1 20 15 https://s3.us-east-1.amazonaws.com/sjcdigitalarchives/original/986598e83717e099f82434400f8cf47a.pdf 95e114292cf47e7cc91938468e84fce0 PDF Text Text )>0'0-1 :J 0 "-.... ::r ~ () 0 m ""C o en m 0 = rt ""C =: ,!R '-- 0 ..(/) U\.4 ::r n m Q ::r 3: < :J. . '->- (/) 0 0 m rv· - ~ 0 c: n3 ~ =m 0 OQ m �The Epoch A Journal of St. John's College Volume III, Issue I CONTENTS Canada's Growing Oil Creation 5 John Vining Pirates of the Red Sea 11 Tex Pasley Black Butterfly: 15 Andrew Davenport's Indonesian Immersion Enduring Invasion: Georgia's Fight for Unification 19 Erin Shadowens Cameron's Corner: Summer Albums 21 Through the Lens 23 john Vining I �Canada's Growing Oil Creation John Vining, Annapolis, 'I I CC W e ' r e not trying to tell Alberta what necessarily to do," says Mike Nagy, a former Green Party candidate for the Canadian parliament. "But [the tarsands are] an environmental, a very bad environmental situation, as well as being one of the single largest sources for not meeting our Kyoto commitment." Mike Nagy, who is also the Green Party's Environment Critic, is referring to the Kyoto protocol, which was adopted in 1997 and put into force in 2005, with the intent of cutting green house gas emissions an average of 5% bellow 1990 levels by 2008-2012. The Sierra Club echoes Nagy, saying that much of Canada's greenhouse gas emissions are from Alberta's tarsands, which are a fairly recent d evelopment in the search for oil and now account for 28% of Canada's oil exports . Tarsands contain a type of oil which has been extracted only since the late-60's and early-70's, and which were not heavily utilized until the mid 1990s. This was known as early as 1913, when the tarsands were originally approached in the search for asphalt. The Sierra Club predicts tarsands will become Canada's greatest cause of emission by 2015 further distancing Canada from its Kyoto commitments. "Kyoto is not a novel idea," says Dennis Makar, the CEO of World Oil Tools, Inc., a Calgary, Alberta-based company that specializes in manufacturing hardware required for conventional oil drilling. "Many firms, and ours included, are striving very hard for zero impact to the environment regardless of where we work around the world." The tarsands take the form of huge lakes filled with sand, water and bitumen, which in their natural state Canada, center of the tarsands indust can only be used for asphalt. After a resource-intensive process, bitumen, a compressed organic material, can become usable oil. "When the syncrude industry was first founded," Nagy explains, "it was just designed to be a smaller scale project to develop synthetic oils and look at a different energy source. It was not envisioned by Premier Lougheed to become this massive, very-expanding scale of dirty devel- 5 �AMERICAS .· . J . . ' The Alberta Oilsands 1962 The Alberta Government announces its plan to organize development of oilsands which could suplement conventional oil extraction. 1996 Suncor ships its 500 millionth barrel since production began. It will go on to ship its billionth in 2006. 1972-85 Peter Lougheed is premier of Alberta, works to get the oilsands running. 1960 2000 1968 1995 Suncor ships its first barrel of oilsands oil. 1978 Syncrude finishes construction and ships its first barrel of oilsands oil. opment." Peter Lougheed was the premier of Alberta from 1971-1985, and is credited with much of the push to make the tarsands operational. Two of the largest companies operating in the tarsands, Suncor and Syncrude, both got their start in the late 1960s. By 1969, both Suncor and Syncrude had been approved for tarsands extraction and had begun excavations. Syncrude shipped its first barrel in 1978, and Suncor its first in 1968. Lougheed, whose grandfather had worked to make Alberta a province in 1905, helped to start the oilsands' development, including Syncrude's first project, which was completed with participation from the provincial government under Lougheed. The tarsands were not viewed as profitable on a large scale, however, until Canada released a 1995 report which set out a 25 year plan to extract usable oil. In 2001, Suncor announced its strategy that would, when complete, allow them to ship half a million barrels a day. Nagy sees this growth as dangerous. "It was a project that was never planned," he said. "We never did environmental assessments and actually saying that this was a sustainable industry. There was never a looking- 6 The National Oil Sands Task Force released The Oil Sands: A New Energy Vision for Canada, which called the oilsands "the largest potential private sector investment opportunity for the public good remaining in Western Canada." forward and saying, 'What are the consequences of this?" Nagy paints a grim picture of what is now the scene in Alberta, and specifically in Fort McMurray, where most of the tarsands' operations are centered. He cites both official reports and a conversation he had with Chief Allan Adam of the Fort Chipewyan First Nations, an indigenous people living near the tarsands. "An Alberta-funded doctor, Mr. Clarke [has] been reporting a statistically large number of people getting illnesses that should not even be appearing in those populations. The thing that Chief Adams told me was that the game is dying and the flora and fauna, both the plants and the animals are being affected tremendously. So even their game is being affected. So it's affecting the berries on the plants, he told me this personally, in Ottawa when I was speaking with him ." The Pembina Institute, a Canadian environmental think tank, echoes Nagy, reporting dirty and wasted water, deforestation, polluted air and the creation of tailing ponds. Tailing ponds are created when the firm extracting the oil pumps a solution of water, salt, bitumen and clay into "ponds," which are in fact massive man-made lakes. The ponds altogether cover a surface area of 50 square kilometers, and can facilitate the movement of pollutants into ground water and surrounding soil. The Sierra Club reports that for every barrel of mined bitumen, 4 to 5 times that quantity of water is necessary to extract the bitumen, some of which can come from the tops of the tailings ponds, once the solids have separated from the water. Not everyone, however, is as concerned as Nagy. Herb Enns, owns Hepalta Purified Air, Inc., located in Alberta. He has not noticed a change in his Fort McMurray sales due to the tarsands: "I don't think they notice any difference." Dennis Makar, whose company has offices in Syria, Egypt, Saudi Arabia and Latin America, is similarly unconvinced. "My farm is located within 200 kilometers from the major tarsand producing region in Canada. There are no apparent visible signs the projects are affecting the environment locally." The once-pioneer of the tarsands, Peter Lougheed, however, now thinks Canada should instate a moratorium on new tarsands projects. "Loughheed is from Alberta, he's called the grandfather of modern Alberta," Nagy said. "He is one of the founders of the oil sands, tarsands, "" "· : . : " ·.. . I I ' THE EPO.CH - FALL I ' 't 2008 . . ' whatever .you want to call it. Even come back up maybe in a few months don requires major construction of he, an ex-Conservative premier · of or at the most a year. But what is eco- oil extraction facilities and plants beAlberta, has been calling for a mora- nomical, what projects are 'viable at fore any oil may be produced." tori um on the tar sands ... This is the $120 a barrel may not be viable at All signs point to a tarsands opultimate irony, you have the Greens $70 a barrel." eration that will be in Alberta for The scaling-up and scaling-down a long time, even if there are some calling for it, and an ex-premier of Alberta, a Progressive Conservative, of production is not tied to the price temporary obstacles, like low oil pricbecause it does not, in his words, of oil as tightly as it may be with con- es. Perhaps because of this perceived meet the vision and the intent the of ventional drilling. Makar, who works permanence, the tarsands have been the industry." in conventional drilling, explains the causing others, including most of AlBut Lougheed, Nagy and his sluggishness of the tarsands opera- berta itself, to adjust to accommodate Greens will have a hard time stopping tions. them, as Prof. Chakravorty explains. or slowing the tarsands operations, as "Conventional drilling is a short"There is a tremendous shortage the industry now has momentum in term solution towards increasing oil of labor," he says. "I mean, recently, its favor. The sheer amount of - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -.......- - - - - . , I've heard of stores closing, the minimum wage is quite capital that has been invested in the tarsands makes it very high, almost $18, $20 an hard to change their plans. hour. There's a lot of turn"They are in it for the long over of people in different haul," Dennis Makar explains. retail establishments and "Their plants are already oper~ so on. So yeah, they have ational, and regular, scheduled Q D Fo a shortage. There's a lot of maintenance is still required. ~ people coming from the However, cost of maintenance ~ east coast of Canada." is perhaps much less compared One of those people to construction of new plants. is a 19-year-old boy from You must remember, com paManitoba who asked not to nies such as Suncor conducted be named. He works doing feasibility studies and started unspecialized labor in Alconstruction at a time when Edmonton• berta at Firebag, a Suncor oil prices were much lower, site that is two provinces and extraction methods were away from his home. less efficient." "Well, I'm on a 14/7 ," As Makar says, the tarhe said. "14 days on, 7 days off. I work 10 hours a sands have found themselves in a more than beneficial po• Calgary day.... I live in Manitoba, sition, even if oil prices are but for the 14 days I'm now in a trough. Ujjayant at work, I live at a camp Chakravorty, University of about 10 minutes from Alberta Professor of Business Firebag." and Economics, explains that He continues by menshort-term low oil prices will tioning that he is paid only marginally change the plans of and gas production. If successful, more than double what he earned in Suncor and Syncrude. wells may be put in production rela- Manitoba. On top of that, his flights "Given what's happened in the tively quickly, provided pipeline fa- to and from Alberta are paid for. last couple of months," he says, "the cilities are nearby. However, if initial "For what I do," he continued, margin projects that could be oper- results are unsuccessful, conventional "I think I'm getting paid way too ated will not be happening and new drilling programs may be axed. much." projects that are in the pipeline will "In addition, if oil and natural People are flocking to the high be delayed somewhat. Although, this gas prices fall, conventional drilling wages, which have, in turn, inflated is a short-run phenomenon. I believe, programs are stopped very quickly. the cost of living. This makes travelas an economist, that oil prices will On the other hand, tarsands extrac- ing back and forth financially feasi- 7 �AMERICAS ·. '. . ·.' c • J ble, as workers can earn wages in Alberta and can support their families in provinces with lower costs. Prof. Chakravorty thinks that Suncor has to fly people in not because this is a temporary project, but because Alberta and the people working have not yet had the chance to adapt. "There is a time lag in these things," he says. "I've heard stories of people from Newfoundland and the Halifax area coming and basically leaving their families behind. It's expensive, it's a hard job in the oil fields. Home prices, I am told, are exorbitant. It's not very cheap to live in Alberta right now, but things are becoming better. So yes, it'll take time to even out." The economy in Alberta is rushing to serve this massive influx of labor and business, but its inability to do so as quickly as demand requires has driven up prices. Harvey P. Weingarten, president of University of Calgary, recently moved to Alberta. "There is $21.3 billion in major capital projects announced or underway in Calgary," he said in a speech to the Economic Club of Toronto, "and not surprisingly, the construction inflation rate is running at about 1.5% a month ... The housing market is finally showing signs of moderating. Nonetheless, housing prices have risen at triple the national pace since July 2005." Construction Inflation is high because of contractors, public and private, scrambling to accommodate the influx of people, and so raw materials have become more expensive. Nearly all of this pressure has the oilsands at its base. "Across the province, oilsands' investment in 2007 alone is expected to hit $12 billion, and there is $40 billion of new infrastructure planned," Weingarten stats. "Most of it associated with the oilsands-all of this in a province that has a population smaller 8 than the Greater Toronto Area. That sucking sound you hear is 170,000 new jobs expected to be created over the next 4 years out west." Although Alberta has plenty of reason to welcome this influx of capital and business, people from other parts of Canada tend to focus more on the negative environmental effects of the tarsands. "We have a polarized society, Mike Nagy says. "And it shouldn't be like this. It's a bit of the west-versusthe-rest in issues with this." Nathan Paul Pinno, a citizen living outside of Edmonton, Alberta, agrees. "Most Easterners see it as a big source of pollution," he says. "And [they] would love to take the money away from us in Alberta. Most Albertans I believe recognize how important the tarsands are to our economy.... We also believe they have no business interfering in what we see as a provincial issue." This divide and the compartmentalization of Alberta is one of the reasons the tarsands have been difficult to regulate, since the provincial and federal governments wanted mostly different things. For Chakravorty, the October 13, 2008, election provided a signal about the best way to approach the task of cleaning up the tar sands. "The reason the Liberals lost was because of the carbon tax. It would have been a tax on Alberta. They would take money from Alberta and subsidize the rest of Canada. So it would have been a net transfer out of Alberta. This is being debated. I'm not sure a tax mechanism, given this current economic situation will go down well." Instead of a carbon tax, which would tax carbon emitters on a federal level and then spend the money on projects across the country, Chakravorty prefers a carbon market, like the cap-and-trade systems which have been discussed in the U.S. "I mean there are significant environmental issues that need to be dealt with and even the government of Alberta is now trying to see how that can be done. I am part of a study with a couple of my colleagues, trying to think of a carbon market. So the carbon can be sequestered by the refineries and it can be sold to people who might use carbon to extract more • •; ' ' · .. : : " " · ' ' I oil. We are looking at things like this and there is definitely a feeling that the environmental question will have to be solved." The Greens and Lougheed have called for a moratorium on new developments, and even if they get their wish, they, along with the rest of Canada, have to decide how the tarsands will operate in the long term. "The government is a big player," Chakravorty continues. "I think the government has a major role, and the companies-in my sort of limited THE < EPO~H - ·FALL 2008 . ' . " exposure-are willing to play, then the question of course is: Who's going to pay for all of this? You've got environmental regulation in place. How are the costs going to be shared? I've heard numbers to the tune of $2 billion that the province is willing to pay to set up a carbon market and so on." There is at this moment so much resting on the shoulders of the tarsands that to stop them right away would tear apart the Albertan economy. Canada will then have to decide how it wants to deal with what is now, in many respects, its most beneficial and destructive asset. * Interviewed for this story: Mike Nagy, Green Party Environment Critic Dennis Makar, CEO, World Oil Tools, Inc. Anonymous Tarsands Worker Nathan Paul Pinna, Alberta citizen Ujjayant Chakravorty, Professor of Economics and Business at the University of Alberta Herb Enns, Owner, Hepalta Purified Air Inc., �Pirates of the Red Sea Tex Pasley, Annapolis, 'I I CC Honestly, in Africa, it is very hard to see people putting their greed and personal motives aside," Michael Owora, a resident of Nairobi, Kenya, a country bordered by Somalia, says. "This is because a majority of the rulers or key individuals in power have this mentality of'me, myself and I, and then my family and loyalists'." And nowhere does this statement ture of the Ukranian ship has made the West stand up and demand action. And in this renewed attention, questions which never went away are now showing themselves again to be pertinent. But these are not questions that are only important to Somalia. "Honestly, the well-being of Somalia matters a lot," Owora states. "Since there is no well-established government, there is a lot of lawlessness that leads to the way the pirates act? They, not unexpectedly, are hard to reach, but in one of the few interviews they have given to Western journalists - to The New York Times - their spokesman, Sugule Ali, said they were like a "coast guard," patrolling the waters to keep illegal fishing and dumping under control, in lieu of any government regulation. "Defending against illegal fishing, pollution of the waters, I support," says h~dtruerthaninSomali~ ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ ~med ~dulle BuuSituated at the "Horn of we, of Mogadishu, SoAfrica," where the Red Sea malia. "Getting money meets the Indian Ocean, from it, I do not supthis country of over 9 milport." lion people has, since a civil The pirates, then, war in 1991, struggled to appear to be doing maintain a functioning what a government would normally be regovernment, leading The Economist, in a recent issue, sponsible for, yet the to declare the country "the pirates are acting without any legitimacy. So world's most utterly failed whatever noble aims state." the pirates may have, After 17 years of division- a civil war in 1991 the overall response of created a breakaway region the i~ternational comcalled Somaliland, which munity is one of fear. has progressively gained "Piracy has had a international recognmon, major impact on the along with a few disputed regions- a large infiltration of small arms, such WFP's ability to get vital food supplies and a government whose legitimacy as hand guns, into Kenya. This causes a into Somalia," says Marcus Prior, of is in question, the country was in the rise in insecurity as thugs have easy and the United Nation's World Food Prospotlight again as a group of pirates cheap access to guns." gramme (UNWFP). "During a hiatus The concern extends beyond East in the provision of escorts earlier this attacked a Ukranian freighter full of military weapons. Africa, too. The pirates are attacking year, some shippers refused to load food The source of the pirates? Soma- ships headed through the Suez Canal for Somalia. During that period withlia. The capture .of the Ukranian vessel and the Red Sea, one of the world's out escorts we were only able to move was simply one of many attacks made busiest shipping lanes. The effect on about 9,000 metric tons into Somalia-by the pirates in the waters off Somalia global commerce is obvious. we now need to move something closer What then, can be gleaned from to 50,000 tons." over the past 10 to 15 years. The cap11 �AFRICA & MIDDLE EAST ' I .' . ' ' • " ; ' "·: .... Analyzing these troubling numbers, it seems simple to say that the pirates actions are counter productive. Instead of acting as a pseudo coast guard, the pirates might focus their energy on supporting a government that is able to provide a legitimate coast guard. Support, which, according to some, is not absent from the people of Somalia. But rather, some fault lies outside of Somalia. "The government lacks "positive" support from the international community," Buuwe says. "They tried their best given the circumstances. The current transitional government is capable of establishing order if given the positive support they require. Support was there in the early 90s, and it is E T H there now." The transitional that government Buuwe refers to is the internationallybacked government put in place in the past few years to give Somalia a base to <( work from and help it >catch up with its Afz rican neighbors along w with the entire inter~ national community. It is difficult to deter- country." But this harmony might not be enough to overcome the difficulties that Somalia faces and has been facing. Multinational organizations such as the African Union and East African Community exist, but like the government of Somalia itself, one wonders how much positive effect is coming from these coalitions. "The East African Community only exists on paper," Peter Ja Mbeka, of Mombasa, Kenya, states. "There is nothing like that in reality; there is a to its resources like uranium and oil," Buuwe says. "They stole, are stealing, and fear peace in Somalia." It may be helpful to answer a basic question: What do we mean when speaking of the country of Somalia? This question is neither inane nor irrelevant. The present-day country of Somalia became an independent, sovereign state in 1960, combining the former colonies of British Somaliland and Italian Somaliland. In the wake of a civil war in 1991, the former British Somaliland (which now simply calls itself Somaliland) broke away from Somalia, dedaring itself an indepen- . dent state. Another smaller region called Puntland has declared itself an autonomous region from Somalia, although it does not seek independence like Somaliland. Puntland is home base of the pirates. As Abdirashiid Mohed Adam, a resident of Somaliland - who describes himself as "ethnically, pure Somalilander - puts it: "I want to distance Somaliland from all other Somalis. In 1960, when Italian Somaliland won its independence, we thought we were all Somalis, and we wanted to unite with them . We united, and then mis- I\. r \_ \ ·". -~ ' ' • • THE EPOCH ·_· FALL 1• 2000 ' . . • • Somalia: A H istory ~f Div·ision May 18, 1991 July I, 1960 C ountry of Somalia formed from the . unification of British Somaliland and Italian Somaliland. The country of Somaliland breaks away and forms a state separate from Somalia; no international recognition is given to the breakaway. This action coincides with a civil war between the two sections of the country. At this point, the government of Somalia ceases to function . 1960 ' 1969 February 2006 The Parliament of the Transitional Federal Government (TFG) meets for the first time on Somali soil. The TFG currently acts as the recogni ze d governmental body in Somalia. The government was formed in October of 2004, and met in Kenya for the first year and a half of its existence. it can be concluded that the pirates are symptomatic of a flaw in the system, a flaw in the decision-making process of people somewhere, that makes Somalia the perpetually failed state that it is. "If we look at it realistically the people in power (even here in Kenya) sit in plush houses, eat good food, and have security details," Owora says. "But yet the real citizen is dying of hunger and in Somalia especially, if you don't die of hunger you'll most probably be shot down or blown up." Yet in the face of "realism,'' somehow a wellspring of optimism lies at the root of any analysis of the country, however depressing it might be. "Once the greedy power-brokers leave and people who want to see change come in, then the country shall take off. If politicians can forget about the me factor and focus on the grassroots where the real Somalis are, then I'm sure it can happen. It may not be today or tomorrow but who wouldn't want to see Somalia where America is in 50 years?" * Interviewed for this story: Michael Owora, Nairobi, Kenya Ahmed Abdulle Buuwe, Mogadishu, SomaJia Peter Ja Mbeka, Mombasa, Kenya Abdirashiid Mohed Adam, Hargeisa, SomaJia Marcus Prior, Spokesperson, United Nations World Food Programme m~ ~ m~~~~--------------------------- ~~~~&~h~prn~ the government at this moment, but without change on the part of citizens, such success would seem impossible. "They say that the pirates are basically trying to etch a living because money is hard to come by,'' Owora says. "They say that there is a lot oflawlessness, but if people could put their greed and personal motives aside then they would all move forward. Once the transitional government can harmonize everyone and allow everyone to benefit, then we shall see peace in the 12 lot of mistrust, especially on economic and wars happened." issues. To us it doesn't exist." So, unity could not be the sum of And even with more established the answer, if it is even possible- which organizations like the United Nations, Adam, at least, does not believe to and richer, more powerful Western na- be the case. Perhaps in analyzin g the tions, there is a belief amongst people state of the country, one must gain the within the region that the efforts of proper perspective. The pirates say that these groups have little effect, or are in they're trying to feed their families and some way hurtful towards the progress protect their homeland- something of the region, and Somalia specifically. which doesn~t seem foreign to a citizen "They [the West] are biased on reli- of any country. gious issues, always partisan on Somali Whether the forces bringing Somaissues, and not ready to see Somalia get lia down come from within or without, 2007 Mohammed Siad Barre installs authoritarian socialist rule, bringing stability until 1991. .---~~~~-..~~---~-~~~--~--~-~~------. I 0 P I A • / .- �Black Butterfly Andrew Davenport, Annapolis, 'I 0 Andrew Davenport explores the cultures of Indonesia and traditions associated with the dead, uncovering his own personal mortality. T India: Even though it has not signed the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty, a deal is reached with the United States to allow civilian nuclear trade between the two countries. he sky is a blue I have not seen before, and for the first time in three weeks the air I am breathing is clean and cool. Immediately on all sides are rice paddies; I stand on a strip of earth between two trenches, and on either side the land falls away into channels carrying !-}~~\:,..:~~~~~ water into the fields. I have crossed oceans, spent hours on trains and days on boats, traversed mountains by bus. If I am traveling, why do I feel that I have arrived? This is Londa. I would guess him to be in his mid to late-twenties. His skin is smooth and clean. His eyes are large and almond ....._.......,__......., shaped; I cannot see the line from the stars, and that his stay here where his iris ends and the pupil begins. His hair is black to match his is but a passing motion before finally dark eyes, and it is long and slightly ascending back to the heavens. Londa is in Toraja; Toraja is in the wavy, thick and loosely bound. It Republic of Indonesia; I am in all of looks shiny and smooth like his skin. He has a slight frame, a measured gait, these places, and Jolong is talking to and melodious, quiet speech. My me about life and death. "When a family member dies, we keep the body guide is a man named Jolong. One of the few unshakable truths in the house for a while before the haunting us all is our own mortality. funeral, sometimes for a year." I am We will all die. Strangely, we know more startled than anything else, unabsolutely nothing concerning what sure of how to fathom such proximity. happens after death. The people of Tana Toraja have homes with roofs in It is amazing how quickly a few the form of a half crescent. If you ask, men can kill, skin, and butcher a they will tell you that man descended large animal. They use a sharp knife, half-way to being a sword; the blade worked from scrap metal salvaged from an old Land Rover; the wooden handle formed in the likeness of a parrot. Water buffalo are the largest, most expensive, and most prized of the sacrificial animals. The wealthiest families will slaughter up to one hundred, sometimes more. This is a small funeral byTorajan standards, as they have only five. A single quick stroke to the underside of the neck will within minutes bleed the animal out. After they have removed the skin, they disembowel and dismember the buffalo. In the end 15 �ASIA & OCEANIA .· I all that is left in the mud is a horned brawny, and looks to be in his forties. head with glazed eyes staring blankly, He smiles at me as I stand by him, and and two large piles of partly digested he encourages me to take photos of evgrass emptied from its stomachs. erything. No one here speaks English, The Torajans believe that the de- and my Indonesian is rather limited, so ceased will ride on the back of the our conversation is one mostly of comwater buffalo back up to heaven from ic facial expressions and head nods. As whence we all came. The slaughters take place in the muddy clearing in front of the family's main house. Surrounding the clearing are rough open-air pavilions made from bamboo. The men and women sit separately, but surprisingly, for a funeral, there is laughter and boisterous conversation all around. Clouds of smoke waft away from the men as they puff kretek (unfiltered clove cigarettes) and quaff palm wine out of tall pieces of bamboo cut from the surrounding forest. Visitors and people from surrounding villages have all come together here with the family of the deceased not to mourn but to celebrate. Everyone brings a gift, typically a carton of cigarettes, which are presented to the patriarch of the family. In return, the family feeds the community. Today there are perhaps 400 people gathered. Indonesians prepare for an animal sacrifice in The scream of a terrified pig is ugly. Nobody else seems I look on, the man takes a small thin to take much notice, though, as several knife and sticks it into the pig's arm men carry out a pig tied down onto pit, severing a major artery. He steps a bamboo litter. There is foam on on the pig and pumps his foot reguits mouth; it shrieks and struggles in larly to expedite its death. As the pig's vain to escape. In Toraja, one doesn't screams turn to barely audible wheezkill buffalo and pigs in the same fash- es, its breathing labored, I feel a moion. The man doing the slaughter is ment of terror as I recognize my own 16 .. ' l • • heart beating inside of me. We are all going to die. My Torajan friend looks up from his work and smiles again; his arms are shining and red up to the elbows as he lets go organ meat into bamboo tubes and lays them against hot coals to bake. In my reverie I missed the moment of death. Several people pick up the carcass and toss it onto an open fire. They bring down another pig, and the man readies his knife. As I round a bend, the place to which Jolong has been leading me comes into view. It is a sheer cliff face, and carved into it are recesses holding effigies of the dead. At the base of this rock edifice is a cave entrance: "This is where the dead from my village are buried." On the left side of the cave entrance are several human skulls. There are cigarettes and pictures and coins scattered around the skulls; tokens for the dead. Inside the cave it is pitch black. Jolong lights a lantern and we begin our journey through the Toraja. labyrinth of caskets, skulls, and other miscellaneous bones arranged haphazardly wherever the family of the dead can find a place. Jolong informs me that families of the dead come to visit the remains regularly, and to maintain the resting place. There are many dead here, and Jolong tells the story of many of them. "The .. • ••• : . .: . ·· • I •• . • ' I' THE EP~CH ~ • FALL 2008. . • . - ' two here, their families had ·already arranged marriages for them, so they killed themselves." I have no way to know whether or not Jolong is telling me the truth, or telling me what he thinks I, as an American, would like to hear. Walking through this cavernous gravesite with Jolong, I wonder suddenly if he has any family entombed here. There is a part of me that wants to stay in these caves alone, in the dark, with the dead people from Jolong's village. I certainly don't want to die, but I also don't think I have an active fear of death. More than anything, I simply don't have to think about or encounter death at home in the United States all that often. My family is a of the sky, the verdant green of the flo- . coffee in the world, and strange, dera, the gurgle and sparkle of the water licious fruit found nowhere else. 1he moving in the rice paddies:· they feel great majority of people are involved like a force unified against the muffied in the cultivation of the necessities of silence and darkness of my thoughts life, but they do not want for food. residing back in the cave. With the gift The sense of community is one of the of life comes death; by being born our strongest I have ever encountered. death is ensured. It occurs to me that Spirituality and the everyday mundane the fact of our death is what allows us are inseparable. The beauty and harto enjoy this life. For without it, there mony of life here is a result of the honwould be nothing to fear, we would esty with which the people consider all have all the time in the world, and death. For if one was to truly undernothing would ever really be at stake. stand how transient their life was, how By involving themselves so much with could they spend it in frivolous purdeath are the Torajan people thereby suits? The simplest pleasures seem to enriching their lives, making life more be everywhere cherished in this land, meaningful? whether it is a passing conversation on In the 2007 Lonely Planet guide- the road, a warm cup of coffee, or the book to Indonesia, Tana Toraja is de- beauty of the landscape. small one, and in my _lifetime I've had three members of it die. Yet I've never returned to visit any of their gravesites even once. I wonder if there is something the people of Toraja know about death that I as an American have somehow missed. As we come out of the cave the vigor of life feels like an assault. The blue J olong and I reach the top of the small incline from which we had originally descended. I hand him a 50,000 Rupiah note, roughly five US Dollars, which was his asking price for guiding me. All of my senses feel acutely awake, but my head feels strangely empty and I am very tired. As I survey the landscape I have just left behind, I struggle to articulate to myself what it is I am feeling. With my peripheral vision, I catch sight of a large black butterfly moving by. It strikes me that this is the perfect synthesis of the problem I have been struggling with. A butterfly is delicate, short lived and beautiful, it is the embodiment of innocence; the color black is associated with death, evil, and mourning. The incongruity of a black butterfly is the incongruity of human life. Born to die, our lives transient bur full of beauty: we are black butterflies. scribed as being "Macabre," which according to the Oxford English Dictionary is an adjective meaning "grim" or "gruesome." This description does not accord with my experience. There is nothing scary or ugly about the life of the Torajan people. The bounty of the land is abundant, yielding up cocoa, rice in plenty, some of the best * 17 �Enduring Invasion: Georgia's Fight for Unification Erin Shadowens, Annapolis '12 ' ' N o one would imagine politics for almost a decade. At the same ''They [Russia] just want to take these Russia would occupy time, the hostilities provoked a nationalist regions for themselves," Sophie Kikava your country," Mariam response from young Georgians. Follow- of Thilisi, Georgia says. ''Yes, maybe Aduashvili, a St. John's freshman from ing the Russian invasion, they want [independence]. But Georgian Thilisi, Georgia explains, reclining on a "18, 19 year old guys volunteered citizens also live in these two regions and bench outside of Francis Scott Key au- to go to war. They didn't know how to they want to be a part of Georgia." ditorium. "It's unbelievable. People were shoot or anything, but that's what their Despite popular support for indereally scared." father's did,'' Aduashvili says. pendence in these regions, I<ikava still Aduashvili smiles easily.--- - - -- - -- - - - -- - - - - - -- - - ---. objects to any sort of as she reminisces, describing secession. ''They [South the Georgia she knew before Ossetia and Abkhazia] the August invasion. are Georgian territories "Beautiful, it's so beautiand they have always been ours." ful.'' Well, not quite. AfA lot changed, fast. ter the fall of the Soviet ''You wake up one mornUnion, an independent ing and there's a war." Georgia claimed soverOvernight, Georgia eignty over South Ossetia transformed from a growand Abkhazia--both of ing economy and prospecwhich contain a minortive member of NATO into ity of ethnic Georgians. a war zone. The war became H owever, bloody hosan inescapable reality. The tilities governed relations Georgian government took between the provinces over television stations and and Georgia. Cease-fire devoted coverage to either agreements in the mid-nineties provided A reinvigorated separatist movethe ongoing battles or played war-themed ment in the semi-autonomous Georgian for de facto independence, even though movies like Braveheart or Troy. "It made you feel like you were in the regions of South Ossetia and Abkhazia both South Ossetia and Abkhazia were war. I wouldn't watch TV," Aduashvili exacerbated an already strained relation- still internationally considered part of ship with the Georgian government. Georgia. says. "I am afraid we will lose AbkhaSurrounded by fear, citizens prepared On August 1, Georgian forces engaged South Ossetia following accusations of zia and South Ossetia," l<ikava admits. for the worst. "[There were] rumors that Russian violence against Georgian nationals. Rus- ''They [the international community] will sia initially employed only peacekeeping not fight with Russia for Georgia for two forces would occupy Thilisi." Aduashvili recounts Georgians troops to support South Ossetia, how- small Georgian territories. No one will do flooding and emptying markets, afraid ever, by August 9, military forces were that." French President Nicolas Sarkozy their country would again succumb to dispatched and the conflict expanded to negotiated an EU-supervised cease-fire the belligerence that dominated their the disputed province of Abkhazia. 19 �. EUROPE .. . c • , agreement between Russia and Georgia. The deal required both countries to retreat to pre-war borders, excepting Russian peacekeeping forces. However, Russia officially recognized South Ossetian and Abkhazian independence on August 25 despite warnings from Western leaders and organizations, such as President George W Bush and NATO. "This aid is just money and humanitarian help,'' I<ikava says. ''We don't need money, we need political and military support. The Russian government knows that [the] West will confine itself with condemnation and small sanctions and with just words, not actions." The issue at hand is then not of sovereignty, but leverage and power. For example, to see Georgia on a map is to see a geographic illustration of its primary difficulty. A small country nestled between Turkey, Armenia, Azerbaijan, and Russia, it's hard to overlook how Russia towers above Georgia. This begs the question: why should Russia concern itself with a comparatively modest, independent Georgia? "If they [Russia] will let go of Georgia, other regions [such as] Armenia and Chechnya ...will try to break away too from Russian control,'' Kikava vehemently states, living in a city that has be- come a refugee camp. It's easy to draw the comparison between the modern Kremlin government in Russia and the former Soviet Union. Russia's intervention in a sovereign nation's political affairs evokes the era of satellite countries, an era that tends to offend Western sensibilities. John McCain went as far as to say, "In the twenty-fust century, nation~ don't invade other nations." Political considerations aside, the Georgian people themselves have shouldered the burden of this war. Villages, especially those surrounding Gori-Variani, suffered the most damage due to Russian shelling. Aduashvili calls Gori, "beautiful, now it doesn't exist." Refugees poured into Tbilisi from bombed villages, anexperienceAduashvili regards as the most difficult. She recalls a lost five-year-old boy: "People wouldn't know where their parents were." "Some school and children gardens [playgrounds] are occupied by refugees, [as well as] a few schools," Giga Khatiashvili describes downtown Tbilisi. "It's a problem for our nation, for all of us. Poor people, we are trying to help and support them. We see how people came to our city just with the stuff they could carry by [with their] hands or bodies... Me and my wife collected all [the] stuff we can share with [people] together in three big bags and gave it to the support center." According to the United Nations High Commissioner on Refugees, approximately twenty-thousand refugees have returned home. Although a positive development, Georgia must begin rebuilding their heavily damaged infrastructure. ''Well at this stage nothing much is done, just restoring some buildings and schools and building shelters for refugees,'' I<ikava says. Georgia's situation remains precarious, their future a maze of political and economic challenges. Although citizens show little faith in international support for a sovereign Georgia, Georgians like Khatiashvilli speak with a pride necessitated by their current circumstances. "I'm very thankful to Putin and Medvedev because ... [they] unified all Georgians. Thank Americans! Thank Europe! Thank all you guys." RU s * Interviewed for this story: Sophia Kikava, Tbilisi, Georgia Giga Khatiashvili, Tbilisi, Georgia Mariam Aduashvili, "Tbilisi, Georgia Merab Pachulia, Tbilisi, Georgia S I A • • • 1 •• '. : • .. ••• • I • THE EPO.CH , ·~ FALL 2008 . . . . ~ . - , Cameron's Corner: Summer Albums by Cameron Coates Flying Lotus - Los Angeles June I 0th 2008 I wish there was a better word than "electronica" to describe Flying Lotus. All those genres - techno, industrial, trance - imply a kind of sterile artificiality in their production and in their sound. Trashy Euro techno is always boring because it's souless. Heavy bass rhythm isn't music, it's just repetitive ad nauseam. Flying Lotus' music is just the opposite. Los Angeles feels organic and disheveled- layers of melody and sound are piled almost haphazardly over syncopated beats. Clapping and clanking, tribal drums and splashing water replace a lot of the traditional, manufactured beats of slick-production mainstream electronica. Sometimes Los Angeles leans a little too heavily on the wierd-for-thesake-of-wierd aestetic, though, and the result is a few duds. Songs like "Melt!" and "GNG BNG," with droning drums and gratingly obnoxious sitar samples sound more like a headache than music. But over all, Los Angeles feels natural, chaotic, and beautiful - a soundtrack to chemical reactions. Bonnie 'Prince' Billy- Lie Down In The Light May 20th, 2008 Will Oldham has averaged about an album a year for the past fifteen years, not including countless EPs, live albums, and collaborations. He's worked his way into a comfortable, folky groove that suits him well. But it's suprising that he's been able to keep it up for this long and with such persistent regularity. Doesn't it get boring to make the same music over and over again? Lie Down In The Light is the kind of gentle, meandering folk that doesn't work particularly hard at anything. At best, songs like "Easy Does It" are plesandy unoffensive. At worst, you get a track like "So Everyone," the first two minutes of which is just Oldham hitting the same chord again and again. This is not the kind of music that compliments a shaky, wavering voice like Oldham's. It's a shame, because the track picks up towards the middle, but it gets skipped every time I listen to the record. I can't stand songs that demand waiting around for "when it gets good." Similarly, I'm not particularly fond of records that don't have the balls to be more than just easy listening. BoNNIE ••PR1Nt.