Universal truth- Humans know of only three ways to respond to a leader who is abusing his or her power: rebelling against the leader, defecting from the location where the leader is located, or complying to the rules of the leader out of innocent ignorance or fear for their own survival.
Picture:
Citation:
People Don't Know Their True Power. Digital image. Gotsmile.net. Sharo, 26 Feb. 2012. Web. 26 Mar. 2015. <http://gotsmile.net/160710/people-dont-know-their-true-power>.
Dear Reader,
Suppose you are a grown up living in a society where your leader was abusing his (or her) power in a way that is not at all benefical to anybody except the ruler himself. Now suppose that you are fully aware that what the person in command is doing. How would your response to the situation? If you had no idea of what the leader was really doing, how would your behavior change regarding what to do in this type of situation and would it even change at all? It has come to my attention that when faced with this sort of problem, we as humans know of only three ways to respond and they are to either rebel against the leader, to defect/flee from where the leader is in power, or to just accept what the leader is doing out of ignorance or fear for their own survival. I have chosen this conclusion as my universal truth, because I have noticed that it was a recurring event whenever a leader started abusing his power and the citizens could no longer tolerate the selfishness. I hope that by doing this project, I will come to understand more about these responses and possible find a new solution for this dilemma.
In the picture that I chose as my visual, you can see a leader addressing some followers, some of whom are holding up posters, some not, and even one who is leaving. This picture can be interpreted in many ways, but I decided to use this picture because it perfectly displays the three responses that humans have against leaders overusing their power. Power lies with the people whether or not those people realize it or not; without the people the leaders won't have anybody to lead. Sometimes, though, bad leaders have just enough people supporting them to give them purpose. This picture shows just how bad leaders can use people to their advantage and how differently people respond to the actions of that ruler.
Throughout this project, I will show you different situations where the problem of a leader abusing his power occurs and how differently the people in each dilemma react to the problem. I will use examples from the books In the Time of the Butterflies by Julia Alvarez and Nothing to Envy by Barbara Demick. Each book provides at least one of the responses to a power-abusive ruler, and different consequences for the actions (or lack of action) that the people in them took. I will also use examples from the movie The Patriot directed by Roland Emmerich and connect my universal truth to a museum exhibit as well as a current issue in the world today. Along the way, I will also elaborate a bit about how leaders abuse their power and in some case I might explain why if it is necessary. I hope that by the end of my project you will learn more about human nature, especially in this particular situation, than when you first started.
Sincerely, Elorm
Picture:
Citation:
People Don't Know Their True Power. Digital image. Gotsmile.net. Sharo, 26 Feb. 2012. Web. 26 Mar. 2015. <http://gotsmile.net/160710/people-dont-know-their-true-power>.
Dear Reader,
Suppose you are a grown up living in a society where your leader was abusing his (or her) power in a way that is not at all benefical to anybody except the ruler himself. Now suppose that you are fully aware that what the person in command is doing. How would your response to the situation? If you had no idea of what the leader was really doing, how would your behavior change regarding what to do in this type of situation and would it even change at all? It has come to my attention that when faced with this sort of problem, we as humans know of only three ways to respond and they are to either rebel against the leader, to defect/flee from where the leader is in power, or to just accept what the leader is doing out of ignorance or fear for their own survival. I have chosen this conclusion as my universal truth, because I have noticed that it was a recurring event whenever a leader started abusing his power and the citizens could no longer tolerate the selfishness. I hope that by doing this project, I will come to understand more about these responses and possible find a new solution for this dilemma.
In the picture that I chose as my visual, you can see a leader addressing some followers, some of whom are holding up posters, some not, and even one who is leaving. This picture can be interpreted in many ways, but I decided to use this picture because it perfectly displays the three responses that humans have against leaders overusing their power. Power lies with the people whether or not those people realize it or not; without the people the leaders won't have anybody to lead. Sometimes, though, bad leaders have just enough people supporting them to give them purpose. This picture shows just how bad leaders can use people to their advantage and how differently people respond to the actions of that ruler.
Throughout this project, I will show you different situations where the problem of a leader abusing his power occurs and how differently the people in each dilemma react to the problem. I will use examples from the books In the Time of the Butterflies by Julia Alvarez and Nothing to Envy by Barbara Demick. Each book provides at least one of the responses to a power-abusive ruler, and different consequences for the actions (or lack of action) that the people in them took. I will also use examples from the movie The Patriot directed by Roland Emmerich and connect my universal truth to a museum exhibit as well as a current issue in the world today. Along the way, I will also elaborate a bit about how leaders abuse their power and in some case I might explain why if it is necessary. I hope that by the end of my project you will learn more about human nature, especially in this particular situation, than when you first started.
Sincerely, Elorm