Shifeng Xie, Period 6, 1/5/23

 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?

I think that the issues of inequality and oppression are something that will always exist due to human nature. Humans will almost never be devoid of desires. These desires are from which inequality and oppression derive. Because people will do anything to satisfy their desires, the idea of a utopian world will forever stay as an idea. Inequality, oppression, and power differences will exist for as long as human society exists, simply evolving along with humans. While people always claim that they can conquer these issues, as long as society keeps evolving, which it will due to the natural course of human development and evolution, new issues will emerge causing a never-ending cycle of issues with inequality, oppression, and power.

Now with that established, I believe that there are ways everyone can change their perception of the society they live in. One way, that I have personally influenced my perception of myself and the world around me is through cultural exchanges. My participation in our school's multicultural show has opened my eyes to a completely new world. Through these exchanges, I have been able to learn about other people’s cultures and ways of life. When comparing and reflecting upon the differences highlighted between different cultures, I get a better understanding of other people’s thought processes. This new perception can be used not only in interactions with other people but can also be used to reflect on yourself and influence your perception of yourself, as you can now see yourself how others see you. And hopefully, with these new experiences, you can change yourself to be more open-minded and lessen the impact of inequality, oppression, and power imbalances.