Paradox Blog

"Paradox and Dream"

      "We are able to believe that our government is weak, stupid, overbearing, dishonest, and inefficient, and at the same time we are deeply convinced that is the best government in the world, and we would like to impose it upon everyone else."

     This means that we think our government is awful and overbearing, but when brought up with another system we are able to rub it in their faces, convinced that it is the best system in the world. For example, two Americans talking about their government would complain about it. However, if the one of them was from a different country the American would just go on and on about how great it is. This, however, isn't entirely true for all Americans, just some. However, it does show that we are not necessarily happy, and we are willing to fake it to make ourselves look better. This paradox really opened my eyes.

     I chose this paradox because I have seen this happen. I've seen it happen on TV, with my own family, and from others as well. I never really thought about it until I read it on paper. The moment I read it, I felt like I understood everything. Everything just made sense. It made me realize that most of us are not happy with our government, but still think it is better than everyone else's. Which is somewhat true for Americans, but not all. However, I don't it should be that way.

     "Americans are remarkably kind and hospitable and open with both guests and strangers; and yet they will make a wide circle around the man dying on the pavement. Fortunes are spent getting cats out of trees and dogs out of sewer pipes; but a girl screaming for help in the street draws only for slammed doors, closed windows, and silence."

      This paradox means that we say we are open to everyone and willing to save animals over people who really need help. It is about how we say that being a bystander is not good, but we still do it anyway. It shows that we will call a fire truck to get a cat down from a tree, but if a girl is screaming for help, we'll lock our doors and pretend nothing has happened. Another example could be that we'll help out at a soup kitchen, but if a person gets jumped in the alley, we might call the cops, but most would probably just ignore it. Like the other paradox this isn't covering all Americans, but I say it does cover most of them. 

      I also chose this paradox because I've seen on TV, on the internet, and in real life. Like the other paradox I didn't realise I already knew this. However, this is more deeper than the first one. It is a very ugly truth. Like the other it really opened up my eyes. I've seen videos and news of things like this. For example, there was this video of a girl in China who got ran over by a car. It was so crowded that the other people behind that car just slowed down and continued to run over her. This also shows that bystanding is an international thing. The only thing I question about this is, why don't we help and still say we do?