Moral Dilemma

In Julius Caesar, Brutus faces a moral dilemma. Does he stick with his good friend Caesar, or work for the good of Rome? If i were in his position, I would do what was best for my country. By choosing to do what is est for Rome, I would have to then kill Caesar. In act two, scene one Brutus is thinking aloud to himself over this dilemma. He refers to Caesar as a snake. "just as poisonous snakes tend to come out into the open on bright sunny days—which means we have to walk carefully." I think this means that you have to be careful about Caesar, even when he seems to be doing no harm yet. He also says, "To be honest, I've never known Caesar to let his emotions get the better of his reason. But everyone knows that an ambitious young man uses humility to advance himself, but when he reaches the top, he turns his back on his supporters and reaches for the skies while scorning those who helped him get where he is. Caesar might act like that. Therefore, in case he does, we must hold him back." I think here, he is referring to what has happened in the past. He is worried that Caesar will turn on them once he has power. Lastly, Brutus states, "And therefore we should liken him to a serpent's egg—once it has hatched, it becomes dangerous, like all serpents. Thus we must kill him while he's still in the shell." Here, he is again referring to Caeser as a snake. It is like the old saying, "better safe than sorry." He wants Rome to be safe no matter who comes to power. Therefor he has to kill Caeser to save his country.
Image: http://www.hbo.com/rome/img/cast/character/season2/character_brutus.jpg

Imperialism

Imperialism took place all over the world in a similar way. I noticed during our discussion that the stronger, developed countries like the United States or Brittan were the ones dominating others. The weaker, lesser developed like India or Persia were the ones being dominated. They were taken over mostly militarily and politically. Russia took over militarily by starting a war over the Black Sea. Brittan took over politically by signing an agreement with the Egyptians. These types of imperialism were taking place all over the world, not just in the Middle East.

The motivations for a country to take over another are Gold, Glory, and God. The motivation of Gold was the strongest. Everyone was after more money than the already had. The motivation of Glory was also very strong. Mostly people wanted power of strategic lands. This is like how Brittan took over India for their resources and they were in a good location. At this time, in these places, not many countries were dominating for religious purposes.

The outcomes of imperialism were some countries being stronger than others, and some being weaker than others. Some countries gained land, as others lost land. Imperialism happened this way all over the world.

Image:http://www.nationsonline.org/maps/continents_map_sm.jpg