"System Examples"

No one at countrywide did anything to help this man not because of the language barrier but because the system (countrywide) are selfish. Countrywide is blaming this on language but they could have easily found a Chinese speaker to translate. Countrywide had the authority like most systems to provide guidance required to make the system function. There was a mutual benefit which only exsists to provide something for it's participants, so being part of a system means you will give something up for somebody else. But because countywide is selfish they didn't try to contact the man. Instead they were taking him money. Countrywide didn't care about the man because if they re scamming a person for money why would they help him. If it benifits the system (countrywide) why should they think about others and their lives. We have different morals whether we are in the system or not because when you are in the system you seem to put other people below you because you contol everything, but when you are outside the system you really see what goes on without being sucked in to the evil.

The students who participated as the guards started off mildly nice. They knew this was an experiment, but didn't take things to the extreame. After about a week the students who were guards started to feel like they had the authority to do things that they weren't doing before. They thought authority provided the guidance required to make the system function. By telling the prisioners that they were terrible people, and making them feel below them they thought they had the full authority to do so. All the guards thought was that it was part of their job. The prisioners would didn't have time to tell authority what was going on because it was all part of the system.

Rachel Barge is a student at Cal who is an avid contributor to various environmental initiatives. She realized that one factor preventing Cal from becoming more sustainable was a lack of funding for necessary projects. To overcome this challenge, Rachel co-created The Green Initiative Fund, a student fee referendum passed by the students at Berkeley. This fund successfully secures more than $2 million over ten years - $200,000 annually - for sustainability projects on campus, including clean energy, sustainable transportation, improved energy efficiency, water conservation, “green” internships, and improved recycling and composting programs. She also created The Sustainability Team (Steam), a student internship program dedicated to creating, implementing and leading a variety of projects aimed at establishing sustainable practices. The Sustainability Team implemented the first recycling program in student union buildings and founded the first organic, local, student-run cooperative produce stand on campus.
Rachel is capable of standing outside the prevaling system of self-interest and ignorance and doing something for the common good because she is not ignorant herself. She knows what she is doing and knows she is responsible for what she does. Rachel is thinking about the future and what can help for future generations. Unlike other people that are part of a system, she does not feel pressure to do anything she doesn't want to do. Rachel isn't doing this for mutual benefit. She is not only benefiting herself, but she is making our lives better and healthier without giving up anything.

Why is the system so corrupt?

Most systems that claim to be self benificent tend to be self-serving, unethical, and conservative because no one likes to admit to having made a mistake.

For example the Government is here to protect us, and help the citizens of the United States in any circumstances. When the President failed to do his duty in helping the people of New Orleans after hurricane Katrina, the people realized that he wasn't doing his job. While people were dying he wasn't sending help until the 5th of 6th day after the storm. Aside from the President, his fellow colleagues did nothing to make the situation better in Louisiana either. The system is so corrupt that since the President wasn't doing anything this implied that the others in the White House shouldn't do anything to help the refugees in New Orleans. Like many people no one likes to be wrong, but here in these circumstances the Government was greatly critizized of mismanagement and lack of preparation in the relief effort in response to Hurricane Katrina and its aftermath. Specifically, there was a delayed response to the flooding of New Orleans. He didn't want to admit that he took a long time to send help. People became desperate in New Orleans and took things into their own hands. Many of the the stranded people left in their homes after the hurricane started to look for dry places to be safe. Lots of reports accused the citizens of New Orleans of stealing and robbing good, but how can you blame them? It took so long for relief that the citizens were desperate. Just like the parable of the Unforgiving Servant Jesus says to stop looking at the system of power for help because it will not help you, you need to look within and take matters into your own hands.

