Individuality

Individual. An individual is a single human being as distinct from a group, class, or family.

Everyone closed their eyes. The teacher put the lights off. Everyone buried their heads into their arms. We waited in silence. Do you like sports or art? Do you like math or science? Do you like to eat or sleep? At each question, everyone raised their hand in the category they favored. Art. Math. Sleep. Majority likes art. Majority likes math. Majority likes art. We let majority rule.

Perhaps in these minor situations, we let majority rule, but how about when questions such as whether you are for or against medical marijuana, prolife or prochoice, for or against euthanasia? Should you let your individual voice be heard? Risk it and hope for the best? From On the Duty of Civil Disobedience, “I am willing to leave it to the majority. Its obligation, therefore, never exceeds that of expediency” (1020).  This quote, itself, is a true representation of importance of an individual.

The importance of an individual is unexplainable. When the question arises as to whether government or the individuals that make it up are more important? I believe that the individuals are more important. If Gandhi hadn’t starved, perhaps India wouldn’t be free. If Martin Luther King hadn’t painted the picture of a harmonious society, perhaps America wouldn’t be standing together. These historical events prove that every individual, every individual’s opinion, every individual’s faith and belief, should be heard. Each one of those opinions, faiths, and beliefs, make up the government and its duty to deliver to the people. In other words, if the government wishes to provide and protect the people, then it must listen to the people as well.

Significance

Memorial. A memorial is a structure that is established to remind people of a certain event or person.

When I was told to write my thoughts about a memorial, I wrote this exact definition. I’ve seen the Vietnam Memorial. I’ve seen the people names on the wall. I’ve closed my eyes and prayed for their families. However, I’ve never understood the value and meaning behind the structure of a memorial.  What is the significance of a memorial? 

Maybe for the common man that visits a memorial, you feel the grief for a moment and move on. But, for many that have lost loved ones, a memorial serves as respect and acknowledgement of the person’s contribution. Memorials hold a meaning that is much more impactful and important than what is seen at first glance. 

For example, The Holocaust Memorial, or Memorial to the Murdered Jews of Europe, was designed to give representation to over 3 million Holocaust victims. As you walk into the memorial in Berlin, you see large 2711 slabs of concrete (slatae) with nothing engraved. No names. No dates. As you keeping walking, the memorial feels like a maze, purposely created to represent the chaotic atmosphere. For Berlin, this chaotic atmosphere instills a sense of fear in common citizens of the idea to not commit the same mistakes. Furthermore, the Holocaust Memorial is a cenotaph "a memorial to someone whose corpse lies somewhere else" (Postcards from the Trenches). While these different details do spark reflection in a visitor, so does location. The Holocaust Memorial is placed where the Berlin Wall used to be, portraying unity and a new beginning.  

Memorials serve as an important warning to the world of the rugged past and hopeful future. Wolfgang Thierse said "The Holocaust memorial serves as a place where people can understand “what loneliness, powerlessness, and despair mean.”