Mr.

Salutari is disappointed with the behaviour of the upperclassmen in school

events. There are many different approaches to this situation. If Mr. Salutari were to act
like the famed king of Babylon, he would set strict, codified laws. King Hammurabi was
a strict leader with strict rules, if you robbed something from someone your hands would
be cut off to prevent you to ever rob again. As Hammurabi said, An eye for an eye, a
tooth for a tooth. In other words, if the upperclassmen behaved in such a bad manner,
Hammurabi would punish them just as badly as their actions were. He would do this by
punishing them so that others would see and know not to act in such a crude manner
He believed in deterrence, or measures taken to prevent an action.
A Confucian scholar would handle this situation quite differently. Confucianists
didnt believe in such things like legalism where a society is stuck in a tight grip with
many rules and laws. They would say to treat others the way you want to be treated. If a
Confucian scholar applied that rule to this situation, they would act in a kind manner.
They would treat the upperclassmen as if they were their siblings. Relationships play an
important role in Confucianism. Relationships are found throughout ones daily life such
as a friend to a friend or a customer to a cashier. A Confucian scholar would believe that
Mr. Salutari and the upperclassmen would be in a relationship. As we learned in class,
this relationship would be ruler to subject. Although Mr. Salutari doesnt have complete
control in what these kids do(almost like a ruler does), the kids should still respect him
that way. Mr. Salutari should be respectful of his students, but still get to the point.
Humans are self centered. We always believe that were the best or aim to be the
best. Ethnocentrism is the idea that one ethnicity or culture is the best or the only one.
With this idea, we cant grow. If we are ignorant about other cultures, we cant
understand each other and well be stuck in a cycle of narcissism forever.
Ancient Egypt was a polytheistic culture. Everybody believed in many gods, one
of them being Maat, or everything. Similar to the idea of Brahman or Nirvana, Maat
was all around you all the time. In class we learned how Maat and the Egyptian religion
kept order throughout the existence of Egyptian societies. It kept a sense of hope for
most people. Unlike Hammurabi, Egyptian religion motivated people to follow the laws
and rules. We can take ideas and knowledge from Maat and the Egyptian religion. We

can learn that it doesnt take force and punishment to prevent people from breaking the
law. Egyptian government also kept order throughout Ancient Egypt. Pharaohs were
considered gods, alive and beyond the grave. Egyptians believed that if you were to
please the pharaoh, you would have a good afterlife. The people of Egypt werent
forced to build the pyramids, they chose to. They wanted to finish them, they wanted to
have a happy ending for both themselves and the Pharaoh. We can take things from the
government of Egypt. One of these things would be it doesnt take force to be
motivated.
In Ancient China, many philosophies and religions were formed. One of these
being Buddhism. Buddhists goal is to reach Nirvana, or their version of heaven. To do
so, they have to follow the 4 Noble Truths. The 4 Noble Truths is a 4 part system that
guides Buddhists to their end goal. One of the 4 Noble Truths is to follow the 8 fold path,
a path that says to only live with what you need, dont live with too much and dont live
with too little. The idea of Buddhism helps us to understand other cultures by
understanding that you dont need to live with so much that you cant handle it and vice
versa. Another philosophy found in the Chinese culture is Daoism. Daoism talks about
how life and nature is simple, and it should be left that way. In class we talked about the
4 pillars of Daoism. The 4 pillars of Daoism says that things are what they are and that
sometimes nature just is. We can learn from this by keeping everything simple in our
lives and nature. Similar to the idea of the 8 fold path, things shouldnt be complicated,
and we shouldnt make them be complicated. Things dont need explanation. If you just
enjoy the outdoors, thats enough.
With the idea of ethnocentrism, we cant learn or take experience from one
another. If we cant learn, we cant grow as a whole. When we learn from others, we can
understand why people of other ethnicities do what they do. We can learn to become
less ignorant of others cultures.