Vincent Chen, Period 7, 11/28/2023

Vincent Chen

Period 7

11/28/23

Modern Mythology 2023

Socio-political Consciousness

       They say that there are two sides to a coin, always two sides to a story, a conflict, a topic. But that’s inaccurate. There are in fact, and scientifically proven possible, three sides to a coin, the head, the tail, and the edge. In fact, the probability of landing on the edge for an American nickel is 1 out 6,000*. Yet we tend to ignore that possibility. 

       We tend to designate ourselves to a side. In doing so, we also designated that the other side is in the wrong, supporting only the extremes. Much like how we only recognize the two sides of a coin, while disregarding the edge. Put into literary terms, we are prone to committing a logical fallacy, false dilemma. Take the political party system in the US as an example. Within the US there are only two political parties, the Democrats and the Republicans. Each side is in extreme support of their party while pushing the agenda that the other side is detrimental to the well-being of the country. As such, we the people tend to be caught within their mudslinging, and deviate to one side, all while being blind to the edge. As such, our country lacks a viable third party, because of our tendency to choose only heads or tails, while being convinced that the other side is completely antithetical, thus refusing to compromise, halting and harming the very country that they wished to advance. They seemed to have forgotten the raison d'être of the political parties — to serve the country. Instead they started focusing on impeding the other side. 

        Perhaps one of the most prominent form of our tendency for extreme partiality comes in the form of the responses to the Israel–Hamas war. The recent conflict has divided the country in two, again. The pro-Israel side has argued that the attack on the Israeli people initiated by Hamas has led to the war. Israel was only acting in self-defense. Meanwhile the pro-Palestine group has argued that Hamas only attacked due to the buildup of resentment of Israel accumulated over decades of suppression of resources. Moreover, the retaliation of Israel, the airstrikes on hospitals and schools made Israel to be the one in the wrong. 

       The people took on two sides, for Israel and against Palestine, or for Palestine and against Israel. Those that supported Palestine were given monikers such as “anti semitic”, and “jew hating”. Those supporting Israel were called “supporters of murders” and “War criminals”. Throughout all this divide, the elites and the leaders seemed to push for even more divide and unrest. Recently, multiple headlines have been made as billionaire “philanthropists” and donors have halted donations to universities where the students had made a stand against Israel. Utilizing resources as leverage, these “philantropists” looked to silence the opposition while promoting their views. As Israel is the US’s door to the middle east, the elites backed Israel, not just because of their personal views or backgrounds, but also for the interest of their businesses. These “philantrophics” influenced the universities to put out statements in extreme support of Israel, to the point of belittling Palestinian people. These actions then created strife within the student body and those that oppose the statements. The protests and retaliations in response of the view became truly anti-semetic. Incidences of religious slurs were exchanged within campuses towards Jewsish students, and they all seemed to have forgotten the real reason why they had opposed the support for Israel in the first place, their wish for peace and end of bloodshed. Instead both sides have now focused all their powers on opposing the other. Just like the two political parties in the US. 

        Perhaps this dilemma comes from the lack of knowledge regarding the history of the topic. As I surveyed many of my friends and scoured the internet, through the rabbit holes known as reddit discussion forums, I have found that many have no real understanding of the recent conflict, and instead, designating themselves to a side based on the media they consumed. The conflict between Jews and Muslims have roots going back centuries. The persecution of Jews had left the Jewish people seeking asylum worldwide, without a true country to call home. Only after the end of World War two was Israel established with the help of the US. But in doing so, Palestine was affected, they were driven out of their home country to allow Israel to be established. Israel’s fear of being persecuted again led to the oppression of Palestine, which bred hatred, leading to the formation of Hamas, a terrorist group. Many group Hamas as the same as Palestine, however, Hamas does not represent Palestine, they are a terrorist group made of Palestinians. Yet because of this, the innocents in Palestine were accused and targeted. 

         It seems that we have diverged from what we should really stand for. We have diverged from standing for peace, for collaboration, to lashing out at the opposite group, convincing ourselves that only one side is right and the other wrong. Perhaps the writer Kate Mosse describes it the best in her book Citadel, ““There's no black and no white, just shades of grey.” Yet we tend to assign one side as black and the other as white without considering the shades of grey. 

         Instead of standing united against war and bloodshed, we stand divided, promoting more destruction and war without realizing it. We forget that there’s a third side of the coin. We forget about the shades of grey. We have forgotten our fundamental ideals, which is to stop inhumane acts, wars, and violence. But we can always relearn those ideals. To realize that you can support the innocents in Palestine without libelling the Jewish population, you can support Israel without dehumanizing Palestinians. We can take both sides into account, and stand against war and voilence instead of picking only one side and opposing the other. And that is what many have failed to realize throughout the years. But it can be realized if we stop and look from the third side of the coin. And I hope we do. 

Sources: 

*Wikipedia Coin Flipping

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Coin_flipping