Ukraine and Russia (Mar. 2nd)

    While Mr.Paterson was away, we were working on our team websites, and during that time a war had commenced. As I was watching the news during this time, the ideology we learned in class "War is a racket" crossed my mind. This war was no exception, and listening to Mr.Paterson's lecture it was so astounding to see Butler's concept be applied in contemporary society, and accurately represent the current situation. This is the first time I am alive during an actual war, and accumulating accurate information was a lot harder than I thought. This war has been permeating the news in Japan and has attracted copious people's regognigtion, in fact everyone in the world is paying attention. I have seen videos and posts circulating Instagram, exposing the reality of the frontlines of war, and revealing the truths that are concealed in the mainstream. There is a substantial difference between what I read on social media and on TV. The documentary Mr.Paterson introduced probably is congested of even more knowledge that no broadcaster would report, so I would like to watch those after finals. Subsequent to learning about the Israel-Palestine conflict, last semester, I thought that I would have known how imperative history is when comprehending a war. However, my level of awareness was insufficient. Protestors in each country, and accounts on social media are all supporting Ukraine, and have no sympathy for Russia. I had also believed that Ukraine was the side we should all be on, but after scrutinizing history, it was not as black and white as I had presumed it to be. When talking about Putin, Mr.Paterson gave a brief explanation on his view point. Most teachers absolutely omit talking about their perspective about a social issue, but personally hearing Mr.Paterson elucidate on what he thinks and his interpretation of Putin was informative, and it broadened my perspective. Regardless of whether I agree or not, hearing an opinion of someone who is well educated and understands the topic was interesting. On the mainstream, and even on Instagram, Putin is evil, and russians are depicted in a negative way. Notwithstanding Mr.Paterson disliking Putin's way of thinking and strategy, it was the first time I heard someone having sympathy for him which was only possible after recognizing the long history between not only Ukraine and Russia, but also the other countries encompassing the two. 

    Learning to separate the truth and false is now important more than ever, and at time disbelieving our eyes is needed. I had thought that my understanding of the media had improved since a few years ago, but it seems like there is still so much area for improvement. After we finish this course, I hope to continue to scrutinize and criticize what I read on the news, and not be "uninformed" nor "misinformed". Since this is the last blog I may be writing in a long time, I looked back on my blogs from 2 years ago, reminiscing the days where I could thoroughly enjoy school without being bombarded by assignments day after day. Anyways, the writing in these blogs was so bad to the point where reading it was embarrassing. The beginning was abrupt, the flow of the paragraphs were not smooth, vocabulary was redundant, and reflections were shallow. My refelections and thoughts on the lecture were so limited, and too simple, even though I bet there was so much more that could be acquired from that lecture. Regardless, my language writing skills has immensely grown (hopefully), and this blog has been a significant contribution to my amelioration in writing. Thank you for a wonderful 4 years!!