Relativity

Ever since school started, I've been thinking a lot about life in general. For some reason, one specific concept really struck me, obvious as it is: relativity. Albert Einstein once said, "when you are courting a nice girl an hour seems like a second. When you sit on a red-hot cinder a second seems like an hour. That's relativity."
   
Now, you may be wondering what this has to do with anything. Well, let's first put it into perspective of today's world. Say an individual is born into a family in poverty- little to no income, unstable jobs, scarce food, and a house you could barely call a roof over your head. This particular individual undoubtedly starts off life with a huge list of problems, before he or she even learns how to pronounce "mommy." Growing up, this individual will presume that the world is out to get them- and soon enough, they will begin to despise those who have it better.

Let's shift gears and look at it a different way. Say an individual is born into an extremely wealthy family- given anything and everything desirable. Growing up, this individual will take most nearly everything for granted, and when things don't go their way, rage ensues. Regardless, one could assume that this individual has a better life than the previously mentioned. But similar to yet also different from the poor, the rich will begin to despise those in poverty, seeing them as the unfortunate parasites of society.

And this is essentially how social classes are established. Whether it be in society as a whole or in your school, people are categorized based on circumstances that aren't necessarily in their control. The poor couldn't have controlled what conditions they were born into, and likewise, the rich couldn't have done it either. People fail to recognize this, and so the rich and poor see each other as the crooks of society. This kind of mentality is what creates the impassable gap between wealth and poverty.

Looking at society in F. Scott Fitzgerald's The Great Gatsby, social status seems to be a very important factor in everyones lives. People are constantly attending social events whether they like to or not, just to climb the ladder. As The Great Gatsby took place in a time where people intentionally drew lines to categorize themselves; today, this is unintentionally done, whether we wish to or not.

So what does this have to do with relativity? Well, it's quite simple. Relative to poor people, rich are corrupt. Relative to rich people, poor are corrupt. People fail to realize that we are all on the same side- the side of humanity. No matter our differences, no one is out to get anyone else. The world hits us all in different areas, but also in the same way. Social classes are all in our minds, whether we admit to it or not. It's important to acknowledge that experiences in life are all relative. What may seem to you like an insignificant event can be extraordinarily significant for someone else, and vice versa.

When Einstein developed his theory of relativity, I don't think he was just talking about physics. We all have different circumstances and problems in our lives- but at the end of the day, we're all just human. Things may seem worse for a particular individual, but we all live on the same Earth- the problem isn't fixing each other, it's understanding each other. Maybe then we'll have a world where more people are free to express themselves, brilliantly like this guy:

Who Wore it Better?

Who Wore it Better?

Who wore it better? The answer to this question depends on many things, mainly perspective. On the left, you see the poster for a 1940 antisemitic Nazi propaganda film titled The Eternal Jew. Some of the major themes included in this movie portray Jews as uncivilized, parasitic, abnormal, and depraved people. As you might be able to see, the Jew on the poster is depicted in a sort of sinister matter, as if Jews are the evil ones with schemes. Without any prior context, one could assume that the Jews were at fault, maybe even go as far to say that the Jews were tormenting the Germans. Taking a look at the right, you see the title page for chapter three of Art Spiegelman's graphic novel Maus: A Survivor's Tale. Without even looking at their expressions, it can be observed that Nazis are represented as cats, and Jews as mice- a metaphor extended throughout all of Maus- portraying the "predator vs. prey" relationship that Nazis and Jews, respectively, had. Spiegelman characterizes Nazis with the condescending, evil tone that the Nazis gave Jews at the time. This representation of Nazis is not only displayed in this title page, but also in countless other instances within the novel. By using how Nazi propaganda depicted Jews, Spiegelman shows the real relationship between Nazis and Jews- a relationship where Nazis belittle and dominate helpless Jews. In both images, one side is considered at fault- neither side is willing to consider their own faults. Now before you take offense, I will agree that the Nazis were at infinitely more fault than the Jews- but that isn't my point. But in the same way, America depicts Muslim terrorists as evil, Satanic, outright horrible people. Considering their actions, this is probably a reasonable statement. However, these terrorist groups see America as a threat, just as we see them as a threat. And I don't speak on behalf of all Americans, but unfortunately, the media and even some political officials seem to see ALL Muslims as terrorists. Just like the Nazis categorized all Jews as parasites of society, Muslims are portrayed as the bad apples of the bunch. So, going back to the original question, who really wore it better? The answer is simple: neither. Arguably, Nazis were just doing as they were told, and Jews couldn't do anything about it. If you were taught to believe something from your birth and you were never told otherwise, why would there be any reason to question it? Both Nazis and Jews were in an impossible situation- Nazis couldn't sympathize with Jews and Jews couldn't help themselves. A third party was necessary to intercept the issue. Regardless of who had it worse or who wore it better, it can reasonably be concluded that propaganda can easily be subverted, distorting the message to fit different perspectives.  

The Holocaust?

