P3+EZaidler

Most people have different ideas of what is right & wrong or just & unjust; and they do not understand their roles in facing and defeating that which is unjust to their entire society. The fact is that some rights in one part of the world could be wrong in any other place and visa-versa. It can be derived that the difference between right and wrong is entirely a matter of perspective and principal for any person. For example, stealing bread to feed one’s starving family would be wrong by the merchant’s perspective but right by the thief’s. It is deduced from this example that the main is principle of a human is to stay alive no matter what other principles he must violate. The difference between right and wrong can only remain in the boundaries of the individual; but when an injustice occurs on an entire society or population, the individual believes himself to be meaningless and he forgets his role in defeating the injustice. The fact is that a majority has to act upon an injustice so that an individual will be tempted to join in with the majority. However, if no one man begins a protest, the rest of the individuals that would in fact form a majority remain silent. The point is that an individual has the duty to fight any law, legislation, or oppression in general as long as he feels that it is oppressive. This way the majority may eventually cooperate with him or take a lesson from the original protestor in later years. Separating right from wrong is based completely on one individual’s perspective and principle. Men will do anything to ensure their own survival, such as in chapter twenty-five of //The Grapes of Wrath// “million people hungry, needing the fruit- and kerosene sprayed over the golden mountains. And the smell of rot fills the country.” Here, Steinbeck describes how the owners of the fruit farms in California spray the entire crop with kerosene so that the starving people will not eat their fruit. For most people this would be an atrocious act, leaving people to die by poison or starvation is simply not right. The fact is that if the Californians allow the migrants to eat their crop, then they will lose the money that they so desperately need during the economic crisis. During this type of situation, a man’s principle begins to become more selfish, for self-preservation. During the Depression, the people would do anything to get the money that they so gravely required. In chapter seven of //The Grapes of Wrath//, the salesman is arguing to one of his customers that while he had been speaking to him, he could have made multiple sales. “Now, look here. I'm givin' you my shirt, an' you took all this time. I might a made three sales while I been talkin' to you. I'm disgusted. Yeah, sign right there. All right, sir." (Steinbeck) He is trying to persuade his customer to buy more materials in a rather aggressive and rude manner, he succeeds. From most people’s perspective this is wrong, milking a family of the little money they have left for themselves, this would be considered quite selfish. From the perspective of the salesman however, this act was based entirely on making money to feed his starving family. His main principle is to keep himself and the one’s he loves alive through this Depression and have as good a quality in life as possible. //The Grapes of Wrath// presents another situation bearing a similar theme as previously stated. In chapter eleven Steinbeck describes how the banks have paid some men to get some tractors and run over the farms in the Midwest. The farmers would naturally protest to this action because the banks are destroying their homes and even lives for that matter. The farmers think that they are being wronged by the men and by their government. The fact is that the tractor drivers are simply trying to make a living and earn their food for a month so that they and their family do not starve to death. The farmers cannot overcome the fact that the government has performed an injustice because they had not unionized yet. The role of the individual against an injustice would be to fight it, preferably by gaining other people to his cause through persuasion or any other technique. In chapter fourteen of //The Grapes of Wrath//, Steinbeck explains how the farmers have begun to unionize which would give them a fighting chance against the oppression of the government at the time. They are not the only ones being oppressed during the Depression; immigrants are treated no better than slaves during this period. “They imported slaves, although they did not call them slaves: Chinese, Japanese, Mexicans, Filipinos. They live on rice and beans, the businessmen said. They don't need much. They wouldn't know what to do with good wages. Why, look how they live. Why, look what they eat. And if they get funny---deport them." (Ch.19 Steinbeck) The immigrants that work in the fields are given no money, just the meal for the day that will help them survive. However, all they would have to do to get fired or deported is to take a funny look at their captors. This is an injustice that could be fought only with the support of others; the migrants and the immigrants would have to join their numbers to force their government into acknowledgment. By remaining separate, the government will simply ignore the former farmers and deport the rebellious immigrants. Many people usually search for an outside force to help them through an injustice or to get rid of it but they cannot seem to do it alone. “Some are petitioning the State to dissolve the Union, to disregard the requisitions of the President. Why do they not dissolve it themselves?” (Thoreau Part II) In this quote, Thoreau is bluntly stating that the people of a society generally do nothing to aid the fight against the oppression of the society. Thoreau gives an ultimatum by saying that people either aid the fight against oppression, or, by doing nothing they contribute to the oppression. “It is not a man's duty, as a matter of course, to devote himself to the eradication of any, even the most enormous wrong; he may still properly have other concerns to engage him; but it is his duty, at least, to wash his hands of it, and, if he gives it no thought longer, not to give it practically his support.” (Thoreau Part I) Homeless people have to consider their lives and the fact that no one is really trying to help them, save on Christmas. “They are not homeless. They are people who have no homes. No drawer that holds the spoons. No window to look out upon the world. My God. That is everything.” (Quindlen) Here, the homeless are not described as addicts or evil people, just people without homes. How can a government allow this to continue, is it not an injustice to leave these people to fend for themselves, like Hoover did to the farmers and common man during the Depression? The homeless could very well fight this injustice of being utterly ignored by unionizing. Ten thousand homeless people marching in Washington would draw attention to the state of life that they are in. he homeless people would also be able to gain middle class supporters who would want their countrymen to have the ability to live a fulfilled life. One man, one individual would have to start the protest so that the government would pay attention to the homeless, then, a majority will join the individual and they will be able to stress their need of shelter and food, perhaps even a mediocre job. The way an individual separates right from wrong is based entirely on perspective and principle. The main principle for a man is to stay alive and keep those close to him alive as well. However, this individual will not push his principles upon any act that affects the society unless a majority acts with him. Every individual seems afraid to revolt or rebel against the government, like a student is afraid to act against his school unless more people join them. The individual will readily fight the oppression as long as someone else has begun the resistance. The reality is that the individual that completes his duty and acts against something unjust will become the leader of this rebellion. Most people in a society will most likely have similar principles and perspectives. Thus, one individual must act upon an injustice and eventually most others will join his cause. It all boils down to the individual, his principles will send him to power and the complete support of the society.
 * Right and Wrong**