In order for us to find the foundation of our human nature, we must look beyond into our early years where human nature is dug deep into the roots of our history and involvements. About 97 years ago the horrific Genocide of the Armenians took place. Turkey has shown a classic example of the evil that can result by human beings. Millions of Armenians were slaughtered and murdered in front of their family members. The destruction that constantly plays out throughout the world is cuased by human beings. Hsun Tzu would have also agreed that the young Turks were in face by nature extremely evil. April 24th is the day of grief for many Armenians. Almost every Armenian reminisces on their loved ones that they have lost during this …show more content…
They had no clue where their families were or even if they were alive. Children were separated from their parents during the march to the concentration camps in the desert. The authorities loaded the Armenians like animals on boats and sent them away. The massacre of the Armenian race went on for two long years. 1.5 million Armenians were brutalized and starved to death. Hsun Tzu is a Chinese philosopher whom believes human beings are by nature integrally evil, and the only way they will be able to be good is by their conscious activity. Humans learn from others and naturally follow without knowing if it is good or bad. After realizing how imperfect the nature of man is we understand as to why a man must become a student before he grows from his evil nature. It is true horror that mankind can conflict on society. Society has many rules and we humans always tend to follow them. The Turks followed their leaders which was the Young Turk Government in which led them to believe the Armenians were trying to take all of their land. This proves that Hsun Tzu is right about humans and society. Hsun Tzu said, “the progress of society would decay into barbarism, selfishness and violence.” This quote connects with the history of the Armenian Genocide and how evil the Turks were to the Armenians. Their leader told them to have the Armenians starve to death and they did. They thought what they were doing was totally right and for the best of their country. Hsun
In the world there will always be people we label as ‘bad’. We are taught from a very young age to avoid certain behaviors, which could inevitably turn us into this type of corrupt and immoral person. Instead, we are taught to behave outstandingly, and follow an unspoken social code of morality. There is a universal theme that the good will always overcome the bad; “The good guys always win.” Even on television, in children’s cartoons, this idea is reinforced. It is ingrained in our brain’s that becoming an upstanding citizen is a righteous path for success. But as people get older they tend to develop their own code of morality and do what they think is good for the world. Take Joseph Stalin, for example; though twisted in his beliefs,
While Mencius believes that humans are inherently good, but can be corrupted by circumstance, Hsun Tzu argues that man is not inherently good at all. He rejects this view, saying that Mencius "has not really understood man's nature nor distinguished properly between the basic nature and conscious activity" (158). Hsun Tzu does admit that humans have some inherent good in them: "man possesses energy, life, intelligence " (45). Even so, Hsun Tzu believed that any such inherent good can be lost completely, and that the evil of man can overwhelm him beyond hope: "in the case of the incorrigibly evil men, punish them without trying to reform them" (33). This means that self-improvement alone (and not nature) can save humans, as Hsun Tzu believed that all humans start with the same basic nature: "the gentleman by birth is no different from any other man" (16). Hsun Tzu again returns to his belief that for man to evolve beyond his evil nature, "learning must never cease" (15).
Throughout time, history has been recorded from the perspective of the victors. It is this bias within the archives that shape the views and motives of the groups involved. As a result of this influence the general way of thinking, and recollection of historical events has been altered to a certain degree to conform to the conqueror’s ideals. Society turns a blind eye to the horrors of the past, preferring to plead ignorance than to face the reality of the cruelty humans are capable of. There are parts in history that conversely cannot be ignored, such as the genocide in Rwanda, 9-11, Terror in Paris and the most historical, the holocaust in World War II, where the true extent of human vindictiveness came to light. In spite
I suggest we put the killing of thousands of Armenians behind us. No one shall ever bring up the topic of the Armenian Genocide or they will suffer consequences. They will be put in jail. You are probably asking why we don't want you to pay for the Armenian Genocide? If we sweep this under the rug, we will gain your trust and no other will know of the actions you have done.
In both instances a large number of people were killed but in the holocaust it was on a different scale. In the Holocaust there were upwards of 10 millions death with the major group that was killed being 6 million Jews("The Holocaust. United to End Genocide"). On the other hand, in the Armenian massacre, there were an estimated one and a half million Armenians killed (Armenian National Institute). By the time the massacre was over the was an estimated just 388,000 Armenians left in the Ottoman empire( "Armenian Genocide."). Another similarity between the two is both genocides were over religion. During the Holocaust it was the Jews being killed for their religion( "The Holocaust."). In the Armenian genocide it was the Christians who were being killed for their religion( "Armenian Genocide."). Overall, both the Holocaust and the Armenian genocide have their similarities and differences.