£"BILl. Y LICJ>O IN Tift Wolf Parade -At Mount Zoomer June 17th, 2008 G E 0 R G A TBILISI• TURKEY Sophmore-album syndrome strikes again. It might be good, but in comparison to 2006's Apology to the Queen Mary it just falls flat. Where's the raw excitement and emotion that made every song on that album feel like the end of the world? Dan Boeckner and Spencer Krug sound bored, and even the good stuff suffers from it. 21 �Fleet Foxes - Fleet Foxes June 3rd, 2008 Fleet Foxes' self-titled debut is so refreshingly confident and well-executed, I think this one might be my favorite of the bunch. They've described their music as "baroque harmonic pop jams." That seems a little excessive. It feels more folk than "pop jam," but there is an element of the orchestral to the choral harmonies between Robin Pecknold and his bandmates. Pecknold's angelic vocals are the real force behind Fleet Foxes. While the choral pieces swell and fall majestically, Pecknold's solo songs have in contrast an eerie sense of enormous, empty space. The album sounds like it was recorded in a cathedral, and you can hear Pecknold's voice filling the entire room, echoing in every direction. The man puts it best himself on dosing track "Oliver James": "Back we go to your brother's house emptier, my dear I The sound of ancient voices ringing soft upon your ear." Jlatrpia;(f- -//~~/- B Colonial Elegance in the Historic District Ann & Tom Berger Innkeepers 170 9.uke of Glouc ster St=ree , ~nna~olis, M 4] 0.263 .5 618 info(q;·georgiamhouse. ~on1 www.georgianhouse.com 22 �� Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource Epoch Journal Creator An entity primarily responsible for making the resource St. John's College Contributor An entity responsible for making contributions to the resource St. John's College Greenfield Library Text A resource consisting primarily of words for reading. Examples include books, letters, dissertations, poems, newspapers, articles, archives of mailing lists. Note that facsimiles or images of texts are still of the genre Text. Page numeration Number of pages in the original item. 24 pages Original Format The type of object, such as painting, sculpture, paper, photo, and additional data paper Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Creator An entity primarily responsible for making the resource Fryer-Biggs, Zachary (Editor-in-Chief) Title A name given to the resource The Epoch, Vol III Issue I Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource 2008-10 Description An account of the resource Volume III, Issue I of The Epoch Journal. Published in Fall 2008. Identifier An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context Epoch Journal Fall 2008 Coverage The spatial or temporal topic of the resource, the spatial applicability of the resource, or the jurisdiction under which the resource is relevant Annapolis, MD Publisher An entity responsible for making the resource available St. John's College Language A language of the resource English Type The nature or genre of the resource text Rights Information about rights held in and over the resource St. John's College owns the rights to this publication. Format The file format, physical medium, or dimensions of the resource pdf Student publication https://s3.us-east-1.amazonaws.com/sjcdigitalarchives/original/8358dc00c9f7b058975064dcd111eac8.pdf 79f694abce6f8e82fc48ef9739b90bfb PDF Text Text Winter 2008 Volume Ill, Issue 2 ST. JOHN'S COLLEGE LIBRARY 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1~ 1r~mr1 1~1 r~i~i1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 , 3 1696 01155 6428 DATE DUE I I �The Epoch Volume III, Issue 2 CONTENTS Slavery Ignored Tex Pasley 5 Beyond Fare: 40 Years of Conflict John Vining II 16 Special Section: All President Obama's Men Tibet's Unheard Call for Independence Chelsea Adams 21 Modernizing the Church Erin Shadowens Shikshya Adhikari 25 Through the Lens The Year in Pictures Founder, Editor-in-Chief: Zachary Fryer-Biggs Managing Editor: Tex Pasley / Layout Editor: / Eric Honour Artistic Dire john Vining Business Director: Tyler Clegg , Associate fdj Laurel Fisch 28 "(he Epoch is produced and distributed in Annapolis, Ma land. Please contact The Epoch for informatio on advertisements at zfb@epochjournal.or Opinions expressed in articles illustrations are not necessa hose of the Editorial Board or John's College. Here, a man visiting China walks across the Sichuan-Tibet Highway, a road which connects the western Chinese province of Sichuan with Lhasa, the capital of Tibet. The highway, opened in 1954, takes a traveler originating in China 1,500 miles across various terrain to the traditional seat of the Dalai Lama located in Lhasa. �Slavery Ignored Tex Pasley, Annapolis, '11 ISRAEL • The Attorney General of Israel announced he was going to charge outgoing prime minister Ehud Olmert for fraudulent bil ling of plane flights between 2002 and 2006 . IRAQ • Parliament ratified a security agreement that would require the United States to leave by 2011. pirates negotiated a ransom for a captured Ukranian freighter carrying unlicensed arms . ' ' w .en I was 15, my parents were killed in the war in Darfur. I came to Ghana with a man who is originally from Ghana. He saw me crying by a bush and he tried to bring me to Ghana. We walked in the forest for five good days with no water eating only fruit. I came to Ghana and he told me that he wants to help me in some way, but said that he was going to look for work, and he couldn't take me to follow him. God bless that man very much." So begins the saga of Mary Addai, currently a resident of Techiman, Ghana. "After that, I found an old woman, told her my problems, and she helped me get some food to eat. After she gave me the food to eat, she sacked me from the house, saying she can't let me stay with her, and I looked for a job for myself, but no one would let me work for him or her." When The Epoch asked Addai why she could not find work, she replied, curiously, "No jobs for slaves here." Not because of her gender, or nationality, but because she was a slave, part of a recognized class of people who were not qualified to earn wages. Slavery is nothing new in West Africa, from the sale of human bodies in the transatlantic slave trade, to the enslavement of native black Africans to their Arab owners. The latter type continues today, despite laws in every African country banning the practice. The Community Co urt of Justice for the Economic �Steps Towards Freedom in West Afr ica December I 0, 1948 Universal Declaration of Human Rights (UDHR) adopted by UN General Assembly. Article Four states: "No one shall be held in slavery or servitude; slavery and the slave trade shall be prohibited in all their forms." July 18, 1999 Niger adopts new constitution officially banning slavery 1948 2008 August 3, I 960 October 27, 2008 Niger gains independence from France Hadjiatou Mani, a Nigerien woman , is awarded $19,000 in damages by the Community Court of Justice for the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) . The ruling will bolster anti-slavery movements throughout West Africa, where every country already has laws in place banning slavery. Community of West African States remain anonymous. (ECOWAS) ruled in October that "Despite slavery being abolthe country of Niger failed to protect ished in 1960 (upon independence Hadjiatou Mani, a woman who had from France), in its constitution been sold into slavery at the age of and its criminalization in 2003, we 12, ordering the country to pay her estimate that a minimum of 43,000 $19,000 in damages. people are in slavery across NiThis woman was simply on ger,'' says Romana Cacchioli, Africa the bottom rung of a ladder which Programme Coordinator for Antihas existed for centuries among tribal people in the deserted regions of present day countries such as Mauritania, Mali, and Niger. "The population in Mauritania is split into three groups: White Maurs of Arab descent who have the power, Hatani (ex-slaves) and blacks from the Senegal River Valley. They are split approximately 30/40/30 - however this is an estimation as the black population is growing and that of the White Maurs stagnating. Physi- Slavery International, who closely cal work is not for the White Maurs worked with Timidria, a Nigerien - here you will hardly see a White anti-slavery organization, on Mani's Maur in a kitchen or change a tire case. 'Today, slavery remains deeply or dig a hole for a water line," says a embedded in Niger society. It exists source in Mauritania who wishes to across the country, both in rural and 6 urban areas, and is practised predominantly by the Tuareg, Maure (Berber Arab, pronounced Moor), and Pe~le (also known as Pulaar or Fulani) ethnic groups." Slavery in West Africa takes many different forms. There is the aforementioned traditional slave class that has existed for centuries. The anonymous source from Mauritania puts it simply, albeit crudely, "Slaves are part of their owner's families in the same way you consider your dog to be part of your family- it serves a purpose and you consequently give it something to eat and a basket to sleep in. And those dogs have puppies and those puppies grow up to be dogs." The situation in Niger and Mauritania is similar, as both countries feature a type of slavery such as the one described above. Cachiolli explains further, "Under Niger's caste-based society, slaves are at the bottom rung of the social hierarchy. Slaves have no rights and no opportunities in life. In Niger people are born into slavery, and are ·forced to work without pay for their so-called masters throughout their lives, primarily herding cattle, working on farmland or as domestic servants. Slaves are denied fundamental rights and where their masters exercise powers of ownership over them." Addai described herself as a "slave," and even though Addai's life is technically not one of a slave in that she was not under the ownership of another person, her experience carries a similar taint of the caste culture that Cacchioli describes in Niger. At least in more traditional slavery, the slave is in some way a member of the system they're in. With Addai, she is forced to work, but receives hardly any benefit from the arrangement. "It is hard for me to get some place to sleep,'' Addai says. "We wait until the owner of the restaurant [she works at] closes before we go into the dining room to sleep. I don't get paid and I have to eat the food left over at the end of the night. Everyone else who works there is under a similar ar- · rangement." . Yet while the definition of slavery is broadening, it's still not a given that slavery is occurring in Niger, or anywhere for that matter. The Epoch interviewed numerous people from all over Africa and asked their opinions on . the latent presence of slavery that is acknowledged by courts, lawmakers, news publications, and groups such as Timidria. Nearly all denied that slavery is even happening. "Almost everywhere people deny slavery exists," Cachiolli says. "People often think it was abolished a century ago. The perception is that individuals in slavery are shackled in chains and their only reference is the transatlantic slave trade. But as you know, the reality is that Slavery exists everywhere despite global prohibition. Almost all states d eny its existence and it is only with good research, bringing legal cases and work- MALI • An estimated 15,000 children from Mali have been sold into slavery in 1ghboring Cote d'Ivoire, and the city o o on the Niger River is a center of lllega uman trafficking for Africans trying to ach Europe; many girls are forced int restitution in Gao as payment for fa passports and transport out of Africa. ing with the UN , the media, etc . can we prove that unfortunately slavery is alive and kicking." It seems safe to say, given the · extent to which slavery is reported, along with the personal observations of people in the region, that something akin to slavery is still happening. However, the misinformation about it is not surprising given the way governments handle its existence. As the anonymous source from Mauritania relates, "Considering that there are still 'slaves' around you might touch a subject that som e people in this area would rather not have exposed - kind of bad PR for the country. Irrespective, slavery has been officially abandoned here, but effectively it still exists, the ball & chains just replaced by 'keep them stupid, ignorant & without say in the public."' This attitude among leaders of countries is verified by Cachiolli, who describes a system where the slaves are unable to participate in the the country. as well as to neighboring countries, such as Cameroon, to work in slave-like conditions. UNICEF also reporced in 2003 that roughly 600 child soldiers were working in government security forces throughout the country. MALI MAURITANIA • Reports of slavery are denied by the country's government, which is largely run by White Maurs, who have historically enslaved blacks. It is problematic to the point that blacks visiting Africa from other parts of the world have been advised not to travel to the country for fear of being drafted into slavery. CHAD ---11111!!1..., �electoral process, thus keeping their voice out of the political arena, perpetuating the current caste system. Furthering the confusion, the officials of these countries have taken extra steps within their laws to show their opposition to slavery; Niger and Mauritania, two countries where slavery persists as a matter of tradition, are also the two countries in Africa that make slavery a criminal offence, perhaps to divert outside pressure on the progress of real reform towards abolishing slavery. It might be clear that humans are suffering indignity throughout West Africa, but it's a challenge, for all those who wish to change the current system, to deter mine how change might be achieved. The ECOWAS court ruling in favor of Mani is a step, but many observers do not know what real influence the decision will have, considering the court's limited ability to enforce, and past rulings it has made that have gone unheeded. It is also unclear how much will there is within governments to change the current situation. "Development is slow or nonexistent because of government corruption and poor management at the presidential level," the anonymous source from Mauritania says. "Salaries to teachers are poor, so if you have a brain you do not want to be a teacher. Idealists who cannot afford to put food on the table do not last long." With such pessimistic assessments, any change will probably be taking place through a combination of outside help and personal initiative. 8 "[Anti-Slavery International] works globally to ensure a wide understanding of the different slavery practices which are prevalent today," Cachiolli says. "We work with international bodies like the African Commission on Human and Peoples' Rights, UN and ILO to raise issues and seek solutions at the regional and national levels. At the national level we campaign for legal reform to strengthen the legal framework, we provide legal assistance and help bring test cases, we work to ensure that economic and social accompanying measures are in place to assist those leaving slavery. We work with the judiciary to ensure their understanding of slavery. We also work with local partners providing primary education to children in areas affected by slavery (Northern Niger) as well as micro credit for women to enable them to lead independent lives." Addai has been taking steps herself through education to acquire the credentials necessary to shed the stigma she carries as a foreigner, a status that is fraught with its own difficulties. "An 81 year old woman has given me food and a place to stay," Addai said. "She's also been paying for my education - I want to be a nurse and help people in Ghana, but her son died in a car accident, and since then, she's been unable to pay for me to go to school, and I've been kicked out." Such are the difficulties facing individuals trying to break through in a system that has operated for centuries. Nonethel~ss some are spurred on by the bounty of globalization, and successes such as the court ruling in Niger. These incentives might put an end to the traditional ways that have justified the continuation of slavery in to the 21st century, even if fear continues to oppose progress. Says the anonymous source in Mauritania, "everyone is aware [of slavery] and especially here [in Mauritania] the White Maurs are becoming afraid that one day a black wave will push them into the ocean." * • Bed and Breakfa Interviewed for this story: Mary Addai, Techriman, Ghana Anonymous source, Nouakchott, Mauritania Romana Cacchioli, Africa Programme Coordinator, Anti-Slavery International 9 �Beyond FARC: Escaping 40 Years of Conflict '' c John Vining, Annapolis, '11 VENEZUELA • Hugo Chavez's ruling Sandinista party rigged municipal elections, and banned international observers, prompting European governments to threaten aid cuts. A losing opposition candidate pushing for a recount. United Socialist Party of Venezuela performed poorly in the largest states in the country in regional elections, despite measures taken to ensure victory, signaling a popular backlash against Chavez's government. artagena used to be a quite dangerous city," says Christopher Somers, an American currently teaching in Colombia. "Now, American cruise ships are docking here." Cartegena, a small town on the north coast of Colombia, like many of the country's smaller cities, has a history of violence perpetrated by guerrillas. Since 1964, Colombia has been torn apart by a rebel group called the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC), and by violent retaliation carried out by paramilitary groups in response to PARC's increased prominence. FARC, which was created to protect poor rural families, raised money by kidnapping wealthy landowners, who in turn began their own militias for protection. Colombia is now trying to move on as PARC's more than 40 year old grip weakens, the decline of which many attribute to Colombia's new president, Alvaro Uribe, whose own father was killed by rebels. "Alvaro Uribe is the best president that has worked for Colombia," says Colombian resident Hugo Andres Mera Garzon. Uribe, who is known for his harsh policies towards drugs and militants, won his second term after the constitution was altered to permit another term . He won that second election by 40 points over his closest competitor. But that does not mean all Colombians are behind Uribe. Colombian resident Daniel Matiz is not confident that Uribe will reform Colombia, "[He is] bad because he cannot eradicate the corruption of the parliament and other parts of government. The corruption Matiz there is a human rights problem in the speaks of is typified by the recent country and that action needs to be massacre of dozens of civilians, who taken to solve it. That action should were afterwards dressed as guerrillas be justice," Susan Lee, Director of Amnesty lnternational's Americas by the military. At a news conference on program, said in a press release the Oct. 29, 2008, Uribe said that day of Uribe's announcement. This sort of violence is not investigations had found cnmes that in some regions had the goal of foreign to Colombia, which has been killing innocents, to make it seem as rife with internal conflict between if criminals were being confronted." FARC and other radical groups, The government under Uribe fired 25 and has suffered from political members of the military thought to be corruption. The day before the president's connected to the killings, a move that Amnesty International has publicly news conference, on Oct. 28, Amnesty stated should be only the beginning of International published a report called a more exhaustive search. "At last, the "Leave Us in Peace!" chronicling the Colombian government is admitting deaths of civilians at the hands of the NO MAS SECUESTRO NO MAS TERRORISMO Translation: no more kidnapping, no more terrorism, no more murders 11 �government, FARC and others. The report said that there have been human rights violations by state security forces, guerrilla groups like FARC, and paramilitary self-defense groups. Two of these groups, the guerrillas and the paramilitary, began in the 1960s, but grew massively in the 1980s. The story of Fidel and Carlos Castano is representative of the entire conflict. The two brothers joined the official Colombian military effort against FARC after their father, Jesus Castano, was kidnapped and murdered by FARC in 1981. But, when one of their enemies, Conrado Ramirez, was released from police custody, Fidel murdered Ramirez himself. The Castano's affiliation with the official government movement ended there, and they began to fight independent of official support. The brothers continued tracking down FARC members, and, because many of the unofficial paramilitary groups the allied with were rotectin cocaine growers, they eventually found themselves caught up in the cocaine business. Fidel, after a stint with 1980s cocaine-mogul Pablo Escobar, returned, well-funded, to his battle against FARC and other leftist groups, such as the National Liberation Army. The numerous paramilitary groups in Columbia, all of which are privately funded, began as selfdefense groups. They were founded to defend the property and lives of wealthy landowners, including drugtraffickers, from guerrillas like FARC who would kidnap and ransom their family members. Because they shared a common enemy-namely, FARCparamilitary groups worked with official Colombian armed forces against guerrillas. This was made possible by a law passed in 1968, which made it legal for the Colombian army to create civilian militias for 'oint counter-insur enc efforts. Paramilitary activity reached one of its peaks in 1989, when then-president Virgilio Barco made paramilitary action illegal, outlawing the inclusion of armed civilians in army operations. By that time, these groups, well-funded because of the cocaine trade, were attacking entire populations they believed to be PARC sympathizers. After the decree in 19 8 9, paramilitary action briefly subsided, but then proceeded to gain strength. Several human rights organizations have reported that paramilitary groups were still connected to the official Colombian military efforts even after the decree of 1989. Fidel was shot in battle in 1994, · and later that year his brother Carlos began the Self-Defense Forces of Colombia, in Cordoba and Uraba (ACCU). That organization, with its first signs of success, expanded into the United Self Defense Forces of Colombia (AUC), A History of FARC and A lvaro Uribe 2002 1964 FARC is formed as a communist militant group, representing the poor against Colombia's wealthy. Alvaro Uribe becomes president. 1983 Alvaro Uribe's father is killed by FARC. 1989 President Virgilio Barco outlaws paramilitary activity. 1960 2008 1981 1994 Jesus Castano, father of Fidel and Carlos Castano is kidnapped and murdered by FARC Fidel Castano is shot in battle. Later that year, his brothers created a local self-defense group, which later turned into the United Self Defense Forces of Colombia (AUC) . paramilitary groups joined to form the first united national paramilitary force. Constant warfare between FARC and the united paramilitary and state forces was sustained throughout the 1990s, with much of the countryside under the complete control of FARC. Colombia today is a much safer country than it was in the 90's. Amnesty International reports that between 2000 and 2007 kidnappings have fallen from 3,570 a year to just over 520, and civilian deaths have fallen from 4,000 in 2002 to 1,400 in 2007. "There are already programs for rehabilitation for ex-fighters and victims," says Steve Baker, an Englishman living in Colombia, working with the British Council. "There are advisors from Ireland with experience in post conflict rehab[this is how] countries begin the slow recovery process." Baker continues, "I teach English at a university . .. the government has a program that plans to have most Colombians speaking and/ or understanding at least some English by 2019. The country has so many projects to improve itself. [The capital city] Bogota is really together: Welfare system, recycling, very good policing, etc." But Colombia is not finding peace nationwide. Baker explains, "Here on the coast things are a little further behind. Things are slower here [in Monterfa, Cordoba]." "FARC was a constant threat in the 1980s and 1990s," says, Garzon, who lives in Popayan. "Today this terrorist group is reduced to little groups in the jungle in the south and east." Amnesty International echoes this sentiment in its "Leave Us" report, which reports that Colombia, especially in the countryside, is still threatened. "While I lived in Bogota the FARC threat there was mostly ignorable," says Miguel Jiminez, a Colombian emigrant in the United States who visits Colombia regularly. "You would hear about kidnappings in other parts of the country or of high profile people. However when I traveled outside of Bogota I always heard 'be careful, try not to stick out, don't drive at night."' One of those high-profile kidnappings was that of Ingrid Betancourt, a Colombian senator and presidential candidate for Colombia's green party. She was kidnapped by FARC in 2002 and held until July 2008, when a military rescue mission freed 15 hostages. "It was very possible that she was going to be Colombia's first female president," says Jiminez. Betancourt is back in Colombia 13 �marching against kidnapping, after a stay in Paris for security reasons. She is not, however, looking to re-enter politics. The current state of Colombia, whether devoid of corruption and violence, or suffering the residual influence of the fight between PARC and the paramilitaries, has been greatly shaped by President Uribe, who has held office since 2002. "In my lifetime [PARC] reached a high point in strength about six years ago towards the end of the previous [~ndres presiden,t's Pastranas] term, says Jiminez. "There has been great support for Uribe, he was a majority president. And was also elected by referendum for a consecutive second term. I feel that that this support comes from the fact that since he's been president, the threats about the situation have decreased dramatically, and ~;eryone feels a lot safer. Nearly everyone, Jiminez included thinks that Uribe has done a great deal to make Colombians safer. "[Uribe is] good because now we can go to any part to Colombia with no dangers," says Matiz. "He [increases the GDP] of Colombia and gives us peace. And his strategies have been stronger against PARC, Paramilitary groups, narco-politicians and corruption." Not only are people living in Colombia excited for the progressively more peaceful country, but also those of the international community. A report published in Military Review by Thomas A. Marks, a professor at the U.S. National Defense University, praises Uribe's action in Colombia, and praises it as a "model counterinsurgency." Unlike the work done by the previous administration, 14 which set unreachable goals, the report says Uribe's plan was meant to be acted upon, and had at its base the goal of "integrating" Colombia, fixing the "state's absence from large swaths of national territory." The goal of Uribe's plan, as N MAS O SECUESTROS NO MAS MENTIRAS through. They don't think it will with Obama." Somers continues, "I truly think that the people liked the security of having a good friend in the United States, and with Obama, they feel uncertain-especially with Chavez as a next door neighbor." This uncertainty is compounded with ongoing difficulties. As Amnesty International is quick to point out, there are still problems in Colombia with rebels and with state corruption. Yet the country has been massively transformed within the last 6 years, especially considering PARC's longstanding influence in Colombia. Still, reform must overcome these military threats, threats which have been a doggedly persistent plague to the people of Columbia. "Now, the current president seems to be doing more than his predecessors," says Jiminez. "And things definitely seem to be reaching some sort of resolution, but we'll see what happens ... I grew up with the knowledge of it just being there in the background, part of the norm." * 200·8 Magazine Pacemaker Finalist Award Epoch Journ I St. John's College Annapolis, Md. In rec gniti n of general excellence and outstanding a hiev m nt by a c 11 ge mag zine in a national articulated in the Democratic Security and Defense Policy, is to have the Colombian Government "gradually restore state presence and the authority of state institutions, starting in strategically important areas." The future of Colombia will also be affected by the election of Barack Obama, who has voiced opposition to the proposed Free Trade Agreement with Colombia. For supporters of Uribe, Obama's election paints a less-than-perfect scene for the future of Colombia. "Uribe has close ties to the Republicans," Christopher Somers says. "and people really want the Free Trade Agreement to go l Interviewed for this story: Andrew Flint, Barranquilla, Colombia Carlos Cifuentes Caceres, Medellin, Colombia Daniel Matiz, Bogota, Colombia Hugo Andres Mera Garzon, Popayan, Cauca, Colombia Steve Baker, Teacher, Monterla, Colombia Miguel Jiminez, Harvard Student, Colombian Emigrant Christopher Somers, Teacher, Cartagena, Colombia mp tition. Gi\ en by the Associated Collegiate Pres at th T t1onal College j\ledia Convent' on in 1'an a City on Nov. l, _ utt Dir r �All President Obama's Men Epoch Staff Barack Obama, primarily because of his Illinois heritage and association with racial progress, has drawn his fair share of comparisons to Abraham Lincoln. Now that Obama has been elected, the President-elect is seeking to further the comparison as he builds his cabinet. Even before he had clinched the Democratic nomination, Obama spoke about how he would build a "Team of Rivals," referring back to the title of a recently-written book by historian Doris Kearns Goodwin, which profiles the efforts of Abraham Lincoln to build an administration that absorbed his fiercest political adversaries. At the time, Lincoln felt the only way to pull the country through the Civil War was through this inclusive approach. Calling our current state of affairs equally critical juncture in American history, Obama has assembled his own team of rivals, by naming his two main challengers for the Democratic nomination - Hillary Clinton and Bill Richardson - Secretary of State and Secretary of Commerce, respectively. He also has kept Robert Gates as Secretary of Defense, a position Gates is currently serving under George W. Bush. The appointment of Clinton has drawn the most interest. Before the selection of Joe Eiden, her name was brought up as a possibility for Vice President, based on the speculation that Obama would want to ensure the votes of Clinton loyalists in the general election. Many feared that the Democratic Primary race would destroy the party; when Clinton called for her supporters to get behind Obama after conceding, the crowd audibly booed. By making Clinton Secretary of State, Obama in- 16 evitably conjures up previous confrontations between Clinton and Obama over foreign policy. Obama and Clinton's first major clash in the primary race centered around a statement by Obama about negotiating with "rogue states" such as Iran and Venezuela. Clinton characterized Obama's stance as naive, as she subsequently tried to play up her own foreign policy experience. Yet a large part of the success of the Obama campaign has been in the campaign's ability to communicate ideals to the wider populace, successfully creating a perception of Obama that will trump potential conflicts such as the one with Clinton. This approach is not being ignored in the period between Election day and Inauguration day. The website www.change.gov tracks the progress of Obama's "Transition Team" - essentially the future White House staff - in a style that closely resembles that of a political campaign. And the idea of a "team" certainly is a focal point of Obama's public relations approach through the transition. The word "team" seems essential to the message Obama is trying to convey of unity and inclusiveness. He has also unveiled a ''National Security Team," and an "Economic Team,'' giving the public the message that this unity is not being forgotten when approaching the nation's pressing issues. The sincerity of this approach can probably not be appropriately judged at this point; George W. Bush is still the President. But the momentum that he managed to sustain through more than a year and a half of campaigning has kept going right through his defeat of John McCain. The manner in which the Transition Team has been unveiled is emblematic of Obama's masterful awareness of the news cycle. By spacing cabinet appointments through the interim between election and inauguration, along with slow leaks to the media - it took more than a week for the rumor of Clinton's appointment to be confirmed - he is keeping himself in the news. And with the emphasis on unity, he's ensuring the coverage spins towards the positive. The official announcement of Clinton as his nominee for Secretary of State, . which, if handled incorrectly, could have dredged up painful memories from the primary race, was bundled with the announcement of his ''National Security Team,'' an association of Cabinet and staff members. He then spoke about his plan for withdrawal from Iraq, outlining a plan which is a far cry from his strong anti-war stance earlier on the campaign trail. If the election and aftermath have shown us anything, it's clear that Obama and his advisers have a shrewd public relations sense combined with a strong, positive idealism. It's won him the presidency. It is to be seen whether it will transfer into the Oval Office. * �1 TomDaschle Secretary of Health and Human Services Rahm Emanuel Bill Richardson Secretary of Commerce Hillary Clinton Secretary of State Obama's main contender in the Democratic primary, Clinton has experience as first lady during her husbands administration, and has represented New York in the U.S. Senate since 2000. Her selection as Secretary of State should be placed in the context of Presidentelect Barack Obama and Clinton's primary battles, where Obama often sought to make Clinton seem a foreign-policy lightweight, and openly questioned her judgment on issues such as diplomatic relations with Iran. Tim Geithner Secretary of Treasury The Department of Commerce is meant to "foster, serve, and promote the Nation's economic development and advancement." This mission will be tested in the midst of the economy's current recession. Richardson, the Governor of New Mexico since 2002, ran in the Democratic primary, pulling out after the voting in New Hampshire. He then threw his support behind Obama, and worked to bring an Obama victory in New Mexico, a crucial swing state, in the general election. He served under Bill Clinton, first as Ambassador to the United Nations, then as Secretary of Energy. Secretary ofDefense Gates currently serves in the Bush administration in the same position. Obama announced that he would retain Gates, citing the current situation in Iraq as a need for continuity in the department. Gates was appointed by President Bush in 2006 as the successor to the controversial Donald Rumsfeld. He served as Director of Central Intelligence in the administration for the first George Bush. He has shown support for Obama's plan for withdrawal in Iraq since his appointment. The conflicts in Iraq and Afghanistan will continue to be a top priority for his department. Given the state of the economy, Geithner steps into a post that will be under intense scrutiny during the early days of Obama's term. Geithner previously served as President and Chief Executive of the Federal Reserve Bank of New York, and has been active in the current financial crisis, engineering the acquisition of the failing Bear Stearns by JPMorgan Chase. He has favored government intervention through the current financial crisis, squaring with Obama's general approach. The Team: 18 Chief ofStaff Emanuel will be leaving his post as the Congressional representative for Illinois' Fifth District to serve as Obama's Chief of Staff, a position often considered to be second only to the President in terms of influence in Washington. Emanuel served a.S a top adviser to Bill Clinton, and cut his teeth in the same Chicago political scene as Obama and David Axelrod, the top adviser in Obama's campaign. In the House of Representatives, he served in a key leadership role in the Democratic majority, and his ruthless style of doing business has proven successful in politics, but has led to some controversy over his selection in such an influential position. Eric H. Holder, Jr. Attorney General Holder, an AfricanAmerican, has not been officially announced as Obama's choice for Attorney General, but is the expected nominee. He was Deputy Attorney General in the Clinton Administration, and will take over a department that has suffered in reputation under the leadership of the Bush administration. Daschle served as a congressman and Senator for South Dakota for nearly 30 years, serving as the leader of the senate Democrats for 10 years before losing in the 2004 election. He then went to work as a public policy advisor for a law firm, leading people to question his appointment, given Obama's commitment to avoiding conflicts of interest with lobbyists. Daschle's experience in health care policy will be crucial to help implement the sweeping changes to the health care system Obama suggested during the campaign. Susan E. Rice Ambassador to the United Nations Rice, an African-American, also worked in various positions for the entirety of the Clinton Administration, first serving on the National Security Council, and then working as Assistant Secretary of State for African Affairs. She was criticized for her influential role in the decision to keep the US out of Rwanda during the massive genocide of 1994; she has since admitted that her judgment in that matter was wrong. A closer look at Obama's Cabinet nominations IQ �Tibet's Unheard Calls for Independence Chelsea Adams, Annapolis, '12 Ti THAILAND • Airports were seized by antigovernment protesters for a week, leaving an estimated 230,000 for- e current president ofthe United tates believes that our democratc "way oflife is worth defending." The current Dalai Lama believes that democracy is important enough to defend and build from a position of exile. For one week during November 2008, the leader of the Tibetan Government in Exile and nearly 600 other Tibetan officials met to discuss a course of action for the people of Tibet. Before the meeting, the Dalai Lama released a statement saying that the conference was a nonpartisan attempt "to focus on the aspirations and views of the Tibetan people." Since the Dalai Lama fled Tibet in 1959, he has been under constant political pressure to build and maintain a stable democracy in his home nation. "[The Dalai Lama] is working towards the conclusion of this episode without bloodshed," says Jonathan Hurst, an Asian Studies major and practicing Buddhist currently studying in Japan. Officially under the control of the People's Republic of China, the Tibet Autonomous Region, as it has been deemed by the PRC, has been a political hotbed for decades. "The Dalai Lama wants a compromise, and the Chinese do not," says Hurst. It is true that the Dalai Lama has sought a peaceflil compromise to the situation that started in 1949 when China invaded Tibet. In 1989, the Dalai Lama won the Nobel Peace Prize for his continued efforts in the nonviolent "Middle Way'' movement to which he so closely holds. The Middle Way, however, is unsatisfactory to many younger Tibetan delegates, as was apparent during the round of talks that occurred at the recent conference in Dharmshala, India, home of the Tibetan Government in Exile. Representatives of Tibetan freedom organizations from all over the world came to weigh in on the situation, and not all agree with the Oalai Lama's stance. Many favor a stronger position towards China and a totally independent Tibetan state. "Part of the problem now is that the Dalai Lama has significant spiritual power and recognition, but he lacks the backing of more powerful nations that would force a decision," says Hurst. Sonam Tsering, a Tibetan student who was forced to leave Tibet and now studies 111 India, agrees. "It's not a story of a far passed century. The world could interrupt this conflict and provide for human rights and justice, but as far as politics is concerned, the Tibet issue remains untouched." The conference seems to have confirmed this notion, as the Government in Exile made no real significant shift in policy. Independence for Tibet, however, has received its fair share of attention and media time. Take the Beijing Olympics, for ex- 21 �Beijing . c H I N A TIBET IND I A ample. Hurst says, "[The Tibetans] tried to do something when the world's eye was on China for the Olympics, but China brutally suppressed it." Security at the Olympics was tight, and countries around the world were excessively mindful of the volatile eye of the media at the Games. According to reports confirmed by the British Olympic Association, Great Britain's athletes were asked to sign contracts forbidding them to speak out on a range of political issues, including the Tibetan freedom initiative. Talib Khan, a citizen of Delhi, India, has witnessed dozens of protests held by Tibetan refugees living in the city. Khan spoke of the weeks before the start of the Olympicgames, when "large detachments of security personnel were stationed all around the city." He also mentioned one demonstration in which "the protestors were outnumbered by cops." Despite its careful watch of protesting citizens and refugees, India is typically depicted as pro-Tibetan freedom. "We Indians really know the taste of imposed ruling. Indians sympathize with Tibet." Khan's country is no stranger to political disenfranchisement and warring factions. It is unclear ifTibet is actively seeking foreign aid and confirmation from major 22 world powers, though the Dalai Lama has given many an address to parliaments and congressional bodies all over the world. "It's like expecting compassion, sacrifices and justice from others when it is written in our own religion," says Tsering. Several countries, including Great Britain and the United States, have made informal proclamations deeming Tibet part of the People's Republic of China. This is enough, say some Tibetans, of a reason to lend a helping hand to the Dalai Lama's cause. "My view on it is a free election. The Atlantic Charter says that all people have the right to self-determination," Hurst says. On August 14th, 1941, the leaders of the United States and Great Britain met in secrecy on a warship off the coast of Newfoundland in the midst of World War II to discuss the Atlantic Charter, the document which shaped the strategy of the Allies as they prepared to engage in military action against the Axis Powers. The United States did not officially enter the war until December 7th of the same year, but the Atlantic Charter outlined an important component of America's deepest political convictions. In the charter, America made it dear that it "respects the right of all peoples to choose the form of government under which they will live," and that "it wishes to see sovereign rights and self government restored to those who have been forcibly deprived of them." Fast forward six decades, and zoom in on the controversy that has been brewing in Asia and expanding to the world stage. The United States, in part due to the Atlantic Charter, has a complicated stake in the idea of Tibetan sovereignty, a long-time point of contention in American relations with China, the exiled Tibetan Government, and the international community. "I know the U.S. has not taken a stance on this issue because of the incredible influence China has on the American economy," says Hurst. As a new presidential era dawns in Washington, many Tibetans are waiting to see what Barack Obama will say about the Chinese occupation. Tibet is a rich country; full of resources that China feels it cannot do without. Tibet's plateau is a mineral-rich reservoir of profit, or so reads an investigative report filed by top Chinese environmentalists in 2007. "In a nutshell," echoes Tsering, "each nation is concerned about their own politics and the welfare of their own countrymen." Hurst thinks that the "expansionist nature of China'' is an unbreakable force, one with which Tibetans have always had to contend. Chinese citizens, however, have prerogatives of their own. Bo Liu, a student in Beijing, represents the opinion of a portion of the Han Chinese population in Asia. "To be heartfelt and just, I do not like the Dalai Lama. Most Western people would consider him a mere spiritual leader, lil(e a god who is very merciful and forgiving. This is just a superficial phenomenon." Bo supports his claims with a litany of historical references concerning the religious establishment of Tibetan Buddhism, a sect which he claims is radically different from other branches of the religion. Specifically, Bo addresses the practice of slavery, to which some Tibetan Buddhist monks adhered until about sixty years ago. "In my opinion, [Tibetan Buddhism] is not even a religion, but a hell." Bo's qualms seem to be exclusively with the Dalai Lama and his leadership. "As a Han, I really love every nationality in China. I do love Tibetan people, and I support the decision td protect their unique cultures." The Dalai Lama is an interesting amalgam of religion and governmental authority, a mix many Westerners would not understand, let alone tolerate. Tibetans are faced with more of a dilemma than the world is sometimes willing to recognize. To disobey the will of the Dalai Lama is to oppose the temporal and spiritual leader ofTibet. Taking qualms with the Middle Way runs contrary to the very foundations of the religion which Tibet in Exile is trying to protect. With all this, the Government in Exile continues, uncertain of when it will be able to reinstate itself in Tibet. July marked the breakdown of an eighth round of peace negotiations between the Dalai Lama and Chinese officials. The Chinese government maintained its offer to the Dalai Lama for a safe return to Tibet, provided he give up many of his powers and his title of temporal leader, a title he is simply not willing to relinquish. Desperate for a strong new voice, the Dalai Lama called for the Dharmshala conference, but the efforts seem to have been fruitless. "Lots of conferences have already been held in Dharmshala," says Talib Khan, "but the result is 'none."' Whether or not the world chooses to act on China's occupation ofTibet, it seems that there is still hope for the future of Asia. "I truly embrace the values of democracy, equality, liberty, hope, and the like. We have so much faction, difference, and diversity," says Bo Liu, "but it's not the most important thing. The most important thing is that we are all living on this planet." * Interviewed for this story: Jonathan Hurst, American Student of Asian Studies, Chubu University, Japan Sonam Tsering, Tibetan Student at Delhi University, India Talib Khan, Citizen of Delhi, India Bo Liu, Citizen of Beijing, China �Modernizing the Church Medvedev visited Venezuela and Cuba; it was the first visit of a Russian president to Venezuela. He signed accords with Hugo Chavez, Venezuela's president, promising cooperation on issues such as nuclear power and oil exploration. POtAND & CZECH REPUBLIC UNITED KINGDOM • The government took majority ownership of the Royal Bank of Scotland. After agreeing to house missile defense systems run by the United States to protect against the nuclear threat posed by countries such as Russia and Iran, international pressure, along with Barack Obama's election, threaten the • A protest took place in Pristina, the capital, in response to a European Union judicial mission that the protestors think will heighten ethnic tension between Serbs and Albanians. Erin Shadowens, Annapolis '12 Shikshya Adhikari, Annapolis '12 ' ' T h i s gathering is a clear sign of our mutual esteem and desire to listen respectfully to one another," Pope Benedict XVI said on Nov. 6, the final day of the inaugural Catholic-Muslim Forum at the Vatican between representatives from the Catholic and Islamic communities. Idealistic words, sure. But the idealism of the language might be falling on ears that have long ago tuned out the Church's words. "[Is the Church] influential? Hell no," says William Illoh of Madrid, Spain. "The Church doesn't impose anything on the state or the government; it has no powers." To such fanfare, the leaders met, spurred by an open letter written last year from 138 Muslim scholars to the Pope. The letter, and the summit inspired by its writing, were responses meant to temper the Muslim backlash to a speech made by the Pope in 2006 which infuriated the Muslim world. In the speech he quoted Manuel II Paleologos, a 14th century Byzantine emperor~ who said, "Show me just what Muhammad · brought that was new and there you will find things only evil and inhuman, such as his com- mand to spread by the sword the faith the Pope to apologize for the remark he preached." Although the incident grew louder. Political leaders, espewas characterized as a misunderstand- cially the ones belonging to the Islaming by the Vatican, international out- ic community, strongly emphasized rage against the comments prompted that the remark was unacceptable and Catholic outreach to members of the completely inconsistent with the enIslamic community. tire idea of Islam. The Prime Minister "Was it a poor choice of of Turkey, Tayyip Erdogan, said to a phrasing? Absolutely. But was Bene- Turkish television station, "I believe diet displaying intolerance toward it is a must for [the Pope] to retract Islam? I don't think so," Alex Pazu- his erroneous, ugly and unfortunate chanics, a student at George Washing- remarks and apologize both to the ,....,,,..