Sarah Danilov, Period 1, 12/9/21

 Socio-political Consciousness

What are your thoughts and feelings about issues of inequity, oppression, and/or power?

At this point in my life, it seems as if oppression and inequity are so ingrained in society that I doubt I will live to see a day without them. Addressing the larger issue that has been an important topic of discussion last year, it is crucial to identify and understand that oppression is systemic and the particular oppression and inequity of certain groups that has lasted for decades isn’t random. Whether it be housing, education, or funding in general, there is a clear disparity between certain groups, specifically white and black Americans. An example of a difference in housing is “Cancer Alley” in Louisiana, which contains multiple communities that have been affected by the dozens of plants around them. These communities are predominantly black and poor. The air, as well as the water, is toxic in these areas, and it isn’t uncommon to see birth defects, miscarriages, and many fighting for their life due to the effect of being exposed to the chemical release that plants around them dispose of.  Although many issues regarding inequity and oppression have been actively discussed now more than ever before, it is hard to change a system where people in power benefited from the oppression of certain groups. 

Power is an interesting concept when you truly understand how it plays a role in everyday life. From my point of view, I don’t get much of a chance to witness firsthand how corrupt power can become as well as what it can influence in more than a school setting. However, I have recently become interested in how people acquire power without the use of their assets and status. For example, it is interesting to see how people change over the four years of high school and the shift in power dynamic in friend groups I have been in. There is a book called The 48 Laws of Power by Robert Greene, where he discusses what are some of the things that one could do to gain power and be looked up to. Recently this book has become a topic on social media, and many started sharing their results and experiences with applying his methods. I was extremely surprised as to how many people saw an increase of respect by applying rules to their relationships, whether they were personal or business. However, when I read a summary of the book as well as the list of laws, I immediately thought of two things. The first thing was how it was ethical to try this on those around you and the second thought was the names of friends who have used multiple tactics on me. 

How do you reflect critically on your own beliefs, assumptions, values, and experiences, and how these can influence your perception of self and others?

During quarantine, I spent most of my time trying to align my beliefs and values with what I was taught in Hebrew school. I decided that the religion I was born into shouldn’t and wouldn’t affect my beliefs. This took some time but as I started to understand more of what was expected of me simply because of religion, I was sold. At the time, I found out that when someone marries outside of the religion, their family has to sit Shiva. Shiva is the seven days of mourning that a close family should observe after a death. While this shouldn’t be surprising considering how hard it is to convert into this religion, I was surprised by how traditional it was, which I was not fond of. I also do spend time thinking back to my experiences and various memories that have stuck with me to identify how it affects me now, as well as, why I would remember such mundane things. As for assumptions, I try not to assume in any situation. I am the type of person that needs everything laid out for me and explained for me to believe something about it. While this is a weakness of mine, I have avoided uncomfortable situations due to it. I think my values and beliefs affect my personality, who I chose to interact with, and ultimately how I handle certain situations. I chose not to interact with people who have extremely different values and beliefs, and I have noticed in the past couple of years where political polarity has increased to an unimaginable level and many people have strong political beliefs that they would gladly argue about, it is simply easier to not interact. It took me a while to understand this and it required a large amount of self-control that I had to muster up, however it was worth it. After all, those arguments only left me with stress, so not interacting in political arguments has helped me keep my sanity. Additionally, going back to my religion and its disparity from my values, I learned to not mention my decision to others who do not agree with me.