The Holocaust, 9/11, wars and assassinations are common events that come to mind when thinking about history. These events tend to make people think that mankind is evil and will always choose to be evil. However, when looking at the people behind the evil doings, are they really killing for a selfish reason? Mankind will always do good for their nation, no matter the cost. While most powerful leaders end up hurting many people, they either have good intentions behind the mask of people suffering or people come together to stop the leader. When Hitler ended up killing many Jews, countries came together as a nation to save the Jews from the camps. Good will overrule the horrible events in Earth’s past, present and future. Pearl Harbor, 9/11, and ISIS all have one thing in common, nationalism.
Our own government chooses to ignore the facts in order to keep Turkey as one of its alliances. How can an alliance be worth more than a nearly two million lives gone and wasted? The Turkish have intentionally “demolished any remnants of Armenian cultural heritage.”(United Human Rights Council). The Turks have destroyed Armenian art, archives, and books in attempt to cut all ties with Armenian history. In fact, they even went as far as leveling cities to remove any possible trace of the three thousand year old society. Fortunately, the three twisted men who fled the country were later captured, as a result of the Armenians who sought justice. They were later trialed and found guilty. Although it is not celebrated in America, April 24th is the national Armenian Genocide Remembrance
The denial of the Armenian genocide and the use of the term “alleged” are insults to those who have agitated over the years in highlighting the genocide and the Armenian people themselves. The pictorial anger and anguish of this painful traumatic experience had left the survivors of this horrific event with deep scars beyond repairs. The late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries were a dark world for the Armenians who were held helpless and bound at the treacherous hand of the Muslim Turks of the Ottoman Empire in Turkey. The Armenian Genocide includes: the context of power of the Ottoman Empire, the phases of destruction and Turkey’s refusal to acknowledge the genocide and provide support to the Armenians.
Armenia is one of the world's oldest civilizations. Inhabiting the mountainous Caucasus region at the crossroads of Europe and Asia, the people of Armenia have shared a unique language and culture for over 3,000 years. The systematic annihilation of the Armenian population from their historic homeland was a horrific example to serve the upcoming genocides, including Hitler’s Holocaust. Every Armenian thinks that it is their own responsibility to honor the innocent Armenian people. Armenian genocide is a part of the world history and every year on April 24th numerous events take place to spread awareness and demand recognition. In addition, April 24 is a huge political event for all the Armenians all over the world and thousands of people gather
A network of 25 concentration camps was set up by the Ottoman government to dispose of the Armenians that had survived deportations.(“Armenian Genocide”) The government set up death camps to kill all survivors, yet consider this not a horrific event. They used all of the most brutal ways to kill, but never took the
The Armenian genocide has several main causes: European meddling in Ottoman internal affairs, nationalism, economic jealousy, and Armenian involvement in the Russian war effort. Though, a lot of the causes are interrelated. For example, nationalism and European meddling go hand in hand. What exactly was the Armenian genocide? Well, the Armenian genocide was a state orchestrated machine of mass-murder and rape of the Armenian people, and several other ethnic groups, of the Ottoman Empire 1915-1923. The Armenians were one of many ethnic groups of the Ottoman Empire, and they had lived in eastern Asia Minor for around three thousand years prior to the atrocity .
To determine what was selfish and what was evil, man referred to current laws and events of the past. They also looked at contributing circumstances. A homicide cannot be murder if the killing was in self-defense. However, if the act was for personal gain then it would be deemed evil. This reinforces Hsun-Tzu’s
Throughout human intellectual history, mankind has debated the question: “are humans good by nature?” Do humans do good out of only self-centered motivations, or is there an internal built-in sense of morality? Today, we face this problem more than ever. For example, if a lawyer argues a killer’s intentions for committing heinous crimes originate from the fact that he has a tendency towards naturally incompetency, or if outside influences turned a naturally well-to-do individual into a ill-willed murderer. Mencius and Xunzi are among the most notable Confucian scholars, yet their differing views on this philosophical conundrum set them apart. Mencius maintained an
As most people would agree, the 20th century contained some of the bloodiest and most gruesome events ever recorded in history. Why do words such as Hiroshima, Rwanda, The Final Solution, A Great Leap Forward, The Great Purge and so many more spark such vivid images of blood, torture and murder in our minds? And despite those horrific images, what is it that causes us humans time and time again to commit such crimes against humanity? Those are the kinds of questions Jonathan Glover, a critically acclaimed ethics philosopher, tries to answer in the book he had spent over ten years writing, Humanity: A Moral History of the 20th Century. Through Humanity Glover tries to answer those questions in a way which will give a solution as how we can
From the moment they are born, humans have a naturally evil predisposition. Although the term ‘evil’ is difficult to define, there are various views on morality. The most commonly referenced one, Moral Objectivism, holds that moral standards are universally transcendent, and that certain acts are right or wrong independent of human subjectivity. It is by this unspoken moral code that humanity’s acts are judged. There is some debate whether a fundamental human nature exists, as social and environmental influences are present from the moment someone is born. But if we can define human nature, it is beyond doubt, naturally evil. The English philosopher Thomas