SAE Chapter 9: “War on Terror,” “Levels of Resistance” (Reading Response)

“The conduct of the USA in its battle with terrorism has weakened its international support and done little to improve its security.” 

“The USA’s marked disregard of human rights – routinely pursuing acts it would condemn others – has made its proclaimed purpose of spreading the freedom agenda appear hypocritical.”

“It has failed to recognize that the best antidote to terrorism is to uphold human dignity. By revealing its imperial mentality it has lost its moral credibility.”

When September 11, 2001 occurred, Bush and his administration quickly declared war on Afghanistan and Iraq. So many American citizens had lost loved ones, and the rest of America sympathized with them. What if it were their family? Everyone wanted to take action as soon as possible because they were afraid there would be another attack and others wanted to avenge their lost families. The people of America supported Bush, but as time went on people began to lose their pride and started questioning. Other countires also started losing their support.

Has anything improved? So much death has resulted from this war. So many young men and women risking their lives for a war that seems like will never end. The privacy and human rights of American citizens are violated with the Patriot Act.

Innocent Iraqis are forced to live in and endure the war. As families try to escape the war, they face more challenges and struggles. An article I read in Marie Claire, “Survival Sex: Iraqi Refugees” by Danielle Pergament, describes the desperation for educated, successful women to find jobs. Iraqi women result to prostitution because there are no jobs available to them. People are learning more about what really goes on in these war zones. They are realizing how not so glorious war is. Other countries also taken back by what they are witnessing in the war.

Should have Bush thought things through first or was immediate action necessary? There were so many assumptions by Bush and his administration. Did Saddam Hussein have WMDs? Bush labels Iraq, Iran, and North Korea the “Axis of Evil.” Terrorists do not originate from these countries alone, they are everywhere. Target whole countries? That is stereotyping whole peoples from that country as terrorists. 

http://www.marieclaire.com/world-reports/news/international/iraqi-refugees-prostitutes-sex?click=main_sr

IVUS Chapter 4: "Social Class and Organizational Power" (Reading Response)

“Corporate executives may express concern about street crime but not about their own illegal behavior.”

“Much of the violence in the United States is linked to the decision of those in the economic and political command posts, with corporations being the most powerful bureaucracies not only in the United States but also in he world.

“’A private government’ making the final decisions in many areas in life without being accountable to those whose lives they have affected.”

“Capitalist culture encourages materialism and looking out for oneself.”

In the news you constantly see street crime, people of high social and financial standing encouraging citizens to be aware of the dangers of those on the streets, but they do not caution them to be aware of political and corporate scandal. Today we are in an economic crisis; the quality and availability of education is diminishing, more and more people are laid off, small businesses are struggling to keep their establishments, college graduates cannot find jobs because training is expensive, and budget cuts everywhere. In this time of crisis, we need to be aware and take action when the “elite” undermine the working people. Corporations are constantly aiming for profit and in times of economic crisis they become desperate.

These “elites” take illegal and/or immoral actions because they are “removed from the rest of the population;” they do not come face to face with the people who are greatly affected by their decisions. The chain of command also allows them to avoid tension with employees, clients, etc.

While reading this chapter I started thinking about the budget cuts here in Washington State University. Do they not realize how much students need to re-evaluate their lives since they cannot receive their degree because their major no longer exist. Students who are 3 years deep are forced to drop their plans and move, 3 years of tuition and they do not receive what they paid for. It is ridiculous! It is frustrating! Whole programs are cut, do they not realize the financial strife of professors and instructors? Do they not realize they are limiting students’ education? They are taking students’ money and paying coaches hundreds of thousands of dollars annually. What about budget cuts in sports? Oh no, of course not the sports. Excuse my sarcasm. No one knows what is going on. No one knows whose education will be thrown away. No one knows whose going to be jobless. Everyone is in a panic, but where are the executives? Sitting comfortably behind desk.  

WL: "Native Hawaiian Historical & Cultural Perspectives on Environmental Justice" (Reading Response)

This article is personal to me because I was born and raised on the island of Maui. I am not a Native Hawaiian, but I support and understand the arguments of Mililani Trask. Native Hawaiians have every right to self-govern, to maintain their nations, pass laws, etc. because they the indigenous peoples of Hawaii and they welcomed America. When the first settlers came to Hawaii, the Natives believed they were gods, but they took advantage of the Hawaiians' aloha and hospitality and used the Hawaiian people and land to satisfy their greed because they are not white. When Hawaii became a state they did not have the same rights as the other states. They were also hesitant to establish Hawaii as a state because whites were the minority. Why did that matter? 

They already had control over the Hawaiians, they already had control over the immigrants they deceived to work on their plantations. That is why my family moved to Hawaii. My grandfather moved from the Philippines and worked on the plantations. These white settlers and businessmen belittled people of color, and this discrimination still goes on today. Toxic wastes are dumped and stored on Hawaiian homesteads, Native American Reservations, and black communities. Why is it the colored once again pushed aside? There is no consideration, no compassion. This continues to happen all throughout history. I do not understand why the U.S. Government cannot see how they are affecting the indigenous peoples of the world, in Okinawa, Japan, North America, South America, Hawaii, Pakistan, Iraq, Africa. People continue to suffer. 