Systems aren't things at all. The core idea are that systems are a theory and idea that provide benefits, they have rules, they have authority to enforce these rules, they also provide security, and with the faults in humans ignorance is the fault of the system itself. We can not take the position to blame the people that are in the system because they screw up but blame the system. The system is a theory it isn't real but the idea is what is real. The people part of the system comply with what the system asks them to do. The system sets everyone up to fight against each other to be on the top. The system is what makes people turn on each other because it gives an ultimatum. You can either be high or be low on the system and everyone will choose high. Now of course there are those few that will not comply with the system but for the most part they will. The theory of the system is what people live by and this is why the system is corrupt. It brings out the bad in people and works off of that because there is the need for authority and people fight and push people down to get up to that authoritative position so they themselves will not be the ones to be pushed down.

Parable of the Unmerciful Servant

1. The story is about a king who brought forth a debtor. The servant owed his master a large amount. Since he could not pay this debt, his master sold him, his family, and property in payment for his debt. At that the servant begged his master to be patient and thet he would pay him back in full. His master was so filled with compassion that he let him go and forgave him the loan. When the servant left, he found one of his fellow servants who owed him a much smaller debt. He siezed him and started to choke him demanding to pay him back what he owed. The fellow servant fell to his knees and begged him to be patient and he would pay him back. But he refused and put him in jail until he paid his debt. Word got back to the master by other servants and he summoned the servant who sent his fellow servent to jail. The master told the servant that he forgave him of his entire debt because he begged him to. The master asked why not have pity on your fellow servant as i had pity on you? Then his master turned and gave him to the torturers until he should pay back the whole debt. The main character of the story is the master because he is a perfect example of a person who forgivess a person in this case the servant and then is taken advantage of.

2. The king decides to forgive his debt because he understood that if he didn't forgive he would not get the same treatment in heaven. Everyone deserves a second chance and i think that the king realized that.

3. The servant doesn't follow the example of the king and forgive the debt because he was only thinking about himself. The servant wanted to pay off his debt as soon as possible and since his fellow servant owed him money he figured that he would start gathering the money he could. Even though the king told him that he didn't have to pay the debt and forgave it, the servant still wanted to show the king that he could pay him back, even if it was the wrong thing to do.

4. In the Kingdom of God his heavenly father (God) will give those who do not forgive the same treatment as that given to the unmerciful servant which is torture and for the one who doesn't forgive, death. Those who forgive will be forgiven for their sins in heaven and will get a second chance to redeem them.

"U.S. Involvement;"

How does the U.S. support Israel?

Most American think that our aid goes to poor countries when in reality most of our money goes to Israel, one of the most richest countries in the world. Most of our money goes to their financial, military, and diplomacy. 1.8 million dollars go to millitary,1.2 million go to economic aid, and 1 million goes to grants in millitary supplies. Israel recieve lots of money as you can see, and 25% of that money goes to wepons that we provide them with. Israel in the only country allowed to spend part of it's money on military funds. They have access to the most advanced weapons systems in the world with assistance from the U.S tax payer. The U.S alone protects Israel in the UN and other international arenas and keeps it from being help accountable for its violations of international law.


Why was the Bush administration so much less involved in Israel Palestine diplomacy?

In the first 10 month of 2001 before september 11th, the Bush administration adopted a policy of keeping up the high levels of aid to and dipolomatic protection of Israel while keeping their heads down and hands off peace talks. We can see that this was all about the oil industry which is very rich in the middle east, especially Arab states. The oil and stability of the middle east policy were primary at 1st although they were soon outweighed by the noise of the Christian fundamentalists whose support for Israel were unequivocal. All the Bush administration wanted was the oil, and the president was going to try to get this by not talking to the Arab states he was taking from. You could almost say he was trying to slip by them, without them noticing.


What has the George Bush administration middle east policy been all about?

Immediately after the September 11th attack the Bush administration appeared to distance itself from Israel. Bush's need to maintain Arab and Islamic government's support the war of terror in Iraq. Although the economic and strategic backing of Israel remained quietly unchanged , Arab governments from Egypt and Jordan to Saudi Arabia and beyond, already facing severe crisis of tegitimacy might do as they were told by the Bush administration, but they would pay a very high price. All of this work to get the Arab countries on his side is for the countries to support him in the war for terror which is really the rich oil in the middle east.

