A definite first for me, this debate was difficult and certainly a mind twister. What the entire PLP 11 group did for the exhibition at the end of the year was have a debate battle between groups made by the teachers. Prior to doing this debate, we had a lot of practice debating on topics like, do leaders with power become corrupt? To the reflection!

On the night of the debate, I did not worry much because I thought my group was very prepared to win or at least not get wiped out in first bracket. This was very on the contrary as my group was absolutely destroyed in the topics we debated in. Our groups points seemed strong but we could never get the audience’s support. The groups that were expected to be strong were very strong. It was to say that we got swept off the floor because we lost every single debate we did. The night went very well for the rest of the teams. One of the highlights was when I was referenced directly by Alanah which destroyed me but I must admit was an excellent idea.

In the end, our failures probably came from not being able to think in the spot and effectively convey our message in the short time that we had. Our points were rebutted and sometimes, we could not counter it effectively and launch attacks. I admit I was not the most helpful in the group but I am willing to strive and correct the lack of skill in this area.

Some things that I would want changed if we do this debate again is to have less of the audience be the decision makers. I felt that if we appease the audience with what they want like one liners that have no correlation to the subject, the results would be very skewed. Not to mention that the audience sometimes does not know what we have been studying to make connections to a deep thought that the students put out. Also, the class expressed their concern on how the audience could have let their own beliefs and emotions bias their judging of the debate which would have decided who won even before the debate began.

Overall, I would like to do is again if we get to do a more formal style of debate which is full of structure and the changes are made in regards to who has power in the vote.

In the spirit of exploring more concepts in depth, we have been assigned to write about a concept that deeply explores the human condition and how society behaves. When this first began, I had my usual moment of despair for having to explore something with such ambiguity. But further along the road of this exploration, I have found that society is actually a very intricate web of ideas that connect together. We began the process by writing 3 paragraphs choosing from this list:

Power and Authority

Humanity and Inhumanity

Violence and Destruction

Human nature

Civilization and Savagery

Innocence and Evil

Individualism and Community

An impressive list no doubt, I had many moments where I pulled blanks trying to think of something to write about these topics. One of these paragraphs is to become expanded.

For my first paragraph, I wrote about how the idea of civilization and savagery are interchangeable. Using the example of how we perceive the militant group Islamic State of Iraq and Levant (ISIL) and how they perceive us, I showed how the western world can be named savage and civil. In my second paragraph, I wrote about how with out violence and destruction, there would be no advancement in technology. I used the example of how the invention of penicillin in World War II may not have happened because there would have not been a need of it if not for the war. Another example I used was the Cold War where if we had not made missiles capable of delivering heavy atomic bombs to far distances, we may have not had the technology to reach space and beyond. This was because most of the launch vehicles prior to purpose built ones were repurposed intercontinental ballistic missiles used in the prevention or dealing of death and destruction from the Russians as and also the Americans. The final paragraph is how civilization is just a mask of savagery. If we look at the civilization today, the age old savagery of our most ancient days still exists as the backbone of our society. I took a look on how the world is under the model of whoever is the strongest will lead and dominate. An example of this is the USA and how they lead in everything because they have always been strong in many fields. This is the topic I will expand upon. There are also some previous works on concepts that have written into blogposts. One is on self sacrifice and another is on fear.

The Expansion of the Topic

Civilization has always been the evolution of savagery to many people in the world. It is the way out of the ancient model of ruling through sheer intelligence, physique, and wealth. Through this civilized way of living, we have deviated from a world of sheer realism to a world where idealism thrives. But it does not seem so when the entire societal structure is analyzed. Civilization is something humanity created not to replace the savagery in place before, but mask it with formality in order to save all the bloodshed that happens were it not for this mask.

The global situation of power is a perfect example of this concept in play. The United States of America have always been at the forefront of advancement in all fields. A power so influential, they control the global economy and also are the dominant military power on earth. If we relate this to the style of ruling of the ancient times, there are many similarities. Where there is a strong man with the mental, physical, and wealth to dominate others to lead is the United States. Where the man intimidates with an act of violence, there is the United States sending its troops to foreign lands to intimidate and control. The knowledge that the strong man shows is shown by the advancement of military technology that the US military utilizes and how NASA is one of the most dominant space agencies on the planet. There is no doubt that America, even if its population does not know, rules with a system reminiscent to the realism of the ancient. This all goes to show that the civilization that we see around us is really a mask to the roots which represents savagery.

In the play Macbeth and the book Lord of the Flies, both show an example of this concept. In Macbeth, Macbeth did not bother to talk and negotiate his ascension to the throne but forced his way up to it through killing and manipulating his way to the top. While there is a clear chance of negotiation and agreement which idealism and civilization dictates, excessive force is used which is reminiscent of what realism stands for. In Lord of the Flies, The group of boys change from using a relatively idealistic system to complete realism. Idealism is used to mask the realism that was coming when the group grew bored and desperate. This all goes to show that civilization is just a mask of the savagery that continually exists.

While idealism or civilization is the ideal way of continuing and evolving this societal system, it it’s still flawed by the people who do not believe in it. The United Nations is a perfect example of this as because they are how an ideal world government should look like. A leadership model that is based and relies on consensus, voluntary agreement, and rational being. All of these are the fundamental values and idealism represent. The flaw in this system reveals itself when a different power resists this system. The UN also has military force of made up of soldiers from all around the world. With the existence of such a military in idealism is to immediately break the perfect model of civilization. When another country has internal conflict or has become uncooperative to the rest of the world, the UN sometimes sends it’s military to keep the peace. But by keeping the peace, they also the strength of the countries the troops of this army come from which all goes to show that all these countries control and lead the country to which they deploy to. All of this goes to show that even a system meant to embrace idealism and civilization is in need of realism and savagery to keep itself together.

In a modern society, an example of civilization is embraced and adopted across the world. However, no one can ever make or call a society completely devoid of realism because the idea of complete idealism will crack at the seams when anyone merely says no to its fundamental principles.

That was a an enjoyable write if I must be honest, another idea sprang up while writing it but I feel good about this paragraph. Doing this assignment has been quite a ride through the human condition as we did write a lot of ideas on the different topics. We also debated on all these subjects as well but that is a post for another day. This really gave me the opportunity and the realization to express this from some dark corner in my brain. Thanks for reading!