings the egotistic people who think that they are better than anyone else, when in the end we are all human fighting for the same thing.

“We do not need to ground ourselves in a single model of communication, a single model of reason, a single notion of the subject before we are able to act” (48). Think about this in relation to in relation to your service-learning experience. Can you use a specific or significant moment to illuminate? This relates to my service learning at the because in order for us to save animals we have to go about it in several different ways. There isn't just one way to do things, not one "single" way to treat wounded dogs and cats. The possibilities are endless when it comes to saving animals and getting them adopted out. There is no single way for anything to happen in the rescue world. We can't ground ourselves to a single notion or communication because then when things don't go accordingly we wont know how to handle life.

Precarious Life

While reading Precarious Life, I was struck by the way in which the author described the attacks on September 11. There was a national feeling of terror after September 11, and people no longer felt safe in the United States. After the attacks, many Americans saw all Muslims as terrorists. Because of the acts of individuals, an entire culture and all people of Middle Eastern origin were targeted and labeled as "evil" people who would stop at nothing to end the spread of Western Civilization. A good thing for everyone to remember is that not all Muslims or all Middle Eastern people have the same way of thinking as those who committed the attacks during September 11 or other acts of violence. And even these people were conditioned to act this way.
"Those who commit acts of violence are surely responsible for them; they are not dupes or mechanisms of an impersonal social force, but agents with responsibility. On the other hand, these individuals are formed and we would be making a mistake if we reduced their actions to purely self-generated acts of will or symptoms of individual pathology or 'evil.'" (Butler, 15). It is true that all individuals who commit acts of violence should be held accountable for their acts, and there is no reason other than acting of their own accord that people finally choose to commit these acts. Before people start to make their own decisions about other cultures based on the actions of individuals who have taken their beliefs to the extremes of fundamentalists. People who commit acts of violence such as those that occured on September 11 have their own way of thinking about things. It is not neccessarily the same thinking as everyone who is a part of that religion or culture. It is almost similar to the whistleblower discussion. The whistleblower believes that everyone holds the same ideals as he or she does. When the whistleblower finds out that this way of thinking is not true, the whistleblower's ideal of the organization is destroyed. The whistleblower makes the mistake of thinking that everyone in his or her organization is thinking the same way, but in reality they aren't. That is how my dad felt about the company he worked for when the ideals he upheld were not upheld by the rest of the company. It is dangerous for people to believe that everyone from an organization or culture is of the same way of thinking as the people with the highest ideals or the most fundamentalist view. When people think this way, it causes animosity towards an entire group of people because of the views of individuals. People need to realize that not everyone in any one area think the same way. The author does a great job of describing the way that people take things the wrong way and mass paranoia errupts. People are easily manipulated by situations, and need to stick to their own ways of thinking and realize that everyone has their own thought process as well.

Precarious Life

While reading the excerpt from Precarious Life I became interested in the idea that ever since the terrorist attacks of the past there has been increased levels of government intervention; so much so that it is quite possible the sovereignty of the media has been compromised like never before. Although thisis a nation of free apeech and press it is not always so obvious nowadays. With this rise of terrorism in the past years the media has been left with two options "Either you're with us or you're with the terrorists"(Butler 2). If a newspapaer or reporter speaks out agaisnt what is happening with our government and thier handling of foreign affairs these reporters must face the "consequences" of what they have written. This "binarism" has created a not so "free" America, where instead of freedom of press, the media meets with much censorship and legal red tape for things they may say or write.
According to Judith Butler these reporters must take one of two positions, see "terror as justified" (Butler 2) and therefore are allowed to continue reporting, or supposedly "[feel] sympathy with terrorism" and have their name tarnished. The way the media is being treated today makes it seem like they are working for newspapers from some other country. If we start with mild censorship, who knows, it could one day grow to become a "big brother" nation instead of a land of freedom. Once we promote a lack of speech in any area of this free society, there's no stopping this rolling ball before it spins out of control. It is true that in society one must watch what they say or face the consequences, but when a reporter writes their opinion on a topic and is chastised for it, that is not living the American dream. America is the land of many oppportunities, not a nation where "only two positions are possible"(Butler 2).