It's easy to say that some of us, including myself, will never really understand or even know what happened in the Holocaust. Whether its because we never really cared or never got around to researching it, many people don't actually know what exactly happened or why it happened. I remember first hearing about it at school several years ago- didn't even know what it was or who was involved. I didn't really care, either- it never struck my mind that this was quite possibly one of the most terrible events in human history. Looking back, I feel ashamed, as I have sort of disrespected those who were tragically affected by the Holocaust. But should I be ashamed? Is it my fault that I wasn't aware? The problem is that there is no answer to this question. It isn't anyone's fault that I didn't know, and it's not my fault that I didn't care. We live in such a privileged age, where we can communicate with each other at the touch of a button, where we can drive to the store and come back without any hesitation, where we are allowed to speak freely, where we can express our beliefs-regardless of what they may be-without being tormented constantly. Maybe it's the fact that a time like the Holocaust is so shocking that it's fantasy- a story to be taken with a grain of salt. For most millennials, it really is hard to grasp the presence of an issue bigger than bad wifi or how many likes a photo got on Instagram. So what does learning about the Holocaust really teach us? Does it teach us not to be like Adolf Hitler? Does it teach us not to scrutinize others' beliefs and judge them based on how they look? No, because if that were true, then the Holocaust, excuse me for saying this, did a poor job. Hitler once said that, "the Jews are undoubtedly a race, but they are not human." This relatively extreme statement still seems to be prevalent today, with the amount of racism that can't seem to end. I think the Holocaust reminds us all of how truly destructive and powerful a single human with a purpose can be. The fact that one person can influence an entire nation to believe Jews aren't humans is simply disgusting, but I guess this power resides in everyone, when they truly have the motivation and determination to carry it out. Hitler may have been a bad person, but he was very smart in realizing the power of the human mind before anyone else did. He knew the potential he had and carried it out to persuade unfathomable amounts of people And by God, how well that worked for him.

Of Maus and Men

In Art Spiegelman's Maus, stripes are often used to represent imprisonment and oppression. Spiegelman blends stripes into the background of many panels, depicting not only prison uniforms, but prison itself. On page 86 of Volume 1, Vladek is recalling the many ways that Germans subjugated the Jews. In this particular instance, Spiegelman illustrates when the Germans had decided that "All Jews over 70 years old will be transferred to Theresienstadt in Czechoslovakia." The Germans described this new location as "a community better prepared to take care of the elderly," but in the image, stripes are once again clearly portrayed to represent the physical and mental imprisonment that Nazis demonstrated towards Jews. The mice are always surrounded by these stripes, even in their own home. No matter where they go, the Nazis are always right behind them, watching their every move. The stripes create an atmosphere of uneasiness, and is more unsettling for a reader to look at compared to a white background. In the last panel of page 86, Anja's grandparents were hiding in a shed, once again with striped walls. The Germans are not only directly but also indirectly imprisoning and detaining Jews within camps as well as their own abodes. Stripes can also be observed in the present day, when Vladek is describing the past to Spiegelman. This continuous illustration of stripes represents the ongoing entrapment of Jews, even as the Holocaust had ended. Although they are not physically imprisoned anymore, Spiegelman conveys that after everything that had happened, Jews were psychologically imprisoned, scarred from the suffering and torment that they had to endure.

This

What is life? Most people ask this question as a joke, but what really is life? Is life the absence of death? Is it what distinguishes us from a pebble on the ground? We've only had consciousness since we were born, so life is all we know. Beyond life resides the unknown, and beyond that we don't talk about at the dinner table. People say that in our lives, it's easy to forget that we're privileged and that a lot of other less fortunate people have it worse. So whenever we're unhappy or unsatisfied, we are told to "not take things for granted" or "think about the kids in [insert third world country]." In my opinion, happiness and satisfaction in life are relative. Every person is born into different conditions and environments, and are raised in certain ways. So whether my name is Donald J. Trump or I live on the street in a cardboard box, we all have our own set of problems. So why is it that we think certain people or groups of people don't have the right to be unhappy with their lives? 

In David Foster Wallace's This is Water, he says that, "there is no experience you've had that you were not at the absolute center of." We humans can only experience one life- our own lives- and we aren't familiar with anything else. Therefore, Wallace's claim is undoubtedly true. Because we put ourselves at the center of the universe, we are forced to compare our lives with those of others. When someone has something we don't have, we get jealous. How come I don't have that? Why does he/she have that when I'm the one that truly deserves it? When we put our lives ahead of everyone else's, we forget that everyone else is doing the same. As I ended the last sentence, my mom just walked into my room asking me to come downstairs for dinner and I said, "after I finish this, it's due at 7." I'm putting myself at the center of the universe, revolving dinnertime around my schedule. Despite acknowledgement of the problem, we fail to alter our "default-settings," because the only feelings we truly know are our own. Was I wrong to be inconsiderate of the effort my mom took to make dinner? Probably. But the point is, we are all too busy with our own lives and our own agendas that we lack enough incentive to consider other people's perspectives. At the end of the day, the universe doesn't exist just for you or for me. It doesn't revolve around anything, really. It's just there. This is the universe. This is life. This, my friends, is water. This is also when my mom returns to my room to yell at me.