“Come to some conclusions and relate it to the Core Question: What are the responsibilities of the educated citizen.”

08/22/06 “Come to some conclusions and relate it to the Core Question: What are the responsibilities of the educated citizen.” This trip made me see the interconnectedness of the past and present and how, as we discussed in lecture on Friday, there isn’t really a line between “the past” and “the present.” It is a continuum of history, culture, politics, etc. I went to Halstatt one of the weekends we had off and visited a salt mine that the Celts used before Rome was inhabited by the Romans. Then we went to Salzburg, a powerful community w/ Holy Roman lineage; Vienna with its imperial buildings mixed with the international Nach Markt and modern dance performances. Bergamo, Italy was another place I visited on a weekend. They had “old” and “new” parts of their city that coexisted well. It was fascinating to me to see the similarities and differences in the architecture and the society in general. It was especially neat to see the heavy influence that Italian art had on Austria and Vienna specifically. On the way to Italy we took a train to Bratislava and saw the effects of history’s relentless progress from the FdS period. Slovakia went from Austrian Empire to Soviet controlled to depressed country beside Austria that is trying its hardest to find tourists to see their country. All of these places are subject to the changes in history and are all interconnected through common cultural interactions and the effects of politics. This is why these different cultures cannot divide their existence into “past” and “present” because everything is so interrelated. I thought it was fascinating to see so many ideas that are “a given” in our public consciousness that actually had their origins in the FdS period. Perhaps the easiest area to see a clear connection is that of psychoanalysis. WE discussed in class a lot about how even the vocabulary of psychoanalysis became part of our society. We think of humans in terms of different consciousnesses and we even took his Id/Ego/Superego idea into the realm of cartoons (shoulder angels). Another idea that is often taken for granted in our society that really solidified at this time was the value of individual lives and the equality of all life. I know the concept of “all men created equal” was used in several revolutions before this period, but the idea that some were more equal than others was still part of society. In the FdS period the lives of workers were called into question and a concept of basic “human rights” became more prominent. Because of the changes in the mindset of society that are now so engrained I think it is important to be mindful of the things we feel are “self-evident.” It is the responsibility of the educated citizen to take these concepts into consideration when making decisions. They must be mindful of the interconnectedness of cultures both horizontally and vertically. (Schorske’s concept of history can be applied to nations in general I think). This means that their society is the product of their history and relations with others and also has an effect on the future and those with whom they interact. It also means that they should not spout concepts as dogma without first studying the assumptions and process that produced their ideas. The educated citizen has the tools to see these connections and therefore he/she has the responsibility to use them. It is also important that the educated citizen does not use these tools to take advantage of others. Many of the mass movement leaders in the FdS period used their knowledge of society to abuse their power and cause divisions and strife in their society. From this froth of pseudo-intellectuals and charismatic leaders come Hitler and the Nazis. It is the responsibility of the educated citizen to fight these abuses and not to commit them.

there isn’t really a line between “the past” and “the present.” It is a continuum of history, culture, politics, etc.