The Hot Button: Conscientious Objection
I realize that I am fortunate to be an American. Given the various types of governments out there and the conditions that many people are forced to live in, I know that living in America is a blessing. But despite the fact that our government may be better than others out there, it is far from perfect.
I am reminded of a political sciene class that I took in college. The professor was very excited about political science and I, well, wasn't. My natural tendancy to be a little "challenging" and his natural tendancy to be a mark was a bad combination. I recall one day in class when he became very frustrated with me and asked "What would you say if I said that you were completely apathetic?" I simply shrugged and said, "I don't care." The look on his face was priceless, but really, he should have seen it coming. About a 1/3 of our grade was based on our final project. He beamed when I turned it in and said, "Now, that doesn't look like the project of someone who is apathetic!" To which I replied, "Nope, it's the project of an anarchist." He really did make it a bit too easy to mess with him. I think that I still have that project, buried in a box in my mother's basement, along with his comments about how "disturbing" my project was and how painful it was to give me an A. I shared it with my advisor who seemed unsurprised and simply wanted to know what I had done to the poor man.
One of the items that served as inspiration for my project was a picture I found in a magazine (maybe Omni...) in which a dark, disfigured puppeteer was master of a beautiful dove. In my "analysis" of the picture, the dark figure became the government and the white dove the American people with the question of who was really in charge and did that for, by and of the people still really hold true? Or has the government really become more interested in self-preservation than serving the people? The Critical Perspective in Sociology holds that all things can be traced to those in power (i.e. the government) and that in the interest of preserving themselves they will create issues and situations that cause the people to become more interested in fighting amongst themselves than paying attention to the what the government is doing.
We can ill afford to become complacent, to simply accept that the government will act in our best interests. We can not have blind faith that they will define what is in our best interests in the same way that we would. I think that our government has committed a significant number of sins that should give us concern and reason to make sure that we keep our eyes on what they do:
1932 The Tuskegee Syphilis Study begins. 200 black men diagnosed with syphilis are never told of their illness, are denied treatment, and instead are used as human guinea pigs in order to follow the progression and symptoms of the disease. They all subsequently die from syphilis, their families never told that they could have been treated.
1942 Chemical Warfare Services begins mustard gas experiments on approximately 4,000 servicemen.
1944 U.S. Navy uses human subjects to test gas masks and clothing. Individuals were locked in a gas chamber and exposed to mustard gas and lewisite.
1965 Prisoners at the Holmesburg State Prison in Philadelphia are subjected to dioxin, the highly toxic chemical component of Agent Orange used in Viet Nam. The men are later studied for development of cancer, which indicates that Agent Orange had been a suspected carcinogen all along.
1996 Department of Defense admits that Desert Storm soldiers were exposed to chemical agents.
For other incidents, please visit: http://www.umedia.com/MediaMike/GovAtrocities.html
For all the things we that we know that our government has done, how many more are there that we don't know about?
I am offended by the notion, that I've heard from time to time, that we owe support and allegiance to our government, seemingly regardless of what that they do. This fails to acknowledge that it is OUR government and they owe their support and allegiance to us. And if they fail, we the people are charged with the right, perhaps the obligation, to make the changes necessary to ensure that the government is operating on our behalf and not its own. When we turn a blind eye, when we refuse to see, we become complicit by virtue of our inaction. And as an American, I am free to right this (although it might put be on some government watch list as a possible dissedent).
To view the Declaration of Independence, the Constitution or other relevant documents, please visit: http://www.archives.gov/national-archives-experience/charters/constitution.html
I am reminded of a political sciene class that I took in college. The professor was very excited about political science and I, well, wasn't. My natural tendancy to be a little "challenging" and his natural tendancy to be a mark was a bad combination. I recall one day in class when he became very frustrated with me and asked "What would you say if I said that you were completely apathetic?" I simply shrugged and said, "I don't care." The look on his face was priceless, but really, he should have seen it coming. About a 1/3 of our grade was based on our final project. He beamed when I turned it in and said, "Now, that doesn't look like the project of someone who is apathetic!" To which I replied, "Nope, it's the project of an anarchist." He really did make it a bit too easy to mess with him. I think that I still have that project, buried in a box in my mother's basement, along with his comments about how "disturbing" my project was and how painful it was to give me an A. I shared it with my advisor who seemed unsurprised and simply wanted to know what I had done to the poor man.
One of the items that served as inspiration for my project was a picture I found in a magazine (maybe Omni...) in which a dark, disfigured puppeteer was master of a beautiful dove. In my "analysis" of the picture, the dark figure became the government and the white dove the American people with the question of who was really in charge and did that for, by and of the people still really hold true? Or has the government really become more interested in self-preservation than serving the people? The Critical Perspective in Sociology holds that all things can be traced to those in power (i.e. the government) and that in the interest of preserving themselves they will create issues and situations that cause the people to become more interested in fighting amongst themselves than paying attention to the what the government is doing.
We can ill afford to become complacent, to simply accept that the government will act in our best interests. We can not have blind faith that they will define what is in our best interests in the same way that we would. I think that our government has committed a significant number of sins that should give us concern and reason to make sure that we keep our eyes on what they do:
1932 The Tuskegee Syphilis Study begins. 200 black men diagnosed with syphilis are never told of their illness, are denied treatment, and instead are used as human guinea pigs in order to follow the progression and symptoms of the disease. They all subsequently die from syphilis, their families never told that they could have been treated.
1942 Chemical Warfare Services begins mustard gas experiments on approximately 4,000 servicemen.
1944 U.S. Navy uses human subjects to test gas masks and clothing. Individuals were locked in a gas chamber and exposed to mustard gas and lewisite.
1965 Prisoners at the Holmesburg State Prison in Philadelphia are subjected to dioxin, the highly toxic chemical component of Agent Orange used in Viet Nam. The men are later studied for development of cancer, which indicates that Agent Orange had been a suspected carcinogen all along.
1996 Department of Defense admits that Desert Storm soldiers were exposed to chemical agents.
For other incidents, please visit: http://www.umedia.com/MediaMike/GovAtrocities.html
For all the things we that we know that our government has done, how many more are there that we don't know about?
I am offended by the notion, that I've heard from time to time, that we owe support and allegiance to our government, seemingly regardless of what that they do. This fails to acknowledge that it is OUR government and they owe their support and allegiance to us. And if they fail, we the people are charged with the right, perhaps the obligation, to make the changes necessary to ensure that the government is operating on our behalf and not its own. When we turn a blind eye, when we refuse to see, we become complicit by virtue of our inaction. And as an American, I am free to right this (although it might put be on some government watch list as a possible dissedent).
To view the Declaration of Independence, the Constitution or other relevant documents, please visit: http://www.archives.gov/national-archives-experience/charters/constitution.html
posted by Hope at 1:08 PM
3 Comments:
Hi Hope
Is this where one signs up to be put on the governments watch list?
One never really knows, does one?
You bring up good points. A friend of ours tried for several years after Desert Storm to get the Gov. to recognize his symptoms as a result of something he was exposed to. After the 1996 "discovery" he was able to receive treatment. Go figure, they knew it all along.
Post a Comment
<< Home