Ryan Sliger, Period 8, 1/13/22

 Socio-political Consciousness

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

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

    Power, “the capacity or ability to direct or influence the behavior of others or the course of events.”  Power is a very common concept in modern society as it is all around us.  We see it in our everyday lives but one thing most people tend to overlook is the power they themselves have.  For example a politician might have the power to attempt to sway your vote in an election, but you as the voter still have all the power to decide who the better candidate is.  This power that you have comes from a different definition of the word. Power, “the ability to do something or act in a particular way, especially as a faculty or quality.”  This definition resides within you as the individual.    Oppression, “prolonged cruel or unjust treatment or control.”.  Oppression is a very prevalent issue especially in third world countries, where voices are often suppressed due to the country's ruler.  This is not good for the country as the people’s voices can’t be heard.  This often leads to a lack of change in the country and the people become more and more upset until they eventually start to riot.  These riots can simply be prevented by listening to the people and therefore combatting their oppression.

    One of my major beliefs is that of respect.  Coming from a background in martial arts, respect is an ideal that I practice not only in the dojang, but also in my everyday life.  I believe that everyone is deserving of respect initially regardless of their beliefs, but more importantly respect can easily be gained or lost.  These ideals lead me to approach life with a very pacifist ideology, as I always try to see the good in people before I see the bad.  One major way that this has helped me is to make new friends.  Regardless of any rumors that I hear about anyone I still go out of my way to try to make friends with them.  Because I can see past other people's opinions I am able to see who people really are.  This also helps me in everyday life, as I try to see the good in everything that I am doing.  As an instructor in martial arts, I often find myself teaching students, and sometimes, depending on the activity it can become very tedious and boring.  I often think to myself, “Why am I even doing this, I could be home studying or hanging out with friends.” But then I look down and see the smiles on the kids faces and then I know that I am doing the right thing.