Lord of the Flies Agree or Disagree

Agree or Disagree

1. Individuals are basically evil and must constantly fight against their violent nature.

I strongly disagree with the above statement due to its presumption that humans are born evil. Firstly, we must understand what our society presumes evil to be. Human like every other organism have a special mindset that allows them to react subconsciously, it has been developed over centuries in order to  increase our chances of survival. These mindsets are not evil but are characteristics we have acquired from our ancestors that greatly increase our chances of survival in many diverse settings. How we use those characteristics will define our nature as INDIVIDUALS, an individual cannot define a group of people based on his actions neither can a group of kids define the human race as a whole. Another example that strongly supports this idea are babies. They are mindless,innocent creatures that rely more on their senses than their experiences, they are believed to be free from any willful wrongdoing and free from the thought of doing evil (things that harm others). However, upon having the capacity to make choices for themselves, their choices could reflect good and evil. Because of these facts, we cannot presume that everyone is evil by default or by generalization, because there will always be people who make good choices. While others use the characteristics we have obtained from previous generation for their own gains. Our intentions are what defines our actions as good or evil. I believe it is more accurate to say that our nature is neither good nor evil but depends on how it is used.

2. Individuals will go along with any type of activity, no matter how violent, when pressured by their peers.

To agree with this statement is to believe that humans are incapable of making their own decisions. Peer-pressure is the cause of many of the problems that exist today, but we must note that people are capable on making their own decisions whether to give in to peer pressure or not. But the problem has stemmed from society. People giving in to what gets them to be socially accepted has to do with our short sighted society. Society does have a great influence on peoples beliefs and their morals. Many people strive to embrace societies goals and the "regulations" it had set, they strive to fit. This causes them to be willing to go against their own morals. But this is not always the case because many people abide to their morals and neglect society. So whether people decide to follow peer pressure or reject it depends on how strongly they abide to their morals. Everyone has a set limit that they will not pass, these limits decide how far people are willing to go. For instance, when a child wants to do something that their friends are doing, then wouldn't hurt him or her, but the parent says, "Well is he/she decided to jump off a cliff, would you too." This shows that both the parent and child are aware that there are limits that they are not willing to go over.

3. The human race is destined to destroy himself.

I strongly agree with this statement, but I do not believe that humans strive for their own extinction on purpose. Rather they are split between the people who are uncaring, people who are desperate, and others who are unaware. For example 31% of the earth is covered by forests that house many exotic species that help balance out nature and almost half of that has been cut down. Our oceans PH level has decreased which will cause our oceans to turn acidic in destined future. All this destruction and mayhem has been caused by humanity, many ignore the problems since they fail to see how this crisis will affect their lives. Other countries require to go through the same process of pollution to improve its economy while other countries are unwilling to stop pollution to remain on top list of all other countries. Due to the lack of understanding and unwillingness to cooperate. Ironically if all the resources were split between us evenly we all could co-exist on the planet. But due to our greed and selfishness and our disregard to the well being of our home planet and our fellow human beings well only cause us to eliminate ourselves.

4. Rules and punishments are absolutely necessary if we are to maintain a civilized society.

I strongly agree with this statement, because without rules to regulate us, we are free to do whatever we want. Even though many people possess a moral boundaries, the great diversity in morals causes people definition of right and wrong to be extremely different. Rules and punishments are necessary to keep a group of people under control they are extremely important because they would create a way to deter those who may attempt to threaten the safety of others. For instance prison is seen as a way to deter people from committing crimes, since it would take away many of the rights they possess and separate them from society. Because of the fear of jail time many people avoid committing crimes. With the inclusion of such boundaries and punishments, people would know which rules would create a safe haven for everyone who lives in a sanctuary. In order to make a society which is safe for every human being rules are always necessary.

5. We are our own worst enemy.
 

I strongly agree with the above statement, even thought people have a conscience and morals that help them determine what is right from what is wrong they still give in to temptations. Our greed and selfishness gives us the ability to break our moral standards and the rules in order to gain what we want. For instance a thief could be tempted by the money that he would make, blinding him from the potential consequences or the moral obligations of a human being. This leads him to committing a crime that would cause him regret and pain in the future and lead him to his downfall. Because we are so easily tempted by our desires, it may blind us to the point where we wouldn't be able to decipher between right and wrong. Because of this, I fully agree that we are our own worst enemy.