-------__,.., Islamic world and Muslims. I hope ~-----./----1 he rapidly amends the mistake he has made so as not to overshadow the dialogue between civilizations and religions." Pervez M ush arraf, President of Pakistan at the time, called for legislation against the "defamation of Islam" in a speech to the United Nations. The Pakistani parliament ton University, said. "I think that in issued a statement sayi~g, "The desome ways I disagree with the entire rogatory remarks of the Pope about message of that speech, but I don't the philosophy of jihad and Prophet honestly believe that the Pope is anti- Muhammad have injured sentiments across the Muslim world and pose the Islamic." The Pope's comment un- danger of spreading acrimony among doubtedly stirred Muslims all around the religions." Nevertheless, Pazuchanics the world. The chorus that called on 25 �points out that, "[Pope Benedict] has actually done a great deal toward building inter-religious dialogue, which I think he is right to do." Besides the November forum, the Vatican has taken important steps towards mending its relationships with several world religions. It has become increasingly clear that these exchanges do have consequences for "regular" people. The 2006 murder of a nun in Somalia was a direct response to Benedict's controversial statements. The consequence of this remark was violence in countries with a large Christian minority. For instance in Iraq, the flags of Germany, Israel and the United States were burned, along with Christian crosses and effigies of Pope Benedict. Several churches were bombed. A previously unknown Baghdad-based group, Kataab Ashbal Al Islam Al Salafi (Islamic Salafist Boy Scout Battalions) threatened to kill all Christians in Iraq if the Pope did not apologize to Muhammad within three days. The environment was in fact so dangerous for Christians that Christian leaders in Iraq had to ask their followers not to leave their homes after two Christians were stabbed and killed in Baghdad. The violence, if anything, demanded the attention and discourse of Catholic and Muslim leaders. The summit's concluding resolution spoke to the idealism of both parties. It read: "We profess that Catholics and Muslims are called to be instruments of love and harmony for believers, and for humanity as a whole, renouncing any oppression, aggressive violence and terrorism, especially that committed in the name of religion, and upholding the principle of justice for all." "This [kind of gathering is] only possible in high levels between church leaders, [regular] people don't move far from the 18th century," says Zdravko Dren, a citizen of Croatia and lifelong Catholic. Dren points to a disparity between religious leaders and the actual practitioners of any faith. Illoh attributes the Church's waning stature to changes in the nature of European politics and society in the last half century. "Back then the Catholic Church under [Fascist Dictator Francisco Franco] was very important in society and people grew up to "love" [the] Church and be brought up in a Christian manner. But now the Church doesn't matter and kids don't really know much about church .. .After Franco's death, the new transitional government tried to get Spain up to Western European standards. It made the power of the Church useless. The new constitution separated state from church and gave them no powers. The new generation of Spaniards weren't brought up in Cath olic- Muslim Relations Through the Centuries 1095 1948 p0 pe Urban II asks European Chri stians to organize against Muslim Turks United Nations creates the Jewish state of Israel despite the violent objections of Arab nations . The Vatican, as well as most Western nations, has been a particularly vocal supporter of Israel. 1000 2008 I 095-1272 1365 1683 2006 Nine subsequent Crusades dominate po litical relations between Catholic Europe and the Is lamic Middle East Ottoman defeat of Christian Army gives them effective control of Byzantium Defeat at the Battle of Vienna ends the Ottoman encroachment of Europe Pope Benedict XVI offends Islamic community when he cites a medi eval text denouncing Islam . Christian manners as before." Illoh, the son of Nigerian immigrants, describes a country historically and currently entangled with Catholicism. Even so, Spain--and Europe, in general--is experiencing aperiod of demographic transformation. Immigrants comprise a sizable portion of the modern European population, especially countries which have a historical relationship with the Vatican. Moreover, cultural assimilation has not necessarily included the Church. This then begs the question: W here does the Catholic Church stand as a European establishment? It seems, undoubtedly, that the survival of the Church depends heavily on today's youth and future generations. "I think [the youth] probably don't know enough about Catholicism to make an informed decision to believe or not to believe," Panzuchanics explains. "Ultimately, it is and should be a choice." Furthermore, there is the matter of primarily associating the Church with Western Europe. "Catholicism, though it may be perceived as Western, is not. The very nature of the word itself: universal._The church is the community of all believers, and while it has it's roots in the west, it should not be understood as a western religion . It's a global religion, pulling from and seeking to understand all of the cultures of the world" says Pazuchanics. Unfortunately, universality remains an issue within the Church bureaucracy. After the death of Pope John Paul II, the Church confronted its Western identity--an identity that in reality transcends a European characterization. Only 27 percent of Catholics reside in Europe, while the vast majority - 50 percent - of practitioners live in the Americas. Furthermore, the Church is seeing the most growth in African nations. Nonetheless, the College of Cardinals selected a European, Pope Benedict XVI of Germany, to succeed the Polish John Paul. "Catholics understand the selection of the Pope as a spiritual vetting, not a political one," Pazuchanics says. "I think that there will probably be a Latin American Pope in the near future. But that's not an example of the church trying to appeal to its demographic base in the way that a president appoints a Hispanic or Asian member of his cabinet to show that he is diverse .. .But, theoretically, an archbishop from Korea has just as much chance as an archbishop from Milan. The Church is a human institution, which we believe is divinely inspired, but which is very imperfect, as humanity itself is." However for all its human qualities, this administrative institution remains relatively estranged from Zdravko Dren and his family church of St. Mary's in Vrboska, Croatia. Frustrated with the bureaucratic reality of the Vatican state that represents him, Dren's conception of his own church transcends public misgivings and ministerial blunders. Rather, he recounts a lineage intertwined with St. Mary's for over four hundred years. He made his first steps in church and served in the century for the Pope's visit to Croatia. "My religion is in [the] church where I grew up and where my roots are." The intensely personal nature of religion clearly eclipses most political considerations. In this light, Pazuchanics' words reverberate: "The Church is a human institution, which we believe is divinely inspired, but which is very imperfect, as humanity itself is." * Interviewed for this story: Zdravko Dren, citizen of Croatia Alex Pazuchanics, student at George Washington University William llloh, Madrid, Spain Katie Kolodzie, freshman St John's College Bernadette O'Hara, citizen of Ireland 27 �WILL BE I I I Four students from America and the UK were detained after unfurling this banner outside the Beijing Olympic stadium. The pictured banner is 140 square feet and had to be attached to the structure by a climber. Many public figures denounced the Beijing Olympics because of China's treatment of Tibet. ��)> ::J ~ °' ....._ o () -I ~ . nOro -oocnm 0 = = ,.!R ~ O V> .. V'"I ct> 6~ N - ~ - !D ~"'C 0 n ::J"" ~ ::J. ~ 0 0 3 ~ ro- - Winter 2008 Volume Ill, Issue 2 '°·'O""''COCC>GC"O" " ' 1 1 1 1111111111~ijUf1\l~11\~[fIf1~1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 31696 01155 6428 ~ DATE DUE I I � Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource Epoch Journal Creator An entity primarily responsible for making the resource St. John's College Contributor An entity responsible for making contributions to the resource St. John's College Greenfield Library Text A resource consisting primarily of words for reading. Examples include books, letters, dissertations, poems, newspapers, articles, archives of mailing lists. Note that facsimiles or images of texts are still of the genre Text. Page numeration Number of pages in the original item. 32 pages Original Format The type of object, such as painting, sculpture, paper, photo, and additional data paper Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Creator An entity primarily responsible for making the resource Fryer-Biggs, Zachary (Editor-in-Chief) Title A name given to the resource The Epoch, Vol III Issue 2 Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource 2008-12 Description An account of the resource Volume III, Issue 2 of The Epoch Journal. Published in Winter 2008. Identifier An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context Epoch Journal Winter 2008 Coverage The spatial or temporal topic of the resource, the spatial applicability of the resource, or the jurisdiction under which the resource is relevant Annapolis, MD Publisher An entity responsible for making the resource available St. John's College Language A language of the resource English Type The nature or genre of the resource text Rights Information about rights held in and over the resource St. John's College owns the rights to this publication. Format The file format, physical medium, or dimensions of the resource pdf Student publication https://s3.us-east-1.amazonaws.com/sjcdigitalarchives/original/48185e5e5fbbf2cc551239c25c794513.pdf 258c09a8b161e2eb3e11064ff5049c5c PDF Text Text DAT DUE I 28 I �ON THE COVER God's Country: The Struggle for . Non-Belief in Nigeria Tex Pasley 5 EUROPE The Fortress: Seeking Asylum in Switzerland Chelsea Adams A .United Turkey: Nationalism and the Kurdish State Erin Shadowens 9 II AMERICAS '~Terrible Mistake": The Rise of SWAT 15 John Vining AFRICA & MIDDLE EAST The Fallout of Genocide Shikshya Adhikari 21 ASIA News Briefs 25 Photo Credits: Cover: Julien Harneis; ToC: James Gordon; 4: neajjean; 7: Melvin Baker, neajjean; 12: James Gordon; 13: James Gordon, Andrea Giudiceandrea; 17: Ash Vegas; 18: Matthew Bradley; 22: Simon Blacklis, Julien Harneis; 25: Em_G; 27-28: Sarihuella BEYOND NEWS The Epoch is produced and distributed in Annapolis, Maryland. Through the Lens 27 Please contact The Epoch for information on advertisements at info@ epochjournal.org. Opinions expressed in articles or illustrations are not necessarily those of the Editorial Board or St. John's College. The Epoch STAFF © 2009, The Epoch INFO@EPOCHJOURNAL.ORG WWW .EPOCHJOURNAL.ORG ASSOCIATED COLLEGIATE PRESS Founder, Editor-in-Chief Managing Editor Artistic Director Layout Editor Web Design Business Director Zachary Fryer-Biggs Tex Pasley John Vining Erin Shadowens Eric Honour Tyler Clegg 3 �God's Country: The Struggle for Non-Belief in Nigeria Tex Pasley Annapolis '11 "Religion in Nigeria means hate," claims Charles Obia of Abuja, Nigeria. "And that has led to many crises like the burning of worship places and loss of lives . And we sometimes vote on religious grounds, putting aside people's integrity." "Nigerians are very religious and superstitious," he continues. "It is almost taboo to be an atheist, and even if you are, you don't say it publicly." "Initially when my parents found out that I was an atheist - an out of the closet atheist - they said I had disappointed them," Leo Igwe, the founder of the Nigerian Humanist Movement, which calls itself "an association of non-religious people who seek a rational, constructive approach to human affairs," remembers. "My born-again sister and her pastor husband were alarmed; they demonized me and tried to reconvert me to God. Many friends and relations wanted to have nothing to do with me. There was this lady I was dating and wanted to marry bur when the mother found out that I was an atheist she called me on the phone and asked me to stay away from her daughter or she would get me arrested." "I don't think in Nigeria anyone would knowingly allow their kids to marry an atheist," adds Anna Oluwo of Lagos, Nigeria. The stakes are high for Nigeria in its growing religious conflict; as Africa's largest country, its development is crucial to the continent's future success. One major obstacle to progress is the country's fractured ethnic boundaries. There are more than 250 ethnic groups in Nigeria, with no one group representing more than 30% of the total population. And this variance carries over to religious beliefs - there is a nearly even split between Muslims and Christians, with another 10% of the country holding an indigenous belief system. "There are no atheists in foxholes, and Africa is one massive war zone," says Shina Owolabi of Lagos, Nigeria. And Nigeria certainly lives up to chis billing. In a poll conducted in 2004 by ICM, a British polling group, 100% of Nigerian respondents answered "yes" when asked whether they believe in God or a higher power. Yet, while all Nigerians might have faith, there is some debate on the specifics. It is not uncommon for this "debate" to boil over into something far more troublesome. The two main religions in the country are split into a Muslim-dominated north and a Christian-dominated south. The city of Jos, which lies in the middle of this divide, has experienced three major conflicts between the two religious groups since 2001, leaving thousands dead. The most recent fracas occurred this past December. Obviously, religious conflict will hinder investment and growth. And although Nigeria possesses sizable oil reserves, religious conflict, along with disruptive militant groups, make oil companies wary of doing business in Nigeria. The persistent conflict has influenced a small group of nonbelievers to try and promote a more secular approach to governance and everyday life that, they think, will significantly improve Nigeria's quality of life. One of the early leaders in Nigeria's secular movement was Tai Solarin, who founded the Mayflower School, a school meant to educate students in practical skills and self-reliance, which is noted for the quality of its graduates. Solarin was also very outspoken about the effect superstition had on Nigerian culture. "Nigeria today is dying of religion," he told Free Inquiry magazine in a 1993 interview. "The wo rst bane of African nondevelopment is chronic dependence on the deity to solve all earthly problems." In the 17 years since that interview (Solarin died m 1995), reliance on religious beliefs by the general population has remained strong. When Nigeria became a democracy in 1999, Islamic Sharia law took effect as legal code for many Muslim states in the north. Of course, religion is certainly not uncommon globally. In the previously mentioned poll, 91 % of respondents in the United States answered the same question affirmatively. The difference, though, for Nigeria, is chat its minority of non-believers are more isolated; it was not uncommon to find people, when interviewing for this story, who did not know a single person who publicly expressed a lack of belief in God. 5 �CovERSTORY . "It was in 1996 I went open and public with my atheistic views," recalls Igwe. "But I did that gradually, bearing in mind that atheism was a taboo. The initial reaction of people was that of outrage, disappointment, hatred. Some couldn't believe it. Some said I must be joking, 'no you can't call yourself an atheist' they said. Others said I had gone mad; that I was out of my senses." And beyond simply being regarded as an oddity, which isn't uncommon in the United States, atheists in Nigeria experience a sort of discrimination that actively disrupts their lives, placing them in a cul rural strata similar to that of homosexuals, where "coming out" is the term often used to describe the moment when an atheist reveals his or her beliefs to a wider audience. This decision can have serious social consequences. What is the cause of this overwhelming religiosity? No one can really say for sure, although poverty is 6 · ...'> . • .::":·.:···:··.·:··'."'..._:: • .• . ' ~ I •) • . : • ... \ • ' ... • · '.. • often cited as a reason for the volume of evangelizing tool. So the school system in Nigeria is religion based. The school religious fervor. "There is poverty in the land and system does not encourage debate, people find hope in religion instead of doubt, free inquiry, free thought and seeking for knowledge," says Obia. ''And criticism of religious claims. In Nigeria the religious leaders keep smiling to the there is no separation of religion and bank at the expense of the majority education of church (mosque) and poor. Politicians who lack ideas on how schools. There is no separation of to move the nation forward use religion church (mosque) and state." It's unclear what benefit would come to get power." But some, such as Igwe, who ifNigeria were to see an increased secular possesses his own bias, see more voice, or if it can progress as a spiritual insidious reasons for the voracious grip country. However, Nigeria suffers of religion on Nigerian citizens. from a lack of dialogue, preventing "Nigeria is so religious because of the consideration of these issues which religious indoctrination from the cradle could potentially determine Nigeria's to the grave which they are subjected future. to ," Igwe says. "From childhood most "[I haveJ a friend [who is atheistJ Nigerians are infused with religious and and we just differ on religious beliefs," spiritual nonsense that darken and direct says Anna Oluwo of Lagos, Nigeria. their minds conscience and attitudes. "But I know a lot of people who stopped Nigerians are so religious because of talking to him as soon as he became an the school system. The educational atheist. Churches here encourage you to system in Nigeria was introduced by associate with Christians and believers Christian missionaries who used it as an only." It is unclear whether the religious NIGER maJonty in Nigeria is moving toward a point of greater acceptance of and support for alternative voices. Some actually think people in the country are increasing the level of discrim ination against atheists. "With the of proliferation churches and mosques publicly displaying miracles on TV and radio, atheists are seen as demented people," states Obia. "Except for people like Wole Shoyinka (a prominent CAMEROON Nigerian author), other atheists who are not prominent people are M Under Sharia Law discriminated against I · ··.·;·:· ,"·~'-":·:):'.'. ··" ,' '" • L ~ ,.), 1 .... • ' • • ... .. • THEEPOCH-SuMMER.2009. ' and religious leaders are increasing it." The conventional wisdom is that, as Nigeria's economy grows, and people become more prosperous, they will place less trust in religious superstition after seeing the value of secular gifts, namely money. "[Economic progress] is not being felt by the majority,'' says Obia. "So people await miracles when they can't afford health care or other basic needs. The indicators for economic progress are not pleasing for now." The difficulty seen from the perspective of atheists like Igwe and Solarin, though, is that it's necessary for Nigerians first to shed the yoke of religious superstition before Nigeria can begin making serious economic progress. This might be an extreme viewpoint, but it poses an important question. If a more secular society is synonymous with economic prosperity, which one comes before the other? And is it possible for there to be too much religion, to the point that it actively inhibits economic progress? "The only answer to the issue of fanaticism is education, and jobs," adds Owolabi. "It's poverty that provides the • • • I •• • · · · · • fodder for fanatics and radical preachers. Ifpeople had enough to eat, and a future they felt they had to protect, then most religious conflict would be dealt with." The potential for a shift in religious tolerance, however, still remains. As with any change in society, fresh ideas often emerge in a more youthful demographic. And like many other cultural shifts, globalization is often seen as a catalyst. Oluwo believes, "With the younger generation maybe we might start seeing different views... A lot of Nigerians that lived abroad have started returning home and we have started seeing new things like gay rights, etc; So anything at this point is possible." Even with these indicators, it is uncertain whether the younger generation will naturally gravitate away from religion, especially given the extreme religiosity that has been evidenced. "[The solution for progress is] changing the perception of the new generation to de-emphasize religion and judge others by whom they are," says Obia. "The older generation are heavily entrenched in it. The target for • • now should be the youth." This is not to say that progress cannot be achieved without a complete secular intervention. There already exists a bloc of the moderately religious - those who don't see an issue with a significant proportion of non-believers populating the country. And along with this bloc are those who don't see a shift in the religious makeup of the country as something that will be necessary for greater holistic improvement. " [Greater acceptance towards atheists] has no value here at all," claims Owolabi. "Is that going to feed people and give them their rights? A better life? I doubt it. Social justice is what we need and we are on the path to it. I believe beliefs are irrelevant. It's what you do with it that matters." * Interviewed: Anna Oluwo - Citizen of Lagos, Nigeria Leo Igwe - Founder, Nigerian Humanist Movement Charles Obia - Citizen of Abuja, Nigeria Shina Owolabi - Citizen of Lagos, Nigeria 7 �The Fortress: Seeking Asylum in Switzerland ICELAND• A caretaker government put in place in January was officially voted into place in elections on April 25. The new government has a much more liberal flavor, a response by voters to the recent financial collapse, in which Iceland's three largest banks liquidated. The new prime minister, Johanna Sigurdardottir, is in support of Iceland joining the European Union. Chelsea Adams Annapolis '12 Fahad Khammas is famous. He is twenty-four years old, and he is the star of a 2008 documentary that won the top prize in its class at the Locarno International Film Festival held annually in Switzerland. For Khammas, however, the attention and stardom is secondary to a much more profound plight. Fahad Khammas is an Iraqi, one who aided the United States Army as a translator in Baghdad. By "collaborating with the occupier" during the Iraq War, Khammas put himself at great risk. Considered a traitor by many Islamists in his home country, Khammas Bed from Iraq when he began to receive threats upon his life. "In Iraq, people hate anyone working with the U.S.A.," says Mehdi Kussay, resident of Baghdad. Kussay's testimony reveals what he feels to be the ugly side of Operation Iraqi Freedom, me ongoing military occupation that began over six years ago. "The way we see it," says Kussay, "is that when you come to help someone, you ought to help them, not kill them or steal their government. The troops have done both of these things to us." Kussay has heard of Fahad Khammas, though he claims it is better for him to forget the names of those who are known to have aided American and European forces. "I am sorry to tall< about the U.S.A. this way. You have to understand that I lost three of my best friends in the war. I cannot be expected to feel pity for this man who lielped to kill my friends." Reports from Amnesty International detail that perhaps as many as 300 translators known to have worked with the U.S. Military have been killed in Iraq, by Iraqis, since the war began. The Iraq War has had a profound impact upon the political landscape of the European Union. As thousands of refugees pour out of Iraq, E.U. legislators adapt accordingly. Hundreds of stories such as Fahad Khammas' have been masked by the European Union as it rushes to protect itself from potential terrorism. Stemming from a European Union law known as the Dublin Convention, Switzerland has enforced a stringent policy aimed at those seeking asylum within its borders. To protect itself from potentially harmful or threatening refugees, the Swiss Federal Department of Justice and Police denies refugee status to anyone who has unsuccessfully applied in another E.U. signatory country. After traveling through Greece, Khammas sought official refugee status in Sweden at the beginning of 2008, but was denied asylum. From there he moved to Switzerland and began the process of seeking asylum for a second time, with success unlikely. It was in Switzerland that Fahad Khammas met Fernand Melgar, the filmmake·r who would propel his case to the forefront of a worla debate. Melgar has made documentaries investigating anti-Semitism, the psychology of minority groups withln Switzerland, and the process of Swiss emigration. When he set out to film "La Forteresse" (The Fortress), Melgar uncovered a legislative nightmare. Upon entering Switzerland, a foreign national can submit a written or oral request for asylum to any Federal Office for Refugees reception center. At this time, an applicant must also produce official proof of identification, presumably the same identification with which he or she entered the country. If the application is not dismissed as "abusive," an applicant will be randomly assigned to a particular district for further proceedings. Switzerland is a federal republic divided into 26 administrative divisions called cantons, similar in function to states or provinces. These cantons are responsible for refugees during the time the government deliberates over particular refugee cases. Cantons are selfsovereign up to the point of interfering with federal law. Reftigees have described the process of being assigned a canton as a "lottery with very slim chances." The system is not impartial. Certain cantons are more liberal or more conservative than others, and refugees can only hope that their cases will be heard by a canton whose liberality in granting official refugee status in asylum cases has been established. Fernand Melgar's documentary follows Fahad Khammas and other applicants through their 60 days (the maximum time allotted to asylum cases) in the detention center in the Swiss town of Vallorbe. With the number of cases granted official asylum standing at close to 1%, many of the people appearing in the documentary have since been forced to leave Switzerland, though in his film, Melgar never reveals who is granted asylum and who is not. Fahad Khammas's case, though now the cause of much protest, met with rejection in a surprise decision in late March of 2009. During a routine check-in, Khammas was arrested and placed on a plane heading to Sweden, ihe country in which he first applied for asylum. Swiss authorities guaranteed that Khammas would be given aid upon his arrival in Sweden, ana the Swedish 9 �Ach ieving Political Asy lum in Europe June 15, 1990 Jun e 5, 200 5 Switzerland becomes a signatory to the Dublin Convention and the vote to ratify passes by a slim margin . and the Kurdish State March 2 3, 200 9 The Dublin Convention is signed in Ireland by member nations of the European Economic Community. A United Turkey: Nationalism Fahad Khammas is arrested at a Federal Office of Migration Checkpoint in Switzerland. 1990 ' 2009 November I, 1993 Summer, 2007 The European Economic Community becomes the European Union. Fahad Khammas, Iraqi translator for the U .S. Army in Baghdad , flees from his country after receiving threats upon his life. Erin Shadowens Annapolis '12 April 2 , 2009 Swiss authorities announce the deportation of Fahad Khammas; the asylum seeker is flown to Sweden . government had pledged to allow Khammas to appeal its initial decision to refuse asylum. In Sweden, he played the waiting game again, hoping that his popularity as an icon for foreign refugees will be enough to win his case. As with any bureaucratic debate, the Swiss government has given a multitude of reasons supporting its t0t1gh legislation. Though the Feaeral Office of Migration declined direct comment, its website states that many illegal immigrants must be denied asylum because they "invent dramatic stories of persecution for the hearing by the authorities" and that "on the oasis of their situation, they clearly belong to the group of migrants." Those who have not been displaced by war or persecution do not fall under the protection of the European Union's asylum laws. Though the Swiss government has made efforts to reach out to humanitarian organizations and work with them in order to establish avenues through which foreign nationals can seek asylum, many cite ambiguities in the asylum policy as cause for concern. "The method is to pretend to be openminded and then give a refusal in the end," says Thomas, who works in the Swiss Federal Customs Administration. Thomas asked that his last name be kept hidden for political reasons. Though Swiss opinion of people like filmmaker Fernana Melgar varies widely with political persuasion, Thomas says that these activists are "tackling profound Swiss problems." Thomas lias "had his experiences with the Federal Office of Migration," and doubts that the current system reviews cases in an unbiased manner. "So much for Swiss neutrality," 10 jokes a man who is an official in the Swiss government. Others are less concerned with Swiss policy. "I don't really pay that much attention to it, since there are constant applications for asylum," says Edward Werner, an American living in Switzerland. "Unfortunately many are of a mostly economic nature." Many Swiss share the opinion that the amount of migrants coming into Switzerland should be restricted. Switzerland's unemployment level has risen with the number of unskilled laborers Bocking to the country as a result of war and conflict in the Middle East, Asia, and other parts of Europe. As Switzerland s Federal Councilor, Eveline Widmer-Schlumpf, continues to encourage votes for more limitations, some activists are speaking out against what they call the veiled doctrine of racism that has permeated European Union asylum and immigration policy for years. The "criminalization of migration," or so it has been called by non-governmental organizations operating in European Union countries, has been on the increase since the beginning of the decade. Sweden, for example, has made efforts to speed the deportation of Iraqi foreign nationals, making Fahad Khammas a likely candidate to be returned to his native country. AntonySpalton works for the United Nations in Geneva, Switzerland. He has years of experience as a Senior Officer with the International Federation of the Red Cross, where he worked with developing countries to forge paths to economic and governmental stability. Though unfamiliar with the Fahad Khammas case, Spalton spoke about what he calls "Fortress Europe" and the many difficulties facing refugees. "[Seeking asylum] is hard, and it is getting harder. We have so many people moving. Economic pressures, war, conflict, and even climate change contribute to the exoduses. There are not enough resources to go around, and there is a scramble for what little there is. Fences will be climbed and oceans crossed." The United Nations has pledged much funding to assist refugees moving through partner nations, but the current economic instability has meant budget cuts across the board. "There have been big bucks promised to deal with these disasters," says Spalton. "But not much money is actually forthcoming. There is too much rhetoric behind debates in the United Nations." As nations battle over the fate of thousands of refugees, Fahad Khammas awaits an appeal ruling in Sweden. His story exposed. the fortress as cold and uncaring, but the attention he generated has shown that the stronghold is not without a key. Even if he is sent back to Iraq, Khammas' fight may not have been in vain. * While the Democratic Society Party (DTP), a Pro-Kurdish political group, staged an all-night protest in Turkey's Parliament, Baran Jiyan sat in his Dubai home and thought about his uncle. "The state killed my uncle," Jiyan says, a Kurd and citizen ofTurkey. "I don't like the Turkish state." Jiyan's uncle, and approximately 30 others, were the victims of a fire in Lice, Turkey, a village in the southeastern Anatolia province. Turkish soldiers entered the village on Oct. 22, 1993 in response to alleged attacks by the PKK (Kurdistan Worker's Party), a militant organization dedicated to establishing an independent Kurdistan. Two days later, only one house still stood in Lice. Almost sixteen years later, no definitive report exists for Lice. Several human rights inspections, international criticism of the Turkish government, and the diminution of the PKK has only sustained cultural dissonance between the Kurdish community and the rest of Turkey. Dlovan, a Kurd from Northern Iraq, empathizes with the Turkish Kurds. "They have nothing, no human rights," says Dlovan. "They have the right to do what they need to do. They should have their own schools ... They deserve their own nationality." This very desire for cultural autonomy struggles amidst Turkish nationalism. Until 1991, speaking the Kurdish language could mean a prison sentence. Currently, all schools require students to speak While predominately Turkish. Kurdish communities attempt to open ethnically congruous schools, they consistently face an intractable opposition in the Ministry of Education. Furthermore, municipalities cannot offer services in any language besides Turkish, even in primarily Kurdish areas. Today, Kurds must pose a continued pressure to assimilate with their own cultural integrity. For some, like Ahmet Onal, the equilibrium is possible. "We are all living on the same soil," Onal says. "There is only our flag. We are all brother and sister. For us, the tongue [language] is not making a different race." Indeed, Onal insists that his Kurdish identity is in tandem with the country he calls home. "I am a Kurdish person, [but also] Kurdish and Turkish. Two are my language. There isn't a difference." Mehmet Altuntas, a freshman at •ANKARA T u R K E Interviewed: Mehdi Kussay- Citizen of Baghdad, Iraq Edward Werner - Citizen of Geneva, Switzerland Thomas - Swiss Federal Customs Administration, Zurich, Switzerland Antony Spalton - Representative of the United Nations, Geneva, Switzerland SYRIA II �Kurdish-Turkish Relations Through the Years 2004 First Kurdish television channel is launched; Kurdish activist Leyla Zana is released from prison. 1984 2003 PKK begins guerrilla warfare in Southeastern Turkey. Parliament increases Kurdish language rights. 2009 Members of pro-Kurdish party, DKP, are arrested. 1980' 2009 1999 St. John's College and Turkish citizen, shares Onal's outlook. "[Turkish] culture is kind of a mix of everything. If I think about the culture I was raised in and my family, if someone says hi to you, you should say hi back. If someone gives you a hand, you should shake it ... you should always be as friendly as you can. " Altuntas expressed an admiration 2005 2007 PKK leader Abdullah Ocalan is captured. Turkey begins EU negotiations. Turkish army enters Northern Iraq against Kurdish rebels. for Mustafa Ataturk, the founder of modern Turkey. Ataturk conceived of a secular, constitutional republic that transcended religious and cultural concerns - concerns that threaten to fracture a country. "In Turkey we have this expression 'guest of the gods,' not guest of Allah," says Altuntas. "I met this guy from Saudi Arabia. I asked him what the Muslim rate was, do you have any minorities in your country? He said fifty-percent were real Muslim and the other fifty were Muslims being Muslim. I asked him what do you mean? He said, because one half goes to mosque because they wanted to go and the other half because they were oppressed. But in Turkey that doesn't happen. You do not have to go to mosque." Nevertheless, the secular vision of Turkish unity articulated by Ataturk has come at an expense, an expense evident in the assimilation procedures employed throughout the 80's and 90's. Procedures included strict regulation of language, compulsive migrations, and a prohibition against any insubordinate groups. Moreover, minority groups, such as the Kurds, cannot form ethnic political parties under Turkey's constitution. The frustrations surrounding economic hardship in Kurdish regions and political helplessness led to a militant solution, the PKK. . .. "The PKK is very democratic," ~. 12 Jiyan argued, "for Kurdish people to make war." "It's so easy to convince people," Altuntas claims, "because they don't have jobs, they don't have anything, just like Al-Qaeda. It's easy to recruit people to be terrorists. This is what PKK does." Most European countries and the United States label the PKK a terrorist organization. Its object, through whatever political or violent means, was to establish a separate and independent Kurdistan. Chiefly active throughout the nineties, the US State Department estimates thirtythousand casualties due to fighting. Recently, there have not been direct en gagements between the PKK and Turkish Armed Forces; rather, the group has to turned IEDs (Improvised Explosive Devices). All the same, the group does not demonstrate the same activity compared to ten years ago. "When I was 11 or 12," Altuntas says, "my father told me a story from when I was a newborn baby and my sister was two years old. We were on a family trip in the winter and the bus drivers were PKK supporters. They tried to kick us out in the mountains because they knew he was a soldier. My father and them argued, so it didn't happen. When he told me this story, he told me I was lucky that I didn't get killed as a baby by PKK terrorists. He said, enjoy your overtime. I was shocked because it showed me the real face of the PKK." However, fewer incidents do not obscure Kurdish discontentment. The DTP has emerged as a political tool for Kurdish grievances. Established in 2005, the DTP has gained a considerable following in east and southeastern Turkey. Local elections prove overwhelmingly successful, particularly this last March. Still, arrests of fifty DTP members last week project a difficult road ahead for Kurdish political power within the current system. Despite a clear divide within Turkey, Altuntas defends Turkish solidarity. "My father told me he was talking to this Kurdish guy. And this Kurdish guy, he supported PKK, and my father was a soldier... And he was talking to this guy, and this guy was sort of poor. He was with his son and they were having a conversation and his son was asking him to buy something, but he couldn't buy anything because he didn't have money... he wanted to buy something for my father and sister because they were his guests ... My father said it's because he's Turkish and I'm Turkish, we're supposed to be his friends. We're still the same culture." Turkey, it seems, can obtain a cultural harmony - a harmony perceived by Altuntas and Onal alike. "As I heard from journalists, it was frowned upon to speak Kurdish. That was messed up," admitted Altunt,~s. "But now things are getting better. The repercussions of a perpetual Kurdish conflict go beyond Turkey itself. Dlovan describes his own sense of cultural uncertainty as a Kurd living in a non-Kurdish country. "The Kurdish should have a separate state. For me, I would like to have a country with other people of the same language and culture. My own country. I don't have a country." An independent Kurdistan would effect not only the Kurdish populations in Turkey and Northern Iraq, but Syria, Iran, and Jordan as well. "PKK as a terrorist group will never get what they want," Altuntas believes. Clearly, Turkey cannot ignore the human rights and political demands of the Kurdish community. Some concessions have been made in light of legislative conditions to join the European Union, such as staterun Kurdish television and radio broadcasts. Nonetheless, wounds persist among those of the previous generation, which, if left untended, threaten to perpetuate an identity crisis that can manifest in either violence or political seclusion. "I was born in Malatya, a city in Southeastern Turkey. My grandma and my mom call me their Kurdish son, because I was born in Eastern Turkey. And when I was eight or nine years old, one day I asked my father if I was Kurdish. And he said originally our family is Turkish, so I was Turkish. And he said, there's nothing wrong with being Kurdish. In Turkey, the people don't scorn Kurds. They are no different. There's a phrase, 'Love and respect the creature because of the creator.' That shows that every human being is respected for being a human being," Altuntas says. * Interviewed: Mehmet Altuntas - Turkish Citizen and St. John's student Jiyan Baran - Kurdish Turk living in Dubai Ahmet Onal - Turkish Citizen and Kurdish tradesman Dlovan - Kurd living in Kurdistan, Northern Iraq 13 �"A Terrible Mistake": The Rise of SWAT John Vining . Annapolis '11 five-day hunger strike to force the Congress to pass a law making it easier for Morales to gain legislative control. At the same time, a purported assassination attempt was stopped when policemen killed the would-be assassins in Santa Cruz. "Right now, what we have are pro bably 11,000 police departments with 11 ,000 different SWAT teams doing whatever the hell they want, whenever the hell they want," says Peter Kraska, a professor in the Criminal Justice and Police Studies department at Eastern Kentucky Univers ity. The law defines a SWAT team as "a special unit composed of two or more law ~nforcement officers within a law enforcement agency trained to deal with unusually dangerous or violent situations and having special equipment and weapons, such as rifles more powerful than those carried by regular police officers ." The use of SWAT teams has become increasingly controversial, especially in states where SWAT raids affecting innocent people have been reported in the media. As research is continually conducted and different stories are reported about raids which have gone wrong, more and more people are beginning to look into the "inappropriate" use of SWAT teams. In Maryland , the case of Berwyn Heights, Maryland Mayor Cheye Calvo brought the current practices of SWAT teams into both the public eye and the Maryland legislature. "On July 29, 2008, my family and I were terrorized by an errant Prin ce George's County SWAT team," Calvo told the Maryland senate . "This unit forced entry into my home without a proper warrant, executed our beloved black Labradors, Payton and Chase, and bound and interrogated my mother-in-law and me for hours as they ransacked our belongings." It would later be revealed that drugs were shipped to the Calvos' house that morni ng, and Calvo, unaware, accepted the box. Drug dealers will often ship drugs to a house they believe to be empty, and have the intended recipient pick up the package off the porch before the house's owner returns home. The police, unaware that he was the mayor of the town, saw him accept the package, and proceeded to storm his house. ''As I was forced to kneel, bound at gun point on my living room floor, I recall thinking that there had been a terrible mistake," Calvo continued. "However, as I have learned more, I have to understand that what my family and I experience is part of a growing and troubling trend where law enforcement is relying on SWAT teams to perform du ties once handled by ordinary police officers ." After trying to clean up his house, and attempting to make his innocence clear to friends and citizens of Berwyn Heights, Calvo began work on a Maryland bill which would make statistics about the activity of SWAT teams more accessible to government officials. The bill addresses, for Maryland, a problem which the whole country faces . There is very little data about how often SWATteams are used, how often they kill or injure people, and what they are deployed for. "It's certainly a huge positive first step in establishing some kind of data and information for the purposes of accountability," says Kraska, who was able to gather some statistics privately in the late 1990's. "City governments, county governments, state governments don't know what they're up to . They don't know how many deployments they're going on. They don't know how many shots were fired or how many people were shot or how many officers were injured." Established in 1966, SWAT grew rapidly in the 1980's . "SWAT teams, both in number and in frequency of use, have grown dramatically since SWAT was created in the 1960s, bur especially since 1981 when the drug war started to really escalate under Ronald Reagan," according to David Borden, the Executive Director of Drug Reform Coordination Network (DRCNet). "In 1980 there were fewer than 3,000 reported SWAT raids. Now, the number is believed to be over 50 ,000 �The Rise of SWAT Teams in the U.S. 1966 1989 The SWAT program is started, mostly due to the efforts of LAPD police chief Daryl F. Gates. The idea is based of a special unit in Delano, California which was created after the uprisings led by Cesar Chavez. Dick Cheney, then secretary of defense , declares , "The detection and countering of the production, trafficking and use of illegal durgs is a high priority national security mission of the Deapartment of Defense." 