Different Culture, Different Morals

"Different cultures have different moral codes," can be seen as a universal truth. Morality can be based on cultural values which differ from culture to culture which leads me and others to believe that we cannot be inferior to anyone else. We all are different and we all believe different things.
Maybe in the culture of Vladimir and Estragon, waiting for Godot, in Waiting for Godot, is what they would approve. It may be from an existentialist's point of view, however that could be their society. We find it so hard to grasp these values because it is different and absurd from our own. It is okay to be different, that our society needs to understand.
Our society believes we are superior to other cultures, we have advanced. However this article explains that it is merely doubt. We cannot say something is progress if it is from the societal standards of that time. Cultural relativism would say that it is based on their society of what kind of advancements that the society is in at that time. We can not compare our advancements to the time in Things Fall Apart because it is a different time period. It would also say that the white people could not look at the villages and think they were above them, because it was a different culture, a different society. However they did. There would be more understanding if they used cultural relativism in their thinking.
In my sophomore year of high school I had my eyes opened to a different understanding. My chemistry teacher told me, while I was venting to him about some drama, that you can not justify someone else's actions with your morals and values. To me, this is relative to cultural relativism;  different culture different morals. Everyone comes from a different past, a different background, a different lifestyle. Because of this lesson my chemistry teacher taught me I understand others better, and do not feel the need to push my values on to others. I do not ask the question of why or how so much anymore. Every culture is different and within every culture there are different people.

Fate vs Religion

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Fate and religion are coincided within my head. For me, I feel it is to make a decision on if fate exists and how it works. This is what I came up with:
There are paths that can be chosen, that can have different outcomes, however the path you choose the path you were ultimately supposed to choose. This could be considered fate. This also could be considered as God's plan. He has a predetermined path for us to take, or paths. And with free well we are able to choose what plan to take. I believe though that we are supposed to choose a certain path, one that could also be considered our instincts.
In Things Fall apart, Okonkwo is trying to determine his own fate by steering clear on his fathers.  He wishes not to follow in his fathers footsteps. I have not finished the end of the novel yet, however because he is trying to control all directions of a path he has chosen, I feel in the end he will have received the fate of what was the result of the path chosen. Each path has many paths within it. It gets very complicated, but you only have one chance unlike Lola who asked for do-overs.
In the German film, Lola has three different paths set out for her. I feel the path that was supposed to happen would have been the one she chose in the present time, whichever one that was. You do not get to re-do anything, so the one that is chosen, is the one that was set out for you.
Odeipus had paths to take, he had options that he could've chosen. However he ended up to be where he was at the end, dead, because that was his fate. He could've changed his fate, but because he chose the path he did led him to his predetermined plan. The difference with our society and Odeipus is that he knew his fate before hand, so he was trying to steer away from it. We do not know our fates, so in that sense it seems that we have control but do we really? How could we know. And this is where I feel religion comes in.
Religion is a hard, complicated subject because you are told to believe something that often brain washes you, but every time I actually sit back to think about my religion I second guess myself. I need to come to a conclusion myself, not have a government force ideas into my face. Fate I feel, that faith is need and very similar. Both are intangible, and are our own opinion. But it is had for me, because I feel for myself to make decision, I need to truly evaluate how I fit in the jigsaw of Catholics.

Selfish Individuals

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Is an individual selfish? Do you have to be selfish to become an individual? What is "selfish"? When I hear the word selfish I think of someone who is greedy, stuck up, and has no care in the world for what others have to say and what they believe in. Ayn Rand would say that someone who is selfish is someone who looks out for their own self interest, because ultimately in the end it would lead to their own self-happiness. Howard Roark in The Fountainhead is Rand's ideal man. Some would say she was in love with him. However, while reading Fountainhead and discussing the characterization of Roark I couldn't stop to think if Rowark is really the ideal man.

Howard Rowark is set in his ways. He designs building that are modern and to his liking and if clients do not like his work, he would say get a new architect. He does not care to listen to what others have to say and what a client might want in their building. Rowark keeps to himself. Rand believes this is what makes an individual is an individual. Every man must live for his own sake. But how does one grow without taking into account the thoughts and beliefs of others?

Last year I had a few Howard Rowark's on my field hockey team. When a new coach was brought into the mix they did not feel the need to take into consideration her criticism because they thought their way would bring them more success. I, however, tried to keep an open mind. If the new coach gave me advice and it make sense then I used it to my advantage, to become more well rounded. Isn't the ideal individual "well rounded"? How can someone be well-rounded when they have Amish horse blinders surrounding their eyes leading themselves in one direction and one direction only? If a player on a team only works for themselves then how could the team succeed as a whole. Would that player reach true happiness if she made 3 goals but still lost the game 4-1? Aren't we all apart of a team called society? If everyone were to live for themselves, everything would be a constant battle and war. War does not equal that true happiness.

Rand expresses two different extremes, either live for yourself or live for others. In the end people need to have that happy medium. Rowark describes a creator as an individual and Rand describes an individual as selfish. I think that to be better creator you must consider and acknowledge what others are thinking and feeling around you so you can truly use that to your advantage and succeed beyond measures. Then the people around you would be happy and you would be happy because they are happy and because you are doing what you like to finally achieve that true happiness. Use others around you to help gain success and happiness because if everyone was selfish individuals, society would be going no where.