Do time and distance impact someone’s popular perception?

        Relationships are built on knowledge. Without the proper amount of knowledge, your perception of a person will be distorted and will not truly represent the person. Time will also distort your perception of a person. Maybe some of the views that the person represents is no longer acceptable or they grew away from the person they once were. Time and distance will distort someone's popular perception.

 



Adolf Hitler at his height of his power.

In January of 1933, a man named Adolf Hitler was elected chancellor. He came to power with a promise that Germans were the best and spread his idea of ideology. He used Hitler youth to create a generation that believe the Nazi way of life was the best, and they glorified Hitler. They thought Hitler was the great. Throughout his reign he always had followers, and people whose loyalty was very strong. People in the US turned their head away from the concentration camp. Many people in Germany thought Hitler was great, and people in other countries turned their head away from him. The countries that opposed Hitler used the physical distance between the countries to avoid him and his actions. The same tactic was used when countries tried to avoid Alexander, but the most effective way we determined Alexander’s greatness was through time.

   

         In the case of Alexander, time played a bigger role rather than distance. We now have knowledge about Alexander that most people at the time did not know. We know how much his father helped build a structural military. We also know the education that his father bestowed on him. He also was responsible for killing of tens of thousands of his own men and for the unnecessary conquests to kill the native people. Not many people outside his inner-circle knew what was really happening. All the other people knew was Alexander was a great king that conquered much land, and spread Greek culture. Almost everyone that benefited from Alexander called him great, but in todays society we may not think he is that great. We have much more knowledge than the ancient people of Greece, Macedonia, and other countries that were influenced by Alexander.

Distance and Time play a huge role into how people judge others greatness. The only way to know how great a person is, is to really know them. People can also only judge others at the time being. They can not predict the future and see how  a person will become. Greatness is only an option that can change in an instant.

Works Cited

 Hitler Comes to Power. United States Holocaust Memorial Museum, n.d. Web. 20 Sept. 2013. <http://www.ushmm.org/outreach/en/article.php?ModuleId=10007671>.

 How "Great" Was Alexander. Professor Ian Worthington, 1999. Web. 20 Sept. 2013. <http://www.utexas.edu/courses/citylife/readings/great1.html>.