1965 1995 August 1966 1986 1994 SWAT teams begin to pop up in larger urban areas after a Texas man barricades himself at the top of a University of Texas clock tower and fires at people below for 90 minutes, killing 15. President Regan issues a national Security Decision Directive stating that drugs were a threat to U.S. "nation security." The Deptartment of Defense allows the transfer of military equipment to state and local police. Congress then creates a program to facilitate this transfer. per year... About 3/4 of these are drug raids, perhaps more by now, the vast majority of them low-level." Kraska's research in the late 1990's was concerned with the increasing use of SWAT teams. Much of that work is over a decade old, and was conducted at a time when most police departments which wanted a SWAT team had already gotten one. "There wasn't much growth left in terms of number of agencies," Kraska says, referring to the nearly saturated market for new SWAT teams. "But really, the more significant measure of the growth of SWAT is the activities. You can have lots of units that are doing very little work. Unfortunately we don't have n ew data." Although Kraska was able to collect his data fairly easily in the late 1990's, he imagines that if he had done the same thing now, it would have been much harder. "I did [my research] through surveys," Kraska says. "Long before SWAT became controversial, long before anybody recognized that it was growing exponentially and becoming normalized into police departmentsso, long before it was on anybody's radar, I sent surveys directly to police departments and I asked them very simple questions like 'Do you have a SWAT team?,' 'When was it formed?,' 16 'How many deployments do you go on per year?"' Almost 80 percent of the surveys he sent out were returned. "It's because no one really cared, or was suspicious about what was happening, so the SWAT community didn't mind coughing up that kind of information. Now, I suspect I'd get probably a 30 percent response rate." When Calvo was working to sort out the confusion he faced about the raid on his house, a friend mailed him a report called Overkill: The Rise of Paramilitary Raids in America. That report, written by Radley Balko for the Cato Institute, is an updated look at the proactive, instead of reactionary use, of SWAT teams. In that report, Balko argues that "SWAT teams should not be executing search or arrest warrants, conducting routine police patrols, or engaging in similarly proactive police work." He argues instead that they ought to return to "defusing those rare, emergency, situations in which a suspect presents an immediate threat to someone's life or safety." Whereas Kraska was able to get police departments to self-report on their usage of SWAT, Balko began by collecting reports of specific incidents, or "isolated incidents," as they are called by supporters of the move to paramilitary policing. Balko's report contains summaries of many of these incidents, and the Cato Institute is continuing to collect them on their website. This research has lead Balko to believe that "[botched raids are] the inevitable consequence of a flawed, overbearing, and unnecessary form of drug policing." On their page for this topic, Cato quotes a 2006 ruling by Supreme Court Justice Anthony Kennedy, saying "If a widespread pattern of [knock-and-announce] violations were shown ... there would be reasoh for grave concern." Balko believes he has found that pattern. C alvo's bill, which has been approved in the Maryland Senate and House of Delegates, may find a pattern even more conclusively when enacted. Calvo's bill requires that police departments in Maryland which have a SWAT team must record and report the number of times that team was deployed, the reason, arrests made, evidence gathered, and any injuries suffered by police, people in the house or animals, among other facts. It asks that each agency with one of these SWAT teams reports its uses to the Governor's Office of Crime Control and Prevention biannually starting in 2010 . It lays out a specific Maye was sentenced to life in prison situations where you might h ave to format which each police department for shooting an officer during a no- take someone who might be armed knock raid. In the confus.ion, Maye seriously, and I'm not going to go in must use. When discussing the bill with the shot an officer, Ron Jones, who he there in a manner that's going to put Maryland senate, Calvo said his bill thought was an intruder. Jones later law enforcement officers at risk," he says. "Cops are finding themselves "will provide this information in a died. The case of Maye, who quickly out-gunned as a matter of course these responsible, standardized way and will encourage law enforcement agencies to surrendered his gun when he days." "What I do know for sure is these exercise sound judgment in deploying discovered they were police, shows guys are extremely highly trained to the potential dangers to police officers these special tactical units." When made to justify the use of a SWAT raid. Others think police do these things~ this is not something of special tactical units in serving officers might be in more danger on like getting a concealed carry permit warrants, police departments most the whole if they used traditional where there's a four hour class and you're done," Everitt continued. commonly cite the possibility that the police tactics. "There's nothing that guarantees "These guys train and retrain in how suspect would be violent, or might that a gun-owner or a concealed- to assess these situations. Are mistakes attempt to destroy evidence quickly carry permit holder is going to be ever made? Yeah." upon hearing the police. Kraska has a more cynical view of "The whole idea-the operational law-abiding," says Ladd Everitt, the SWAT teams. justification for the use of a SWAT Director of Communications for the "I've seen SWAT teams form where team for something like this is that the Coalition to Stop Gun Violence. "As two officers in a police department evidence could be destroyed, so they I said, you can have a long, violent, have to do it quickly," says Kraska. misdemeanor history and still buy a meet and go watch a few videos, talk ''And there's some sort of indication gun in this country, and it's been seen the chief of police into attending some for-profit Blackwater-type training that the persons involved in drugs are time and time again." Everitt thinks that the threat camp week and the come back and armed and might be dangerous." The use of a SWAT team has often of a violent suspect should not be make a 12-15 office swat team. That's it," he says. "They have no more been justified by suspicion of there ignored. ''I'm going to take response to training, no more expertise, and all being a firearm in the house. Mike Hasenei, a Maryland resident, was ..---------------~-~"""":":"=-.;---~-------------""""::::::::i suspected of stealing multiple items from a police car. After the raid, once it was clear that he had not stolen them, it was revealed that a SWAT team was used because one of the items was a rifle. His house was only one of three raided that night in search of the stolen goods. SWAT raids are often dangerous for police officers as well. In a case made famous by Balko, a man named Corey �18 and all that kind of thing. But that kind of talk also misses the larger point that sub-culturally these teams and the people on these teams are really attracted to the notion that the police are all about fighting serious crime and waging real war on drugs and crime. It's a militaristic attitude." The "militaristic attitude," as Kraska describes it, comes with a sense of "us versus them." This attitude, many argue, makes it more difficult to properly serve the community, since police sometimes begin to think of citizens as the enemy. This attitude alone is cause for concern, but, according to David Borden, these attitudes are being facilitated by grants the federal from government. of a sudden, within a few month officers on a day to day basis and "[SWAT raids] are mainly a period, they have a fully operating they're doing patrol work and all that. systemic problem, that problem SWAT team. There's a complete lack You can certainly envision how that being massive overuse, says of regulation with these things." might act to create more of a SWAT Borden. "Pentagon giveaways and Kraska explains that some SWAT mentality for the entire department, the aforementioned federal grant teams are composed of people who rather than just being segmented and programs are major culprits." work exclusively on SWAT, and contained within a small unit." The federal grants Borden is others are comprised of normal police The SWAT mentality he is referring to are the Edward Byrne officers with special training. discussing is a complex set of ideals memorial grants and the Community "I think you run the real risk of and attitudes which SWAT members Oriented Policing Services (COPS) having dedicated SWAT teams, where subscribe to with varying degrees of grants. people on the team are very myopic seriousness. "The exact details on how Byrne and develop a distinct subculture from "It's difficult to characterize and COPS grants are distributed the rest of the police department, and because if you start talking about has not been studied, at least not to that has dangers," he says. "But at SWAT teams as these wannabe my knowledge, but an examination the same time, having 30 officers of soldiers and these goons, it's really of grant applications by one of a dept. with say 200 officers, and 30 a mischaracterization," he explains. my colleagues found that they are on the SWAT team, and they're "Most people on a SWAT team take this overwhelmingly focus on the number intermingling with the rest of the very seriously and they're professional of arrests made, particularly drug arrests," he said. "Byrne grants also fund the purchase of equipment for SWAT teams." According to an interview with the DRCNet, David Doddridge, a 21-year veteran of the LAPD said that "with Byrne, we got Velcro vests and holsters, we got Kevlar helmets, all that stuff. Now, there are thousands of SWAT teams across the country. They don't have a lot to do, so they end up serving drug warrants now." Prince George's County, MD, the county whose SWAT team raided Calvo's house, has received the second largest amount of Byrne grant money in Maryland, second to Baltimore County, for at least the last four years. Yet there is some question as to whether or not this money could sustain a SWAT team. "State and local agencies don't use grant funds for their SWAT teams because grant funds are not a reliable . source of money," says Gale Farquhar, the State Policy Advisor for Maryland at the Bureau of Justice Assistance, which administers the Byrne grants. "That's not to say grant funds aren't used for 'tactical' equipment used by SWAT officers." In an effort to make communities safer, these grant programs seem to have made them more dangerous in some cases. And, even when SWAT teams raid houses of criminals, their continued focus on fighting criminals, many of whom are not violent, does not help to protect their communities. "Town residents and many others told me how they did not leave their homes for days and how they and their children were gripped by fear knowing that the police would do this to an innocent family, much less the Ann 70 mayor of the town," Calvo told the Maryland senate. "I also have had many conversations with people who live in high-crime areas where these types of police interactions are not uncommon and distrust between the community and the police makes it all the more difficult to improve public safety." * Interviewed: Peter Kraska - Professor, Dept. of Criminal Justice and Police Studies, Eastern Kentucky University Ladd Everitt -Director of Communications, Coalition to Stop Gun Violence David Borden - Executive Director, Drug Reform Coordination Network Gale Farquhar - Maryland State Policy Advisor, U.S. Bureau of Justice Administration �The Fallout of Genocide Shikshya Adhikari Annapolis '12 BURUNDI • A 16-year civil war came to an end, leaving a death toll of over 200,000. The war was centered on the ethnic Hutu- utsi conflict that sparked genocide in neighboring Rwanda. Elections are planned for 20 I 0. "The armed forces generally attack "What tal<:es me by utter surprise is the way they are raped," laments the villages late at night'', says Junior Shaileshwori Sharma, a student of Eric L, a native of DRC who has been Women's Studies at Wesleyan College. living in Canada for five years. It is ''After raping five or six women at the reported that after plundering the same time, these people shoot a gun villages and it is the women who are into the women's vagina. They basically torn into pieces day by day, they return mutilate the victims." to abduct the women and children The women in the eastern part of by force and reduce them to sexual the Democratic Republic of the Congo slavery. It has also been reported that (DRC) have become silent sufferers sometimes the militants enter a house, of acts which are inhumane and kill the husband and the children and brutal. Who and what is causing this gang-rape the women. In some cases, kind of violence against women? The the women have to undergo utter responsibility lies tangled somewhere humiliation and shame, being raped in within a complicated and continuous front of their husbands and children. war. There have been reports of pregnant The war began with Hutu militias V lCClms, unusual tactics-such as commmmg genocide in Rwanda guns and tree branches-and genital in 1994. Hutu extremists planned mutilation. "Cases like these take place on and carried out genocidal attacks against the Tutsi community. As a a regular basis. Every other village is result, an estimated 800,000 people attacked every other night by not only were killed. The Hutu militias then one party but many parties . And every fled o neighboring DRC, joined by group has a different way of attacking large numbers of Hutu refugees. In the people. One armed group has a response, the Kigali regime, a primarily group of soldiers rape one woman. Tutsi government, started a war Another group rapes men as well as against DRC in 1996 and slaughtered women. Also, there are some who many refugees, considering them to torture women until their last breath", be 'genocide criminals' . Although a says Sharma. "Women are really suffering in the peace agreem ent was reached in 2002 and a weak transitional government hands of these people and the situation has power at present, the war has not is much worse than what people hear in technically ended beyond Kinshasa's the news", Kennedy, a citizen of DRC limits. As a result, a large number of claims. What scenario can be worse than innocent women have become the this? "If we cringe just hearing about targets for rape by the armed forces. In these attacks, the situation of women a war with so many participants, it is who have to bear something more the women who suffer daily. horrific than this is unimaginable", Sharma theorizes. What happens to the women who manage to survive? "The people who take fancy on committing these violent attacks on women, certainly do not take precautionary measures. Most of these men do not use contraceptives. As a result, they spread AIDS on a regular basis'', says Eric L. It seems that the women who survive these horrific acts live lives that are utterly painful. The likelihood of being infected with HIV is just one issue of concern for those who escape death. The women's economic conditions do not allow them to make use of the health services. "It is not surprising that a country which has been infected by war for such a long time will have a poor economy and consequently poor health services", Sharma adds. Therefore, even if the women manage to scrape together some money to receive treatment, the health services fail to provide any kind of help. It is estimated that 30 percent of raped women in DRC are infected with HIV To make matters worse, the hospitals are in poor condition. For instance, it is reported that there is a hospital in Kibombo which has a total of six wards, four of which are empty, while the other two have three iron framed beds without any mats. In addition there is only one doctor for 25,000 square kilometers. The saturation of the HIV virus and people's misconceptions on the subject through ignorance have made the lives of these women a living hell. "I have �AFRICA & MIDDLE EAST ·. ' .' . ' I the impression that the women are rejected by their families if they are found to be infected by the virus", adds Eric L. Many still think that HIV can be transmitted through everyday contact and would prefer to stay away from anyone carrying the disease. Therefore, at a time when raped victims need the most compassion, they are left on their own, alone and uncared for. "They need love and affection not only when they catch the HIV virus, but also when they are raped in the first place because the trauma is not easily recoverable," says Sharma. However, it looks like the women of DRC are far from receiving any such kind of care and support. Associating with rape victims is still a taboo in underdeveloped countries. Thus, these women are shunned by their families and societies, and have no place to go and no one to turn to. What kind of condition are they in then? "Once they are raped, one mode of survival is to engage in prostitution", adds Kennedy. ''Also, if an unmarried woman is raped, nobody will be willing to get married to the woman. If a married woman is raped then she is considered vile and is therefore shunned by her husband. Women who have children sometimes move to other places. However, the worst case scenario is committing suicide," Eric L. reports. "They live miserably. In some cases a woman is raped after her husband and children are killed. What can a woman who is in so much physical and psychological pain do?" Hence, day-by-day, a large number of innocent women who are not associated with any of the parties are raped, mutilated, and murdered, while their families are brutally slaughtered. In fact, the death toll in DRC is so high that the number has surpassed the number of A soldier wears a pin killings in Iraq, Afghanistan in support of a UNIand Darfur together. It is said to be the most ruthless CEF and V-day camconflict since World War II paign to stop rape in and it is estimated that about areas of conflict five million people have died 22 . ·.- •"' . ... . ~ '.' ... • • " • ·.~. :(.'/::~,;.:\}c'· '.: ~. ~ . . : . '. 1 /\ \•, "' I I.,#'. ,.;;..-: · : • '. ..... . : ' • THE EPOCH ·~" S.UMMER . ( • • ••• ! .. . 2009 . . . '. . . . . . - . . . . A History ·o f Recent Ethnic Conflict in the DRC 1994 1997 Hutu militias commit a genocide which kills a large number of people in Congo. The rebels take Kinshasa, installing Laurent Kabila as president. 1990 2005 1996 within the last decade. On average some 40 women were raped every day between October 2003 and February 2004 in and around the town of Uvira, which has a population between 200,000 and 300,000. Women are raped in wars all the time. However, why with such frequency and in such a barbaric manner? "Usually this [the rape] is committed by people of both sides, the soldiers and the rebels. They usually use rape as a method of punishment because each party thinks that the people of the places that are attacked and captured are helping the other side," adds Kennedy. "Most of these villages do not have anything that the armed forces can capture. So, instead they take women." 'The situation is worse when these victims are treated like rag dolls not only by outsiders but also by members of their own families. "There are situations where men have offered their wives and children in order to protect themselves from being killed", says Kennedy. "It seems like these armed groups find raping women and looking at them struggling and utterly powerless pleasurable. It gives the people a sense of power and a feeling that they can 2002 The Kigali regime of Rwanda starts a war in Congo. A peace deal is established. Since this time, President Joseph Kabila has been sharing the authority with four other warlords. do anything," theorizes Junior Eric L. ''Also, there is a plan to eliminate the whole population in some eastern regions. Rwanda is a small country with a big population. They need more land, and they can get that only from Congo." Thus, women in DRC are reported to have been used as "weapons of war". Moreover, it is a civil war fought both with women and against women. Women are exploited for a show of power and also as shields to protect the lives of their husbands. "These docile beings have to live through each day in terror of being the victims of brutal acts which damage their physical condition and shatters their every hope of living," laments Sharma. "What can a woman do? Especially in a place where there is almost no empowerment of women at all". That the government not only fails to protect the lives and dignity of these women, but that they choose not to do so in the first place is the most tragic fact. "The government is fearful that they might end up not having soldiers to fight their useless wars if their 'needs' are not met," says Kennedy. If the people who have the highest authority choose to shut their mouths and kneel to the desires of these armed groups who choose to exploit the women continually, can these subjugated women foster even a small amount of hope? Women have the option to pursue the matter legally. However, most women choose to stay put because they are afraid of being victims if the armed forces choose to plunder their village for the second or the third time. Nevertheless, hope in eastern DRC arises in the form of social service organizations. "German NGOs are helping raped women and conducting programs to integrate women into their families," adds Runyambo Irakiza, an employee of a Rwandan NGO. Many hope that the United Nations OrganizationMissionin the Democratic Republic of the Congo, known by its French acronym MONUC, can play a significant role in restoring order and in providing training on human rights to Congolese security forces . It is reported that a network of eight local nongovernmental organizations which are supported by the International Rescue Committee aids nearly 1000 women, girls, and boys who have been raped. Catholic parochial bodies also help in providing first aid to the victims. There have been efforts by organizations from all around the world to aid these victims of war. However, UN peacekeepers are said to be involved in several cases of misconduct. Around 150 allegations of sexual abuse have been laid against UN peace forces. UN investigators have also found that civil workers and peacekeepers are paying $2 for sex with women in areas that they were assigned to protect. "There are donors who donate money to open centers to help these women, but the people who run these organizations are found to use the money for their own benefit," says Kennedy. Who will help these women, who are forced to lie down to suffer rape by many men, stand up? "With so little facilities, there is only so much they can do. They have been trying to stand up with every ounce of their strength, whatever is left in them. The world should divert their attention to this horrific violence against women," adds Sharma. Irakiza states, "The government should take active measures, especially in education of the people about the situation of women in their country. If people in power fail to take appropriate measures, all we can do is pray for these women and hope for peace to prevail soon." * Interviewed: Junior Eric L. - Citizen of DRC living in Canada Shaileshwori Sharma - Citizen of Nepal, student at Wesleyan College, GA Runyambo lrakiza - Citizen of Rwanda, local NGO worker Kennedy - Citizen of DRC, mine dealer 23 �IRAN • The Obama administration offered to talk with Iran about its nuclear program. As The Epoch goes to press, a response from Iran is planned, but yet to be revealed. Obama has considered softening insistence that Iran shut down all nuclear facilities. �/ J In a Catholic church in Mexico City, church-goers pray for the sick. Many · people in Mexico have taken to wearing face masks to prevent the spread of swine flu, which originated in the country. �)> :-0 :J :J ~ -I 0 m ::r • CJ m ...V> - n 0 V1 g 0 0 -0 =: >< 0 ~~~ ~ ~ 0 3 PJ - ~ DAT 28 � Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource Epoch Journal Creator An entity primarily responsible for making the resource St. John's College Contributor An entity responsible for making contributions to the resource St. John's College Greenfield Library Text A resource consisting primarily of words for reading. Examples include books, letters, dissertations, poems, newspapers, articles, archives of mailing lists. Note that facsimiles or images of texts are still of the genre Text. Page numeration Number of pages in the original item. 28 pages Original Format The type of object, such as painting, sculpture, paper, photo, and additional data paper Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Creator An entity primarily responsible for making the resource Fryer-Biggs, Zachary (Editor-in-Chief) Title A name given to the resource The Epoch, Vol III Issue 4 Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource 2009-07 Description An account of the resource Volume III, Issue 4 of The Epoch Journal. Published in Summer 2009. Identifier An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context Epoch Journal Spring 2009 Coverage The spatial or temporal topic of the resource, the spatial applicability of the resource, or the jurisdiction under which the resource is relevant Annapolis, MD Publisher An entity responsible for making the resource available St. John's College Language A language of the resource English Type The nature or genre of the resource text Rights Information about rights held in and over the resource St. John's College owns the rights to this publication. Format The file format, physical medium, or dimensions of the resource pdf Student publication https://s3.us-east-1.amazonaws.com/sjcdigitalarchives/original/d16325a013fcce991e5db4b9a7387f1a.pdf c8043cad78b918f1cf423242c8e26b33 PDF Text Text -I 0 ~ . m . ~ -o OJm .. )> :-0 ::r ' ' 0 -· ... VJ 3: 0 ""C >< 0 n ::r ~'-- - 0 ~g ., "-' ~ ::::J ~ 0 ~ DATE DUE �ON THE COVER Clothed in Identity: Burkas in France 5 Erin Shadowens AMERICAS I Shrinking Mass Media 9 Laurel Fischer and John Vining ASIA A History of Violence: Conflict in Kashmir 15 Shikshya Adhikari EUROPE Governing the Internet 19 Chelsea Adams AFRICA & MIDDLE EAST News Briefs 25 BEYOND NEWS 26 Through the Lens The Epoch STAFF Founder, Editor-in-Chief Managing Editor Artistic Director Layout Editor Business Director Executive Editor Web Design Zachary Fryer-Biggs Tex Pasley John Vining Erin Shadowens Skikshya Adhikari Andrew Donders Laurel Fischer Eric Honour © 2009 ,- The Epoch INFO@EPOCHJOURNAL.ORG ASSOCIATED COLLEGIATE PRESS · Young Kashmiri girl at a retreat for refugees Photo Credits: Cover: Farfahinne; TOC: Nihar Ganju; 4: Philippe Leroyer; 5: Austin Evan; 7: Philippe Leoryas; 9: Antoine Walter; I0: Presidencia de la Republica del Ecuador; 12: Beatrice Murch; 15: United Nations Photo; 19: Pierre Metivier; 21: MillyNet; 22: Andre Gunthert; 25: Michael Ramallah; TTL: US Army. The Epoch is produced and distributed in Annapolis, Maryland. Please contact The Epoch for information on advertisements at info@epochjournal.org. Opinions expressed in articles or illustrations are not necessarily those of the Editorial Board or St. John's College. WWW.EPOCHJOURNAL.ORG 3 �Clothed in Identity: Burkas in France by Erin Shadowens I I FRANCE "It is sad indeed to see that a government of a country, which has made famous its code of practice of les droits de l'homme, doesnt have any other formula to propose racial integration and harmonization for minority groups," says Rajan Gulhati, an Indian immigrant living in Paris, France. Gulhati is referring to the 2004 government prohibition of"conspicuous religious symbols" in schools. The ban primarily affects Muslim girls who wear headscarves as part of their daily religious dress. "I have lived in India and in the U.K.," says Gulhati. "In both these countries there is a far greater tolerance towards different minority groups compared to France. Being French should surely be a question of att~tude, of thought, of social participation, rather than the clothes that one wears." . Gulhati points to the immigrant experience in France, an experience that is defined increasingly by race and religion, where immigrants of a secul.ar or Christian persuasion do not face the A crowd demonstrates for the rights ofundocumented immigrants same challenges of as;imilation as those who practice another religion. "Of course I am a stranger here, mostly because ... the language is a problem for me, so I cannot judge. I am a bit ... [un]comfortable because of that, but it is just my problem. IfI knew the language I think I would be OK," explains Beymlina Yulia, a Russian national working in Perpignan, France. However, when in France, she goes by Julia, since "for many people it is easier to pronounce Julia." Beyond language barriers, Beymlina has not experienced the same hardship as other, non-European immigrants. "[Muslims] are very religious people, observing traditions ... and in France, life is so different! I do not think they are being oppressed or [kept] down, no. But just their morals and their principles are so far from French reality where everyone claims to be free, and have no obligation, 5 �and sexual contacts are not viewed as did not mince words: "She has adopted French life." When asked to explain what she something sacred," says Beymlina, who a radical practice of her religion, meant by "French life," Wallis responded, incompatible with essential values of identifies herself as "not religious." The French government continues the French community, particularly the "In my case at least, it means doing pretty much what other people here do, to emphasize "personal freedom'' as an principle of equality of the sexes." Essentially, a visible, orthodox including, for instance, the gym class integral component of being "French." Religious apparel, such as headscarves practice oflslam seems to be incompatible I'm about to go to. Everyone there is French." and burkas, are seen as constraints upon with French life. Susan Wallis, a Canadian immigrant Wallis, describing Oupia as a that freedom. French President Nicolas Sarkozy said in a speech last June: "The who went through the French "small village,'' does not interact with burka is not a religious sign, it's a sign naturalization process, now lives in many other immigrants-specifically, of subservience, a sign of debasement. Oupia, France, where she runs an inn immigrants of non-European cultures. I want to say it solemnly, it will not be with her husband. While Wallis does A kind of foreign character persists in welcome on the territory of the French not consider herself religious, she does cases where the immigrant is not white Republic." recognize certain conflicts with Islam and or Christian. When asked about Sarkozyfoundeda "Someone wearing a burka would obviously not cases of discriminatio·n "Burka Commission" towards foreigners, that will investigate be participating in French life." - Susan Wallis Beymlina's first question ways to discourage the was, ''Are they Christian? Moslem I use of burkas in France, while members French life. of the French parliament are exploring "I hadn't heard the story about the guess." A certain kind of prejudice has whether burkas and similar religious woman who was refused citizenship become an institutionalized part of outfits should be banned outright. Under because she was wearing a burka, but I a banner of gender rights, the French suppose it could be explained by one of French life. "I can write a book about it," says government is determining how its five the criteria for French citizenship being million Muslims can express their faith the requirement to be fully integrated Gulhati. "This is a subject that could into French society. I now have French take months to write. In short, everyday in public. In the summer of2008, a Moroccan citizenship and had to prove that I was life in France is not made easy by the woman was denied French citizenship fully integrated. Someone wearing a burka public authorities, there is too much because she wore a burka. The court would obviously not be participating in paperwork, bureaucracy and even a touch Ethnic and Religious Populations in France Ethnic Minorities TURKISH e 441,000 · o.71 % JEWISH OVERSEAS TERRITORIES SUB-SAHARAN AFRICAN NORTH AFRICAN e 600,000 · 1% e 757 ,ooo · 1.21% 1.oaoM · 1.73% e 3.264M · 5.23% Population by Religion MUSLIM UNAFFILIATED PROTESTANT JEWISH 6 e s-10% e 4% e 2% 1% of corruption. These are the reasons for which I left India and I am once again in a country with the same defects. There is no respect for the individual's liberty, mistreatment of minority groups or of students by the police often goes unpunished. It is difficult to prove one case against the public authorities. The judiciary system does not facilitate access to information for building up a case against a town hall, a minister, etc... The State and the Church are said to be divided, yet the maintenance of churches comes out the taxes paid by the people of the town." Foreign minorities face the difficulty of establishing themselves in a country that welcomes them with, at best, ambivalence. In general, foreigners face trouble maintaining a work visa. "My working contract expires 30 April, but my visa 28 April," says Beymlina. "Previously this program lasted for a year, but as I heard, many Russians were getting married hete and staying, so now they [the French government] intentionally shortened it to 7 months, just to prevent people from .staying here. I think that really [the] French country has lots of problems with immigrants, for example people from former colonies are coming and staying illegally... They [the French government] want to protect themselves from overflow." During the 1990s, the French parliament passed the Pasqua laws-a series of laws to limit immigrant flow into France. For example, children of immigrants under 16 were stripped of their citizenship, tougher visa restrictions were introduced, and it became a felony to assist an illegal alien. The controversy came to a head several times throughout the 90s, generally between North African immigrants and the police. The public immigration debate consistently returns to France's Muslim and black minority. "With the issue of the French Identity, the Burka, the clandestine immigrants, the government is trying to win over the undecided voters from the ultra-right Front National Party,'' explains Gulhati. "Also some may even think that this initiative will revive the French as a nation against the ever expanding and ever imposing Brussels demands on 'Europeanising' everything." Gulhati suggests that the government is reacting against the pluralist reality in France. An ABC news report estimated that 40 percent of the French population are of migrant families from the latter half of the 2om century. Indeed, generations of migrants from non-European nations have not assimilated into French life, a fact that became unmistakably dear in the Paris riots of 2005, where unrest broke out across France after two young Muslims accidentally electrocuted themselves while trying to run away from police. Riots began to break out in poor, mostly Islamic areas of Paris, and then throughout the country. The visible conflict between residents of non-European ancestry and French authorities has fueled the National Front, a far-right political party, which remains a vocal opponent of immigration, specifically immigrants from Muslim nations. Furthermore, the European Union has adopted measures that assist citizens of third world countries to migrate to member states-measures that conservatives deem dangerous to a unique, French identity. Yet the justification becomes uncertain when a young girl must forgo her faith to attend school and a woman is not recognized as a part of her country for the clothes she wears. Muslim women, wearing the modest, full-body "Burquini," are denied entrance to swimming pools. They cannot participate in French life and practice their religaion simultaneously. "One does not become French by singing the national anthem. There is a French saying that says L'habit ne fait pas le moine, ('The clothing does not make the monk.')" says Gulhati, "Wearing a suit did not make Gandhi British, luckily he realized it quite rapidly, and wearing a saari would not make Carla Bruni an Indian. In conclusion, wearing a Burka will not make the woman more or less Muslim, more or less committed to her values and to the values of the country that she has chosen to live in." * The following people were interviewed for this article: Rajan Gulhati, immigrant from India, citizen ofFrance, living in Paris, France; Susan Wallas, immigrant from Canada, citizen of France, living in Oupia, France; Beymlina Yulia, citizen ofRussia, living in Perpignan, France 7 �Shrinking Mass Media Lea l + l cANADA Richard Colvin, a Canadian diplomat, testified before Canadian parliament concerning a lack of oversight by high-ranking Canadian armed forces officers in responding to alleged torture of Afghan detainees. I by John Vining and Laurel Fischer ARGENT INA C •) BRAZIL Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad met with Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva. Da Silva offered support for Iran's nuclear program while protesters outside questioned Brazil's connection with Iran and Ahmadinejad, specifically noting Ahmadinejad's denial of the Holocaust. ARGENTINA The first gay marriage in Latin America, = which had originally been given the green light by the mayor of Buenos Aires, was postponed on Dec. I , with the mayor deferring to the decision of the Supreme Court. The two men, who are both HIV-positive, wanted to have the wedding on Dec. I, World AIDS Day. ''I'm very against the law since it's another act of manipulation and corruption coming from the government, " says Pilar Mayora, a Harvard student born in Argentina. Mayora' s opinion is in reaction to a new Argentinian media law put into effect on October 11, 2009. The law restricts the number of television and cable licenses a single corporation can possess . "[Former President of Argentina] Carlos Menem allowed all the media companies to grow in an inconvenient way," says Pablo Andres Pucci, a resident of Buenos Aires working in post-production. "So, an owner or a company that was an owner of a newspaper or a radio station, could, if he had a radio station, could also have a TV station, and a newspaper, forming a group of media." The former media law in Argentina became problematic in 2003, when it was determined that it violated several articles of the Inter-American Commission on Crowd cheers in far new media law Human Rights (IACHR). Among other violations, the old law allowed the government to punish political dissidents with fines and jail time. This new media law, called the Audio-Visual Communications Law, is the first successful attempt at overturning the old media law in 26 years. There have been many attempts in the interim to enact a new law, so it is surprising that new legislation has been passed after such a long delay. Some say it is due to President Christina Kirchner's rapidly diminishing approval ratings. "The media law is exactly that ... to stay in power, but [Kirchner and her party are] losing their grip, so [the media law] is one of the ways they're trying to gain control," says Tim Blanchard, an American living in Argentina. But others say it may have more to do with monetary greed than power. "To answer why the law was passed: 9 �President Kirchner speaks in Ecuador The federal government works with checkbook in hand," says Esteban Panzeri, a resident of Argentina. "If the provinces don't quite abide to what the central government needs or wants, they don't get federal funds and, of course, there were also some legislators who truly believe in the law both from the ruling party, as well as other left-wing parties." Unlike the other attempts at a new media law in Argentina, the Audio-Visual Communications Law won both the Chamber of Deputies and Senate, and was signed into law by Ms. Kirchner. It passed the Senate with a vote of 44-24 and passed the Chamber of Deputies with a vote of 147-4. The law's most far-reaching effect is that it splits media licenses into three even parts: one for use by companies, one for non-profit 10 use, and one for government use. "I like [the public channel]," Pucci says. "It's one of the small group of channels that has cultural programs about interesting things. We have 100 channels, and there are only ten which show us interesting things ... When I say I like the channel, I 'm talking about everything but the news; they are not really impartial." "The idea of trying to boost locally-generated content is good," adds Panzeri. Because the law requires that 60 percent of television content now be produced in Argentina, Pucci will have his wish fulfilled, for more cultural programming. Currently, Grupo Clarin, the largest media company in Argentina appears to be the target of the new law. Clarin, a massive conglomerate, owns 73 percent of the country's radio and television licenses. "The idea of the law is to prevent a monopoly from Grupo Clarin (but there is already a lot of competition) and to restrict them from owning more than one 'media', says Mayora. "So, they won't be able to own cable television and open television." "For Grupo Clarin, they will have to give up many of their companies, forcing them to sell them in a very short period of time," she continues. One major concern about Grupo Clarin is their anonymity. "Grupo Clar in . . . have a lot of power, we don't know who are the owners of these big groups," Pucci says. "They are totally anonymous. We don't know what interests they represent. We don't know what their intentions are. We know nothing. They are making new business models all the time and they are creating the agenda every day, because they have the voice and they have the capture of the audience." The law dictates that the licenses granted per corporation will be reduced from 24 to 10, and that companies will now be able to hold them without renewal for 10 years instead of 15. In addition, there will be a board with an equal number of members from each sector in charge of license renewal, with the hope that this will prevent arbitrary executive decisions. There are varied opinions among the people of Argentina, but many of the loudest voices in the media are against the law. "From one side, a lot of people want a new media law, but, the media is all the time saying that this law will kill free speech and they are saying all the time that the government will have all the power to convince everyone how they want things," says Pucci. "It's 50/50." Others take a more negative stance. "I think it has its highlights and its low points. It tries to do too much, it is too restrictive, and it was that distinguishes it from anti-trust of the law which is the problem. born already outdated," says Panzeri. is the division of the media into "The actual law passed in congress Outdated, he says, because of the thirds. Blanchard, who has an MBA is confusing or, at least, not too freedom of the internet, and the hope in International Finance, offers an clear to the general public," Pelenur explanation: "In trading, I do that to continues. "Several congressmen that that it provides. "In theory, the internet has a control my risk, when I'm trading, I have been questioned professed not to lot of new voices," Pucci says. "The break things up that way to balance, have studied the articles in detail. ... voices are independent, but in the to control." I don't think that the public has any Mayora offers a more cynical specific knowledge of the particular internet you never know who is writing, where they are getting the explanation. "I think it's because articles." information from. I'm trying to be the corruption of this government is Not only does the public have positive in this subject, and I think greater than any other government very little knowledge of the bill, they that this internet can democratize the in the past 26 years, and because it have very little opinion of it as well. information." sounds reasonable in theory to limit 'Tm quite certain that if I asked any believe Some regular Joe about the that the increasing law and why they are "I'm quite certain that if I asked any regular Joe for or against it, they of the presence internet will render about the law and why they are for or against it, wouldn't know," says the law ineffective, Panzeri. though. "Not only they WOUidn't know." - Esteban Panzeri The law will the distribution is done through in an entirely different fashion (thus controlling the airwaves or cable will become irrelevant in the traditional way), but the contentgenerators are no longer clustered in 'big media,"' Panzeri says. Pucci agrees. "It is a little necessary to create new laws to regulate but the argument of this law is not that. The argument of this law is that they want to create new voices ... If they were really really true, if they really had that goal, what they should do is to apply the anti-trust law." The main feature of this law the power of a very large company that would manipulate people's minds if they were to own most of the media," she says. The power of Clarin, for many, is little compared to that of the government. "I view the recent media law, which was passed by a lame duck, government-friendly Congress in a midnight volley, as one more step taken by the Kirchner apparatus to gather more control and power," says Carlos Pelenur, a resident of Argentina. And for many, it is the complexity hopefully still help Non-Governmental Organizations (NGOs), who may not have access to the proper audience through the internet. "The people who are in favor of this law say that there are a lot of social groups that they need and they have their right to have their voices," says Pucci. "The voices that are against the law are saying that this third group will be supported by the government so they will always speak in favor of the government, that is the argument." "These newspapers have a position which is not favorable to the The Politics of Media: A History September 2009 The AFIP, the Argentinian tax authority raids the offices of Grupo Clarin . July 1989 - December 1999 December 2007 Carlos Menem, Justicalist, is president of Argentina. Cristina Kirchner, wife of Nestor Kirchner, becomes president of Argentina. 