Ryan Kuchinskas

Pd 8

9-10-02

Mr. Steen

Ignorance is Bliss?

“Ignorance is Bliss.” That’s the old adage suggesting that, not knowing something cannot hurt you. Who came up with this phrase? What did they see in the world to make them feel that way? Was it war? Was it poverty? What was so horrible that the creator of this phrase decided that knowing nothing would be for the better? Ignorance is not bliss. Lets take a look at this phrase. The root word in the word ‘Ignorance’ is obviously ‘ignore’. The word ‘is’ is a form of, ‘to be’. The dictionary defines ‘bliss’ as blithesomeness, gladness; exalted happiness, Heavenly joy. So, The creator is telling us that, to ignore will give you happiness galore. Maybe the creator of this phrase should have re-thought their wording.

A cat knows nothing of hatred, poverty, crime, war, and even death. But we do. When Eve ate from the tree of Knowledge of Good and Evil, She attained just that; knowledge of good and of evil. We have inherited that knowledge. We know that many countries or cultures loathe and despise the American way. We know that the human race has the power to destroy the Earth with the push of a button. We know that children across the globe are without food or clean water. We know the horrible events of September 11^th, 2001. We know we are going to die. These, to the untrained eye, are all bad things. But can we find good in such horrible things?

I am going to use the example of September 11 many times, because I believe you can find so many good examples of how bad knowledge can be a good thing. September 11^th, as horrible as it was, had good come out of it. Many have just not noticed this yet.

Why would a countries government support such cruel acts of violence? September 11, 2001 was a horrible day, but, knowing what happened that day has made many good things. I myself have become a more religious person. I pray more often and seek guidance from the bible more often. I am more religious than I was before September 11, because it has opened my eyes. The knowledge of that horrible day has shown me the real good things in life. I respect nature, people, and God more than ever. Since September 11, I have been seeing beauty in everything. I have also seen many good things out of other people.

We have all seen people standing on the sidewalks of downtown Manhattan with signs saying, “USA!” or “GOD BLESS AMERICA!” and have seen them cheering on the Fire Fighters of New York City. How could these people do such an inspirational act without the knowledge of September 11^th? We see pictures on the news of people gathering together holding candles in the dark, praying for the victims of that day, praying for guidance, praying for hope for the future. Would these people still gather together and worship if they had not been given the knowledge of September 11^th? People are generally nicer since that day. To be an American means so much more since September 11^th because of our sense of unity and pride. Strangers are now holding doors for strangers, saying good morning to strangers, and sharing their general happiness with strangers. Without September 11^th, we would have never noticed this.

There were four planes hijacked on that fateful day. One of them never made it to their target. This is because the passengers on flight 93 fought back their attackers, and gained control of the aircraft. They had spoken to their loved ones after the plane was hijacked. THAT is when they gained the knowledge of the other events of that day. They knew this was no ransom hijacking. They knew they were going to die. They decided to take a stand. The passengers subdued the four hijackers and gained control of the plane. The plane never made it to its intended target in Washington D.C. It crashed in Shanksville, PA. The passengers had gained control of the plane in an act of true heroism, saved countless lives, and became a national icon for heroism. This event has often been called, ‘the first victory in the war on Terror,’ all because the passengers were given the knowledge of a horrible event.

Afghanistan, the country that harbored the terrorists before September 11^th, was in bad shape before that day. The country was in poverty, so bad that their main crop was opium, used to make heroin. Afghanistan had been supplying the world with over two thirds of its opium. Also, the Taliban had come into power and had laid down strict laws for the people. The men weren’t even allowed to shave a beard off. When the USA found out that the Taliban had been harboring these terrorists, we removed them from power accordingly. We saw news footage of men who had shaved their beards in the city of Kabul. They were exuberant to the fact that the Taliban was gone for good. Women were walking around unveiled. They would no longer have to worry about harsh punishment under the Taliban. September 11^th brought order to a country in chaos.

Poverty, crime, war, and hatred are all things we wish to have no knowledge of. Why would we want to hear such sad stories? Wouldn’t it be so much better to ignore them as the phrase, “Ignorance is bliss” tells us? The answer is no. We need to take a stand against these bad things, because we have the knowledge of them. The USA sends food to the hungry in third world countries. Would we still lend these countries a hand if we ignored the fact that people are dying? No. The USA has a justice system where the person who commits a crime will be punished accordingly. It also has a policing system to prevent crime. Would we still have these systems to protect the innocent if we had no knowledge of crime? No. In order for us to help these groups, we need knowledge of the situation first.

Sure, knowledge of September 11^th has hurt us, but it has also immensely strengthened us. Sure, knowledge of how people are starving to death has saddened us, but it has also allowed us to help them. Knowledge of crime has allowed us to prevent and prosecute. We can use all knowledge given to us to our advantage. Knowledge of evil is necessary to perfect the world we live in. You can find light in the darkest places, even in pure evil.