Tag: sheep

Posted in History & Literature

Zodiac: Aries

Posted on by Jinavie

Aries is the Zodiac sign for those born between March 21 and April 20. The symbol for Aries is a golden ram.

The model for Aries is a golden ram that rescued Phrixus and his sister Helle. The two were the children of King Athamas of Boeotia and Nephele, goddess of clouds. Athamas had divorced Nephele and married another woman named Ino, who spited the two children and plotted to rid them for good. When the season for planting seeds came, she gave farmers roasted seeds. These seeds of course did not grow and it led to a famine. The people were afraid of starving and sent messengers to an oracle. Ino bribed these messengers to tell the people that they needed to sacrifice Phrixus and Helle. But before they were killed, the two were rescued by a flying golden ram sent by their mother, Nephele. The ram flew across the ocean to take them to a safer place, but unfortunately Helle fell off and drowned. Phrixus survived the journey and he ended up in Colchis, where he met with King Aeetes who offered him hospitality and even his daughter’s hand in marriage. Phrixus sacrificed the ram in honour of the gods for saving his life and gifted the king with the golden fleece of the ram in gratitude. Zeus was so moved by this tragic tale and the ram’s sacrifice to save the children that he gave it the greatest honour of becoming a constellation in the heavens.

(Part of the Zodiac series: https://jineralknowledge.com/tag/zodiacs/?order=asc)

Posted in Philosophy

Wolf And Sheep Problem

Posted on by Jinavie

If two wolves and one sheep vote on what to eat, it could be called a democracy. However, the result would obviously be against the best interest of the sheep. This problem, known as the wolf/sheep problem, is caused by the misunderstanding of the principles of democracy and is abused by many countries. Under a democratic system, a government is able to steal from the minority groups and redistribute it to the majority. Can such a system be called democratic?

The correct definition for democracy is: “a system where the people have power and are able to voice their individual opinions”. But if the minority opinion is silenced and ignored by the majority as described above, then that goes against the true spirit of democracy. Many confuse democracy with the principle of majority rule, which is only one method used to integrate the people’s opinions with politics. Ergo, the government has a duty to protect the voice and rights of the minority. The three most important of such rights are the freedom of political expression, speech and the press.

A democratic government should be a government of the people, by the people and for the people. Unfortunately, so many governments violate the meaning of democracy just as the two wolves prey on the sheep.

A wise person would not leave their fate in the hands of such a system.