Precarious Life

Being a business major was the reason I decided to help out at Marin Link. I was curious of learning what an organization like Marin Link did and what a green business really was. I have heard about people speak of sustainable business and how sustainable practices were beneficial but I was never a believer of these statements. In the contrary I dismissed the statements firmly believing the traditional practices of business should continue to be instituted and applied, if something worked why try to change it. Something unexpected happen while working at Marin Link, I began to see things in a different perspective and began to think differently about everything I once knew, especially about business.
A quote the stuck out to me was “perhaps mourning has to do with agreeing to undergo a transformation (perhaps one should say submitting to a transformation) the full result of which one cannot know in advance…one can try to chose it, but it may be that this experience of transformation deconstitutes choice at some level (21). My mindset when deciding to help out at Marin Link was to learn more about sustainable business and seeing whether or not I would choose to implement these practices in the near future. Although I was not in mourning my experience at Marin Link lead me to a type of transformation of who I was as a person because not only did I get to help with the business forum but with Project Homeless Connect and the Northgate Promenade Celebration which helped me learn new things about myself. What I find true about the quote is when it speaks of undergoing a transformation and not knowing the result in advance and not having total control of the outcome. I believe every experience one has causes some type of transformation for the person although the person may not know what that transformation may be. I have really began to question everything about myself and the future plans I once had because this class and Marin Link has really caused me to begin questioning things while involving myself in a more in depth thinking about things. My mind was opened to learn new things and to respect the ideas of others and I believe this is what lead to my transformation as a person because I was opened to the idea of changing my views. A transformation is good in all types of situations because one changes as a person and begins to see things differently in life.

Kavita Ramdas: Radical women, embracing tradition | Video on TED.com

Kavita Ramdas: Radical women, embracing tradition | Video on TED.com

Precarious Life II.

Grief is such a powerful emotion. It is one that can literally consume you, leaving an empty void that is attached to a big pause and or silence. It seems that the world as you know it in a sense stops for a period of time. Those who do not consider themselves emotional, are even surprised by the effect grief has on them. I think it is the most powerful of the emotions. It can take your breath away. For some they never figure out how to fully recover or deal with these feelings, and are unable to totally return to what is normal for them. I feel that your mind set, if you were deeply attached to the person, never returns, completely to the way you were before. The level of the relationship you had with the person, definitely determines how grief affects you. When grieving, I think emotional pain can feel and affect you like physical pain. (pgs 22,23)

Political grief can show itself in the actual loss of another’s life, either physically or emotionally; a loss is a loss grieving is the natural process that follows. Losing an election can put one into a grieving state. You have lost something that had become your life for a significant period of time in your life. The Al Gore presidential election was a good example of this process. In a sense there was a form of political violence or violation with the way the election was handled. (I.e. possible foul play.) I’m sure he felt very venerable with a deep sense of hurt, pain and loss. 911 created grief for many people in this country. People mourned the lives of others as well as the incident itself. Politically is served as a reason for George Bush to go to war, thus using the people’s grief to spur them in to wanting to fight back; staring a war that the people may not have ever agreed to so easily. Emotional grief was part of the catalyst. Bush took this emotion and told the American people to put away the emotions (grief) and let’s fight back. (pg 29)

Causalities of war are mostly grieved for by their people. I feel that these deaths come under the heading of political grief; except we on this side, the Americans, don’t grieve them, this was referred to by the authors. (pg 34) There is no kind of attachment, and no type of relationships in these situations. If the press were allowed to photograph or video the devastation and killing, especially of small children, and the aftermath of their parent’s grief, there would then be an attachment and some form of grief on our part; which would probably prompt the majority of us to call for an end to the war. This may not be what the political process in action would want to happen. How often do you see these types of press reports in the news? Grief as I stated before is a very powerful emotion One minute everything is fine, in the next moment, the world can be changed drastically; for one, a few, or a whole nation of people, depending of the source of the grief.

Precarious Life I.

