An Indian anthropologist studied a tribe called the Asu. The tribe worshipped a rare, strong, bull-like creature called the “Rac”. From the outside looking in, the rac is only detrimental to the tribe. It breeds at such a rapid rate, overcrowding is becoming a problem. The tribe spends excessive amounts of money and effort to pave roads for the racs to walk on. To make matters worse, the racs are prone to racing and crashing into each other. Since only a few people in the community have the right training and selection of charms, treating the rac is expensive. Through all of this, the Asu people still see the rac as essential to their tribe. At the age of sixteen, it’s seen as a rite of passage to appeal to a high priest and receive a rac. In fact, wealthy families own herds of racs to display their prestige. Members of the society without a rac are considered lower esteem.
After reading this story, most would agree that the Asu tribe would be better off without the rac. Most people read the story of the Asu and can easily rattle off different plans of action to help the tribe. Without even knowing the full history of the rac in the tribe, we immediately start to judge them or make up ways to “fix” them.
The story of the rac is meant to show us that it’s easy to see the faults in other people, groups, and societies, but hard to see the problems in our own daily lives. The Asu tribe and the rac are not real. When spelled backwards, “Asu” is “USA” and “rac” is “car”. The first time I heard this, it took me a minute, but everything matched up. America spends millions of dollars paving roads for our cars to drive on, car service is expensive since there aren’t many shops, and cars are consistently racing and crashing into each other. Wealthy people show off their social stature by owning collections of lavish cars while people who don’t own cars are often seen as lower class. It’s even expected that we get a license and a car when we turn sixteen. It’s easy to see a problem in someone else, but it’s hard to see the same issue in yourself. For example, I turned 16 a couple months ago now. On my birthday, I was expected to get my license and a car soon after. In my mind, I needed a car. I need to travel to school and to all of my extra-curricular activities and the only way I can do this is with a car. However, someone may argue that I could bike to school, which is safer, or I could ride a bus to my extra-curriculars, which is better for the environment. So, in theory, I could live without my car. However, even with all of the alternatives and disadvantages of having a car, I’m still convinced that it’s the best option for me.
After reading this story, most would agree that the Asu tribe would be better off without the rac. Most people read the story of the Asu and can easily rattle off different plans of action to help the tribe. Without even knowing the full history of the rac in the tribe, we immediately start to judge them or make up ways to “fix” them.
The story of the rac is meant to show us that it’s easy to see the faults in other people, groups, and societies, but hard to see the problems in our own daily lives. The Asu tribe and the rac are not real. When spelled backwards, “Asu” is “USA” and “rac” is “car”. The first time I heard this, it took me a minute, but everything matched up. America spends millions of dollars paving roads for our cars to drive on, car service is expensive since there aren’t many shops, and cars are consistently racing and crashing into each other. Wealthy people show off their social stature by owning collections of lavish cars while people who don’t own cars are often seen as lower class. It’s even expected that we get a license and a car when we turn sixteen. It’s easy to see a problem in someone else, but it’s hard to see the same issue in yourself. For example, I turned 16 a couple months ago now. On my birthday, I was expected to get my license and a car soon after. In my mind, I needed a car. I need to travel to school and to all of my extra-curricular activities and the only way I can do this is with a car. However, someone may argue that I could bike to school, which is safer, or I could ride a bus to my extra-curriculars, which is better for the environment. So, in theory, I could live without my car. However, even with all of the alternatives and disadvantages of having a car, I’m still convinced that it’s the best option for me.
That first paragraph threw me off at first, but the follow up made it make sense. I thought the story was creative, but I don’t how I really feel about the beginning. Part of me liked the sense of confusion the terms rac and Asu created, yet at the same time I felt that it was a bit too abrupt. One thing I thought of was maybe saying something like, the other day I found this interesting story….but I worry that might interrupt the flow. Additionally, I thought there should be just a little more reflection as to your perspective on car ownership. However, in general, this works really well.
ReplyDeleteIt took me a while to get the first paragraph, because I was trying to figure out the significance to you. I think that the essay as a whole works, though, although I think that if you weaved more reflection in with the rest of the essay instead of just the last paragraph it would work better. I also think your last sentence kind of invalidates the rest of your essay as well, because you essentially say that all the other stuff doesn't really matter.
ReplyDeleteThe start certainly got my attention. Once you revealed what a 'rac' was, I read back over the first section, and I can agree that cars aren't as necessary as we make them out to be.
ReplyDeleteOverall, it looks like you have two topics you're trying to cover, one as you wanting a car, and the other as a commentary on how easy it is to see problems in others, even as we fail to see our own problems. Given how you make the personal connection, I'm not sure how to separate the two, but if you extended the whole thing into a much longer essay, that could be really interesting to read.
Very interesting essay. I'm not sure what prompt you used (though I think it's the expectation one), but the content of the essay is quite good. I would suggest trying to focus in on how people are expected to get cars and how Asu are expected to get racs, since that is what your conclusion is focused on. The parts about crashing and repairing roads are less significant to your concluding point.
ReplyDeleteYou did a great job pulling me into the essay! It was a little bit confusing at first because I didn't understand the overall goal of the essay from the start but once you got into the later paragraphs I understood it better. I would suggest making it clear from the beginning what your goal is even if it means sacrificing some of the effectiveness of the attention grabber.
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