2003 2009 June 2009 Nestor Kirchner loses a mid-term senatorial election. May 2003 - December 2007 October 2009 Nestor Kirchner, also a Justicalist, serves as president of Argentina. The Audio-Visual Communications law passes the senate and is signed into law by Ms . Kirchner on the 11th. II �public opm10n is that they don't believe anyone of these two .... What is sad right now is that what the people are seeing is that there's no option," says Pucci. Public opinion on the law may, however, be divided amongst the classes. ''I'd say the upper classes are, in general, against the law. Sadly, I think that has to do with the influence of the media more than anything," says Panzeri. He goes on to explain why the lower classes may be in favor of the new law. "There is a big influence of what is known as 'clientelism' which means social plans and government aid is used as leverage to gain support." Mayora disagrees, and believes instead, "the high class that is related to the government, and the businessmen that will be benefited from this law and the main competitors of Grupo Clarin will be in favor of the law, and current government of the Kirchners. Personally, myself, I am also not happy with the Kirchners. I think there is just too many issues of power play, corruption, and authoritarian acts. It just goes against my views," says Pelenur. Before the Kirchner administration passed the law, it sent members of the Argentinian tax organization (AFIP) to the offices of Grupo Clarin in a particularly harsh tax audit. The audit, which took place in September, involved nearly 200 agents. Some say this is a clear sign of attempted intimidation. "It's normal to send people from the AFIP to check on companies, but not 200 all at the same time. Apparently the guys from Clarin were all like 'OK just tell me what you need and we will give it to you, but we are not letting 200 people in all at once.' It's ridiculous, and it's another move to emphasize 12 how much power the government has and private companies don't have," says Mayora. This audit led to what is being characterized as a battle between the two entities: the government and the media company. "We don't know the truth, because here, there are no good people, because this is, like, two really huge power poles -- the Grupo Clarin for one side, and the government for the other. They are two really huge powers that are fighting," says Pucci. Blanchard says, "They raided one of the newspapers a little bit to kind of get them to be quiet." That didn't quite work, since the media has been vocal more than ever about the new law. The government also invested in Papel Prensa before the law passed, a paper mill based in Argentina that supplies all of the major newspapers. This was seen as an overt attempt to control the newspapers, according to Mayora: "This company is the one that provides the paper for both newspapers, and they are being threatening, as in 'if you don't stop publishing editorials against the government we are not going to let you publish anything'." Government interference is ultimately a grave concern for many. This is in line with a number of other government-sponsored laws and 'decrees,' such as nationalization of football broadcasts and an ongoing effort to control the Board of the only paper-producing mill in Argentina supplying newsprint, to ready it for government takeover," says Pelenur. "This just reaffirms, in my view, the 'authoritarian' bent of the Kirchners, who are abusing the power bestowed unto them by democratic means." Despite the evidence, it is difficult to see precisely who is to blame. "The the middle-low class will not even honest, it can be very pos1t1ve, but know what the law is about, but they they can use that same law to attack will be in favor of it because it aims their enemies in the media and that can be very dangerous," he says. "The at equality and nationalism." But Pucci believes it may be more real problem is that governments of an ideological division than a class down here haven't been too good at division, "The left side supports the making logical interpretations and new law, and the right side is against applications of the law." Pucci summarizes, "I don't it. Because the conservative people here in Argentina have a really bad know if the government has image of this president and there's a good intentions, bur the good lot of people who are really against thing about this is at least we are the President right now. But, in the discussing it. That's a good thing." left side there's people that think we need a new media law." Blanchard protests, "I don't think anybody, if they' re a normal person, The following people were interviewed for if they're educated at all, would be in this article: Esteban Panzeri - citizen, Argentina; Tim Blanchard - resident, Corsupport of the media law." Despite what looks like a massive dova, Argentina; Pablo Pucci - citizen, lack of public support, the law Buenos Aires, Argentina; Carlos Pelenur was able to make it to Kirchner's table. - citizen, Argentina; Pilar Mayora - HarWhat will be its effects? Panzeri sees vard student, Argentinian emigrant a bleak future. "If the government is * • f GI ll 13 �A History of Violence: Conflict in Kashmir • qr • CH INA Two milk producers were executed after distributing three million pounds of milk products contaminated with melamine, an industrial chemical which made 300,000 children ill. The two men were also part of a larger food-safety scandal that occurred last year. ~- A revalued currency was issued with the intent of curbing unofficial economic activity. At the official exchange rate, I 00,000 won are worth $690, but on the black market, the value is $35 . Because the revaluing would ruin any private cash holding, the announcement threw the country into chaos as people tried to exchange their devalued won. by Shikshya Adhikari IIIl!I KASHMIR "Unfortunately, I think that Kashmir is a roasted turkey. Everyone seems ready to grab their share. However, the poor turkey thinks it is an independent bird," says an anonymous source from Pakistan. Kashmir is currently shared by India, Pakistan and China. The independence of India from the British government was followed by the separation oflndia and Pakistan in 1947. Since then, Kashmir has always been one of the major topics of conflict between the two countries. In 1947, the rulers of all the states in then British India were given the option to choose to be a part of either India or Pakistan, or remain independent. The people belonging to Islam constituted the majority of the Kashmiri population at that time. Thus, the population expected Maharaja Hari Singh, the then ruler of Kashmir, to incorporate Kashmir into Pakistan. However, his hesitation to do so triggered Pakistan to resort to guerilla warfare and the beginning of the Kashmir conflict. Two more wars were fought over Kashmir in 196 5 and 1999. Kashmir - a so-called "Paradise" - a place abundant in AsifAli Zardari speaks at the UN General Assembly natural beauty and famous for its exquisite topography, has had its peace threatened and questioned for a long time. Now, Pakistan controls the northern portion (Gilgit-Baltistan and Azad Kashmir), India controls the central and southern position Qammu and Kashmir and Ladakh) and China holds the northeastern portion (Aksai Chin and the Trans-Karakoram Tract). ''As far as I can say, I think it is not much of a 'control', but governance. Kashmir is technically a free state," adds the anonymous source. It is true that Kashmir holds special autonomy. A law enacted by the Parliament oflndia is applicable in Kashmir only after it has been ratified by the state legislature of Jammu and Kashmir. Azad Kashmir has its own president, prime minister, legislature, high court and official flag, but with the president of Pakistan as the chief executive authority. 15 �"I think they consider themselves as the people of a separate country even though they are under the governance of either India or Pakistan and they are definitely segregated depending on which region they reside in," says Anu Menon, a citizen oflndia. "The people of Kashmir call themselves 'Kashmiris', not Pakistani or Indian. If you talk to a Kashmiri, you will find that they are proud of their name. Here, Kashmir has a prefix of Azad (free)," adds the anonymous source. When asked about the current situation of Kashmir, Nikhil Sharma, a citizen of India, says, "Reports say that the violence in Kashmir is decreasing significantly. However, the internal violence has erupted and has increased to a much greater strength." Menon adds, "Jammu and Kashmir portrays one of the sad stories in the chapter oflndian history. Right from the time of partition, both countries, India and Pakistan, have been fighting over it. Presently, at least in terms of economy, Jammu and Kashmir is on its revival mode." Vinit M , a citizen oflndia, says, "The situation is much better now. There has been a considerable decrease in violence. Regarding the control ofKashmir by India or Pakistan, talks are still going on between the governments. However, the discussion seems to be never-ending." Why is Kashmir's freedom being questioned in the first place when it is technically autonomous? "The fact that it is technically 'free' and is segregated between the rule of two segregated countries themselves, is what endangers the peacefulness of the paradise," says Menon. "India seems to claim Jammu and Kashmir to reap its benefits in terms of tourism and other related activities. India also wants to ensure that it is free from militant rule. On the other hand, Pakistan wants to ensure that Jarnmu and Kashmir is not under the flagship oflndia and it also seems to want to benefit from the Jarnmu and Kashmir's economy." Sharma believes, ''Actually it is only Pakistan, who seems to be much more desperate for Kashmir. From my perspective, I think they want Kashmir to facilitate their motive of gaining a control over India." Says the source from Pakistan, "For India, I think the reasons are political gains, inherent disputes. I think Pakistan has other things to focus on than Kashmir. All Pakistan wants is Kashmir to be an independent and free state. Doesn't having the prefix of Azad (free) mean anything?" Zia Rahman, a citizen of Pakistan, CHIN A Trans-Karakoram Tract KASHMIR 16 brings the historical context into perspective: "Pakistan does not want anything. It is the people of Kashmir who want to be a part of Pakistan." When asked for the reason, Rahman replies, "In Kashmir, there are people belonging to Islam and Pakistan is a Muslim country." "The dispute started with the partition and it has been and will remain a battle ground for now'', says Sharma. "The militants are spread throughout the region and on top of that, they belong to both the sides. Therefore, the people ofKashmir have been finding it very awkward to conduct their day-to-day activities." "There is no clarity regarding which country do these militants belong to. I do believe that these military activities are supported by other outside forces who do not want any cordial relations to be established between India and Pakistan because this relation might be detrimental to their growth," says Menon. However, Rahman claims, "The Indian Army in Kashmir, is seen to be responsible for various murders and rapes." Pakistani President Asif Ali Zardari said, when interviewed by BBC News, that India has never been a threat to Pakistan, and that militants in Indian-administered Kashmir are terrorists. The disputes over Kashmir have been tense for a long time and the activities of militants seem to be a greater hindrance in restoring peace and freedom. There have been reports of deadly actions by Islarnist extremists. They targeted the Kashmiri Pandits, one of the original inhabitants of Kashmir and descendants of the Hindu priests. It is seen as a step towards removing all Hindus from Kashimir. However, at the same time Muslim intellectuals and liberal Muslim leaders in Jarnmu and Kashmir reportedly were under attack by fundamentalists and terrorists. "Reports said that the year 2008 marked the lowest number of civilian casualties in comparison to the highest in 1996. However, the various events in 2009 have put us in a state of utter confusion,'' says Menon. The Struggle for Kashmir November 24, 2009 August 14, 1947 Pakistan attains independence from British India. "Kashmir is an integral part of India" according to a statement issued from the delegation from the European Union. May 26, 1999 The Kargil War begins. 2009 October 23, 1947 A group of tribals and Pakistani forces were successful in overpowering the battalion of the Kashmiri Government after leading an incursion into Kashmir. August I 5, 1947 India, too, declares independence from British India. In 2009, Kashmir saw protests by people of the whole Kashmir valley in response to the killing of two Muslim devotees by the army, Muhammed Amin Tantray and Javid Alunar Dar. Many citizens were also on the streets to protest over the alleged rape and murder of two young women by the Indian Armed forces. An encounter in Poonch district of Jammu and Kashmir resulted in the death of an Indian Army major and two militants. A large number of people also seem to be missing in the region. The strife seems to result from a tension between the need for safety and the need for privacy. "It is mainly the privacy of citizens", says Sharma. "Democracy seems to exist only in theory. The citizens seem to have no privacy at all. The nooks and corners of villages are checked on a regular basis for any sign of terrorism. Yes, they are trying to curb terrorism and all. However, the people are forced to confront lack of privacy. People also seem to go into terrorism due to utter poverty. However, the army is in no position to understand this." Menon adds, "BasicallyJ think, these men have been through difficult situations and have faced different problems. Thus, they resort to seek retribution from such activities." Thus, the question of human rights arises. "Human rights are violated wherever there is unrest, aren't they?," says the source. Kashmir has been under May 2, 2003 India and Pakistan restore diplomatic ties . the dispute of India and Pakistan since India and Pakistan gained independence. According to Human Rights Watch, "Both regular, uniformed Indian army and federal security forces and state-sponsored paramilitary groups have committed serious and widespread human rights violations in Kashmir. The indiscriminate use of lethal force against unarmed demonstrators, other abuses, notably summary executions and torture, show no sign of abatement, due in part to the activities of the state-sponsored militias." Reports also show attacks on human rights activists, most of whom left Kashmir. There have also been attacks on the press and journalists, like Zafar Mehraj, who was shot and injured fatally in 1995. Therefore, with reports of current militant activities and human rights violation, where does Kashmir stand right now? "I do not think that the violence in that region is decreasing. I chink media is playing an important role in covering up incidences which have been threatening the peace of Kashmir day by day," says Menon. The anonymous source adds, "Media controls what we think and how we think They say 'the Kashmir issue' is being resolved and we 'zombies' believe. When they say Pakistan and India cannot be friends, we start to worry and when we see cross border cultural and entertainment exchange, we rejoice." Sharma believes, ''As for now, I chink, both India and Pakistan want to stop this meaningless war. People have been waiting for responses from both the countries. However, they are seriously trying to curb the terrorist activities." He adds, ''At the same time, it is going to be very difficult for India and also for Pakistan to let go of Kashmir easily. Both the countries are somewhat greedy for the tourism-nourishing topography and scenic beauty that Kashmir provides. From what we have heard, it will remain in conflict for now." The anonymous source says, "I think the disputes between India and Pakistan would still be there even if there would be no Kashmir issue at all. Had it been a real issue, I do not think they would have wasted sixty years in the first place. Issues are to be resolved and I have never seen any of the two parties agreeing on any point ever. Currently, all we see is bomb blasts in Peshawar and other parts of Pakistan. When they (the media) have nothing to showcase, the focus will be on 'the Kashmir issue'. The issue will then be all over the talk shows and the papers and of course, on Kashmir Day, the 5m of February." * The following people were interviewed for this article: Anu Menon - citizen ofIndia; Anonymous - citizen of Pakistan; Nikhi! Sharma - engineering student, India; Zia Rahman - citizen, Pakistan; Vinit M citizen, India 17 �Governing the Internet by Chelsea Adams ~ ,~ !!'"41 ~ UNITED KIN GDOM The computer system at the University of East Anglia was hacked into, revealing thousands of e-mail messages among prominent climate researchers that suggest they were working to keep researchers who dissented to the theory of global warming from having their research published. Phil Jones, the director of the Climatic Research Institute at the I I I I BELGIUM This year, the European Union, headquartered in Brussels, passed the Lisbon Treaty, which created a president and foreign minister for the Union. The first elections on Nov.19th resulted in the election of Belgium's Herman Van Rompuy as president, and Catherina Asthon of Britain as foreign minister I I FRANCE Two French energy companies agreed to purchase stakes in two separate Russian natural gas pipelines, while French carmaker Renault has agreed to rescue a struggling Russian auto company. There are also rumors that Russia will purchase a Mistral-class warship from France, with a promise to build several more. The rumors haveincreased tensions with Russia's smaller neighbors. .. FRANCE On September 22°d, the French Parliament passed a bill into law that sparked one of the European Union's most heated civil liberties debates of the Information Era. The "Three Strikes Law," also known as "HADO PI II," (the II refers to an updated version of the law) governs the use and restriction of internet access and attempts to contend with internet piracy. "It's really a debate about the freedom of everyone to be able to access internet," says Anne Berard, a citizen of Paris, France. The new law, backed by French President Nicolas Sarkozy, establishes a regulatory body which will be able to investigate and monitor suspected copyright infringers. The agency, known as the "High Authority for the Diffusion of Arts and the Protection of Rights on the Internet" (HADOPI) is to dispense warnings to anyone caught engaging in illegal downloading. Upon the I six apar President Sarkozy participates in a 2006 debate on the internet third "strike," the High Authority would draft a judicial order, including penalties, to be issued to the offender by a magistrate. The offending party's internet would be disconnected for a year, and he or she would be subject to a fine of up to 300,000 Euros. Though this law might come as good news to online media distributors and copyright owners, some French authorities are deeming the law unconstitutional and even see it as a violation of fundamental human rights. In June, the French Constitutional Council struck down a version of the law that gave the High Authority the power to bar infringers from access to the internet without judiciary consent. "It's been rejected once already," says Berard, a French citizen who is critical of Sarkozy's initiatives. "A large number of deputies weren't in Parliament that day, and the Socialist Party has been against it from the beginning. 19 �To make sure that it wasn't rejected a Business, Innovation and Skills min- arise in the presence of wireless insecond time, Sarkozy's party made ister, is laying the groundwork for a ternet connections. If an internet sure that all of their deputies were "Three Strikes" system in the U.K. user has a wireless network connecpresent for the vote. At first I didn't Other internet service providers tion that is not password protected, feel too much concern about it, be- have released statements urging me- anyone with wireless capabilities can cause I don't download many things dia companies to come up with bet- access the web via that network. on the internet, but I don't like this ter ways of protecting digital media There is no clear way to sort out an or to provide more free content for illegal downloader from a lawful inway of governing." This series of votes came in the internet users. ternet user whose wireless internet "I don't know how it's going to connection has been abused in this wake of impassioned discussions in the European Council, the political end up, or if they will ever be able to way. Families with one internet conbody that is comprised of the 47 make the law work," says Berard. nection face the same problemheads of state of members of the Eu- The issue of enforcing HADOPI has children using the internet to illeropean Union. The European Coun- given rise to much protest in gally download games, movies, or cil has been struggling with a bundle France. "The law is new but already music without parental knowledge face the same threats of telecommunications reforms "I think Sarkozy's party wins nothing. They will under HADOPI. "So far,'' says for years, and Ni- change that if they can, but there is only so much Berard, "I haven't colas Sarkozy's heard of anyone support ofHADO- Parliament can do to the internet." - Guillaume Vey having the internet PI II brought the debate to center st age . obsolete," says Guillaume Vey, who cut off since the law was voted into "If this law exists, it's because CD lives in Dijon, France. "Any software being. I'm not sure there will be any companies or the cinema industry that uses encryption isn't covered by [disconnections], because if they cut haven't been able to adjust to a new HADOPI, and the law is only for internet to anyone, and since the tool: the internet," says Berard. "In- peer-to-peer networks," says Vey. European Union has said this is stead of finding one way [to adapt], These kinds of networks are com- against human rights, the person officials are just putting out a blan- monly used for file-sharing, but di- just has to go in front of European ket law, which won't solve the prob- rect download links fall outside of human rights courts. I don't know if the bounds of HADOPI. "For the they will be able to get their internet lem at all." TalkTalk, one of the U.K.'s leading moment," says Vey, "I chink Sarkozy's back, but this will make [Parliament] internet providers, is threatening le- party wins nothing. They will change look very bad." The European Council has made gal action against its government that if they can, but there is only so should the U.K. decide to follow much Parliament can do to the in- efforts to establish a "bill of rights" that would outline exactly what insuit with the French Parliament. ternet." Lord Peter Mandelson, Britain's Ocher problems with HADOPI ternet users can and cannot do on- A History of HADOPI September 28, 2008 French Constitutional Council denies the constitutionality of HADOPI, prompting the revi sion of the bill into HADOPI II. 2008 2009 April 9, 2009 September 22, 2009 French National Assembly rejects first version French Parliament passes HADOPI II bill. of HADOPI bill. 20 e pa June I 0, 2009 European Council releases the statement that "no restriction may be imposed on the fundamental rights and freedoms of end-users, without a prior ruling by the judicial authorities." J'util1se October 22, 2009 Constitutional Council approves the constitutionality of the revised policy, which requires judiciary intervention before disabling internet access I l �~.--..,. ..- Members of the Socialist party watch the Royal-Sarkozy debate online line. Many policymakers wish to equate the freedom of internet access to the freedom of speech and communication. The internet has become the playground of politicians and their campaigns, journalists and their messages, schools, governments, artists, churches, and individuals-a digital forum that captures and expands upon actual, real-time exchanges. In November 2008, the European Council released this statement: "No restriction may be imposed on the fundamental rights and freedoms of end-users, without a prior ruling by the judicial authorities, notably in accordance with Article 11 of the Charter of Fundamental Rights of the European Union on freedom of expression and information, save when public security is threatened where 22 the ruling may be subsequent. This right shall include freedom to hold opinions and to receive and impart information and ideas without interference by public authority and regardless of frontiers." "The fact is," says Berard, "that the European Council says the exact opposite of what [Parliament] has ruled. Maybe through the human rights courts, something can be done about this law, because it has already passed all of the different steps within the French authorities." The problematic issues of"public security" mentioned in the EC's statements have yet to be universally defined. The world bore witness to the chaos that can come from internet restriction during a recent round of elections in Iran. In June of 2009, Iran held its tenth presidential elec- tion since 1979, the year of the Iranian Revolution. President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad won in a widely-contested vote. Several weeks before the election, Mir Hossein Mousavi, the leading candidate for the Green opposition party, engaged in a vigorous internet campaign. The "Green" movement in Iran is an anti-religious movement that has been gaining members and support since the Iranian Revolution. Green supporters using Twitter and other social networking devices fanned the flames in support of Prime Minister Mousavi, a candidate who utilized web resources to appeal to a large voting audience . Shortly before the results of the election were announced, protests against alleged voting fraud erupted in cities all over the country. When supporters of the opposltlon party a young man like me forget about The French Parliament's actions may began to organize demonstrations filtering and internet connectivity. force the European Council to take over the web, the government re- The internet is our second voice- a more definitive stance on the isstricted bandwidth and set up filters we citizens do not yet have our first. sue of civil liberties on the internet. on commonly used sites like Face- " Already, internet users are coming The Green Party exchanges over before the EC's human rights courts book and YouTube. As the election results were being announced, the the internet were deemed a threat to to call attention to the laws. Alterinternet was completely shut down Iran's security, and the government natives and more effective versions took control, issuing arrest warrants of HADOPI have been proposed to for more than 45 minutes. To Iranians, the filtering and for those whose internet presence members of the French Parliament, monitoring of internet connectivity was judged most dangerous. Dan- and the problem of piracy remains. comes as a secondary concern to a gerous as it is, Hosseini stays out of "Everything depends on the price of more basic issue . "Nobody thinks the political conflicts whenever pos- art," says Vey. "Free and totally legal [filtering] is a good online media alteridea, but it is not "The HADOPI decision was premature. Pirating natives are currentthe major probly the best way to lem. Many people will continue to be a problem as long as file-shar- . proceed with these . even think that it ing sites exist. A law that leaves so many concerns issues. " is good for the The freedom of community. Let wide open is a bad law. In some way, the internet expression in a digme explain it like is limitless, and Parliament is wrong if it thinks it ital realm is a douthis," says Emad ble-edged sword. can control its borders and rules." - Guillaume Vey Hosseini, an IraniUsers will continue an citizen living in to demand the right Tehran. "If you don't have money, sible. "It takes too much time and to say (or "emote") what they wish the price of things is none of your is dangerous for your life. There is online. But even with these strong concern. We don't really have the in- something different here . If some cases for human rights, the mask of ternet itself. Average internet con- party takes power, it uses power to digital anonymity on the internet nections in Iran are about 56kbps. silence the other party, because the points to something fundamentally You can find maybe a few home us- other party holds the exact opposite inhuman about the medium of the . ers with connection limits of view. " world wide web. The differences 128kbps. We don't have static IP adAt the core of France's legislation between a chat room and a coffee dresses here so we can't make online is the same issue that became appar- house, online college curriculum and purchases with Paypal, Ebay, Ama- ent in Iran-should the government conventional classes, or even digital zon, or other kinds of accounts. Fil- monitor the internet for the protec- media and a live concert of performtering is really a small issue com- tion of the rights of its citizens, and ing arts are subtle but meaningpared to these problems." should it have the ability to shut ful. France has paved the way for a At 56kbps, video streaming is down t~at avenue if citizens abuse strange, new policy. The Parliament virtually impossible, programs like connectivity? has made the bold statement that it Skype and other social utilities run "The HADOPI decision was pre- is up to the world's policymakers to unreliably, and users cannot ex- mature," says Guillaume Vey. "Pirat- decide if the natures of these digichange large files without setting ing will continue to be a problem as tal exchanges are human enough to aside hours for uploading and down- long as file -sharing sites exist. A law be considered fundamental human loading. The Green Party's boldest that leaves so many concerns wide rights. attempts to establish a political pres- open is a bad law. In some ways, the ence on the internet were thwarted internet is limitless, and Parliament by extremely limited connectivity. is wrong if it thinks it can control its The following people were interviewed for this article: Anna Berard - Citizen, "The Green Party has formed some- borders and rules." thing of a revolution against [the The passage of HADOPI in France Paris, France; Emad Hosserini - Citizen, majority], and we have other ma- has marked a turning point in the Tehran, Iran; Guillaume Vey - Citizen, jor problems here that makes even legislation of the Information Age. Dijon, France * 23 �:r:: ISRAEL Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu ordered a I 0-month freeze on the building of Jewish settlements in the West Bank and East Jerusalem, an area heavy with Palestinians. But he has refused to call a freeze for longer than I 0 months, upsetting many Palestinians. _ I The British Commonwealth has voted to include Rwanda in its collection of 54 countries. It is the first country admitted that was not a part of the original colonial British Commonwealth. E I KENYA After heavy deforestation in the Mau Forest, which has been blamed as the cause of a recent drought, the Kenyan government is working to replant trees, and in the process, evict thousands of Ogiek, a group of people who call t he forest home. Many suspect that the move is more economically than environmentally motivated . C SOUTH AFRICA The World Health Organization released guidelines for new HIV treatment. President Jacob Zuma immediately adopted the reforms for South Africa, where more people are HIV positive than in any other nation. The action shows a break from former President Thabo Mbeki, who went so far as to deny the link of HIV and AIDS. ��DATE DUE � Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. 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Creator An entity primarily responsible for making the resource Fryer-Biggs, Zachary (Editor-in-Chief) Title A name given to the resource The Epoch, Vol IV Issue II Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource 2009-12 Description An account of the resource Volume IV, Issue II of The Epoch Journal. Published in Winter 2009. Identifier An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context Epoch Journal Winter 2009 Coverage The spatial or temporal topic of the resource, the spatial applicability of the resource, or the jurisdiction under which the resource is relevant Annapolis, MD Publisher An entity responsible for making the resource available St. John's College Language A language of the resource English Type The nature or genre of the resource text Rights Information about rights held in and over the resource St. John's College owns the rights to this publication. Format The file format, physical medium, or dimensions of the resource pdf Student publication https://s3.us-east-1.amazonaws.com/sjcdigitalarchives/original/270c7796a4a29770a4b0f11070f26659.pdf 2095354f8f1505a0ea5ec90f1b10c21f PDF Text Text Spring 2009 Volume III, Issue 3 �EUROPE Tumult Revisited: Greece's Riots 5 Force Fed Freedom: The March of Gay Rights 8 A Culture of Censorship 10 Chelsea Adams Erin Shadowens Valerie Blomberg ASIA & OCEANIA The Day After Democracy 15 Shikysha Adhikari AMERICAS Running on Fumes: Venezuela's Economic Crisis 19 John Vining ' AFRICA & MIDDLE EAST Bloodying the Holy Land 23 Tex Pasley 10: Tej; 11:Radicali Milano; 13: Timothy Post; 15: Jean-Francois Bauche; 16: Budha's Breakfast, rvebik; 20: Que Comunismo; 21 : Luiz Felipe da Silva de Castro; 23: Michael Ramallah; Through the Lens: Zaa. BEYOND NEWS Cameron's Corner 26 Through the Lens 27 Cameron Coates © 2009 The Epoch INFO@EPOCHJOURNAL,ORG WWW,EPOCHJOURNAL,ORG Photo Credits: Cover: Lobo Estepario; ToC: Wen-Yan King; 6: Sotiris Farmarkis, Dkilim, ASSOCIATED COLLEGIATE PRESS The Epoch is produced and distributed in Annapolis, Maryland. Please contact The Epoch for information on advertisements at info@epochjournal.org. Opinions expressed in articles or illustrations are not necessarily those of the Editorial Board or St. John's College. The Epoch Staff Founder, Editor-in-Chief Managing Editor Layout Editor Artistic Director Business Director Web Design Chairman, Board of Trustees Zachary Fryer-Biggs Tex Pasley Erin Shadowens John Vining Tyler Clegg Eric Honour Malcolm Cecil-Cockwell �Tumult Revisited: Greece's Riots Chelsea Adams Annapolis '12 IRELAND • The three largest banks in Ireland were given $7.7 billion from the Irish government, in return for partial control and dividends from bank shares. The banks, which had overseen until recently, the fastest-growing economy in Europe, were in danger of failing. DENMARK • Prime Minister Anders Fogh Rasmussen is considering switching to the Euro, a measure that will probably be put to referendum later in the year. Such a move is being considered by other countries outside the Euro Zone In response to the global recession. TURKEY • Prime minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan walked out of a debate with Israeli president Shimon Peres over lsraers Invasion of the Gaza Strip. The move was supported by Muslims. Including many in Turkey, but may hurt Turkey's aspirations for EU and NATO membership. For thousands of years, the Athenian Acropolis has symbolized the evolution of a government that is otherworldly. Tourists seek the whispers of the ancients in shadows of an archaic city, one which was born in a time and place clouded with the political uncertainties of a tentative city-state. What students today learn in history books about Greece seems foreign and obsolete. Stories of short-lived tyrannies, beleaguered campaigns, and wars that lasted for generations are mingled with texts from some of history's greatest "political" minds. The ardent oaths of Plato's Republic and Aristotle's Politics are buried in a cultural proclivity towards civil discontent. The Hellenic states of antiquity were warring more often than they were at peace, and the Greek nation of the twentyfirst century seems to have retained part of this inclination. Athenian newspapers from the last few months have been spattered with stories of rioting students, corrupt government officials, and growing economic instability. It is possible that this recent wave of violence is simply the culmination of a series of unfortunate events. One might wonder, however, if there is something more deeply ingrained in the psyche of the country, something that leads invariably to infighting. "History is a very sensitive matter for all G reeks, young and old," says Estantzos M avrokefalou, who lives and works in Athens. "The problem we face is that the political climate now is one of extreme controversy. Everything depends on beliefs or party tendencies that come from experiences in our history." The politics hidden behind the current conflict are as complicated as they are diverse. The conservative government under Prime Minister Costas Karamanlis of the New Democracy Party is widely unpopular, especially among Greek students and youths. Karamanlis took power in 2004, following a convincing win over leaders of the Pan Hellenic Socialist Movement (PASOK) . PASOK remains bitterly at odds with the conservative party, recently releasing a statement that deemed the current government "dangerous for the country, the health and security of the citizens, and for the economy." Karamanlis has rejected repeated calls for his resignation. Among other debacles scarring his record, recent police activity in Athens and other major Greek cities has left citizens distrustful of their government's ability to protect them. The case of Alexis Grigoropoulos is just one example that has lead to wide distrust. In December of 2008, Alexis, reported to be no more than 16 years old, was shot and killed by a member of the Greek police. The story made waves in world media outlets as Athens fell into disharmony. "Everything began when that stupid cop killed a young man in cold blood," says Bil Karas, resident of Thessaloniki. Since the shooting, riots have broken out across the Hellenic Republic. Demonstrations have shaken the populous to its core. "The cop believed that the child posed a threat, so he shot him. That is just the way things go," says Apostolos, a university student studying in Athens who asked that only his first name appear in print. Alexis Grigoropoulos was reportedly demonstrating with fellow students for education reform ' when the offending officer fired into a group of the protesters and hit the boy. "I hate violence. It's not the solution, but sometimes people think it's the only way," says Apostolos. He reflects upon brutalities from both the police and Athenian citizens that have occurred as dose as 5 miles away from his residence. "There is a place near the center [of Athens] named Eksarxeia. This is where many of the riots happen. Cops are unwelcomed here. For them, it is like walking through a ghetto, but only for them. Most people think that it is dangerous, but I have to say that I have gone there for more than ten years, and nobody has hurt me." Eksarxeia is within walking distance of the Athenian Acropolis. The Greek government's response to the shooting has been a staunch vow to "work towards tougher policing in the nation's capitol and other parts of the country." It seems obvious that "more m ight" will not equal "more right," and 5 �few citizens are eager to see what reforms the government has to offer. "They seem to like the power of the uniform, and they like to use it, regardless of the consequences," says Karas. Citizens were so outraged over the Grigoropoulos incident that they retaliated with shootings of their own against the police. An upstart terrorist group in Athens known as "Revolutionary Struggle" claimed responsibility for shootings on Dec. 23 and Jan. 5. One officer was in critical condition following the shootings. The group that claimed responsibility has also been tied to attacks on the U.S. Embassy in Athens. Following the new wave of violence, police officers took to the streets, this time in a protest march of their own.They carried banners calling for peace and blared Beatles songs in an effort to build support. "Before those officers were shot, everyone hated the police. Now, most of them don't remember anything," says Apostolos. This turn-on-a-dime mentality makes it difficult to enact lasting change. Protests, riots, and demonstrations serve as convincing evidence that Greeks have something to say but have been robbed of the means to say it. Americans cannot relate---the United States calls upon its media resources to report injustices within the system. Greeks, on the other hand, seem to think that their media market has been the cause of injustice. Greek media networks are presenting much more than a simple bias. "I believe the real problem today in Greece is the media, and by that I mean Greek private television chains," says Mavrokefalou. Angry youths targeted television stations at the end of December, taking reporters at gunpoint and forcing them to read protest messages."Many of [thestations] do not even have a legal right to put up their antennas. They managed to create a status quo, and if the government wants to touch them, they shout about dictatorship and censorship." Some believe the television stations are profiting from a series of power shifts throughout the last several decades that have left both the New Democracy Party and PASOK in political disrepair. In 1974, Constantine Karamanlis, uncle of the current prime minister, founded the New Democracy Party and restored long-absent democracy to Greece. The country had been controlled by a group of right-wing generals previous elections in 1974. Constantine Karamanlis became president and helped lead Greece into a coalition with the European Community, now the European Union. Over the next several years, Greece became significancly more economically stable and continued to regain much of what it had lost as the result German occupation in World War IL In 1981, PASOK won a majority of seats in parliamentary elections. The new prime minister refused to support Karamanlis for a second term, and the parties began to feud publicly. "There has never been a perfect education in democratic rules at our schools and in our society," says Mavrokefalou. "Too much influence comes from family political vendettas or pressure from peer groups." Power has bounced back and forth between PASOK and the ND since 1981. Each party has succumbed to internal feuding and a subsequent fall from grace, only to enjoy a return when the opposition party encounters equally embarrassing pitfalls. PASOK's popularity has been steadily rising over the past two years. "All factors seem to lead to the conclusion that PASOK will be returning to power in the next election," claims Bil Karas. "lt doesn't really matter who is in charge, as long as they can convince the people that something is getting done." "Now, nobody trusts the parties," says Mayrokefalou. "There were too many scandals in each of the main parties representing the right and the left. Therefore, the reaction has been in riots." Mavrokefalou feels that the media storm is doing nothing to help the situation. "News programs are less rigorous and more superficial. They replace research with what they say 'feels like' the truth. Today, the media is judging-and also punishing." As an outsider looking in, one will discover that it is hard to sort fact from fiction in Greece. "The worst thing is that no one takes responsibility for their actions," replies Karas when asked about the breakdown of trust between citizens and government. Void after void in the political system has been filled with new leaders, new attempts at reform, and new promises. Aposcolos claims that part of the problem is that his government "is just not powerful." He says that power falls to the "European Union, the U.S.A., and some rich people to decide about [Greece's] future." Apostolos' cynicism carries with it a grain of wisdom. Greece is not a powerful government, and it will not be in the near future. The country lacks faith in its founding principles, and as history progresses, it has fewer and fewer chances to establish a strong political voice. Until Greece finds stability through strong leadership, it will continue to fall victim to the circular school of history that has kept it embattled since the founding of Athens. Aristocle claimed that "law is order, and good law is good order." lt is time for Greece to seek out strength through the wisdom of well-crafted law. Interviewed: Apostolos - University student in Athens, Greece Estantzos Mavrokefalou - Citizen of Athens, Greece Bil Karas - Citizen of Thessaloniki, Greece • A History of Greek Democracy December, 2008 360 B.C.E. Greece succumbs to a prolonged period of military dictatorship. Plato writes The Republic. 1941 1941 197 4 1967-1974 Constantine Karamanlis restores Athenian Democracy. Alexis Grigoropoulos is shot and killed by a member of the Greek Police; citizens react with riots and violence towards officers. 2009 C.E . Axis Powers occupy Greece during World War II. January I, 1981 Greece joins the European Community, now the European Union. October, 1981 Greece elects Andreas Papandreou as first Socialist Prime Minister; PASOK takes control. 6 2004 Costas Karamanlis is elected Prime Minister; New Democracy Party regains control of government. 7 �. T .: Force Fed Freedom: The March of Gay Rights Erin Shadowens Annapolis '12 I am not a homophobe," Michael Wisniewski of Korzeniow, Poland declares. "[But] I think homosexuality is a disease that should be treated. Special centers should arise for them in which they could be treated, as it is with drug addicts and alcoholics." While 66 countries united to sign a historic, non-binding United Nations (UN) resolution decriminalizing homosexuality worldwide last December, Poland remains at a crossroads between European Union (EU) mandates and a hard-line conservative, Catholic heritage. "People cannot be arrested for being homosexual," Mariusz Mario of Torun, Poland said. "But I'm not sure how it is with the military. I think the official [rule] is they can serve." Emphasis, however, on official. "Even though they [homosexuals] have the right to military service, they are not welcome in the army," Wisniewski asserts, recalling the United States own "Don't Ask, Don't Tell" policy that governed the U.S. military's sexual orientation policy until late last year. Rafal Lesiak, a soldier in the Polish army, refused to even entertain the notion that openly gay individuals could serve. "They can't," he said simply. "Can't." All EU member states must eliminate laws that discriminate on the basis of sexual orientation as part of membership. Poland, an EU member, legalized homosexuality back in 1932. All the same, conservative leaders often garner criticism from LGBT (Lesbian-Gay-Bisexual-Transgender) groups for questionable, prejudicial remarks. In 2006, the Prime Minister went as far as to J - - - GERMANY I H o m o sexuality has b een legal since 1969 Same-sex relationships are recognized Marriage is not legal Sam e-sex c oup les can adopt G ay s can serv e openly in t he military All d iscri m i n ati o n is ban ned - \ \ POLAND legal • Homosexuality is • Sam e-sex relationships are not recognized • Sa m e-sex couples cannot ad o p t • G ays can serve openly in the military • • • • • Homosexuality has been legal since 1993 Same-sex relationships are not recognized Same-sex couples cannot adopt G ays can serve in the military All discrimination is not banned . NORWAY • • • • • • 8 Homosexuality has been legal since 1972 Same-sex relationships are recognized legal Marriage is Same-sex couples can adopt G ays can servein the military All discrim ination is banned SPRING 2009 History of LGBT Rights in Poland 2005 1932 Polish government bans LGBT parades in Warsaw and Poznan . Poland decriminalizes homosexuality. 1990 1948 Poland makes 15 the age of consent for all sexual acts, World Health Organization removes homosexuality from list of diseases 2009 LGBT Rights in Europe • • • • • • H - - - - r , - I - \ characterize homosexuality as "unnatural." As Poland continues to negotiate the tension between laws with a liberal outlook and a family oriented populace, questions regarding schools and adoption threaten to undermine a precarious balance. The dilemma has acutely manifested itself in legislation regarding the Polish education system. Parliament, with the support of the former Deputy Prime Minister and Education Minister, considered a piece of legislationthat would effectively eliminate homosexuality from all levels of administration and instruction in schools. As the Deputy Prime Minister Miroslaw Orzechowski said in 2007, the legislation mandates that "all teachers who reveal their homosexuality will be fired." "It is a mistake to accept homosexuals. It is a bad example for our children and future generations," Wisniewski declares. Although recent elections have stalled the bill's progress, it is far from forgotten. The current Prime Minister Donald Tusk pledged fidelity to the EU Charter, which looks favorably on LGBT rights. Nevertheless, government officials that make and enforce laws contrary to public sentiment risk a serious backlash in democratic elections. Approximately 50 percent of Polish voters actively object to homosexuality, objections which either appear as impassioned assertions like those of Wisniewski, or the feigned neutrality of Leisak. "I can't answer that question because I don't have [an] opinion," Lesiak responded when first questioned about LGBT laws in his country. "I'm neutr al ..." When the question was repeated, he said, "I never think about that." 1937 Nazi concentration camps assign pink triangle to gay men . 