Coming home from my first year of college was very shocking because so much had changed while I was gone. As time goes on Maui, my home, becomes more and more crowded and busy. More land developed for cookie-cutter homes. Wider roads to accommodate traffic. More pollution to destroy the beauty and culture of Hawaii. People who did not grow up in Hawaii and visit or move to the islands do not understand how precious the islands are. They see beaches, luaus, sunsets, and tropical forests, not the richness of culture, not its history. There are more tactics to attract tourists, so much that it seems like these superficial motives are overriding what Hawaii is really about. These people do not care and pollute and ravage the land for buildings/homes, they destroy its spirit; the essence of Hawaii. 

Dream Worlds 2 (Video Response)

This video was horrifyingly strong and effective. It was a little difficult to sit through it but it has opened my eyes so much to the media's perception of women. Before this video I never really paid attention to the implied roles of women in the mainstream, I never thought of how these brief images can influence how a man feels or thinks of a woman. 

It strips away the humanity, intelligence, personality, etc. of women; they are degradingly seen as just body parts, objects of desire. The "one is as good as another" mentality; the idea that women can be thrown away. The imagery also portrays women as reluctant but always wanting, "No means yes." It makes it seem as if women are constantly playing hard to get but really want men to do what they please, so they start to think they can control women, and this mentality often causes violence in relationships and in other interactions with the opposite sex. It also leads to the terms such as slut, whore, etc., it ruins the reputation of all women. 

I am seen as a sexual object in the media and to many people. My reputation as a woman is damaged by this sexual imagery, and can even harm me by portraying women as always sexually available. Thus labeling me as always sexually available. I fear for all women, no one deserves to be harmed by the ignorance of people, people who add and become part of this problem.

To many people I am expected to be submissive, helpless without a man, a body with no emotions, a sex symbol. This perception of women labels myself and other women as inferior. today we fight towards equality between men and women, but with the media constantly increasing sex and violence it will take years, decades, maybe even centuries to accomplish equality, Although circumstances are improving, it is at a very slow rate. 

U.S. Military in Okinawa (Video Response)

This video was very shocking to me because I had no idea the U.S. military ceased Okinawa land, forced the people to obey commands through threats, and are endangering their lives and health at this moment. It is embarrassing to see how much destruction America has inflicted on these innocent people and how careless and heartless they  are towards them. It goes to show how big of a hypocrite the American government can be. America fights the war against terrorist, but the U.S. government also needs to be aware of how they affect other countries; how their use of military dominance can be viewed as oppressive and terroristic. They threatened by burning homes to take their land, they contaminate drinking water with their oil, crash planes in schools and homes, and cause violence such as rape. At this very moment these issues are still present in Okinawa. Did the government take any action to solve these problems? 

After the rape of a schoolgirl by three soldiers in 1995, people realized there needed to be a change; they needed to take action.  The Special Action Committee on Okinawa (SACO) was then established (globalsecurity.org). The Okinawa Prefectural Government created a program in 1996 that will close all military bases by 2015 (globalsecurity.org). The U.S. Military has had control over Okinawa since the end of World War II. Why did it take so long for the bases to change their ways? Didn't they notice what was happening to the people of Okinawa? Why did they allow this terrorism to acquire Okinawa land happen in the first place?

http://www.globalsecurity.org/military/facility/okinawa.htm

WL: "The Search for Peace & Justice" (Facilitation 2)

Key Words: Military, lesbian, gay, rights, queer, heroes, war, equality, justice

Key Phrases: Peace activists, gendered power structure, male hierarchical institutions

Key Names: Gay Pride March, Women’s Army Corps

Key Ideas/Quotes: Jean Grossholtz grew up around ideas and stories of equality and justice. These ideas helped her overcome the obstacles she has encountered throughout her life as a lesbian and even empowered her to fight for what she believed in despite the consequences in the army.

“I learned I could be somebody. That I could do all the things they asked me, that I could stand against the harshest, most angry of my peers and survive.”

The Army breaks the spirits of soldiers, dehumanizes them, and breaks their identity. It teaches them not to reveal who they are as people because it will show vulnerability. Soldiers covered their true identities because they were afraid, but Jean rebelled.

“I knew that I had to organize my life to destroy the idea that war and dying in war was glorious. This blatant disrespect for life was wrong.”

Along with this idea of heroism, she dealt with the Army’s internal war against homosexuality. The army taught her she could not love her own kind, but she was sick and tired of feeling ashamed and living a lie. The Army demanded her to think less of herself but she couldn’t take it any longer.

“As confidence in my own abilities grew, confidence in who I was emerged.”

She realized that the army was wrong; that there was nothing wrong with her loving a woman. She marches to proclaim the right of gay/lesbians to serve in the military; to make a statement against the Army’s gendered system of power.

