There are two things I’d like to address in this post since it’s been awhile since my last one. To start off:

Last Monday, each member of our class, within their groups, delivered their myth presentations. The group I was in presented on sacred places. One reason sacred places are significant to a culture is that they establish a foundation of identity, moral fiber and whatnot. It was established during the presentation that sacred places do not need to be in tangible existence, and that they subjectively exist. We also stated that sacred places do not need to derive from religion, although they often do in many cultures. After some postulation and outside discussion, during which cultural versus religious foundations of a number of peoples were distinguished, we asked two questions: Does objective morality exist? Would morality exist without cultural and/or religious roots, and if not, where would it come from or would it be at all?

The second subject I’d like to quickly comment on is something I learned last week: The Course of Empire. As dictated by Thomas Cole, each empire, civilization, etc. goes through a number of stages ultimately leading to its fall. Those stages, from “youngest” to “oldest” (I put this in quotes because, in a sense, this is also subjective): 1. The Savage State; 2. The Arcadian State; 3. The Consumption of Empire; 4. The Destruction of Empire; 5. Desolation. If whoever is actually reading this post, and feels so inclined (assuming you don’t already know what each of these stages entails), click on the link (http://thevelvetrocket.com/2010/04/21/paintings-of-the-day-the-course-of-empire-by-thomas-cole/) and read what distinguishes these five stages. Then, post your answer telling which stage you believe the United States of America is in now. Posting about other countries is more than welcome.