The picture that has been painted in the United States about Muslims is not a good one. From my understanding, the true faith does not consist of violent killing of innocent people. I think more people in the US and around the world would come forward and speak to this, but with the current world climate, there is a lot of fear of retaliation of the real terrorists. You notice that when some incident occurs, Muslims groups will gather to talk about it; and someone usually states that the type of violence that occurred is not what people of their faith participate in. Being Muslim does not mean you are a terrorist. This image of Muslims has fueled the fire in the eyes of the US public, to help get them on board to accept that we needed to go to war.
The view of what the US does in the war could possibly be skewed. We only see what the press puts out, which is sometimes engineered by politics. We needed the public on board to continue their war support. (pg 6) The United States is a big world power. We tend to take the lead in most issues, especially if we directly involved. We tend to be very persuasive when need the assistance of other countries to back what ever it is we feel needs to happen. This works out fine, unless it is for something that mostly benefits us. The reason for going to war was an example of getting everyone’s backing under false pretenses, for our own agenda. (pg 7,14) Don’t get me wrong the US is a great and wonderful country to live in; I would not choose any other as my permanent residence. We do a lot of good, and are capable of doing more, so it is important that more of us get involved in the political process in our country. I think the US in some ways helped to create Bin Laden we see today; he once had a previous affiliation with the CIA. (pg10) Guiliani could not possibly have taken the money of the very rich Arab prince. I don’t think the US government would have allowed him to accept it; even if he were considering it, because it would have sent a message to the American public that would be contrary to the existing program for war that had already set in place.
Being such a large world power, we are in a position to do a lot more good for the entire world. We are involved in many worldwide efforts that provide a great deal of help for others. In a perfect world, in the instance of terrorism, it would be optimal if we could as a world, all start over again, and fix where it all went wrong.

Why are teachers the "enemy"?

As I read our PDF on “Precarious Life” I was contemplating why the kids that I tutor are instantly against authority and go as far as to act out against it. What I see with my students is that everything the teacher says is seen as against the student. Through the reading I did find something that may explain this. “Our fear of understanding a point of view belies a deeper fear that we shall be taken up by it, find it contagious, become infected in a morally perilous way by the thinking of the presumed enemy.”(p.8)

The students are seeing the teacher (and all other authority figures/adults at the school) as an enemy. To be on the enemy’s side is, for them, going against their side (that of the students). The kids are afraid that if they even take into consideration what the teacher is saying then they will be going against their own kind. What the students don’t see (right away) is that the teachers are on their side and the discipline is all for their own good. Sometimes I see change in the students; they allow themselves to see things as the teacher sees things. Once the student has done this enough times their fear of being on the “dark side” goes away and they are left with students and teachers all working toward the same goal.

In speaking with one of the teachers at Phoenix I learned that it isn’t entirely the kids fault for being as disobedient as they are. She said that in meeting with the parents she found out that there was often no discipline or rules in the kids home life. When a kid is brought up being able to do whatever they want without the parents caring, one can’t expect them to show respect to any other adult in their life. “Our acts are not self generated, but conditioned. We are at once acted upon and acting, and our ‘responsibility’ lies in the juncture between the two” (p16)

We are the result of how we are brought up. We learn right and wrong from who we spend most of our time with. Our parents are supposed to tell us what is right and wrong…and if they don’t it is up to us to find the people who will tell us. Obviously we cannot blame bad parenting for everything that a kid does wrong, the kid does make the choice to do this action, “The forces that act upon us are not finally responsible for what we do.”(p.16) What we need to do, as a community is show kids through our own actions what is right and wrong. As for the parents, they need to go to some sort of camp that teaches them some good techniques of how to be a good parent!

Precious Life

Butler’s use of obtuse language almost hides the reasons for her writing about the atrocities that American military and media try to cover up regarding the September 11 attacks. Yet her points are well taken and can be used not only for a poor administration at that time, but an ongoing tragedy of visible censorship.
Butler wrote “Precious Life” at a time when the current American policies governing the war in Iraq, the treatment of Palestinians and the state of Guantanamo prisoners were being over militarized. She argues that the destruction of the World Trade Center did not justify these violent measures. As she puts it: "those US boundaries were breached, that an unbearable vulnerability was exposed, that a terrible toll on human life was taken, were, and are, cause for fear and mourning. Butler’s Precious Life is an attempt to create a sense oppositional voices that are not feared or degraded but valued. Butler mourns that America cried for war and gave up being a part of a global community by heightening nationalist discourse and extending surveillance mechanisms.
Butler explains the reasons why certain people’s voices cannot be heard, certain images cannot be shown and certain people’s lives cannot be grieved publicly in the post-911 in the U.S. is due to the operations of a form of racism that is directed at “they” cannot be counted as normal human beings like “us."
Butler discusses in this chapter the way in which human beings are tied together to one another even in the form of loss and vulnerability. She reminds us of the simple truth that we can be injured and that others can be injured as well. The human condition of interdependence and vulnerability should be the basis of reimagining instead of destroying the possibility of community.