1969 2007 Poland decriminalizes homosexual prostitution . 1999 Treaty of Amsterdam requires EU member states to decriminalize homosexuality Again, in regards to the military: I'm a soldier and you don't want me to answer that question, believe me." In a country where an overwhelming 90% identifies with the Catholic Church, the question of homosexuality has one answer or no answer at all. Police handling of LG BT organizations and demonstrations have repeatedly excited accusations of intolerance by ILGA-Europe and Amnesty International, which twice begged the aid of the European Court of Human Rights. The Court censured Polish government and police for both preventing marches and failing to provide adequate security. Right-wing nationalist groups, like the All Polish Youth, continually intimidate demonstrators both physically and verbally. Indeed, citizens like Wisniewski see a nationalist response to alternative lifestyles as the only response. "Because of their orientation and general way of being, [it will] have a bad influence on children [and] young people. Their behavior provokes behavior that should not take place," says Wisniewski. Behavior, Wisniewski explains, that involves a manner of dress and "a specific way of being." It remains something he does not want to see broadcasted in any forum much less a public one. Poland is far from alone in this cultural struggle. All major Western and European nations signed the December resolution - except Russia and the United States. Opposition from the Vatican and predominately Muslim nations came as little surprise. "Muslim countries are different," Jirka Roman of the Czech Republic explains. "[They have] different mentalities, different lifestyles, different education. [However], European nationalities have a similar mentality, we should have the same rights." Even though the U.S. Supreme Court disbarred laws of the same nature, there are no federal hate crime or anti-discrimination laws, unlike most European nations. Furthermore, various ballot proposals and state supreme court decisions prevent the U.S. from assenting to the resolution according to then Secretary of State Condoleeza Rice. Nevertheless, the new U.S. Ambassador to the UN - Dr. Susan Rice--articulated a paradigm shift under the Obama administration, a shift that looks favorable to LGBT activists. Unfortunately for LGBT proponents, the non-binding resolution contains no enforcement mechanism or a clear implementation timeline. It merely articulates an aspiration culturally amenable to select regions. Even though Roman would like to call Europe "many countries as one state," he concedes that Europe itself boasts of "borders and customs that are not the same." "We cannot dictate to anyone," he states. "[Western Europe] should live more for ourselves and stop teaching the world that we are the best. People...know our European Court of Human Rights holds in Baczkowski and Others v. Poland that these bans were unlawful. lifestyle and if they want to be like us they will be." It seems, according to Roman, that the question of right and wrong cannot be answered by a non-binding UN resolution or EU charter. "We should not tell [other countries] what is moral and what is not moral. If they want to, they will change this themselves." It becomes readily apparent that it is easier to ask the question than find the answer to LGBT acceptance. For Wisniewski, tradition and family unite a country--not human rights. For Poland's LGBT minority, these rights provide the only real defense of their lifestyle. "Polish people want to reject this way of life," Anne Nowak, a college student in Poland, said. "I think that maybe they don't know how to treat different people. It's easy to get different and people mixed up." Yet if Poland is to remain in the EU a conclusion must be reached, and a course must be determined to reconcile these vastly disparate conceptions of the LGBT community. Interviewed: Michael Wisniewski - Korzeniow, Poland Rafal Lesiak - Soldier, Polish citizen Jirka Roman - Citizen, Czech Republic Anne Nowak - Student, Polish citizen Dan Lucas - Citizen, United Kingdom Mariusz Mario - Torun, Poland 9 �THE EPOCH - A Culture of Censorship Valerie Blomberg Annapolis '12 On January 20th, 2009, the global community was struck by news from Moscow, Russia, that a human rights lawyer and a journalist were shot in broad daylight in central Moscow. Stanislav Markelov was a lawyer well-known for fearlessly defending victims of political abuse. Killed alongside him was anarchist Anastasia Baburova, a 25-year-old freelance journalist. A double murder that appears shocking to the rest of the world is unfortunately not uncommon in Russia, where media freedom has taken a turn for the worse ever since the nineties. Will the murders of Markelov and Baburova prompt a movement toward greater media freedom in Russia? "No, not inside the country," says Andrei Rihter, Associate Professor in Mass Media Law and Journalism at Moscow State University. "Even the murder of Anna Politkovskaya [a well known journalist] had no such effect." Russia now ranks as the thirdmost dangerous country for journalists, 10 behind Iraq and Algeria. According to the Committee to Protect Journalists, 49 journalists have been killed as a result of their professional duties since 1992. Russian authorities, on the other hand, only acknowledge the deaths of those journalists who are killed on the job. Anna Politkovskaya was an investigative reporter who wrote extensively on sensitive political issues and frequently spoke out against the policies of President Vladimir Putin. Her murder in 2006 sparked global outrage, prompting Mikhail Gorbachev to say, "It is a blow to the entire democratic, independent press. It is a grave crime against the country, against all of us." Investigative reporters for newspapers which circulate outside the major cities are the most endangered. "Tons of these folks have been intimidated, shut down, or just plain killed in the past several years," says Thomas Campbell, editor of the Englishlanguage news blog Chto Delat based in Moscow. "Anna Politkovskaya is the example everyone knows, but she is hardly alone--even at her own newspaper, Novaya Gazeta, where the death toll is something like five or six, depending on how you count." Many have linked the murder of Markelov with the savage beating of newspaper editor Mikhail Beketov outside his home last November. Beketov led a crusade against corruption in the local administration of Kimkhi, a town outside of Moscow. "This sort of violence and intimidation works better than censorship," says Campbell. "Because it discourages a journalist from even starting to look into a story." Repression of the media in Russia takes many forms . Authorities use "friendly pressure" to convince reporters to withhold information or put a certain spin on a story. A more indirect form of censorship is stepping in the way of advertising flows . Pressure is placed on businesses and newsstands, forcing them to distribute only media that the government supports. And of course, there's the alarming death toll for journalists at newspapers such as Novaya Gazeta. Mikhail Blinnikov, a U.S. resident who was born and lived in Russia remembers when the Russian media was more free, "In the early 1990s the situation was completely different, with everyone reading 3-4 papers a day. Back then there were two or three independent TV channels as well, most famous of which, NTV, was forcibly taken over by the Putin government in the early 2000-200 l ." "Media freedom is an elusive thing," says Blinnikov. "Russia has more of it than China, but less than most other large countries. Specifically, TV is not free at all. All the major channels are directly controlled by the government and/ or a few semi-governmental corporations. Local channels are mostly supported by the local authorities." Unfortunately, most Russians rely on television as their main source of news. "A week watching the news broadcasts on the central channels will stand your hair on end," says Campbell. "The viewpoint is that of the ruling elite alone, and you get the impression that in Russia there are only two people, Putin and Medvedev [the current Russian president] , who are surrounded by a large cast of nearly voiceless -- but, of course, grateful -- 'extras' -- the other 140 million people who have the misfortune to live in Russia." Self-censorship is the most widespread form of repression in Russia, according to Rihter. It succeeds where outright censorship fails since it originates in the news organizations themselves. "In Soviet times, censorship was an official practice," Campbell responds. "There was a thick bureaucracy that censored literally everything that was published, from newspapers and books to art exhibitions. Nothing like that exists now, but (on TV especially) many stories are just 'disappeared' -- i.e., not reported in the central press -or reported in such a distorted way that, if you happen to have some knowledge of the real story -- you would wonder what SPRING 2009 they're talking about." Another impediment to true freedom of the press is limited government access. Policy makers meet behind locked doors, in rooms where journalists are regularly denied access. "Then there is the difficulty of getting information or interviews from government officials," says Campbell. "And getting people to go on the record because they're scared what might happen to them." The authorities themselves face losing their jobs or worse, if caught expressing their true opinion. Mainstream media came almost exclusively under government control when the Putin administration in 2000 coerced the major news organizations into following the party line. Nowadays, a return to the "glory days" of the nineties seems less and less possible. "I watched a lot of TV in Russia in the nineties," Campbell reminisces. "It was the most freewheeling, informative TV I have ever seen in my life, anywhere. Anything and everything was discussed and reported openly--and of course it wasn't necessarily a pretty picture. What we have now is a crying shame." In a nation where governmentsponsored media dominates one would expect that smaller media outlets like Novaya Gazeta, struggling to present an alternative viewpoint, would gain a renegade reputation as outspoken left-wing activists and troublemakers. But according to Campbell, even if a publication has a good reputation, there's the further difficulty of getting it distributed outside the major cities. "Novaya Gazeta has a good reputation among the folks who read it and care about the things they write about. In many cases, they (or a few similar publications) are simply the only ones writing about certain stories. But again, their circulation (supplemented by those reading the paper online) is limited. In my experience in St. Petersburg, newsstands often don't carry the paper." In the provinces, journalists lack the resources available to their counterparts in the big cities of Moscow and St. Petersburg. In addition, they often face local authorities wielding great power. Illegal pressure is placed on journalists to withhold information or present a story in an approved manner. In most cases, the regional government provides the funding for the local media and the local media is run by the authorities themselves. This poses obstacles for oppositional movements and human rights organizations because it leaves almost no room for gaining momentum, or simply getting the word out. Even if the mainstream media chooses to report on an organized protest, for example, the names of the people involved and the organizations they represent are rarely mentioned. Instead they are vaguely referred to as a "public figure" or "political group." "I think that is the main issue," says Campbell. "Not reputation, but access. I don't know whether any sociologists or pollsters have investigated this, but I would imagine that, say, if you polled folks nationwide and asked them 1) whether they knew who Anna Politkovskaya was, (I hope) most would know something about her. But 2) if you asked them about Novaya Gazeta (or some other publication 11 �A History of Media Freedom in Russia January 20, 2009 April 3, 200 I Lawyer Stanislav Markelov and journalist Anastasia Baburova are shot in central Moscow. The murders have all the outward appearances of a political assassination. Markelov is believed have been the primary target. NTV. a major TV news station, comes under the direct control of the Russian government after its previously independent status proved a financial disaster. 1999 December 3 I, 1999 Putin comes to power after the resignation of Boris Yeltsin . He won the presidential election the following year. of this sort), then the vast majority would say they've never heard of it. So while the mainstream might indulge in slandering such outlets or their journalists, the best way to make sure they have no influence is simply not to mention them at all." In any country, media serves as the main channel of communication between those in power and the general public. Does the state of media freedom in Russia represent the country's current relationship between government and people? According to Rihter, "It probably does, especially when governmental media dominate the market, like in Russia. I would not say it is the most important issue for the country in the current economic crises, but certainly 2009 October 7, 2006 Anna Politkovskaya is murdered in the elevator of her apartment building in Moscow. Politkovskaya was a journalist who reported on the Chechen conflict and spoke out against the policies of the Putin administration . without solving it the country will not develop as a democracy." If things continue as they have over the past few months, it appears that Russia will continue to be a dangerous place for journalists. Blinnikov looks to the internet as an increasingly valuable resource for Russians seeking the real stories. "The most freedom is on the Internet with a few dozen high-quality news sites, including many with fairly anti-governmental views." As the internet becomes more accessible to the average citizen, many hope that the numerous obstacles facing the press will be overcome, and that Russia can finally takes its place among other first-world countries in it media liberty. November 13, 2008 Mikhail Beketov, editor of a small newspaper in the province of Kimkhi , is beaten outside his home. He was a harsh critic of the local authorities . Interviewed: Andrei Rihter - Professor, Moscow, Russia Thomas Campbell - American researcher, translator, writer, and activist. Mikhail Blinnikov - Professor St. Cloud State University Elena Morozova-Abingdon, MD, immigrated to America from Russia in 1991 �The Day After Democracy Shikysha Adhikari Annapolis '12 INDIA • The state of Kashmir held smooth elections, a rarity for the beleaguered state whose possession is disputed by India and Pakistan. Part of the election's success came from preventing separatists from voting. NORTH KOREA • The country claimed that it was ending a pact with South Korea designed to ease military tension between the two countries, and it appeared that long-range missile parts were being moved to a newly built launch site in the country. Since then, the government has released statements meant to soften their positions to something more in line with the wishes of other countries. AUSTRALIA • 173 were killed and more left homeless after the worst wildfires in the country's history swept through the state of Victoria, in the southeast comer of the country. Police have confirmed that arson played a role in some of the fires. "It was one of the days when the demonstrations on the streets were in full momentum. I switched the television on and what I saw took me by utter shock. I saw a young man lying dead on the street. I was horrified," recalls Abhishek Thakur, a medical student in Nepal. Thakur had casually turned on his television to the sight of thousands of Nepalese protesters marching against absolute monarchy as part of Jana Andolan II, The People's Movement (Part II), a continuation of the unrest begun in 1990. "The entire country was closed down for a long I1 period and it certainly affected the economy negatively. Strikes and curfews for such a long amount of time was horrific," remembers Aseem Shrestha, a student in Nepal. Their observations offer a glimpse of the second mass revolution waged against the former king, Gyanendra Bir Bikram Shah Dev, when he acquired direct rule over Nepal and established himself as its absolute monarch. Strikes, demonstrations, violence, and curfews were in full swing daily. Nevertheless, the revolution produced a successful transition of power on May 28 th 2008, ending two hundred and forty years of monarchy. Nepal became the Federal Democratic Republic of Nepal, and the power to rule the country was turned over to the Nepalese people. Nepal has never had a taste of such freedom before. But acquiring this freedom was no small task. The revolution to place governance in the hands of the people was massive, with citizens from around the country actively involved in the fight for representative government. But are the peopleofNepal truly aware of the meaning of the word republic - a concept for which so many fought? Many areas of Nepal are extremely remote, where even the prerequisites of development are either non-existent or barely present. Citizens in these areas, where the means of transport and communication are not well developed, enjoy very modest knowledge of this massive revolution. The illiteracy rate is high, limiting the movement of news and information. The educated and well-informed class is extremely small in comparison to the much larger group of citizens who do not have access co any means of communication. Still Thakur believes knowledge is spreading. "Even though the percentage of literate people is not that good, I think people have started becoming aware of how the government functions. Otherwise, the revolution would not have been so successful in the first place. The election of the constituent assembly was quite successful. Having said that, an increase in the literacy rate and the infrastructures would be very helpful for the proper functioning of the 15 �republic system for the development of Nepal." An election for a Constituent Assembly, which is responsible for drafting a new constitution, was held on April 10 th , 2008. The widely reported controversies involving Maoists attempting to seize polling stations and scuffles among party representatives resulted in the cancellation of voting at 33 polling stations. Nevertheless, the overall national voter turnout stood at approximately 60% . Nepal had achieved democracy. Sachin Joshi, a Nepalese chartered accountant in training believes, "The citizens will be strong enough to overpower the same obstacles that have troubled past governments, such achievement is yet to be seen. Tired from years of unrest, many simply seek peace. ''All we want is a stable form of government", says Thakur. One of the main hindrances in the overall development of Nepal seems to be the constant flux of power. During the period of constitutional monarchy, no party was able to retain its position long enough to effect change. The Nepali Congress, which ruled from 1991 to 1994, holds the record for longest single party rule since the industrial infrastructure ofNepal in its infant stages and the capital produced by Nepal insufficient to rectify this deficit, large-scale economic development is impossible. Thus, grants and donations constitute a major part of the Nepalese economy. A country which depends on foreign grants and generates only nominal income could not afford the excesses of the Royal Family. "Personally, I was not satisfied with what Mr. Shah [the former king] did at that point of time. He had taken the national carrier, the then Royal Nepal Airlines jet plane on his own when Nepal has only two jet planes. Nepal 's Trans itio n to Democracy 1961 Late King Mahendra Bir Bikram Shah D ev appointed a council of five ministers to help run the administration and all the political parties were declared illegal. 1990 1960 1990 as before, then Nepal will have no future at 16 restoration of the multi-party democracy in 1990. "The moment a party got its chance to enact their policies, one thing or the other would go wrong and a new party would come into power. And the same thing would repeat again and again," says Adhikari. Joshi adds, "The major powers in the world were able to rise and are able to maintain their development because of their constant form of government. Stability is what counts. If the government can be stable now, the Republic will bloom for the better of all." The citizens of Nepal have very high expectations of the new republic. The extravagant indulgences of the Royal Family had eroded faith in the Monarchy, which was becoming increasingly expensive during the reign of the former King, Gyanendra Bir Bikram Shah Dev. The Nepalese economy suffered as its resources were squandered in favor of luxury for the royals. With the This is just an example. These kinds of royal expenditure were increasing at a rapid pace," recalls Joshi. In 1955, the Late King, Mahendra Bir Bikram Shah Dev, had taken absolute power. During his reign the economic fortunes of Nepal were directly tied to those of India. Multi-party representation was restored to Nepal in 1990, although the Monarchy remained, and the economy has been deteriorating ever since. "Only the former Royal Families are not to be blamed. Corruption by the so called 'leaders' in high governmental position also have a major role in hindering the growth of Nepal," says Adhikari. Now, with the Royal Family removed from the government, faith rests entirely in the concept of a Republic. "Basically, Nepal lacked leadership before. It needs to start afresh. If we are given the option to choose only amongst the leaders with dispositions 2009 Late King Birendra Bir Bikram Shah Dev (successor of King Mahendra) restored the Multi-Party Democracy after the mass revolution, 'The People's Movement' broke out. all," says Shrescha. now have the power to run the country. It will definitely take some amount of time for people in general and especially the ones in the remote areas to become fully aware about the new form of government. And eventually they will come to realize the true meaning of it. I have a lot of faith in the present government of Nepal." Kapu Adhikari, a teacher, adds, "Basically, I think it is a cycle. On the one hand, people will not be able to exercise their power and realize their responsibilities unless they are well aware and well educated. On the ocher, the people will only be educated if the government takes proper measures to improve the education system. The literacy rate has not improved drastically in the past years. I hope the new system will work hard towards increasing it." The shift to a republic was built on dreams of just such reform, and while many are hopeful that the new republic 2005 Former King Gyanendra Bir Bikram Shah Dev took complete control over the government, dismissing the elected parliament. "I think Nepal is improving a lot in that area because well-educated and strong people are appointed as leaders now," adds Joshi. Hope rests in the form of the current President, Dr. Ram Baran Yadav, a physician who has been an active member of the political community of Nepal. "Personally, I believe in His Excellency's [the President's] ability. He has been involved in the political system of Nepal for the past many years and was also appointed as the Minister of Heath in the 1991-1994 Nepali Congress Government. I believe he is wellaware of the political scenario of Nepal and will work towards the betterment of the country," says Thakur. Pushpa Kamal Dahal [the former Maoist premier, known as Prachanda] has been appointed as the first Prime Minister "I of the Federal Republic of Nepal. believe that the Maoist leaders are a bunch of intellectual people," Joshi states. A communist revolutionary, politician and a former guerilla leader, he is the chairman of the Communist Party of Nepal (or the Maoists), the largest political party as a result of the elections held in 2008. He is said to have been involved in education and rural development projects for quite some time. Possibly as a backlash against the unguided governments of the past, educational and academic history have 2006 King Gyanendra was forced to return power to the parliament. 2008 Election for a Constituent Assembly, which is responsible for drafting a new constitution, was held, Nepal was declared as a Federal Republic . become increasingly important for political figures. Dr. Baburarn Bhattarai- a senior community member of the Communist Party of Nepal and the current Minister of Finance, also has strong academic credentials. He received a Bachelor's degree in Architecture, and his Ph.D thesis was later published as a book, The Nature of political parties have started interpreting this new freedom in an incorrect manner. The people do not need any reason at all to carry out demonstrations in the streets and to vandalize the public properties. They have stopped resorting to peaceful negotiations. They have started thinking that chanting slogans is the solution to all their problems. Underdevelopment and Regional Structure of I think it is too early to decide. Everything Nepal A Marxist Analysis. He is viewed as an depends on how strong the government will "uncompromising ideologue and leader" by be. Looking at the current progress, it might prominent Indian intellectuals. take ten to fifteen years for the changes to "I do not think that starting a guerilla reach the grass-root level," says Joshi. war which lasted for twelve years was a good Will the republic be worth the mass move on their part. Intellectual people like revolution, the violence, the chaos and these should not have resorted to violence. instability? "It has to be. There is no other Now, they have power. I hope they will option left in the country. Nepalese people utilize it to the best of their abilities. have tasted all forms of leadership in the Otherwise, Nepal is not in a state to bear country, from autocracy to multi-party the consequences," says Joshi. democracy," says Sachin Joshi. Has the Republican Government The only option remaining for the of Nepal started to act on the promised people of Nepal is to wait patiently for the reforms? "So far, there has not been any benefits of sovereign power. ''All we can change in the lives of the common people. do now is have faith in the leaders of our In fact, some areas are getting worse. With country and work patiently with dignity only eight hours of electrical power each day and self-respect." and limited gas supplies even in the capital Interviewed: city, needs are not being met. Since Nepal is Kapu Adhikari - Teacher, Nepali an underdeveloped country, the republican citizen system will have to overcome tremendous Sachin Joshi - Nepali citizen, obstacles to bring about positive changes. currently a student in India We need to be hopeful," says Adhikari. Abishek Thakur - Student, Nepal Shrestha adds, "Common citizens Aseem Shrestha - Student, Nepal along with the ones belonging to different 17 �Running on Fumes: Venezuela's Economic Crisis John Vining Annapolis' 11 BRITISH COLUMBIA. CANADA • British Columbia begins prosecution of polygamist Mormons who had been living in the province for more than 50 years after excommunicated from the mainline Mormon church. BOLIVIA • A new constitution is approved in a national referendum. The 41 I article document gives increased rights to indigenous peoples and emphasizes the socialist bent of President Evo Morales, with provisions such as one that restricts landholdings. "Venezuela is a very rich country with very poor politicians running it," says Guillermo Anton, who owns a small newspaper in Valencia, Venezuela. "We have a huge income due mostly to our oil production, and still have over 70% of the population living in very poor conditions." With the new year, Venezuela faces Hugo Chavez's tenth year in power and the memory of last year's inflation, which at 30.9% is 10% higher than the average for the last five years. The Venezuelan finance ministry hopes to have an inflation rate of 15% for 2009, but economists believe this is an overly optimistic prediction. Venezuela is stuck between low oil prices abroad and massive spending at home, which president Hugo Chavez has vowed to never cut. This has left Venezuela with a painful year of inflation. "Prices change without notice," laments Bernardo Gomez, who works trading meat and sugar. "Margins must be higher ·than in other countries to account for it [inflation]." Venezuela's inflation is connected to its consistent reliance on revenues from oil. Nearly 100 years ago companies from the U.S. and elsewhere came to drill for oil. Venezuela heavily taxed the companies that were drilling, and thus became heavily dependent on the income generated from the continuation of this drilling. By the 1950s over-extraction had led to a depression in the global oil market, causing Venezuela to help create the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) in the 1960s, a consortium formed to control production in an effort to combat low prices. In 2000, Chavez organized a meeting of OPEC, whose members had since departed from past agreements. Shortly after the meeting, Chavez argued that the then partially nationalized oil in Venezuela needed to be re-nationalized, since, he claimed, it had grown too independent. With Venezuela's still abundant oil supplies, careful management of oil extraction led to increased income for Chavez's government. However this wealth has not consistently translated to large-scale increases in living standards. Many blame the Chavez regime for poorly employing Venezuela's natural wealth for the benefit of most of its citizens. Resident Edgar Mata was blunt in his assessment of the situation. "It's chaos. Economically, it's terrible, because the government has destroyed the productive apparatus." However, Chavez is frequently hailed as a champion of the people. He has established several social programs which make him popular among the poor, including creating health centers and making food more readily available. These programs were more easily maintained while oil prices were high, but now, in an oil-price trough, Chavez must choose between inflation, taxing his citizens, and cutting programs. Inflation has been plaguing Venezuela for years, beginning in the late 1970s. Last year's inflation was more than twice the highest America has ever experienced, and more than 10 times the rate which economists generally prefer. In general inflation is caused when more cash is put into circulation, which then dilutes the value of each bill. In Venezuela, inflation chiefly occurs when the amount of local currency, bolivars, increases in relation to reserves of foreign currency that the central bank maintains. Recently, oil income has fallen with lower oil prices, but the Venezuelan government continues to spend. In order to do so, they must utilize the central bank to generate ever-increasing quantities of bolivars, which in turn makes each individual bolivar less valuable. "The government now has less money coming in," says Gomez. "So, I foresee a cut in dollar allocations. They may need to devalue the currency." Finance Minister Ali Rodriguez has mentioned the devaluation of the bolivar as a potential cure. If the Venezuelan central bank does devalue its currency, it would alter the exchange-rate for bolivars to dollars at the central bank. The central bank, however, limits the number of dollars that can be purchased this way. This forces citizens who want a larger quantity of dollars than their allotment to turn to the black market, where prices are not fixed and are thus much higher. For example, the central bank will currently give citizens a fixed number of dollars at 2.15 bolivars per dollar. But, if an individual wants more dollars than their 19 �allotment, they must turn to the black market where they might pay upwards of 5 bolivars per dollar. "The government is unable to supply all the foreign exchange demanded by the economy," says Bernano Gomez. "If you really need dollars and the government won't give them to you, you have no choice." Caracas resident Chelsa Pabon doesn't use the black market, "because it is more expensive. However," she continued, "Many people have to do it, because it's the only way to get the foreign currency that they need to buy things that are not produced in our country." Yet others think that the relationship between the open markets and the black markets works differently. "I mean there is not control with the exchange rate," said Luis Chivico, a resident of Venezuela. "The black market is pushing the prices too high." Many economists, however, would argue that the bolivar is actually worth the black market price, because there has been a huge increase in the number of bolivars, sending their value downward. This makes Venezuela a particularly difficult country in which to run a business. The Heritage Foundation, a Washington 20 think-tank, ranks Venezuela 174 th out 179 countries in terms of economic freedom, which measures the hindering effects of government on the economy. "The main issue is that, since the government controls the exchange rate-it has been the same for several years-we are definitely not competitive abroad," Gomez describes. "Exports are rare. Nonpetroleum exports have decreased." "I do know many friends and colleagues re-thinking or re-orienting their business," he continues. "In light of what many foresee as a very difficult year, we have been trying to develop business abroad." A person holding cash does not have a way to earn interest, unlike a bank. The individual has his savings stored in cash which will decrease in value without any compensation. Intense inflation thus behaves like a tax. Since the government devalues money by increasing the quantity in circulation, the citizens money is now worth less. "Well the inflation is very high in Venezuela and in my particular case, my salary is now not enough to cover all my needs," says Pabon. "For example, I have a kid and he is in a private school because the education in public schools is very deficient in my country. Also, he practices baseball and I have to pay for that, and I have to buy cloches for he and me and all this is increasingly expensive ... the food is very expensive, too and every week the prices rise considerably. For that reason I have stopped buying many things and buy only what is strictly necessary for my family." But Pabon has run into more than economic problems. "Venezuela was a country relatively sure, but in the last 10 years normal life is almost impossible," she says. "Citizens, in all cities of the country, can not move without danger of being robbed, raped and even killed by criminals." The U.S. Department of State calls crime in Venezuela "pervasive," reporting Venezuela's murder rate as one of the highest in the world. Also, kidnapping has increased 78% in the last two years. The homicide rate has doubled since Chavez took power. "Moreover the government of Hugo Chavez has also developed its paramilitary army composed of people outside the law or willing to violate the law," Pabon continued. "These people are protected by the government and commit crimes with complete impunity." Some think that the rising crime rate is connected to Chavez's progressively fiercer attacks on the rich. "Most of our population is poor, and have certain envy for the middle class and the rich," says Anton. "Chavez has supported and fed that with his constant speeches against the rich, creating a silent war between the rich and poor. Creating an atmosphere of distrust affects the economy enormously, because it scares away investors." Chavez is currently campaigning for a referendum which would end all term limits, letting him rule indefinitely. This has been voted down once before, yet Chavez promises disaster if he must leave office in 2013, when his current term is set to end. He has warned of a potential civil The Recent History of Venezuela 2000 1992 Chavez unsuccessfully leads a coup against the thenpresident.When it had failed, Chavez asked to speak on TV, where he said it had only failed for the moment. Chavez is reelected and given the temporary power to legislate by decree on economic, social, and public administration matters. He approved 49 laws, some of which promted strikes by union members and businesses. 1990 2009 1998 Chavez is elected president two years after being released from prision for his failed coup. war between those who follow Chavez's supporters and those who oppose his regime. However, some promise disaster if he retains power. "If Hugo Chavez remains in power, Venezuela will continue its rapid descent into a total economic breakdown," Pabon says. "State resources are being squandered and there is no investment policy that allows a rational use of oil revenues. If Chavez remains in power for more time," she continues, "domestic and foreign investors continue to flee the country as they have been doing in recent years due to financial, legal, institutional and physical insecurity in Venezuela." Chavez, as a result of his extensive social programs, seems to have set Venezuela on an unsustainable path. Without oil revenues, Chavez must spend money he does not have, and force his citizens to pay by way of inflation. High inflation does not only make many poorer, it makes planning for the future harder, and sets in place disincentives to save. Guillermo Anton has a bleak outlook for the future. "The constant lefty speech, the threats against private property and [threats of] nationalization are deadly for the economy." 2006 Chavez seeks and wins a third six-year term. He also announces that he is hoping to change laws so that he might run again in 2012. Interviewed: Bernardo Gomez Chelsa Pabon Edgar Mata Guillermo Anton LuisChivico Luvin Carrerro Marianela lsA'riz Virginia Yepez (All citizens of Venezuela) �Bloodying the Holy Land Tex Pasley Annapolis '11 SUDAN • The International Criminal Court has issued an arrest warrant for President Omar Hassan al-Bashir. This is the first time the court has sought the detention of a sitting head of state, leading some to protest the decision, since it could interfere with the work of peacekeepers sorting out the Darfur crisis. MADAGASCAR • More than 20 supporters of Andry Rajoelina, the mayor of Antananavario, the capital city, were killed in a protest against the sitting president, Marc Ravalomanana, whose post has been challenged by Rajoelina. sworn in as battle with still present, country "I would say that Israeli leaders made an unfortunate bad decision," Shadi Habaib of the Peres Center for Peace in Tel Aviv, Israel says. "I believe we are all going to feel its devastating impact in the Middle East within the next five years." Habaib speaks of the recent invasion of the Gaza Strip by Israeli military forces in response to rockets fired across the border from Gaza into Israel. But as with any conflict in IsraeliPalestinian relations, the root cause of the dust-up cannot be summarized with a simple formulation of attack and retaliation. This particular conflict began when Harnas, a Palestinian political party regarded by many (including the United States) as a terrorist organization, took over the Gaza Strip in June 2007, ousting Farah, another major political party considered to be more moderate. In response, Israel imposed an economic blockade on Gaza, which naturally lead to retaliation in the form of rocket fire into Israel. In June 2008, Egypt brokered a cease-fire. This momentarily calmed the quarrel, but after further bickering over intensified blockades and increased rocket fire, the cease-fire descended into a full-on invasion. Ofcourse, those involved in the conflict arenotonly consideringthetransgressionsof the past two years. "I think that the conflict was inevitable and Israeli action was totally justified," Maurizio De Pitta, a student in Tel Aviv, Israel, says. "For the reason that it is not justifiable that somebody could throw rockets on daily basis without any specific target for the past 8 years and, as you see, still keep on doing that. I speak of Hamas and the militants from Gaza." Pitta points to an issue that makes drastic measures such as invasion so difficult. The "enemy'' attacking Israel with rocket fire is identified by many as a minority group of militants, with a vague relationship to Hamas. "I will say that, as an Israeli, I feel we should do more to isolate Harnas," says Gil Haveli, of lsrael. "The issue is that they have an agenda: No Israel." Such a predicament is not especially new, and with a similar situation for the United States, a dichotomy emerged between those who favor military action and those favoring diplomacy. "[My son] is 100% convinced, along with his soldiers, that there was no other choice but to fight the terrorists and not the Palestinian population," says David Mirza of Herzeliya, Israel. His son served as an officer in the Israeli Army during the invasion. The elder Mirza also served as an officer in the Israeli army. "Of course the majority of Palestinians [have good intentions]. Unfortunately, they are pressed by terrorism groups and by interests within the Arab world." This minority might have been isolated, but the call for military was hardly action unilateral. The world was treated to pictures of many seemingly innocent Palestinians affected by the Israeli military action. This calls into question the prudence of attacking a people who, as a majority, are purported to be seeking some sort of peace. "Objectively speaking, the war on Gaza did not achieve its objectives," says Habaib. "As a matter of [saving] face Israeli political and army leaders mentioned several times 23 �AFRICA that stopping rockets through a military action is almost impossible. But I don't think Hamas has won either." The two sides ended the conflict by reaching a cease-fire; thus ending the conflict with no discernable change. Israel's stated goal had been to end cross-border rocket fire against Israeli citizens, attacks which have been a constant threat to 24 & MID EAST Israeli's for years and had escalated with the blockade. The cease-fire failed to end this rocket fire. ''As it looks today, after 20 rockets were fired, [Israel] will have to react again," says Mirza. "It will create deterrence that will force the terrorists to stop firing. The military action was stopped too early because of the involvement of various interests that do not care about our need of safety. For us it is not a game or social experiment it is our survival, do you think we do not wish to live in peace with surrounding Arabs?" Mirza's views are consistent with those of many Israeli citizens. But with the most recent invasion producing the tension of yet another ceasefire. Others think that solutions might lie in a less militaristic path. "I can only say what they have said themselves before," Habaib said. "[Military action] would not solve the problem, more than that, the smuggling of weapons has been resumed immediately. We all know that the solution must be political. Hamas claims that the rockets are in response to the siege, which is by their claim 'an act of war,' as they quote from international law." A political solution, as painless as it might initially sound, would be painful given the tenor of recent political dealings between THE EPOCH - the two countries. Furthermore there is the initial difficulty of uniting the two Palestinian territories - the Gaza Strip and West Bank - each run by separate political factions. The previously discussed Hamas gruesomely ousted Fatah from control in the Gaza Strip in 2007. "Two years ago they killed in cold blood almost 250 Fatah members and took over the Gaza Strip and took Mahmoud Abbas out of the game," says Haveli. "But Fatah was in control of the Gaza Strip before that. Mahmoud Abbas could have reached an agreement and maybe even get parts of Jerusalem or the nearby villages; [he] was accepted and elected by the people." Fatah, with Abbas as their leader, is generally considered to have a more moderate stance than their Hamas counterparts. Thus, many in Israel in the West would prefer to see Fatah in power. · Hamas' status as a terrorist organization, according to many Western nations, prevents joint talks limiting political progress. As a result of these reservations, a first step towards a political solution would probably require control of both the Gaza Strip and West Bank by Fatah. However, the 2006 elections for the Palestinian National Authority (PNA), Palestine's legislative body, resulted in a majority rule by Hamas, signaling that the people of Palestine might have more in common with the radical views of Hamas. A unity government was initially formed including members of both parties in various roles of governance. This unity, however, did not last long, as Hamas launched its military campaign to remove Fatah in 2007. After Fatah military forces were ousted from Gaza, Israel reacted by blockading the Gaza Strip, effectively shutting down economic activity, and furthering the tension between the residents of Gaza and the Israeli government. This incited, not unexpectedly, retaliation from those in Gaza, causing Israel to respond through invasion. However, negotiations did take place before m ilitary action, although the were indeed fruitless. Among those calling for political SPRING 2009 A History of Rece nt Co nfli ct in Gaza June 13, 200 7 Hamas, takes control of the Gaza Strip from Fatah, a rival poltical party. Israel responds by tightening border access, crippling the Gazan economy. December 27, 2008 Israel invades the Gaza strip in response to rocket fire from Hamas militants. 