NPR Clips

Part 3: After World War II the struggle for Palestine intensified. The Zionists, who wanted a Jewish homeland, and who had supported the British during the World War, prepared for a new conflict. After the War between the British and the Jews ended, the Jews were being offered 55 percent of Palestine when in fact they had owned only seven percent of the country. Four-hundred-fifty thousand Palestinians were going to end up within the Jewish state, and they did not see any reason why they should go along with that kind of inequality, that kind of injustice.

Part4: Israel was planning an invasion to Arab countries such as Egypt, Syria, and Jordan. After the Israeli armor has sliced through the Gaza strip to the Mediterranean coast, and the Arab forces in the strip are no longer a fighting factor. Israel has today created the nearest thing to instant victory the modern world has ever seen. Israel had seized all of the Sinai and Gaza from Egypt, the West Bank and all of Jerusalem from Jordan, and the Golan Heights from Syria. After, there were 1.5 million Palestinians living under the control of the Israelis.

Part5: Egypt and Syria launched a surprise attack on Israel in October 1973 to regain their lost territories. The shock of the attack, and the strength of the Arab assault, led to a reassessment of the political and military balance in the Middle East. This war made people realize that power is not theirs forever, and that compromise is something that is necessary in order to survive in the long run. Israelis still would not acknowledge the Palestinians as a political force which Began, under pressure from President Jimmy Carter, did agree to negotiate with Egypt's Sadat.Egypt got back the Sinai; Israel received formal recognition from Egypt. Both Sadat and Begin hailed their achievement.

Part6: Palestinians hated their current living situations because they were stateless, living under the humiliation of identity checks, body searches and verbal abuse that were the rule of the Israeli army, watching helplessly as Israel expanded Jewish settlements on what had been their land. It was a very effective way of reaching out to Israelis, that you know, we are going to resist but without using military means, and that this could be very costly to you financially and morally. And it swayed many politicians and many generals and military people in Israel to accepting the concept of a Palestinian entity at that point. But by 1988, Hamas was playing a major role in the Intifada, and its leaders were talking about more violent measures. In the 1990s, their primary tactic would become the suicide bombing, disrupting every effort for peace. At the White House Arafat and Rabin shook hands and declared peace. This was only the first step, many other issues still needed to be resolved.

Part7: At this time Palestinians and Israelis still hated each other. Arafat took the Gaza and portions of the West Bank that the Israelis abandoned. Arafat did not follow the Oslo agreement because he was importing arms, by having much bigger security forces than they were entitled to, and by not laying the foundations for a democratic regime that respects human rights. Many of the Arabs that are Palestinians can't understand why Jews suddenly appeared in Palestine and started to take it over. They can't understand why they must agree to the Jews' continuing to possess 80 percent of Palestine and they will agree to only receive 20 percent. After the Ehud Barak's government collapsed, and Ariel Sharon, possibly the Israeli politician most hated by the Palestinians, was elected prime minister. He help a full scale invasion into Palestinian territories, and they are not occupied by Israelis.

"Wicked Tenants"

The parable, I think, illustrates that the system is corrupt. As a metaphor it might represent the state of affairs of 1st century Palestine. In metaphor, the Israelites are represented by the tenants to whom Yahweh has given the land. Because the landowner is distinguished as a Jew, he represents the Jewish leaders of the time who, though they are their kin, oppress the poor, in direct violation of God’s laws.Verses 10-12 talk about how some builders had chosen not to use a section of stone (probably because they deemed it of low quality or not good or whatever stone guys do). This rejected stone however turns out to become the tablets of which The Law is written upon. What was rejected and viewed as garbage has all of a sudden become the most important thing on earth. Like the stone guys, the tenants and Pharisees (Scribes, Sadducees, e.t.c…) are given the power to create a super awesome structure, or society. The choice made is poor, and so there are consequences they must face. Had the builders picked up the crappy stone, one might assume that, based it’s destiny as something so great, whatever was being built would be incredible. If this is the case, then if the tenants/leaders were to pick up the crappy pieces (the poor), then some great institution might become of the whole. Therefore, the parable shows that “the system” must be run in such a way that one group does not oppress the other.