“You can no longer deny my existence. Those of us in uniform are not just robots wound up and set out to kill and be killed at the bidding of the world economic order. We have lives that you do not approve of, we have thoughts and values that reject yours.”

The Army is gendered male: a male hierarchical institution. If gay/lesbian people are openly accepted and acknowledged in the Army, that male ideology is broken.

Questions:

Why does the Army feel the need to suppress soldiers’ gender/identity? Since the military is the global force of America; a face of America, is there a reputation that it suppose to uphold?

If homosexuals were acknowledged in the military how would the perceptions of women change in patriarchal societies?

My Response

The Army trains soldiers to become numb to emotions and in a sense make them inhumane. Otherwise they would not be able to be a soldier because they wouldn't be able to pull the trigger, and that is why I am against war. I believe the Army brainwashes soldiers and that is why veterans suffer with psychological problems when they come back home. I know this is not the case for many, and I really do appreciate the soldiers that are in or went to war because I can only imagine how much they have sacrificed. It is the male hierarchal institution that I oppose.

They suppress the identity/gender of soldiers because they are afraid of who their soldiers could be as people, as females, as gays/lesbians. They do not want to show any possible “weaknesses” women and homosexual people have, they try to uphold the tough façade of the Army. The social construction of the strong heterosexual macho man is evident, and it is heart wrenching to read about the struggles gay/lesbian people face in the military.

I admire Jean Grossholtz because I can see how strong of a woman she is. Not only did she deal with the discrimination as a homosexual but she also dealt with the social constructions of women. 

Immigration & Racial/Ethnic Interpersonal Violence (Facilitation 1)

SAE: CH. 4 IMMIGRATION; ECONOMIC MIGRATION
Stephen Burman

Diversity

• Immigrants from 200 countries migrated into USA in 2005
• “Universal society”
• More diverse and multicultural
• Challenges existing social order

Economic Affects

• Creates economic dynamism
• Cheap labor
• Provide skills in demand
• Help American economy grow
• Economic migration helps develop economies and revitalizes rich countries, such as the USA.
• Social patterns challenged

“America is… adopting a suspicious, closed mentality that sees immigrations as a threat. Social tension has increased as many Americans feel that immigrants are taking their jobs, and taking advantage of welfare payments.”

“Migrants not only perform jobs at the bottom of the economic scale – dirty, demeaning, difficult, and dangerous jobs that Americans do not want”

IVUS: CH. 13 RACIAL AND EHTNIC INTERPERSONAL VIOLENCE
Barbara Chasin

“Many acts of violence can be interpreted as mechanisms for the maintenance of accustomed hierarchies” and power.

Bias Crimes Hate Crimes Ethnoviolence

• Targets are those who threaten identity, beliefs, values, and possessions
  Peer pressure

“I have a reputation as a tough guy who defends the neighborhood and I want to keep it. People know when you’ve taken care of people who don’t belong in the neighborhood"
Pop Culture feeds the urge to defend one’s self
Popular culture, films, television, and advertising influence people to believe stereotypes that label whole groups

• Economic downturns and tragedy make people fearful and anxious; it causes them to blame others for their unemployment, financial struggles, etc; “Scapegoat”

ANALYSIS

Burman recognizes that immigration creates a more diverse and multicultural society, but that is all he mentions. Since there are people from different countries present in America does that mean America is diverse and multicultural? What does he mean by diverse and multicultural because it also seems like he sees immigrants as inferior, and that is not how multiculturalism should be viewed. Along with this idea of a diverse society, he recognizes the economic benefit and how it revitalizes rich countries like America.

He creates a binary between immigrants and “dirty, demeaning, difficult, and dangerous jobs;” cheap labor. He says America’s conception of itself is a universal society; open and welcoming, and it is to some degree but with his words it seems like America is taking advantage of these immigrants and giving them the jobs Americans do not want. Why does this binary exist?

Although Burman believes immigrants benefit the economy, others believe they are taking away opportunities of economic prosperity, and this is why hate crimes are committed. With these two readings you see the different perceptions of immigration, and racial and ethnic people of America. People feel they need to defend what they believe is rightfully theirs and they blame others for their misfortunes; they blame minority groups, “undesirable human beings,” “despised ethnic groups.”

Chasin mentions a story of a woman who resents the fact that she has lived in Jersey City her whole life but can barely pay rent while Indians come and buy property. Automatically I defend the Indians, they have every right, but as I thought about it more, in a sense, I can relate. When I think of home, of Hawaii, I think of people who did not grow up in Hawaii crowding the island, destroying its natural beauty and developing its land, people who do not have respect for the land, who overlook the culture and only see Hawaii for its scenery and luaus. I started to feel resentment myself because to me Hawaii is so much more, but I stopped and I realized the only people who should have a say in this and whose words really do matter are the Native Hawaiians; and here on the mainland, the Native Americans. Not the locals, not someone who has lived there their whole lives, not me, but the indigenous people of the land. This was a real eye opener for me. Growing up on Maui really made me appreciate everything about Hawaii culture and I have grown attached to it, even protective but that does not mean I can say who can and cannot live on the islands.