2009 2007 N ovember 14, 2008 January 18, 2009 It could happen that Likud will end up forming a ruling coalition, because smaller parties are more likely to align themselves with Likud's policies. Meaning that even though Kadima won more seats, they would be unable to exert majority influence over parliament. Another recent election, of course, happened in the United States, and Barack Obama's platform pushed for continued strong support of Israel. This, however, does not quell optimism from some about the effect of a new face in Washington and the change that might bring. "I think that that his background and color allow him to better understand the suffering of both Israeli and Palestinian civil societies," says Habaib. ''And I hope that this side of his personality will become noticed when shaping his policies in the middle east. I also think that his historic achievement binds him to the same morals and values he and other African-Americans long fought for and won." Others do not share Habaib's optimism, or even his belief that the U.S. President has an effect on relations. "[Obama will have] no effect," says Mirza. "He cannot deal with terrorists. After Iraq, Bush lost momentum, but his attitude was correct for fighting terrorism. Obama and his government have developed an expectation of bringing in a big box full of magic." Others encourage looking beyond Obama himself into other aspects of his administration. "Well, I cannot forecast it," De Pitta said. "But I guess that some possible effects [from Obama] could be expected. But more than Obama, let's see what Mrs. Clinton will do. I personally trust her skills, and consider her the right person to deal with such a harsh context. It is a little too early to see what will happen, since a lot will depend on future relations with the " government here. It is unclear whether this change of power will have an effect. The difficulty seems to be greater than bringing in new faces to each side of the negotiating table. "The Western concepts of "dialectic" and "dialogue" are not understood by these people," says De Pitta. "So once you drop these tools of western diplomacy, while waiting for the development of new strategies, it seems that bare military action is the only way to "discuss" with these people." Hamas breaks a cease-fire by firing rockets A cease-fire is brokered between Israel and into Israel, claiming that they were responding Gaza. Rocket fire from Gaza into Israel has to the deaths of 11 militants, and increased been reported since then . border closings. solutions, however, the invasion was a setback for the possibility of a peaceful, diplomatic resolution. "The solution in Gaza must start with a political agreement with Fatah and the formation of a unity government," Habaib said. "One that will bind Hamas to a security understanding with Israel. I am afraid we have already lost the opportunity for a two state solution." The "two-state solution" Habaib refers to would unify Palestine as independent nation alongside Israel, as specified by the United Nations in 1947 when Israel was formed. To this day Palestine still serves as an observer entity to the United Nations. To say that the opportunity for a "two-state" solution is gone is certainly a depressing stance, since it necessarily would lead to the dissolution of either Israel or Palestine (a one-state solution) . The lack of compromise is largely due to the push by radical groups for the destruction of the opposing state, both in Israel and Palestine. With a parliamentary election that just recently occurred, voters were almost evenly split between the centrist Kadima party, led by Tzipi Livni, and the more right-leaning Likud party of Benjamin Netanyahu. Before The Epoch went to press, Kadima had won one more seat than Likud, yet neither party held an outright majority. It was uncertain whether Kadima could head a coalition government. Interviewed : Shadi Haibab - Director with Palestinian Authority and Arab Media, Peres Center for Peace, Tel Aviv, Israel David Mirza - Herzeliya, Israel Gil Halevi - Citizen of Israel Maurizio De Pitta - Tel Aviv, Israel 25 �Cameron's Corner Animal Collective takes a melodious turn Cameron Coates Annapolis '10 Animal Collective Merriweather Post Pavilion Members: David Portner, Noah Lennox, Josh Dibb, Brian Weitz Animal Collective always seems to tread a fine line between obnoxious and incredible. And they don't leave much leeway between the two. Personally, I've never been able to understand Strawberry jam (2007) fanatics , and sitting all the way through an album like that seems more like an act of physical stamina than a good time. Animal Collective's sound can shift drastically from track to track, let alone album to album. One minute it's feral howls and pounding tribal drums, the next, Avey Tare's ghoulish groans serenading over a static, droning synch sample. That's the kind of Animal Collective that makes my head hurt. Thankfully, every once in a while they swing back towards my side 26 of the spectrum and drop an album like material things like a social status I I just Merriweather Post Pavilion. want four walls and adobe slabs for my Animal Collective's music tends to girls." "Summertime Cloches" rejoices, sound jagged and unmelodic, straying "Rip off your sleeves and I'll ditch my anywhere from the drugged-out slow socks I Dance to the songs from the cars as jams of Feels (2005) to the frenetic they pass / Weave through the cardboard, nonsense noise-rock of Strawberry jam. smell that trash / Walkin' around in our Merriweather Post Pavilion departs from summertime cloches," while "Guys Eyes" those extremes, developing a slushy, struggles between overlapping lines of "I syrupy pop demeanor which suits them really want to do just what my body wants well. "My Girls" has a dreamy, echoing to" and "I really want to show to my girl chorus and tinkling synch drifting above that I want her," eventually devolving into a heavy bass line, and lead men Avery guttural repetitions of "Need her." The sound is more tight and focused Tare (David Portner) and Panda Bear (Noah Lennox) sing over each ocher to here than earlier records, and this gives create a round-like effect. "Guys Eyes" Merriweather Post Pavilion a pop quality starts with the gurgling, nocturnal sounds that Feels hinted at. Who could have of the jungle before falling into another expected Animal Collective to make a confused, overlapping chorus. It's always record with · no tracks breaking the six been hard to know what to do with Animal minute mark? This record plays like Collective's lyrics. "There'll be time to The Beach Boys compared to Strawberry just cry, I wonder why it didn't work out Jam. But it's natural for a band that feels / There'll be time to fish fry for letters by most comfortable tweaking, adjusting, yours truly." ("Banshee Beat," Feels) I and exploring to eventually end up with don't know what I'm supposed to make of an album with some "pop" sensibilities. something like that. Most of the time the Listening to Animal Collective delve into lyrics seem to just be words for Portner that medium makes for a great record, but and Lennox to sing - more intended to it's no guarantee that their next album will be part of the auditory experience than to develop the sound they've cultivated here. have any intelligible meaning. But the In fact, there's not much hope of them pop sound of Merriweather Post Pavilion ever following any predictable trajectory. demands some unambiguous refrains, and It's refreshing for a band to h ave such a the result is lyrics that seem a little more wide-ranging sound, making every album coherent. The subconscious tensions and come as more or less a surprise. But for nighttime revelries of suburbia become me, it's just frustrating to have to wait themes. On "My Girls," Portner frets for Animal Collective to get a couple of over wanting a "proper house," singing Strawberry jams out of the way between "I don't mean to seem like I care about each Feels or Merriweather Post Pavilion.* �The Epoch Journal C/O St. John's College 60 College Ave. Annapolis, MD 2140 I � Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource Epoch Journal Creator An entity primarily responsible for making the resource St. John's College Contributor An entity responsible for making contributions to the resource St. John's College Greenfield Library Text A resource consisting primarily of words for reading. 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JOHN'S COLLEGE. advertising PLEASE CONT ACT SJCA.EPOCH@GMAIL.COM FOR INFORMATION ABOUT ADVERTISEMENTS mailing address 1 ST. JOHN S COLLEGE 60 COLLEGE A VE. ANNAPOLIS, MD 21404 2 THE EPOCH JOURNAL Enough members of the Polity have asked us why we chose to put out an issue of The Epoch focusing on technology, especially after last year's edition on the Internet, that a few words about our thinking are not uncalled for. We'll spare you all the often-heard account of technology's pervasiveness in our lives. Such reports are usually dull and almost always unnecessary. Taking the presence of technology as a fact might be controversial to some , but this is the case only if we've already resolved ourselves to feel one 'vvay or another about it. With that in mind, this journal does not purport to take an ideological position on the matter. It is not the anticipation of a perceived threat in or an imagined benefit from technology that makes it a worthwhile topic of inquiry and reflection . Polemical positions , both for and against, obscure technology 's nature and frustrate any attempt to be genuinely thoughtful of its pl ace and its role . Technology's ubiquitous presence, however, is itself a good reason to give the Polity an opportunity to reflect on it. Like all things that take up residence amongst the everyday objects that populate our particular horizons, technology tends to fade into the background , to announce its presence with only the occasional exclamation (with the notable exceptions of new technology and broken technology; nothing reasserts the previously anonymous life of the machine like a new toy, or a dropped phone and a cracked screen) . In this way, iPhones and magno- lia trees have more in common than we would first expect. At St. John 's, we pride ourselves on attempting to reclaim the moments of thoughtful wonder in which the objects of the everyday reveal themselves as mysterious and worthy of our attention. As technology in all its permutations, not merely the Internet or the video game or otherwise, takes on the guise of a given fact, there arises simultaneously (and hopefully in good proportion) the need for thoughtful reinquiry into what has become common and obvious . The Epoch , as a forum for broadening our questioning into the issues that are particularly and peculiarly contemporary, hopes to be the occasion for such reflection. To that end, this issue brings you an article on governance (or the lack of it) in cyberspace, as well as a reflection on the effect of technological innovation in embodied space. In addition, this issue contains a look back on the legacy of Abraham Lincoln and an account of the pervasive consequences for South Korean society following the sinking of a ferry and the death of most of the passengers on board. • -Robert George, Co-Editor-in-Chief FALL 2014 3 �INTERNET AND GOVERNMENT Cyber Terrorism How do we regulate the rapidly growing Internet? BY WYATT MORETON the United States and her close allies. The recent The Internet is a significant part of modern spread of the Internet across other continents is life and has allowed for unprecedented interacbeginning to change this picture and is causing tion between nations and their citizens. Curmore pressure for clear standards in Internet rently, over 35% of the world's seven million governance. inhabitants have access to the Internet. When The existence of the Internet depends on only a decade ago 14% of the population had both the physical hardware that allows the variInternet access, the rapidity of the Internet 's ous devices connected to it to remain in contact growth is likewise astounding. However, this and on the complex software and protocols , revolution in connectivity has also created new which insure that the myriad opportunities for international broadcasts reach their incrime, espionage, and even While the Internet has betended destinations. Curwarfare. While the technical rently, the individual nations details of these illicit accome more settled than it control their own physical tivities are already difficult to was in its earliest years, there infrastructure and regulate track down, the foreign policy remain broad areas ofIntertheir own corporations. implications are even more net policy where the world's The software side is held rarely discussed. together by an assortment governments have simply not Governments are seldom of private organizations that known for aging rapidly and yet figured out how to act. are mostly concerned with Internet policy is no excepresearch and development tion. While the Internet has rather than regulation. The closest thing to a become more settled than it was in its earliest regulatory body is the International Corporation years, there remain broad areas of Internet polifor Assigned Names and Numbers (ICANN), cy where the world's governments have simply based in California, whose purpose it is to keep not yet figured out how to act, particularly in web addresses uniform. However, ICANN is international governance of the Internet. still merely a facilitator lacking any regulatory This problem becomes more obvious when power, and while it usually acts autonomously, the extremely uneven access to the Internet the US Department of Commerce retains veto is considered. In North America and Western power over it. Europe, access is approximately 80% or higher. Needless to say, this patchwork governance In South America, Eastern Europe, and most of the Internet has its flaws. Because every naof Asia, access is a bit below 50%. And in tion has different laws , as long as one does not Sub-Saharan Africa and the remote portions of break the law of the country that one is residing Asia access falls as low as 10%. This uneven in , one is generally free to commit crimes in distribution means that until recently, nearly all other countries. Here we must note that this is Internet users , and Internet issues, were found in 4 THE EPO C H JOUR NA L FA LL 2 01 4 S �PHOTO : SCORPION SOFTWARE not always a bad thing as many countries have of our law enforcement agencies and reducing the number of safe havens for Internet criminals. laws that are extremely contradictory to AmeriPolitically, however, the greatcan values. However, it has also est challenge comes not from the allowed some criminals to remain Continuing to build and huge numbers of purely criminal virtually untouchable. incidents, but from the small numWhile precise numbers are strengthen partnerships ber of attacks supported by other impossibl e to obtain, it appears with other nations should nations. International law has not that the majority of cybercrime in be considered the most ef yet settled on an ans\ver to national the United States originates either fective method of extendcyber attacks, and there is currentdomestically or from our allies. ing the reach of our law ly no clear method of defeating or Domestically, the FBI leads the enforcement agencies and deterrin g them. However, national battle against cybercrime, headin g reducting the number of cyber attacks can be more varied the National Cyber Investigative than the profit-driven private cyJoint Task Force, which coordisafe havens for Internet bercrime and can therefore require nates with dozens of local and criminals. more flexible responses. federal agencies as well as private There are three broad categocorporations. The portion of the ries of national cyber attacks. The threat originating from our allies first category is simply cybercrime on a national has been largely addressed by various bilatscale. While direct theft of money is rare, the theft eral and multilateral agreements, including the of intellectual property in order to support stateBudapest Convention on Cybercrime, which inowned corporations is quite common. The second sures law enforcement cooperation between the is strategic espionage against foreign governments United States and twenty-eight other nations . and militaries to better understand their capabilities Continuing to build and strengthen partnerships and intentions. Finally, there is outright cyber warfare with other nations should be considered the that uses computers offensively, either to support most effective method of extending the reach 6 THE E POCH JOURNAL known to have caused extensive physical damage military operations or to directly damage strategic was the 2010 Stuxnet attack on the Iranian nuclear infrastructure. research facilities that destroyed a thousand cenIn the case of strategic espionage, being trifuges. However, several less damaging incidents discovered is itself a deterrent; but, in th e age of are also noteworthy. These include the use of cyber the Internet , the best solution to strategic espioattacks to disrupt communications and spread nage is the same as it has always been: mainpropaganda during the 2008 war in Georgia and the taining our own intelligence and counter-intelwidespread cyber attacks against Estonia in 2007 ligence agencies. Fortunately, the United States during a diplomatic incident between that nation currently maintains a significant lead in cyber and Russia. espionage capabilities. However, when it comes An important aspect of all three of these actions to industrial espionage and other cybercrimes, is that the perpetrators were never disdiscovery is not much of a deterrent covered even though there were some because any money or intellectual While cyber crime, cyber obvious suspects. It is this deniability property that was stolen can still be espionage, and cyber warthat seems to be the most desirable used. Currently, the United States is fare will all remain dangers feature of cyber warfare. But plausible extremely vulnerable to this threat, deniability in military actions is nothing in the future, they are the as she possesses a large number of new and the best way to deter such uses advanced technologies combined dangers of a future that of force is to maintain an intelligence with extensive use of the Internet was created by the United capability to trace them and a military for corporate communications. States' invention of the ca pa bi Ii ty to re ta Ii ate. S ti II , given the Further, there is no symmetrical way Internet. method of attack and the concerns to respond given that the attacking about proportionality, both of these canations generally lack technologies pabilities will probably need to be cyber worth stealing, and the US Governbased as well. Fortunately, the 2009 formation of ment usually refrains from directly assisting the United States Cybercommand has put America American corporations. ahead of the curve when it comes to cyber warfare. One counter to state sponsored industrial W hile cyber crime, cyber espionage, and cyber espionage that is occasionally suggested is to warfare will all remain dangers in the future , they put economic sanctions on the offending parties. are the dangers of a future that was created by the While the benefits and drawbacks of sanctions United State's invention of the Internet, and the can be debated, the proportionality of escalating United States remains the "Vvorld leader in cyber cyber incidents to the physical world should be technologies. This technological advantage, espeexamined. Cyber crimes unquestionably affect cially when combined with the economic and mili the physical word and cause multibillion-dollar tary power of the United States, gives American losses annually, but there is a general perception policy makers an edge as nearl y any policy decided that what happens in cyberspace is somehow upon can be carried out. Though many of the deintangible. This could lead to popular resistance tails still need to be determined, the United States in enforcing sanctions or similar penalties for has made significant steps in combating every national cybercrimes. Therefore, the better cyber threat, and nearly every national law enforcecourse of action could be to make it easier for ment, intelligence, and military agency wholeheartAmerican nationals and corporations to file lawedly understands the importance of cyberspace. suits in American courts against foreign parties Nevertheless, the significance of the threat must for cybercrimes. While actually obtaining any be kept in mind and complacency should not be compensation won could prove difficult , awarding penalties through the courts rather than imposing them by Congressional action could positively influence public opinion. The final form of national cyber attack is cyber warfare. So far the only cyber attack allowed to set in. • FALL 20 14 7 �TECHNOLOGY AND US My New Glasses Defining ourselves one alteration at a time BY PATRICIA LOCKE I love them. Then the excitement wears off, wartime service. Their altered bodies do not call and I forget I am wearing them. I forget that the for compassion , but often are more in-your-face world comes to me through ground lenses that expressions of power and self-assertion. are "progressively" guiding the range of my I wonder if the examples of glasses and prosight and compensating for my astigmatism. thetic devices are along the continuum of bodily I forget that I am a technologically enhanced manipulation and ornamentation, for example, being, who requires upgrades and repairs. Of by piercing or tattooing, which have long been course, there are trivial reminda part of human life. Or is there ers of Heidegger's concept of a significant difference in incor"equipmentality" when I wake I wonder how my porating non-Ii ving parts such as up in the morning and cannot pacemakers or hearing aids, stents self would change if "find my eyes," which have falland metal joints, within the organic I were to have a boren to the floor. The breakdown body, as well as visible elements rowed heart as well in what is taken for granted as such as chrome shins that remind already at hand sobers me. What as synthetic veins, or us of motorcycle bumpers , or does it mean to be human, as we hands like a Million Dollar Man? contact lenses that deincreasingly wear, or incorporate, liver medicine directly Further, what about the adoption of other beings ' living parts , like inorganic parts? through my eyes. hearts, livers, valves? I wonder I notice too that I alternate how my self would change if I between choosing unremarkwere to have a borrowed heart as able, albeit scholarly, gray metal well as synthetic veins, or contact frames and then breaking out lenses that deliver medicine directly through my the fuchsia ones . Is this akin to the new fad in eyes. prosthetic devices among war vets, to shed the Merleau-Ponty suggests that the human necesflesh-colored fake leg for the fiberglass and sarily is intertwined with the surrounding field, chrome device with decals? One of my students, whether of organic composition or not. To walk, an Afghanistan war vet, said that his wounded we need a solid ground to push off from , air to buddies go through several prostheses during breathe and a vital, perhaps social, destination. rehab , and use those months to expressively He thinks about the lived experience of the field ornament their gear. These are legs and arms in strong contrast to a Faraday-like analysis of as political and/or fashion statements that are a point in a medium, where the lived world is meant to be eye-catching. They are undeniable flattened into a crossroads of physical properas alterations in human self-presentation and in ties. So whether an established point is metal, self-understanding, in the face of new capaflesh , air, or ink matters more in a whole, lived bilities and limitations of the body. These vets context-does that metal or flesh or air or misshow, rather than mask, the consequences of 8 THE EPOCH JOURNAL spelled tattoo foster human purposes? Our purposes are embedded in a context, which is both temporally and spatially dense. Habits of speech, gesture, and cultural traditions all bring the past into present ways of doing things. So even my personal expressive gestures, and my own bodily development , are constituted by my life with others. I may be forgetful of this co-constitution, noticing only the new fangled devices and not the handeddown technologies. Getting used to new glasses, or new stiletto heels, or an artificial hand makes one emerge from forgetfulness. We get to experience learning to see, to walk, to feel, sometimes because parts break down, sometimes because we creatively reshape our bodies on purpose. These bodily alterations, whether desired or enforced, are a site for philosophical wonder. They make visible the gap between past habit , the familiar, and its inadequacy for the present situation. What attitude will we take? Not just "technology good" - glasses and Google Gesture"technology bad" - breast implants and Bed Head hair gel. Not just, "no technology," all purity of position. We go to war, we drive a car, we fall off bicycles and injury comes to us from the world. We may never again be able to ride a bike. We have to ask ourselves how we, as humans, want to take up our new situations, as people who have ridden bikes , whose identity is to a certain extent defined by that history. My mother, for example, is gradually losing her sight , and recently discovered that she can no longer see paintings with small details. No glasses can replace that vision, which is in contrast to her memory of seeing Bosch 's Garden of Earthly Delights. We are, at bottom, limited creatures, no matter how many sensory or strengthening supports we welcome or resent. So we can explore the impact of technological supports to enable us to read the Meno, dance backward or drive forward, but our status as mortals, as limited by failures of bodies and mind, can only be compensated for by presence to others within a shared field. Human: an irreducibly embodied being that enfolds new technologies, mourns its limitations, and dances on. Don't get me started on how I feel about my iPhone. • PHOTO: ALAN BERNER FALL 2014 9 �SOUTH KOREA The Sewol Tragedy The Far Reach of Grief BY WON SONG f ' f t ' • ' ' '' i • ' ' ... f ' ' • ' t ' ' t ~ , 1' • • "' ' ,, , i lt ' ~ ' ' .,. 0 • 0 0 O '" ' '' ' ' ' ' ~ • • ~ ~ '' ' '-. f! • ' ' ' ' • ' ' ' ' ' ,, " l~ • • ' ' '' ' • ' ' • • • • . * . • · , ' • .. ,, ' ' ' • ., ' ' ' • • • , " ' • ' .-..' ' ' ' ' ' • .. '' .. ' • , ~ ' > ~ ~ II PHOTO: REUTERS lent throughout society-especially those who It has been over six months since Sewol, a have children of their own around the age of cruise ship with over 476 people on board, 325 the victims-led many to feel guilty enjoying of them being high school students, sank into themselves, oblivious to the pain and sorrow of the deep sea on its way from Incheon to Jeju others. They refrained from going to restaurants , island. traveling , or indulging in other entertainment. Although the initial shock and grief that There is no part of the economy that managed to held South Korean society in its grip is now avoid being hit by this nationwide depression. subsiding, there are still yellow ribbons-the Department stores and other local shops sufsymbol of hope for the safe return of Sewol fered from the decreasing dopassengers - em broi deri ng mestic spending. According Seoul boulevards, reminding There are still yellow ribto the Jungbu Daily, National people of the tragedy thal bons-the symbol of hope for Merchant Union statistics took away so many precious the safe return of Sewol pas show that in general, sales lives. This incident had a sengers-embroidering Seoul in May 2014 have considergreater effect on society as a ably dropped, compared to whole than any other incident boulevards, reminding people the months before the Sewol Koreans have previously of the tragedy that away so incident in April. Television gone through. many precious lives. broadcasters had to stop Most of the people who running their comedy shows , died were teenagers . This infearing that they would be voked great sorrow and even accused of going against the mourning atmoa sense of guilt in the adult population , since they were not able to do anything for the youn g sphere of the society. The Financial Times reports that travel innocent students who, until the moment of agencies cancelled 5476 group travels, resultlheir death, believed that they would be rescued. ing in over 26 million dollars of lost profit. It Over five hundred thousand citizens grieved in did not help the situation that major companies front of the pictures of the young innocent faces canceled their events in the following weeksat the memorial altar at Ansan, where Danwon Hyundai Motors , for example, even as an High School-which the victims of the Sewol official supporter of the World Cup team, could incidents attended-is found. not make any conspicuous marketing proj ect , The massive emotional effect of the Sewol tentative to disturb the mourning public with tragedy on Korean society as a whole is also untimely festiveness. evident in the downturn of the economy that Only psychiatry and the related medical lasted through the first two months after the fields have seen an unexpected boon, as patients incident. As the mourning for the lost lives continued, the underlying depression preva- 10 TH E E POCH JOUR NAL suffering from depression due to the traumatic FALL 2 01 4 11 �memory of the Sewol tragedy searched out for medical help and antidepressant drugs. Even now, there are still 10 people yet to be found and still a shadow of the depression lingers in Korean society. Both psychologists and economists claim that unless Korean society manages to recover from the depression and guilt , it may be harder to bring the economy back to life. Some people are suggesting that the tragedy's widespread effect is due to the media blatantly oversaturating the public with news broadcasts of the incident, such as showing the weeping parents of the students and running the heartbreaking stories of each victim. They claim it wou ld have been more reasonable to distance the people from what's going on in order to prevent any excessive grief from spreading through the public. But one will not be able to say that such measures-concealing the truth of the incident , downplaying its actual effects, patronizing the public, and disregarding their right to know every facet of the issue-is the right way to stabilize the people. In order for Koreans to fully overcome this national disaster, both for the sake of relieving their grief and for the well-being of the economy, they must take full responsibility for answering the questions raised by this tragedy: what caused this accident and what should be done to prevent such catastrophe from happening again? The pain of the loss may subside as time goes by, but one cannot expect for time to heal everything. One sure thing is that Korean society will not be able to shake off the traumatizing memory of over two hundred innocent students drowning by simply 'letting it go,' or by giving oneself a cheap answer such as ' well, it was out of o ur hands. ' Since the tragedy, the Korean people are demanding that the truth behind the incident should be fully revealed to the public and that the government should pass new laws that prevent another tragedy like this in the future. One of the biggest projects aimed at achieving these goals is the Special Law for Sewol, which has been proposed by the family members of the dead passengers. The law is largely divided into three parts, each detailing the work that that remains regarding the incident: first to investigate the causes of the tragedy; second , to establish an effective safety system 12 THE EPOCH JOUR NA L The word 'Sewol' means 'time's passing' in Korean. When the parents of the dead students cry, "'Sewol' has killed my child," it not only implies that the students have lost their lives in the shipwreck ofSewolferry. It carries an even more significant warning: to prevent the reoccurrence of such a catastrophe in the future; and third , to make sure that the innocent deaths of the students are not forgotten . Korean society is currently buzzing with street campaigns asking for support in enacting the law. The surviving students themselves have marched from their school to the National Assembly Building, with numerous citizens joining them. Yet many people are expressing their concern that the Special Law is being reduced to a political tool for the benefit of the government. The Sewol Special Law is losing its original purpose in the process , as it is being delayed in the Congress by different parties that have submitted their own separate versions of the Sewol Special Law. Some of them include an article that appoints the victims of the tragedy as ' Uisaja' -which means that they have died honorable death while trying to save other people's lives. This overly generous appointment of Uisaja is causing tension in the public. There is no doubt that among the victims there are people who are eligible for the title of Uisaja. Accordin g to the testimon ies of surv ivors, some students willingly sacrificed their lives by giving their own life-jackets to his or her friend. There others who could not escape in time because they decided to rescue a child first. Most people are confused why every victim of the tragedy should be considered as Uisaja. Although it is true that the lives of the victims should be honored and remembered by their loved ones, people are raising arguments against the victims' eligibility for the title. If the victims here are selected because their deaths were involved in an unanticipated accident, then some feel that the victims from other incidents-such as the soldiers who drowned when the Cheonan battleship was shipwrecked by North Korean attack four years ago-also deserve to be classified as Uisaja. Another argument against this law criticizes the parties of the Congress for suggesting the Ui saja law, not for the purpose of honoring the victims, but rather for political gain. They hope to win the people's support by providing the families of the victims with Uisaja's privilege. (By law, the families of Uisajas are rewarded up to as 240 times as large compensation .) The presumption of the Congress went amiss. For as it turned out, instead of making the government appear sympathetic to the pain of the families , a majority of people are accusing the government of using the Sewol tragedy for their own populist display. Furthermore, the cost of compensation for the victims of the Sewol tragedy, if all 294 of them are selected as Uisajas, would take a considerable amount of tax money. Lee Naeyoung, a professor of politics at Korea University, claims that applying Uisaja compensation policy to Sewol 's victims was a rash decision , motivated by the rivalry between the parties to gain more votes in the upcoming election (which took place 68 days after the Sewol tragedy). The Uisaja issue is now provoking conflicts concerning the Sewol Special Law and even hindering the process of arranging any other practical measure for addressing the situation. What the Korean people are now demanding of the politicians is simple: that they let go of their own interests and for once express a wholehearted respect for the victims . The last thing that the public wants is to tarnish the deaths of the young innocent students by making them a topic of a political dispute and a target for blind accusations . Instead of trying to use this tragedy as a chance to raise their popularity, the Korean government must refocus on the foremost matter: discovering the cause of the accident and es tab I ishing a safety protocol to prevent any future incident. What action is to be taken for the captain and A SOUTH KOREAN BUDDHIST NUN HOLDS A YELLOW RIBBON AS SIGNS OF HOPE FOR SAFE RETURN OF MISSING PASSENGERS ABOARD THE S UNKEN FERRY BOAT SEWOL DURING A BUDDHIST CEREMONY. ( VIA DAILYMAIL.UJ(/ AP PHOTO LEE JIN-MAN) his crew who abandoned their ship and escaped before any of the passengers? What protocol is needed in order to enhance the competence of the rescue crews? How should the shipping companies conduct emergency drills in preparation for such a calamity? If the Korean government does not put these matters at the forefront and give them sufficient consideration, but rather engage in political theater as they do now , another Sewol tragedy is likely to occur again in the future. The word 'Sewol' means 'time's passing' in Korean. When the parents of the dead students cry, '"Sewol ' has killed my child ," it not only implies that the students have lost their lives in the shipwreck of Sewol ferry. It carri es an even more significant warning: the memories of the children are in danger of being extinguished from people's memory as the time passes. It is now up to the Korean people and their government to decide whether to let Sewol kill the students , or make this incident worthy of their lives by establishing better laws for the safety of the future generation. • FAL L 20 1 4 13 �HIS TORY AND BIOG RA PHY A New Civil War Who was Abraham Lincoln? BY LEN SIVE, JR . Several new books currently out on Lincoln But it was especially the struggles of wartime purport to reveal the true man behind the mask. that deepened Lincoln 's faith: the horrific To adapt a line from Shakespeare: "They have suffering and innumerable deaths of so many come , however, not to praise Lincoln , but to soldiers, both Confederate and Union alike; the bury him ." These right-wing authors have asdeath of Lincoln's much beloved youngest son , cribed the worst possible motives to everything Tad; and the wei ght of the inexpressible grief Lincoln said and did. They have revised our hisand an gui sh of both the North and the South , tory in a way I would never have taken upon his own shoulders . thought possible , not even in the To say that Lincoln was cruciTo say that Lincoln wildest imaginin gs of my youth. fied by the war is only to speak It is a sure sign that our nation is the truth. His belief was no tepid , was crucified by the en gaged in a new "civil war." bland "Sunday morning faith " war is only to speak Disparate groups- the Tea that superficially satisfies so many the truth. He was no Party, the NRA , the Republican Chri stians. His faith burned hottepid, bland 'Sunday Party, corporations, the largely ter, and purer, tempered as it was right-wing media, fringe groups morning faith' that in the intense fires of a fratricidal like those supporting Clive ci vil war, brother against brother. superficially satisfies Bundy, the KK K (a virul ent I cannot think of another world so many Christians. white supremacist group) -and leader, alive or dead , v vho endured other anti-government groups and what he endured-nor one hi s indi viduals have declared war equal in intellect, faith , charity, on our historical way of life . It is a new ci vil and humility, which makes his demonization war, funded by the far ri ght-wing billionaire by the political right so profoundl y disturbin g. Koch brothers, among others. And like the first Moreover, Lincoln , unli ke hi s many current Ci vii War, it's a fight for the future and soul of denouncers , was absolutel y incorruptibl e. Hi s America. Tea Party and Republican accusers , on the other What makes Lincoln our greatest American hand , have a long and sordid history of accept(and not just our greatest president) is that he in g cash for votes, from the NRA , JP Morgan , was also a deeply loving and profoundly reftecGE, Exxon/Mobil , et. al. These corrupt polititi ve Christian , who wrestl ed openl y and honestcians , like Faust , have struck a bargain with the ly with the aspects of his faith which he could devil , while Lincoln alone stuck to the high, not understand , but who sincerely and revercostl y road of sacrifi ce, faith , integrity, and ently lived out that which he could understand. charity. His was a costly and prophetic faith , to be reli ed The followin g anecdote , which not surprisupon to inform one's daily thoughts and actions ingly was left out of these books on Lincoln, unin all the myriad trials , sufferings , temptations , veils the authentic Lincoln , the deeply humane, and uncertainti es which everyday Life presents . caring , and gi vin g human being that he reall y 14 THE EPOCH JOURNAL was . I read about thi s incid ent a decade ago in a library in graduate sc hool and here retell it from memory-faithful Lo the fac ls, but told in my ow n words. Lincoln had spent a long day at an arm y hos pital visitin g and comfo rtin g the many Uni on wound ed and dying . As day graduall y turned into evening, an ex hausted and emotionall y depl eted Lin coln departed the hospital, climbed wearil y into the presid ential carri age, and began the slow return to the White House, where a late evening's work still awaited him. A hospital orderl y suddenly ra n up to the pres identi al carriage and shouted out , 'There's a Confederate soldi er who wants to speak with th e president." Lincoln , although cl earl y exhausted , stepped down fro m the carri age and with weary steps re-entered th e hos pital. The Confederate soldi er was a yo un g man, who, upon seein g Lincoln in the fl esh fo r Lhe first time, remarked naYvely, ' Yo u don' t look at all li ke the ape pi ctures I saw in the South .' The two of them talked fo r some time. Then the yo un g man asked if Lin coln would de li ver a letter and heirl oom to hi s fa mil y. Lin coln promi sed him that he would . Lincoln then said that he had press in g business still awaitin g him , and was there anything else he could do for him . The dying soldi er pathetically repli ed, ' I was hopin g yo u' d see me throu gh.' So thi s impossibl y busy wartime pres ident shunted asid e all offic ial business, and forgetful even of hi s own exhausted state , stayed with thi s enemy soldi er until the very end , mini sterin g to him and comfo rtin g him , weepin g as he clasped the dyin g soldi er's hands in hi s ow n. True to hi s word , Lincoln made sure that the fa mil y received the young man 's personal effects . Need I remark that thi s is exactl y how Lin coln wo uld have treated the South after the war-with di gnity, charity, mercy, and reason ? What mi ght our country have developed into with a Reconstruction based not on hatred and retri bu ti on but on mercy and chari ty for all ?" Thi s incident clearly and unambi guously reveals what kind of president he reall y was: a deepl y carin g, fo rgiving Chri stian who harbored no ill will towards the forces bitterly arrayed against him in an epic Civil War. He , so far as I am aware, is unmatched in the ann als of hi story, anci ent or modern . The destructi ve fires of our new "civil war," whi ch these rev isionist hi stori es of Lincoln are meant to stoke, continue today unchecked: ideological gridl ock in Congress; hateful , petty Republi cans callin g for Obama's impeachm ent every other week; I ies and half-truth s on important politi cal iss ues that are a stapl e of Re publi can incendi ary rhetoric ; adve rsarial politi cs of the meanest and vil est kind ; the inability of the Obama administrati on to get its many, and important , appointments passed; votes openl y bought in Congress in exchange fo r campaign contribution s; a Con gress subservient to the wealthi est 1% whil e carin g not a whi t for the middl e or lower classes. Two well -respected and very-influential politi cal sci enti sts, in fact, on e from Prin ceton Uni versity and the other from Northwestern , in an empiri cally-based 20-year-long stud y of how Congress actuall y works, have openl y decl ared that our democracy is dead. "We are now," they pronounced, "an oli garchy, a nati on governed solely by the fe w on behalf of the interests of the wealthi est I%." And they have the irrefu tabl e ev idence of over 20 years research data to back up their claim . "Our democracy is dead." In these di sturbin g times, what we need are the intell ect, courage , faith , charity, and moral stature of another Lincoln to guide us throu gh these turbul ent and treacherous waters. The future of our cheri shed way of life now hangs precari ously in the balance. Can we still recl aim the dreams of our fo refath ers and brin g good , honest, intelli gent , and carin g governm ent to every Ameri can citi zen? Can we both as indi viduals and as a nati on seek truth , goodness, and beauty with unflinchin g zeal and steadfast devoti on, working dail y fo r peace and concord amon g all citizens whil e di sav owin g diatribe, di vision , and di scord? Can we once again prove to a skepti cal world that our once-cheri shed and hi ghl y- regarded democratic way of life is not yet dead and buri ed: that our democracy can justl y represent all economic classes; that it can honor and aid both our poores t and most vulnerabl e citizens as well as our richest and most successfu l; and that a government of the people, by the peopl e, and for the people can , like the immortal phoeni x, ri se once again triumphantl y from its own ashes ! • FALL 2014 15 �the EPOCH. JOURNAL VOLUME VIII ISSUE 1 ST. JOHN'S COLLE GE LIBRAR Y 1 111111111111111111m1m11 i11mi11 1111111 111111111 3 1696 01165 7523 Fall 2014 CYBER CRIME, WARFARE, AND ESPIONAGE by Wyatt Moreton MY NEW GLASSES: TECHNOLOGY EMBODL..-.--. by Patricia Locke \ DATE DUE I plus THE SEWOL TRAGEDY & THE NEW CIVIL WAR The Epoch: On Technology 1· � Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. 