Recommended: Nihilism essay
Reinhold Niebuhr 's quote does put things in perspective, we are a small snapshot in a much larger picture, we need to do our best with hope, faith and love to steer the ship in the proper direction. The quote also ties into Palmer 's idea that we shouldn’t be judging ours with effectiveness as the ultimate measure. It’s a little hard not to see the irony in the statement of not using effectiveness as our measure, especially after just finishing a business course which put emphasis on such measures. However, Niebuhr 's quote really does resonate the importance of our internal values versus our external success.
Niemoller, a German pastor and political prisoner in a Nazi concentration camp took a stand against indifference, In his own life Niemoller experienced both sides of indifference, For example, he says he was indifferent when. “ First they came for the Socialists, and I did not speak out because I was not a Socialist”. Niemoller(1) This means that he didn't speak out because the Nazis weren't coming for him at that time and he could live his life like he was before the Socialists got taken by the Nazis.
But we no longer feared death, in any event not this particular death,” (60). By this point, Wiesel and the other Jews no longer fear death, as they are taking a part of the forced labor, they have lost their purpose of life, their
Caring is Important “Gratitude is a word that I cherish” (Wiesel). Elie Wiesel was from a small Jewish town. When he was young, he was taken to a concentration camp. After a couple of years, he was freed, but he still has no joy in his heart, he was being careless enough to get himself in danger. Elie Wiesel shows rhetorical questions, imagery, and parallelism in his speech to show the dangers of indifference.
Six million Jewish people lost their lives between 1933 and 1945, the twelve-year span where people were brutally murdered based purely on religion. This historical tragedy became known as the Holocaust. Historians believe that one million Jewish people were killed in Auschwitz, a concentration camp that was responsible for some of these vicious murders over a five-year duration. Journalist and author, Elie Wiesel, survived the Holocaust and Auschwitz when so many were not as lucky. His horrors in Auschwitz inspired him to become an activist speaking out against indifference in the world.
A fate worse than death itself? Well, surely nothing could be worse than the state of death – it is the ultimate end, from there no hope for a better tomorrow exists. Can there really be fates worse than death – perhaps existing only to figure out that death has already come to stay, the body just does not know it yet. What is life but a perpetual line of hope; moreover, what is a life without joy or hope? Elie Wiesel, an “Auschwitz extermination camp” survivor speaks about the overwhelming hopelessness and despair he, along with countless others, experienced in his speech The Perils of Indifference given at “the White House on April 12, 1999” (Gavin, 1996).
Niebuhr Niebuhr talks about how the United States was not too long ago the baby of the world, innocent and powerless to do anything about the turmoil around us. Now the United States is a superpower, reaching out our arms to anyone and everyone… The United States as a whole has become the most powerful nation on earth with our resources, including currently, military and political. Niebuhr also states that the idea of destiny within religion, and how western nations oppose us due to our beliefs and the future of the world depends upon not only power but acquisitions of virtues. Since the United States is still viewed as an innocent and our beliefs, morals traditions come from three different places.
Holocaust survivor and author, Elie Wiesel in his thought-provoking speech, The Perils of Indifference, maintains the idea that indifference is dangerous and inhuman. He develops his message through the use of imagery, rhetorical questions, and anecdotes. Wiesel’s purpose is to warn readers of the danger that comes with indifference in order to instill a sense of urgency in the readers so that they can avoid indifference. He establishes a serious yet hopeful tone for readers by using stylistic devices such as imagery, metaphor, and rhetorical questions in order to develop his message that indifference is the most dangerous and inhuman thing known to man.
In the autobiography Mein Kampf by Adolf Hitler, he expresses his political ideologies and strategies in ruling over millions of people. He mostly reveals his perspectives on racial matters, asserting that the Aryan race is dominant over any other ethnic groups. Although Adolf Hitler’s statements successfully convinced and appealed to almost all the people in the Germanic nation, his arguments, however, are undoubtedly loaded with logical fallacies. In Chapter 11 of the autobiography, Hitler mainly focuses on his notions regarding racial superiority.
This issue turns to Wiesel's description of apathy, and the different circumstances in which it can occur. Indifference can be subtle and tempting, because it is easier (6). Wiesel uses this to show the gravity of what the Holocaust was. People would assume that it was in the hands of someone else, so they did not have any reason to do anything about it. Indifference is vicious.
In “The Perils of Indifference” a speech given from a holocaust survivor, Elie Wiesel discussed the issues society had during World War 2 associated with insouciance. The speech revolved around the world coming to a new millennium, and he asked “what will the legacy of this vanishing century be?” This allows him to directly bring the topic of indifference into the equation quite brilliantly. He begins with his stories of prisoners sitting in Auschwitz that felt nothing, “They were dead and did not know it.” He states that indifference is the friend of the enemy.
Holocaust survivor and author of the novel, Night, Elie Wiesel in his speech, “The Perils of Indifference,” claims that indifference is not only a sin, but is an act of dehumanization. He begins to develop his claim by defining the word “indifference”, then enlightens the audience about his personal experiences living through the war. Finally he asks the audience how they will change as they enter a new millennium. Wiesel’s purpose throughout his speech is to convince his audience not to be indifferent to those who were, and are, being treated cruelly and unjust. He creates tones of tranquility, disappointment, abandonment, and happiness in order for his audience to see his perspective during the horrific times of the Holocaust.
Everyone has heard of Adolf Hitler and how he tried to conquer Europe. He attempted doing it at the right time when everyone thought that Germany was going to lose everything, because, the national debt and inflation was so high. Germany was so desperate for anyone to help them that Adolf Hitler saw a chance to step up and be in charge of everything. Hitler was very good at acting like he really cared about his people. He claimed to the German people that he would help with unemployment, help businesses, success to the failed businesses, and to expand their army to make them more powerful.
The belief in nothing, the rejection of all values, moral principles and religions. The philosophy that all values are baseless and believing that life is meaningless, this is Nihilism. In Hamlet, there are three different kinds of nihilism that are shown; passive, active and ubermensch. Passive nihilism is when there is belief that there is no going further, its the end. Passive nihilism can be distinguished by rejection, death/suicide, and defeat.
"If a temple is to be erected, a temple must be destroyed!" Friedrich Nietzsche (1844-1900) is one of humanity's most influential and amaranthine thinkers. He was a German philosopher, political critic, philologist, writer, and poet. Some of his most famous works include Thus Spoke Zarathustra (1891), Beyond Good and Evil (1886), The Gay Science (1882), The Birth of Tragedy (1872), Twilight of the Idols (1889), The Will to Power (1901), etc. His impact isn't just on recently found scholarly insight, but additionally on the way numerous contemporary Western philosophers approach "life".
