This is the weekly discussion for students enrolled in Humanities 2340-03 at Texas Wesleyan University, Fall 2008.
Friday, October 24, 2008
Unity Today
Do you think that our culture still values Unity--and the values associated with the Roman idea of Unity: gravitas, pietas, simplicitas, virtus? What evidence can you cite to support your claim?
I think our country very much values unity. It was Abe Lincoln that said a country divided cannot stand...or something similar to that. We are very much like Rome in that we do encourage diversity but at the same time we want people to agree with the countrys politics. We do not say you have to stick with one party but we do have only 2 major options for most things.
When it comes to unity our culture does not value it as the roman did. We have selective unity, whereas for the Roman's unity was more universal. We show our unity in small distinct groups such as race, ethnicity, economic demographic, and even sex. We lack the one common thing that can unite us all. The Romans had political rule to unite large diverse groups of people together.
I do believe that we value unity in our culture. However, I do not believe it is in the same way the Romans did. For the most part we let people believe whatever they want to politically. The Romans wanted unity in politics. The ways by which we, as Americans, want unity is plentiful. The best expamle would be the way we unite with people that believe things along the same line as us, and view the world in the same light that we do, therefore friends.
Unity is not valued the same today as it was by the Romans. There are different beliefs, different ways of thinking, and different cultures. Each group of people that have similar views are held together by Unity. Furthermore, when it comes to government, each person has their own opinion regarding a topic. I mainly see unity when there is a major problem that affects the country, and that is when people unite to do what they can to improve what caused destruction (economically, politically, emotionally, etc...).
Just like the Romans faced with the challneges of divese people, today U.S also faces the challenges of diverse cultures each with diffrent ideas and desires. Therefore to keep order is necessary to mantain balanca and have unity, which is of great value to people, our country and nation.
I believe that our culture still values unity to a certain extent. We would like for our people to be together as one, but we have way too many views in things such as politics, ethnicity, religion, and as others have mentioned, sex. We provide more options to others in oppose to trying to make every one believe and proceed down the same track. The Romans, on the other hand, wanted everyone to abide together and by the same rules.
I think that jgriffin sums it up by saying that our culture does not value unity as the Romans did. This is very much true due to the selective unity we have and encourage and the Romans being more universal about their beliefs.
I don't believe our culture values unity as the Romans did. It is not an everyday value I see promoted beyond work teams and elementary school. It seems that we the American isolationist seem unite with others is when the purpose is self serving. We entered WW2 because we were attacked not when we first learned what was going on with the Jews. There are many African nations that are still committing genocide while the worldly society has turned it's back for years. So no I do not believe that we are unified as the Romans were. When disasters such as 911, Katrina or our current economic disaster strike then are people able to unite and work together for awhile especially in government to work out a solution or method for delivering aid eliminating the gridlock and bickering temporarily.
I totally agree with jgriffin and as I said we have selective unity. We do lack the 1 common thing that unites us all which is a common idea to spread like the Romans. I also agree with the others who believed that our diversity is the cause of strife in our own country. A good example is the Presidential race our 2 dominant parties run two people with different ideals of how to run and fix our country against each other. We have political gridlock day to day because there are so many different ideologies and ways to do things "now a days".
I think our idea of unity as become more specialized. Humans are pack animals and, as a result, seek out others with which to form packs. Today, with so many varying interests and so many ways to communicate with others, those packs have grown and expanded, sometimes including people who will never see each other face to face. For example, people perpetuate unity through online video games. World of Warcraft makes it possible for people to unify under one mission or goal who may never meet in person. The Roman ideas of gravitas, pietas, etc, can be found in some aspects of society, but it is just as easy to cite examples of people not adhering to these values. Our culture is multilayered and diverse, and growing more so every day, making it increasingly more difficult to assign specific values to the whole of our society. Examples for both sides of the argument can be found, it all depends on where you look, and how you look at it.
To Taylor: Actually if you really stop and think about we are politically identical to the Romans. They united thousands of different groups of people under one political rule while letting them still maintain their individuality. America does the exact same thing. No matter race, creed, color or religious back ground, we as Americans all fall under the jurisdiction of the United states government. Just as all those groups of people fell un the jurisdiction of the Roman government.
I agree with martinette packer, we would like for our people to be together as one; however, with a diverse country it is impossible. I also agree that the Romans wanted everyone to abide by the same rules and that is almost similiar to our country. There is a set of rules for everyone to follow equally and that maintains unity in that way.
I think that our country values unity, but not as much as the Romans did. I believe that Americans unite only when times a rough, or when our country is under attack. We as Americans pull together when needed but in other cases Americans can be very individualized. Like Danielle stated, I believe that we unite when its self serving.
I think everyone pretty much agrees: we value unity as Americans, but it is selective unity. We do all answer to one government and we are all very diverse. The difference may be the passion. We all say we are "AMERICAN" and we are united, but sometimes being American doesn't mean our rulers (or our people) act in the best interest of the majority. I do believe that the Romans are where our democracy began, and that it is the best alternative.
