For this weeks post, I am addressing the question of when it is appropriate to break the law, and what is the role of civil disobedience and protest in our society. I narrowed the topic by looking specifically at this article on the New York Times website. It explores the possibility of wealthier people being treated with more leniency when involved in legal discrepancies  than those that are not as well-off. This article references a sixteen-year-old from a wealthy family who killed four people in a drunk-driving crash but got off with a meager ten years of probation from the judge. The judge refused to give the suggested twenty years in prison to the teen despite Tarrant County prosecutors avid efforts. This begs the question of whether or not the outcome of this case would have changed if the offender was not in such a well-off financial position.

Personally, I believe that the outcome of this particular case would be different if the teen was not from a wealthy background, but not simply because of the fact that they are well-off. Inevitably, people that are wealthier are more inclined and capable of hiring a better acclaimed lawyer and/or legal team to support their case. With experts on their side, the chances of them getting off with a lesser punishment greatly increases. I believe that this was a contributing factor to this particular case, as it mentions in the article that the defense argued that the teen suffered from affluenza, which was described as a term that “dates at least to the 1980s to describe the psychological problems that can afflict children of privilege.” Although they made this claim, I do not believe that it is a valid point to make. Although I believe that wealth is more than capable of corrupting a person, it doesn’t regularly lead people to commit such serious crimes. Therefore, I think that the teens wealth cannot be used as an excuse for their behavior.

On the subject of civil disobedience, I believe that it is actually very important in our society to be able to express and protest about what we believe to be wrong or unjust. That is, as long as the act of pretesting stays civil. People are often quite passionate about what they believe to be right and wrong, what they like and don’t like, and it is quite easy to get carried away. I think that if you deem it necessary to display your thoughts on a subject, then you should do it in a civil manner, much like the March on Washington where Martin Luther King Jr. delivered his famous “I Have a Dream” speech. Acts like these are often necessary to make major changes and strives toward a a more peaceful society.

To look further into the role of civil disobedience in our society, I took a look at an article on the Tar Sands Action website. This group actively protests against the Keystone XL Pipeline. The article discussed how many people sat outside of the White House to protest the building of the Pipeline, but several people were arrested as a result, as shown in the picture below.

Although acts like this sometimes end in in such a way, I believe that acts of civil disobedience are still justified if they do, indeed, remain civil. This is because as Americans, we have a right to protest and express our opinions, even if others do not agree.

I used the same website that I discovered in an earlier post to get an idea of what to write about in this this free choice post. This prompt, in particular, sparked some interest:

“If you could return to the past to relive a part of your life, either to experience the wonderful bits again, or to do something over, which part of your life would you return to? Why?”

This prompt holds so many possibilities for discussion. To start, there are certainly things in my life that I regret doing or saying (or in some cases not taking action), but even if I were given the chance to go back and time and change them, I don’t think that I would. I believe that you can only grow as a person if you make mistakes and leave your comfort zone, and having those experiences defines who you are and can make you a stronger person. However, I think that it would be extremely interesting to revisit parts of my life that I don’t remember from a spectators view. For instance, I remember hardly anything from when I was a toddler, so it could be interesting to go back and observe some of those memories.

This made me question what our world would be like if we did possess the ability to go back in time and alter things. I think that if that was possible, our world would be entirely different than it is today. One example is the many wars that have plagued our world’s history. Several major differences are apparent to me if we went backwards in time and altered things so that conflicts were not solved with fighting. Specifically territory, because war often results in the changing of boundaries and formation of new countries and geography also heavily influences culture. These factors can be considered at an individual level as well. Without war, there would inevitably be less loss of life which results in higher population levels and possibly faster industrialization. This would change the lives of so many people in places that are not as developed.

After considering these factors, I wonder if a world without war really is desirable. Of course, world peace seems like  great idea, but is it really even achievable? If we could go to the past and fix conflicts not by means of war, would we be living in a more peaceful world today? These are all questions that have sprouted because of this prompt, and I’m not sure if there is a solidified answer for any of them, however it is still interesting to ponder.

Summary

I came across a blog about curious places around the world. The particular post that I found was all about the Crooked Forest, located near Gryfino, Poland. This is a forest that consists of about 400 tress, all mysteriously formed with a near 90 degree angle twist at the base of their trunks. Here is a picture of their odd formation:

This blog post claims that carpenters shaped these trees when they were planted (approximately in the 1930’s) to use for furniture. However, after reading some of the contradicting comments, I became skeptical about the valadity of this statement and decided to do some further research. I found on the Ripley’s Believe It or Not website that these pine trees are indeed a complete mystery. Although the dominant theory is that the forest resulted because of a “man-made curvature”, other less-popular theories suggest that there was some sort of magical factor involved in their odd uniformity. The intriguing explanation that their was some human interference in their formation is further explained here, where it states that a group of farmers intended to harvest them after ten years. However, it is theorized that World War II interrupted their plans.

Response

I can’t put my finger on it, but there is something about this forest that is intriguing. There are only a few places in the world that are like the Crooked Forest; places that are characterized by odd qualities with little explanation as to why they are the way they are. For instance, the mystery of Easter Island in Polynesia. Nearly 900 elephantine statues, called moai, were constructed by the Rapa Nui people. We know this, but there is still no solidification as to why the statues were erected in the first place. We explored and assessed some case studies on this in APES towards the beginning of the year, and I was extremely interested in it. I am the kind of person who likes to ponder the possibilities of a situation, but I also want an answer. These kinds of places around the world are frustrating because there is no clear answer as to why they possess these quirks, but at the same time I truly enjoy exploring the theories and possibilities that surround them. Something that I would love to do is a visit one of these mysterious locations. I believe that being able to have that experience would be almost enlightening in a way, because it allows you to see some of natures true mysteries.