Precarious Life

“Let’s face it, we’re undone by each other. And if we’re not, we’re missing something”(p. 23).

I was pretty excited this last Friday when a girl in the math class I am tutoring asked me for help. Outside of the few students I tutor each week on a one-to-one basis, it is very rare for any of the students to be interested enough in the work to actually do it, let alone ask on of “them” to help. I say “them” because the feeling inside these classrooms is very similar to the “us against them” mentality that Butler describes as a catalyst of dehumanization. To illustrate this point, let me tell you about what one of the kids said this last Friday. For one reason or another, on this particular day, there were only 6 students in the class, while there were 3 teachers and 3 tutors. When one of the administrators walked in, one of the “harder” students looked up and said: “Great, they have us outnumbered.” I couldn’t help but laugh at the irony of being a student paying $30,000 a year - in large part to have such a such a hands on experience in my education- and being considered to be one of “them” as if I was there to perform some sort of water-boarding rather then teach them the factor tree.

But I’ve digressed. Let me return to my original point and the girl who went against the grain of the majority of the Community School Students and asked me for help. I helped her remember the concept of factorization and she started working on a problem. She made it halfway through the problem, then turned her attention to a nearby conversation her classmates were having about who was drinking what, at which party that night. I got her attention refocused on the problem and again she made it about halfway through the problem and then became engaged in an eraser throwing war with the same nearby students. This continued on for the greater part of the period. When the bell rang she had completed three problems that probably could have been done in a focused environment in less than a minute. Her attempt and her need to do her work had been “undone” by those she was surrounded by. However it was not the intentional acts of those that she was surrounded by that prevented her from remaining focused (they did not divert her attention intentionally). Rather it was her own feeling that she was “missing out” on something that kept drawing her back into their conversation and away from her doing her work and benefiting herself.

You’re right, I can’t help but think of events in my life that make me shutter when I read that quote. As much as I’d like to blame my teammates for costing me my basketball scholarship and my lifelong dream of playing professional basketball, it was my own feeling that I was missing out on something that diverted my energy from my own life and goals and lumped them together with the choices and actions of my teammates. I realize that I am taking this quote in a context different from how the author intended it, but it is this interpretation that allowed me to make a connection to my service learning, my own life.

I agree with the author’s suggestion of our interconnectedness and that our ability to more clearly “feel” this connectedness can be enhanced by loss and subsequent grieving of this loss. In the words of Butler,
But maybe when we undergo what we do, something about who we are is revealed, something that delineates the ties we have to others, that shows us that these ties constitute what we are, ties or bonds that compose us. (p. 22)

While I find this point by the author to be valid and real, I find the inverse to be equally interesting and powerful. Perhaps it is our ability and willingness to separate ourselves from others and grieve, mourn and grow from the resulting feeling of loneliness that allows us to find who we truly are, and frees us to do the right thing. As scary as it is to think of yourself as at odds with the actions of your own country, community or family, perhaps it is the ability to accept your independence and grieve the loss of identity and acceptance based on these relationships that allows us to do what is truly in our hearts and find our true identities based on belief, acceptance and action and not geographical location. Along these same lines, had the girl been willing to accept her independence from her classmates and grieve the loss of them as her community, maybe she would be able to remain focused on her work and not the destructive behaviors of her peers. Maybe she could graduate Community School and move on to college and a life she never would have if she remained interconnected with her current community at the school. There comes a time in many relationships whether it be romantic, religious, school, political or familial, that the relationship no longer serves you and prevents you from being the person who you desire to be. Identifying and separating yourself from these relationships is truly difficult, but it is the grieving –which allows you to remain separate and move on – that is most difficult of all.