14 comments:
I think our country very much values unity. It was Abe Lincoln that said a country divided cannot stand...or something similar to that. We are very much like Rome in that we do encourage diversity but at the same time we want people to agree with the countrys politics. We do not say you have to stick with one party but we do have only 2 major options for most things.
When it comes to unity our culture does not value it as the roman did. We have selective unity, whereas for the Roman's unity was more universal. We show our unity in small distinct groups such as race, ethnicity, economic demographic, and even sex. We lack the one common thing that can unite us all. The Romans had political rule to unite large diverse groups of people together.
I do believe that we value unity in our culture. However, I do not believe it is in the same way the Romans did. For the most part we let people believe whatever they want to politically. The Romans wanted unity in politics. The ways by which we, as Americans, want unity is plentiful. The best expamle would be the way we unite with people that believe things along the same line as us, and view the world in the same light that we do, therefore friends.
Unity is not valued the same today as it was by the Romans. There are different beliefs, different ways of thinking, and different cultures. Each group of people that have similar views are held together by Unity. Furthermore, when it comes to government, each person has their own opinion regarding a topic. I mainly see unity when there is a major problem that affects the country, and that is when people unite to do what they can to improve what caused destruction (economically, politically, emotionally, etc...).
Just like the Romans faced with the challneges of divese people, today U.S also faces the challenges of diverse cultures each with diffrent ideas and desires. Therefore to keep order is necessary to mantain balanca and have unity, which is of great value to people, our country and nation.
I believe that our culture still values unity to a certain extent. We would like for our people to be together as one, but we have way too many views in things such as politics, ethnicity, religion, and as others have mentioned, sex. We provide more options to others in oppose to trying to make every one believe and proceed down the same track. The Romans, on the other hand, wanted everyone to abide together and by the same rules.
I think that jgriffin sums it up by saying that our culture does not value unity as the Romans did. This is very much true due to the selective unity we have and encourage and the Romans being more universal about their beliefs.
I don't believe our culture values unity as the Romans did. It is not an everyday value I see promoted beyond work teams and elementary school. It seems that we the American isolationist seem unite with others is when the purpose is self serving. We entered WW2 because we were attacked not when we first learned what was going on with the Jews. There are many African nations that are still committing genocide while the worldly society has turned it's back for years. So no I do not believe that we are unified as the Romans were. When disasters such as 911, Katrina or our current economic disaster strike then are people able to unite and work together for awhile especially in government to work out a solution or method for delivering aid eliminating the gridlock and bickering temporarily.
I totally agree with jgriffin and as I said we have selective unity. We do lack the 1 common thing that unites us all which is a common idea to spread like the Romans. I also agree with the others who believed that our diversity is the cause of strife in our own country. A good example is the Presidential race our 2 dominant parties run two people with different ideals of how to run and fix our country against each other. We have political gridlock day to day because there are so many different ideologies and ways to do things "now a days".
I think our idea of unity as become more specialized. Humans are pack animals and, as a result, seek out others with which to form packs. Today, with so many varying interests and so many ways to communicate with others, those packs have grown and expanded, sometimes including people who will never see each other face to face. For example, people perpetuate unity through online video games. World of Warcraft makes it possible for people to unify under one mission or goal who may never meet in person. The Roman ideas of gravitas, pietas, etc, can be found in some aspects of society, but it is just as easy to cite examples of people not adhering to these values. Our culture is multilayered and diverse, and growing more so every day, making it increasingly more difficult to assign specific values to the whole of our society. Examples for both sides of the argument can be found, it all depends on where you look, and how you look at it.
To Taylor: Actually if you really stop and think about we are politically identical to the Romans. They united thousands of different groups of people under one political rule while letting them still maintain their individuality. America does the exact same thing. No matter race, creed, color or religious back ground, we as Americans all fall under the jurisdiction of the United states government. Just as all those groups of people fell un the jurisdiction of the Roman government.
I agree with martinette packer, we would like for our people to be together as one; however, with a diverse country it is impossible. I also agree that the Romans wanted everyone to abide by the same rules and that is almost similiar to our country. There is a set of rules for everyone to follow equally and that maintains unity in that way.
I think that our country values unity, but not as much as the Romans did. I believe that Americans unite only when times a rough, or when our country is under attack. We as Americans pull together when needed but in other cases Americans can be very individualized. Like Danielle stated, I believe that we unite when its self serving.
I think everyone pretty much agrees: we value unity as Americans, but it is selective unity. We do all answer to one government and we are all very diverse. The difference may be the passion. We all say we are "AMERICAN" and we are united, but sometimes being American doesn't mean our rulers (or our people) act in the best interest of the majority. I do believe that the Romans are where our democracy began, and that it is the best alternative.
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