There Goes the Neighborhood
The phrase “There goes the
neighborhood” can register to many different opinions or thoughts for many
people. However for me I think that the
quote means that a way of living has been altered by the introduction of a new
cultural or philosophy on life. For
example we see this many times throughout the course of history. One example that we talked about in class was
dealing with the Native American way of life, and the English views. One of the aspects that the two civilizations
really clashed at was their view on their certain religion. For example the Native Americans were
polytheistic and worshiped many different kind of gods, while the English were
monotheistic, and would not dare give praise to other gods. This led to the English trying to impose
their religion on the Native Americans.
However the Native Americans would not give in, showing great dedication
and faith in their own religion. This
would eventually lead to the English taking over many parts of North America,
in which the Native American way of life was dwindling by the minute. The two groups of people would not cooperate,
and give into one another. I think that
throughout the history of earth, when two different groups of people meet for
the first time and they have different ways of living, the two groups will
usually disagree with one another. This
will lead to the near extinction of one way of living, while the other way
begins to thrive and expand.
I think
that it is interesting to see how over time, the way of life for Native
Americans has changed so drastically.
Once the English explorers voyaged to the Americas it seemed that they
were forcing their religion and different views of life on them. They thought that their methods for life were
correct, while the Native Americans culture was very primitive and
barbaric. Once the English imposed their
new ways of life on the Native Americans their “neighborhood” was invaded and
stripped away of its precious cultural values of life. To this day the Native Americans have been
given small portions of land in which they can call it their home. Their “neighborhood” was destroyed when the
first explorers landed in North America.
This example of the Native Americans and the English explorers is a
great example for this quote. The Native
Americans lived in a peaceful and satisfying neighborhood in which they were
content. Then the explorers came to
North America and they ruined the lives of hundreds of people. They destroyed a pleased environment or “neighborhood." I think that at first the
Native Americans did not know what the explorers were going to do, and they
were okay with them being there. But as
time passed I think they realized what was happening and said, “There goes the
Neighborhood.”