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Identifier An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context Epoch Journal Fall 2015 Coverage The spatial or temporal topic of the resource, the spatial applicability of the resource, or the jurisdiction under which the resource is relevant Annapolis, MD Publisher An entity responsible for making the resource available St. John's College Language A language of the resource English Type The nature or genre of the resource text Rights Information about rights held in and over the resource St. John's College owns the rights to this publication. Format The file format, physical medium, or dimensions of the resource pdf Student publication https://s3.us-east-1.amazonaws.com/sjcdigitalarchives/original/3bfe6a975cf006870867cbb153ce0105.pdf 996fd2146b85a207f9ba708f1cba3aff PDF Text Text the EPOCH VOLUMEX ISSUE 1 JOURNAL Summer2016 - - - - - - - - - Democracy is Coming to the USA by Noah Burns In Their Own Words by SawyerNeale Living with Keynes by Ryan Dau plus The Politic of Religion & Battle for the Senate 2016 On Democracy �the EPOCH JOURNAL SUMMER 2016 VOLUME X, ISSUE I Editor's Letter EDITOR-IN-CHIEF Sawyer Neale LAYOUT Stuart Lombard Sawyer Neale We are in a unique place in the history of our democracy. As a nation, we have seen the BUSINESS DIRECTOR Ivan Syritsyn EDITORIAL BOARD Sawyer Neale Ivan Syristyn Stuart Lombard Matthew Manotti Aidan Shaw COLUMNISTS Morgan Anastasi Noah Burns Stuart Lombard Matthew Manotti Cyrus Schiller CONTRIBUTORS Henry Bartholomew Ryan Dau Katelin Safford Ivan Syritsyn Grace Villmow © 2016, The Epoch Journal disclaimer The Epoch Journal IS PRODUCED AND DISTRIBUTED IN ANNAPOLIS, MARYLAND. OPINIONS EXPRESSED IN ARTICLES OR ILLUSTRATIONS ARE NOT NECESSARILY THOSE OF THE EDITORIAL BOARD OR ST. JOHN'S COLLEGE. question. ■ mailing address -Sawyer Neale, Editor-In-Chief ST. JOHN'S COLLEGE 60 COLLEGE A VE. ANNAPOLIS, MD 21404 submissions ARE YOU INTERESTED IN WRITING FOR THE EPOCH JOURNAL? WE ARE CURRENTLY LOOKING FOR EDITORS, COLUMNISTS, AND GENERAL SUBMISSIONS - birth of the internet and social media and have witness the rise and fall of movements born out of digital activism ranging from President Obama's 2008 campaign and Occupy Wall Street to the Black Lives Matter movement. In terms of current politics, the internet and social media has led to a society in which a major party nominee openly advocates against our most basic freedoms, be it press, religion, or due process, and third parties appear to be on the verge of a national resurgence. Needless to say, it's interesting viewing. However, at The Epoch Journal, we don't believe in just watching. In this issue of The Epoch, which commemorates our 10th anniversary, we put that philosophy to the test, and set out to explore the current state of our democracy. In his column Democracy is Coming to The USA, Noah Bums (A'18) discusses the state of profound inequality among Americans, and the movements necessary to solve it. Our Business Director, Ivan Syritsyn (A'19) in The Sinews ofDemocracy explores the effects of large campaign contributions and the increased distancing between elected officials and constituents. Columnist Matthew Manotti talks in The Politic of Religion about the conflicts that arise when religion faces liberal democracy. In Battle for the Senate 2016, Henry Bartholomew (A' 19) and Cyrus Schiller (A' 19) take a more contemporary look at democracy, providing commentary on every single 2016 senate race, including predictions for whether seats will flip, or stay in control of whichever party current occupies them. We also have some pieces from up-and-coming freshmen in this issue, such as Ryan Dau's (A'20) exploration, Living with Keynes, which shows the immense influence which John Maynard Keynes has had on macroeconomics, or Grace Villmow (A'20), who attempts to dispel many myths about genetically modified organisms in Your Right to Know. In my article In Their Own Words, I attempt to end this 10th anniversary issue of The Epoch with a meditation on the role of the media in a democracy by asking nationally-renowned (and occasionally reviled) journalists and politicians that very FOR MORE INFORMATION, CONTACT SAWYER NEALE AT Addendum:As a result of budget constraints from the St. John's College Delegate Council, we will be switching to a subscription-based system of distribution for future issues. If you're interested in receiving new issues of The Epoch Journal, send an email to smneale@sjc.edu with the subject "Epoch Subscription" and your full name in the body of the email, and future issues will be delivered straight to your campus mailbox. SMNEALE@SJC.EDU. 2 THE EPOCH JOURNAL SUMMER 2016 3 �COLUMNS FEATURES Democracy is Coming to The USA by Noah Burns (A'18) Living with Keynes by Ryan Dau (A'20) The Ultimate Battle for Market Freedom Battle for the Senate 2016 17. The Digital Election by Morgan Anastasi (A'18) In Defense of Tumblr Feminism by Katelin Safford (A'18) 35. 19. The Politic of Religion by Matthew Manotti (A'18) The Sinews of Democracy by Ivan Syritsyn (A'19) 39. 21. The Collapsing Consensus by Cyrus Schiller (A'19) Your Right to Know by Grace Villtnow (A'20) 41. In Their Own Words by Sawyer Neale (A'18) 46. 6. 14. by Stuart Lombard (A'19) 4 THE EPOCH JOURNAL 25. 28. by Henry Bartholomew (A'19) and Cyrus Schiller (A'19) SUMMER 2016 5 �POLITICAL ETHICS Democracy is Coming to the USA Linguistic And Political Absurdities, and What to Do About Them BY NOAH BURNS (A'18) It is currently a widely held opinion in main- American democracy is like fearing the exstream American politics that Donald Trump tinction of the unicorn. It makes no sense to is a threat to American democracy. A number fear the demise of something that does not of reasons have been given. In an op-ed in exist and has never existed. The problem is, I believe, one of lanthe Washington Post in March, former treaguage. Words, once they enter the boxing sury secretary Lawrence Summers stated that Trump threatened American democracy be- ring of political discourse, are repeatedly cause "he is running as modem day man on punched in the face, to the point where they only emerge bloodied and a horseback---demagogically offering the power of his percontorted. This creates two "It makes no sense sonality as a magic solution definitions for many words, to fear the demise of a common sense one and a to all problems- and making something that does clear that he is prepared to political one. Two sides of run roughshod over anything an argument often then pronot exist and has ceed to make their arguments or anyone who stands in his never existed. " way." Three months later in based on different definitions. Bloomberg, Jonathan BernA good example is the debate stein argued that the threat posed by Trump over the political movement Black Lives to American democracy is that "his only con- Matter. Black Lives Matter (which is not resistent promise is 'winning' -- that he will re- ally a centralized organization) has been acverse a perceived string of losses endured by cused of being anti-law enforcement because the the U.S." In other words, he makes few of its protests against police brutality and real policy proposals, and therefore is not the shooting of innocent, generally unarmed promising to represent anyone in a substan- black men by police. Now, as far as I know, tive manner. Trump and some of his support- assault and murder are against the law. If the ers have also suggested that the election will words "law" and "enforcement" mean what be fraudulent, spreading fears through the I (probably naively) think they mean, then, pundit class that the lack of faith in the pro- when a crime is committed, the person who cess will threaten American democracy. causes the law concerning that crime to be My immediate response to this con- followed should be considered the enforcer cern for the future of American democracy of that law. So far, that is all clear, and I think, is bewilderment. Fearing the extinction of uncontroversial: assault and murder are 6 THE EPOCH JOURNAL against the law, and the person who enforces enforce. If you define law enforcement this the law should be called "law enforcement." way, it suddenly makes sense how Black When there is a police shooting of an innoLives Matter could be considered anti-law cent man where no charges are filed, and the enforcement. investigation is minimal and/or prejudiced, This is true of the word democracy Black Lives Matter organizes and carries out as well. Basically, common sensically, and protests to demand that the shooter be held etymologically, a democracy is a political accountable to the law. Now, according to our system in which the people, have power. reasonable, normal definitions above, when This is my understanding of democracy as Black Lives Matter demands that the law be well. With this definition of democracy, the followed, and participates in direct actions idea that the United States is a democracy designed to cause it to be followed, Black appears even more absurd than the idea Lives Matter is law enforcement. Therefore, that Black Lives Matter is anti-law enwhen Black Lives Matter participates in the forcement. A 2014 study by Martin Gil ens actions I described, unless Black Lives Matof Princeton University and Benjamin ter is opposed to Black Lives Page of Northwestern Univer"... the idea that the Matter, Black Lives Matter sity, entitled Testing Theories cannot possibly be "anti-law United States is a of American Politics: Elites, enforcement". Conversely, democracy appears Interest Groups, and Average when police commit assaults Citizens, used public opinion even more absurd and murders, or any other survey data from 1982-2002 to than the idea that violation of the rights of the attempt to answer the question Black Lives Matter people whose rights they are of who really has the greatest is anti-law enforcesupposed to be protecting, causal influence on American they are not law enforcement, ment." federal policy. Gilens studied unless we reject Aristotle's 1,779 issues for which there principle of non-contradiction was polling data that included in the Metaphysics, and assert that one can income demographic information and for both violate and enforce the law at the same which a significant policy alteration or time. complete maintenance of the status quo This example illustrates the disconwas the ultimate result. Gilens and Page nect between common meanings of words, summarized theirresults, saying, "The cenand special, technical meanings that arise tral point that emerges from our research is once those words enter the political sphere. that economic elites and organized groups The reason that Black Lives matter can be representing business interests have subconsidered anti-law enforcement is that the stantial independent impacts on U.S. govjob of the police is not really to enforce the ernment policy, while mass-based interest law. The police are an instrument of power, groups and average citizens have little or a means to maintain social, economic, and no independent influence." Although poppolitical hierarchies of privilege and influular opinion correlates with public policy ence. As an agent of power, they are to be roughly two thirds of the time, they argue respected like the power they represent. To that it would be wrong to claim a causal defy the police is to defy the social order they relationship based on that data. Average SUMMER 2016 7 �voters and mass-based political groups get what they want only when they want what economic elites want. When the opinions of elites and average or poor citizens diverge, the elites almost always prevail: "When the preferences of economic elites and the stands of organized interest groups are controlled for, the preferences of the average American appear to have only a minuscule, near-zero, statistically non-significant impact upon public policy.... To be sure, this does not mean that ordinary citizens always lose out; they fairly often get the policies they favor, but only because those policies happen also to be preferred by the economically-elite citizens who wield the actual influence." Furthermore, elites expend significant resources and effort to making the population agree with them or divert them from politics altogether (for a treatment of this better than any I could give, see Noam Chomsky and Edward Her- man, Manufacturing Consent). Analyses with less scope have found similar results. For example, a Washington Post article from June 12th 2015 compared Bernie Sanders' policy positions to public opinion polls, and found that for issues for which there is reliable ' polling data, a majority of American agreed with Sanders. Nonetheless, Sanders' positions were considered so radical that one of the principle arguments against him was that he would never get anything done. In other words, if you propose doing what the general population wants, you're a radical extremist and will go nowhere. Just like the case of Black Lives Matter and law enforcement, the discussion of the Trump-caused expiry of democracy appears to be an absurdity that flies in the face of common understanding and elementary logic. But as in that case, the absurdity can be obviated by recognizing that some of the participants are operating under a different definition of the word involved. In addition to the common sense, etymological definition, there is also an alternative, technical meaning of the word democracy. In this sense, a democracy is a political system run allegedly in the collective interest, but run not by the people but by economic and social elites. In this system, the general population, or the "bewildered herd" as Walter Lippman described them in his book Public Opinion, is there to ratify the decisions of the natural aristocracy, the (formerly exclusively, now merely predominantly) men of superior understanding. The idea of such a natural aristocracy has a long history, and in American history it goes back to the beginning. To the so-called Founders, more than a modicum of democracy was dangerous, and so the United States government was set up specifically to prevent it going beyond certain limits. In his notes on the secret debates of the Federal Convention of 1787, Robert Yates quotes James Madison giving a detailed description of his intentions for the Senate: " T he man who is possessed of wealth, who lolls on his sofa, or rolls in his carriage, cannot judge of the wants or feelings of the day laborer. The government we mean to erect is intended to last for ages. The landed interest, at present, is prevalent; but in process of time, when we approximate to the states and kingdoms ofEurope; when the number of landholders shall be comparatively small, through the various means of trade and manufactures, will not the landed interest be overbalanced in fu ture elections, and unless wisely provided against, what will become ofyour government? In England, at this day, if elections were open to all classes of 8 THE EPOCH JOURNAL people, the property of the landed proprietors would be insecure. An agrarian law would soon take place. If these observations be just, our government ought to secure the permanent interests of the country against innovation. Landholders ought to have a share in the government, to support these invaluable interests, and to balance and check the other. They ought to be so constituted as to protect the minority of the opulent against the majority. The senate, therefore, ought to be this body; and to answer these purposes, they ought to have permanency and stability. Various have been the propositions; but my opinion is, the longer they continue in office, the better will these views be answered. " The electoral college and the restriction of the franchise to white, male, property owners were also powerful ways to protect the wealthy and powerful from the demands of the general population for equality. The result of Gilens and Page's study, that when the general population and the economic elite disagree over policy the elite win, is not an aberration from or degeneration the American political system. It is the system working as it was intended to, defending wealth and privilege from the popular will. The important question is, which kind of democracy is preferable? Madison's argument was recently recapitulated quite clearly by Andrew Sullivan, in the title of an article on the dangers that Donald Trump poses to American democracy (in the technical sense): "Democracies End When They Become Too Democratic" (New York Times Magazine, May 1st 2016). In other words, when "the barriers to the popular will" are gone, the result is that the bewildered herd will mess everything up. He also warns of the democraSUMMER 2016 9 �tization of the media through the emergence problems attributable to elite policy. Due to and large scale dissemination of alternative time and space, I can only give a perfunctory sources of information. "Yes, occasional ra- summary of these problems, but I'm sure you tional points still fly back and forth, but there know many of them already. The gist of it is are dramatically fewer elite arbiters to estab- that the elite economic-political doctrine of lish which of those points is actually true or choice for the last thirty five years, neolibvalid or relevant. We have lost authoritative eralism, has been smashing success - for the sources for even a common set of facts. And elite. Economic inequality has been increaswithout such common empirical ground, the ing for the last thirty years, and continues to emotional component of politics becomes increase even during the administration of inflamed and reason retreats even further." such a radical socialist as Barack Obama. AcSullivan is to be directed to the track-record cording to a September 10th, 2013 article in Pravda The Wall Street Jourthe newspaper that published nal, the economic recovery his article under their slogan "... the 62 richest from the 2008 : financial crash of "All the news that's fit to has not stopped the increase in people in the world print" (is that really any less economic inequality. It cites a own as much wealth deranged a claim than the as half of the world's study by UC Berkeley, which name of the Soviet propaganit summarizes as finding that, da institution, "Truth"?). Acpopulation. .. " "All told, average inflationcording to Sullivan it is better adjusted income per family that we share common lies climbed 6% between 2009 and than argue over what is true. These noble lies allow for government by 2012, the first years of the economic recovthe responsible set of men, so that they may ery. During that period, the top 1% saw their make good policy decisions that will lead to incomes climb 31.4% - or, 95% of the total gain - while the bottom 99% saw growth high standards of living and safety. In order to respond to this argument, of 0.4%." A recent Oxfam study found that we can conduct a very simple test. Does the this phenomenon is not limited to the United set of responsible men, or the natural aristoc- States, unsurprising in the era of globalizaracy, or the social and economic elite, what- tion. According to Oxfam, the 62 richest peoever you want to call them, accomplish what ple in the world own as much wealth as half it has allegedly empowered itself in order to of the world's population, a decrease from 80 do? If economic elites were empowered by the previous year, and 388 in 2010. And what the design of the United States' political insti- are the wealthy doing with all this money? tutions, and they have maintained that power There is a crisis of investment. Banks are still over the course of its history and up to the not lending for productive purposes, even present, then, like a candidate for powerful after they have become more profitable than office, they have a record. The results of that they were before the financial crisis thanks to record can be seen by simply looking around. the use of taxpayer money by the government Your perception of the state of affairs might to bail them out. From trade agreements (like depend upon your socio-economic status, but the protectionist TPP) to so-called austerity any even mildly objective look at the state of (just how austere is it to force Greece to take the United States shows significant problems, more of your money that you know it won't I 10 THEEPOCHJOURNAL I be able to pay back to you?) to privatization of public goods and tax cuts and loopholes for the wealthy, the neoliberal economy is designed to transfer the wealth and income of the poor and working class to the economic elite. And the political system is designed to keep the poor and working class from taking it back. Meanwhile, in the United States, that growing part of the population that lives in poverty suffers decreasing life-expectancy, hunger, homelessness, cuts in education (which was already designed to indoctrinate them), and the constant to work long hours at difficult or degrading jobs to survive. Throw in the foreign policy decisions of elites over the same period, from 1-3 million dead in Iraq and a collapsing region, to and endless and expanding war on terror (if the methods of war on terror were going to work, shouldn't the problem be getting better, not worse, after 15 years of using them?), and so-called mob rule is looking pretty good. But no such thing as "mob rule" is required to ameliorate some of these problems. Since the kind of "democracy" that empowers elites and either represses, anesthatizes or indoctrinates everybody else has been a massive failure, we plebs might try expanding the kind of democracy that empowers the people generally. There are some very simple ways in which this could be done. They have very little to do with elections. Achieving real democracy will not mean changing who is in power, which is simply exchanging one elite for another. If there were a right person to be in power, we wouldn't need democracy. It isn't about "who has the power?", who is in a position of centralized power, but about power simply. The whole point of democracy is that people should have power over their own lives, and that they should share power over their collective lives. Achieving this kind of democracy is very simple in theory: just do it. We could start organizing ourselves into small democratic societies today. This is more difficult in practice, because of what is required of us to sacrifice in order to do this. But there are some places where it might be easier to start than others. One strategy to move our society in a democratic direction is a protest movement. The goal of a protest movement is not to establish an anarchist society, like the pure democracy that I just hinted at, but to positively impact the Overton window (the range of acceptable policies) and to turn passive bystanders into political actors. A protest movement, borrowing from a formulation by Milton Friedman (who would probably be horrified to see his name here, which is why I am invoking it), it isn't about getting the right people in power (there are no right people, remember?), but about making it impossible for the wrong people not to do less wrong things. The right thing, however, would be to dissolve the institutions of centralized power themselves. That's where the second strategy comes in. Instead of trying to make its tyranny less brutal through protest, the second strategy, direct action, asserts immediately the right and responsibility of people to govern their own affairs. It is the practice of a truly democratic, anarchist society. In an article that I strongly recommend reading called "Election Madness," the late historian Howard Zinn wrote about the history of direct action, and how it is more important than elections. " [T]he mortgage foreclosures that are driving millions from their homes-they should remind us of a similar situation after the Revolutionary War, when small farmers, many of them war veterans (like so many of our homeless SUMMER 2016 11 �today), could not afford to pay their taxes and were threatened with the loss of the land, their homes. They gathered by the thousands around courthouses and refused to allow the auctions to take place. The evictions today of people who cannot pay their rents should remind us of what people did in the Thirties when they organized and put the belongings of the evicted families back in their apartments, in defiance of the authorities. " In other words, if they evict your neighbor because they lost their job, don't wring your hands at the system at large or try to make the government that let's people get thrown out on the street less tyrannical: get the community you live in to come together and put their stuff back back in their home, and help to keep them there. There is a movement doing this in East Harlem, started by Latina immigrant women, called Movimiento Por Justicia en El Barrio. The anarchist inspired movement has fought both political battles of city-wide import through protest, such as zoning reform and gentrification, and small battles of simply keeping people in their homes and providing them with dignity. More than this, however, it has become a free 12 THE EPOCH JOURNAL community itself. Josefina, a member of the movement, says in a YouTube video, "I like to be like a bird: to be free, to fly! ... Without anybody managing me." If a corporation wants to build a pipeline that the community doesn't want, we can follow the example of Native Americans in North Dakota right now, and prevent them from building it. If the government wants to send us to war against our will, we must refuse to go and help others to refuse, Finally, since economic elites control the policies of the government, it follows that the center of power in our society is not political but economic. Furthermore, most adult Americans spend most of their time within the economic sphere, at work. But the economic sphere is even more lacking in democracy than the political sphere: it has none at all. Corporations are command economies based on strict hierarchies, and are mostly not accountable to the public. Workers, say General Motors factory workers (if there are any of them left), have no control over the content of their work. They cannot decide to start making more fuel efficient cars, even if they generally agree that this is a necessary step towards averting climate catastrophe. In other words, the people who are living and working in a community don't have control such as B corporations, or stakeholder corover what is produced in and for that com- porations, worker-owned cooperatives, community, and the conditions in which they pro- munity owned grocers, and anthroposophical duce it. The minimal exceptions are thanks banks. to organized labor, a "democratic distemper" Popular movements like Black Lives within the economic sphere. The simple solu- Matter, Movimiento Por Justicia en El Barrio, tion to this problem, that people spend most the gay rights movement, the environmenof their time within authoritarian structures tal movement, and the anti-war movement beyond their control, taking orders, is to de- are small democracies, in the shared-power mocratize the work-place. The people who sense. If we want self-determination, it is create the wealth and do the self-evident that we must acwork should take control over complish it by living freely. As "If we want selfthat work and the wealth that philosopher and writer Albert determination, it is they produce with it. I'm not Camus put it, "The only way self-evident that we talking about electing managto deal with an unfree world is must accomplish it by ers. Workers should be makto become so absolutely free living freely. " ing communal decisions about that your very existence is an what they produce based on act of rebellion." Only then their common values and needs, and organiz- will the absurdity of our political, social, and ing a way to carry out the production accord- economic life abate, and free individuals will ingly. To the aristocrats, who think this would be able to control their own fates. Only then destroy profitability and that workers could will we have democracy in any sense worth never be competent enough to run their own of the name, and of us. ■ affairs, I reply just as I did to their argument about government: look at facts. General Motors was run according to the elite domination model, and it was run into the ground, contributing to climate change and environmental destruction and decimating the lives of its employees (among other infractions, like knowingly failing to report serious malfunctions that led to the deaths of dozens of customers). Is there any reason to think that workers will do worse than that? If you are still not convinced, look into the hidden history of the American workers' movements of the nineteenth century, when the propositions I just expounded were considered selfevident to working people. It did not come to pass because of violence on the part of the government for industrialists, not because of any lack of competency. You might also want to research cooperative enterprises of today, SUMMER 2016 13 �LAW & TECHNOLOGY The Ultimate Battle for Market Freedom Apple Inc. & Samsung Electronics Co. BY STUART LOMBARD (A'19) It isno secret that Steve Jobs hated having been a manufacturing defect. Even today, the competition. And the launch of the original fact that the microphone, headphone jack, iPhone in 2007 was no different. With its and micro-USB connector do not line up in release, he intended to capture the growing perfect symmetry on the bottom of Samsung smartphone market by releasing a product smartphones upsets a few device reviewers. that no one had ever seen before. But com- In comparison, these things line up perfectly petition is always lurking and Apple would on the bottom of Apple smartphones. have no weapon to eliminate them with, but And it was not just the smartphone itin fact they did have a suitable self that Apple was accusing, weapon, and one that had cost "... they claimed that but the packaging. The way already cost them hundreds of Samsung was inten- Samsung chose to put their millions of dollars: Patents. phone in a box was supposApple was no stranger tionally trying to sell edly in violation of an Apple to the patent war games when a product that tricked patent that covered the way they filed a lawsuit against customers into think- the iPhone was to be packSamsung Electronics Co. in ing they were buying aged. While all these things April of 2011, having recent- an Apple product... " may seem just slightly ridiculy lost a long battle over the lous, Apple's claim was that iPod. Among the patents that all these components, from Apple was claiming Samsung infringed upon the packaging, to the construction, to the were the rounded comers of the phone itself, User Interface all came together to create the the fact that the phone had a glass screen that iPhone, and in that a product that was discovered the face of the device, equal black tinctly Apple. Essentially, they claimed that borders on each side of the display, and the Samsung was intentionally trying to sell a grid of icons on the home screen. I find these product that tricked customers into thinking to be ridiculous grounds for suing, since they were buying an Apple product, and not a uniformity has always created physically product created by Samsung. appealing products. Imagine for a moment Ever since the beginning of time peohaving a smartphone that had 1 cm of bezel ple have been mimicking each other, and it is space on the right side of the display but 2 cm the essence of humanity that in order to adon the left side. Such an occurrence would vance we must look at each other's creations make for a product that looked like there had and improve on them. We have many compa14 THE EPOCH JOURNAL nies that make ballpoint pens, and while they all serve the same function, there just happen to be better pens that are superior to others. And while all ballpoint pens owe their existence to the same mechanism that allows for ink to cling to a tiny ball that in tum transfers that ink to the paper, the writing experience is something that is extremely personal and can be studied. Therefore, many companies are able to compete with each other to create ballpoint pens that make people feel good when they write with them. Many pens are inexpensive and some can cost hundreds of dollars. Companies like Parker aim to create the perfect writing experience with tried and tested weighting that make their pens distinct. If I see a pen with a clip that resembles an arrow, I will assume that the pen was made by Parker. A Parker pen is something that I expect to be of exemplary quality. The Parker experience would not be possible if the people who had invented the ballpoint, rollerball, or fountain systems had aggressively fought companies who wished to use the technology to create their own distinct writing experience. Apple, like most companies, will fight to retain their intellectual property. The easiest way to do this is by filing patents. However, when Apple filed U.S. Registration No. 3,470,983 with the intent of protecting the iPhone's design, they were ignoring the fact that companies like Samsung Electronics had already released products fitting that description years prior to the release of the original iPhone in 2007. Unfortunately for Samsung, they have not done very well in US courts where I find there to be a clear bias in favour of Apple. The British courts actually sided with Samsung when Apple brought a lawsuit over the design of the original Galaxy Tab 10.1. The law is a murky place and despite Samsung's countersuits concerning the design of Apple's products, they are still fighting to decrease the damages that the courts have decided Samsung owes Apple. The problem here is not that Apple PHOTO BY WIKIMEDIA SUMMER 2016 15 �is wrongly accusing Samsung of design in- glass, and some colourful icons displayed on fringement, because for all intents and pur- the screen, but it is iPhone, never the iPhone, poses, they did. The problem is that com- but simply: iPhone. A product that they want panies like Samsung were already building people to feel is more than just a phone. The problem with all this is that by phones that fit the description of the patent before it was filed, and well before the release patenting even the most minute details and marketing every minor feaof the original iPhone. Durture as a game changer, they ing the earlier court proceed" ... the market presare stifling innovation. By inings, it was discovered that sure on companies to tentionally trying to eliminate Apple had indeed taken a lot good products create competition, they are also of inspiration for their design cursing themselves. Because from Sony, even going so far ends with healthy as to have an employee create competition that ben- we can argue all day long about which company stole professional CAD renderings efits the consumer. " X feature from the other, but of Sony-like phones. Samthe fact is that when people sung brought this up and also brought up the CAD drawings for phones borrow ideas from each other, the features they were making in 2006. And I think that tend to improve. And the market pressure on if Samsung or Sony had filed patents relating companies to create good products ends with to their design choices, then this story would healthy competition that benefits the conhave been different, as it would have been sumer. Apple and Samsung are good for each other in this respect. Apple has not been inthem suing Apple. But should they have? I would say no, they should not have, novating lately, and so many consumers have and I do not think Apple should have either. switched over to Samsung who are deliverBut if there is a sole factor that has made Ap- ing powerful, feature-rich phones with a stylple so unbelievably successful, it is design; ish design. Apple must recognise this as their design and marketing. It has been a long time profits have fallen, and they will undoubtedly since Apple has put forth any real innovation. be trying to innovate and implement the next Nowadays, iPhones are just borrowing from big feature that will drive the market forward. features that have already existed in other This is why the precedent set now smartphones. But by marketing these features is so very important. If the judiciary allows effectively, they tend to take the credit. Apple companies to become patent trolls, then does deserve a lot of praise though for tak- the market will slow down because there is ing features and polishing them to make them a blockade in the flow of ideas. Here at St. slightly duller but easier to use. They create John's College we are encouraged to collaboproducts that seem like so much more than rate and share ideas for the betterment of the just phone or just a computer: they bring a entire polity and also the outside world. Intelwhole host of technology into a package that lectual property is important, but if the invenmakes people feel good, and like they do not tor of the ballpoint pen system had restricted have to learn all the technology. Apple still their invention to one company, it would be remains the king of ease-of-use. This is what a very dull world. When companies are alApple is trying so hard to protect: it is not just lowed to compete, the consumer wins. ■ a phone with rounded comers, a display of 16 THE EPOCH JOURNA L POLITICS The Digital Election How Technology is Changing our Democracy BY MORGAN ANASTASI (A'18) The impact of technology on the political pro- right ideologies. Brexit was a Twitter hashtag becess has never been greater. The rapid advance- fore it became a political reality while being opment in social networking technology has brought posed by most members of the traditional media. with it many effects and side-effects. This has Anyone can post a video on YouTube and potenbeen a paradigm shift for how democracy is done. tially reach an audience of millions. Every tiny It is clear that any account of the upcoming elec- piece of campaign errata and minutiae is instantly tion would be incomplete and shallow if it did not disseminated across what might be described as a include a thorough account of the deep systemic flourishing ecosystem of armchair commentators, changes wrought by the rise of digital communi- analysts and comedians. This rag-tag commentarcations. iat is, as any random cross-secEarly this summer, a tion of the population is bound "This rag-tag comgroup of Congresspersons staged to be, frequently mis-informed, mentariat is, as any a sit-in over a controversial serandom cross-section un-informed or both. By giving ries of gun-control restrictions. everyone an equal voice, the inof the population is After the CSPAN feed was cut, bound to be, frequent- ternet has made it more difficult Congressmen and women turned to discern the insightful analysis ly mis-informed, unto a mobile telephone app called from the idiotic puns and amainformed or both. " "Periscope" to broadcast their teur stand-up. The tweets of an struggle to the world. Meanindividual with a Ph.D. in politiwhile, in an apartment in a fashionable neighbor- cal science are frequently indistinguishable from hood in Massachusetts, a man in his early twen- those of any random online jokester. ties was logging on to an online imageboard to Epistemologically, this is devaluing the anonymously share his opinions on the election distinction between knowledge - what we know with the world. These online imageboard com- for sure, what has been called justified true bemunities (often designated by the term "/pol/") lief - and conjecture - what we merely suppose or have become breeding-grounds for such notori- wish to be true. We have devalued the epistemic ous online memes as "Pepe the Frog" and have distinction between sources who know what fostered an entirely new strain of conservative they're talking about and random idiots with an thought: the digital world of the "alt-right". opinion. The internet has given everyone a voice Different forms of media have distinct from amplifying the voices of previously margin- and unique properties that shape how we experialized groups through powerful movements such ence those forms of media - watching a movie is as Black Lives Matter to giving a platform to far- always a very different experience from reading SUMMER 2016 17 �the book it's based on. The internet has it's own set of properties - looking at a friend's vacation photos on Facebook is much different from getting a letter with them tucked inside. The internet, in particular social media, creates a sort of competitive race for "likes" or "shares". This functions as a classic example of what is known in psychology as a Skinner box - each "like" or "re-tweet" an individual gets serves as a source of behavioral reinforcement, making the user crave for more. The spread of digital technology has also made our democracy more open and transparent - even when those in power wish it weren't. Just a few days before the Democrats were to hold ens to Machiavelli. But today, digital technology is so abundant and ubiquitous that it permeates every aspect of our lives. And because man, as Aristotle puts it, is by his very nature a political animal, technology is permeating our political lives in a way it never has before. We now live in highly-technological bubbles of almost pure artifice, in instant communication with every other bubble of technological artifice across the globe. At every moment, the internet throbs and pulses mechanically with the latest news, belching out a continuous exhaust of thinkpieces, hot takes, and armchair analysis. What does this mean for the future? Where will this interconnectedness lead? It is impossible to predict for certain, but it seems clear that campaigns will surely use digital technology with ever-greater levels of sophistication. Imagine a campaign running millions of highlytargeted micro-campaigns, in which they target individual voters separately, rather than attempting to appeal to them en masse. For example, if an individual is known for purchasing outdoor hiking gear on Amazon, they will be shown a candidate's positive record on environmentalism and climate change. Likewise, a voter who frequently watches YouTube videos on hunting and rifles might be shown a candidate's rating with PHOTO BY KNOWYOURMEME.COM the NRA. Whoever is ultimately successful in this their convention in Philadelphia, a massive leak of e-mails sent by top Democratic Party officials electoral contest might end up being irrelevant occurred. This leak exposed how the Democratic the systemic and epistemic changes the election nominee, Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, col- has brought will long outlive the Presidential luded with high-ranking members of the Demo- term of whoever the victor turns out to be. 2016 cratic party and supposedly neutral media outlets actually might not end up being remembered for such as CNN and MSNBC to gain an advantage the election of the first female President, nor for in her primary contest against Vermont Senator the election of a bombastic outsider, but rather for Bernie Sanders. Experts now suggest that the leak the ever-accelerating development of communihad connections to Russian state actors. Nonethe- cations technology and the electoral changes it less, international cybercrime has now become an has brought. ■ important and illuminating part of our electoral process. Technology has always impacted how our political systems function, from ancient Ath18 THE EPOCH JOURNAL RELIGION & POLITICS The Politic of Religion On The Conflict Between Liberal Democracy and Religion BY MATTHEW MANOTTI (A'18) Why can't religious people keep their religion countries are united in that many of their citizens out of politics? In short, this is because religion share the same customs, beliefs and values. The is inherently political. By that, I do not mean that same is true for Hindu nations, Christian nations, all religions fit on our typical left-right political and the like. Religion thus provides a social basis spectrum, but that religion helps build commu- on which men can work together. nity- it helps develop a polity. The challenge for the modem state is Religions of all kind bring people togeth- creating this social solidarity within diversity. er. Whether in churches, temples, or mosques, Without religion providing common ground on religions endow their adherents with a desire to which to rest our values, the mob or government worship and practice as a group has taken the place of declaring in a similar way that a city exists what is good and evil. In other "Without religion as a single entity. However, reliwords, before Sparta's laws were providing common gion is not bounded by location, not written in stone, but chiseled ground on which to as a city or nation is. Instead, reinto the fabric of society. Now, rest our values, the ligions create a solid society by we have chiseled the laws into mob or government means of common beliefs, morstone. Without religion providing has taken the place als, and practices. A man from a common foundation on which of declaring what is Ethiopia and a man from Germasociety can remain a solid whole, good and evil. " ny have very little in common. we have had to develop other There is no particular reason that means of creating the "E Plurithey ought to consider each other as part of a sin- bus Unum". Some of these methods are economgle group. If these two men met on the comer of a ic (there's a reason we have this phrase stamped street of some foreign city, they have no reason to on our money), others are political (a centralized be loyal to each other. Until they share a common government), and others are technological (social ground, they are strangers, not neighbors. media gives us groups to which we feel we can Historically, religion has provided that belong). I wonder if there is an upper limit to the common ground. I have often heard that religion solidarity that these means can provide. Diverse divides people. This is true- it divides people into cities can be peaceful, but I am not convinced that their religious groups. But without the religion, I the inhabitants of those cities are happier than doubt that men would have been anything other the inhabitants of small communities. In a small than atoms whose unity and solidarity is weakly town, everyone is your "neighbor," and is likely provided by province and locality. Instead, re- to have the same values, customs, and beliefs that ligion creates cross-national polities. Muslim you have. Thus, a citizen of a small town has a SUMMER 2016 19 �greater sense of belonging- of being wanted and having a place in the community. That is not true of the city, where "neighbors" are few and "strangers" are many. How much trust can be developed between people who do not know each other, who have no knowledge of an individual's reputation, and who are not guaranteed to share a common set of values. Still, the hard data on the subject seems to be hotly debated, and I doubt that the conversation on the topic will end in my lifetime. I do not know if the modern liberal democracy is compatible with religion. It appears as though one must eliminate the other. If the 20 THE EPOCH JOURNAL king rules above God, then God is dead. If God rules above the king, than the king is not really the center of power. While both systems have advantages and disadvantages, it would be prudent to recognize what is being lost as the foothold of religion is loosened in America. Let us not forget Durkheim's discovery in Suicide, a Study in Sociology- that Protestants (a religion founded in individualism) kill themselves more often than Catholics or Jews. A man who is free from any social ties to which he must adhere himself is a man who is lonely. ■ INTERNATIONAL POLITICS The Collapsing Consensus Democracy in Decline and the Remaking of The West BY CYRUS SCHILLER (A'19) The world is awash in troubles. The troubles gated and managed in practice, it will always be a range from economic and political uncertainty to hallmark of democracy, for better or for worse. influxes of refugees to religious fanaticism, and Moreover, the treatment of women, slaves, and everyone in the world has something to worry minorities in "democratic" societies, from anabout. The troubles affecting our western society, cient Athens to the United States, has blemished and the effects that stem from them, are the symp- the system we tend to take for granted today. toms of an ailing democracy. The idea of democ- However, democracy today is practiced someracy itself is not ailing, for it will endure in its what differently from ancient Greece or from the formless abstraction; nor am I referring to de- United States for much of its history. What is mocracy in practice, the promeant by democracy nowadays cess by which leaders are seis the culmination of centuries "... it is easy to see how lected and policies are of liberal political thought. This democracies can run adopted, for that will also amok when harnessed by "Liberal Democracy" as I see it persist. What I am referring charismatic demagogues is the consensus that free speech, to is the failure of the inten- for their own personal or cultural and religious pluralism, tion of democracy to be carpolitical democracy, public eduideological ends. " ried out. Democracy, envication, and economic liberalism sioned by its proponents in constitute the best and most dehistory as the fairest political system, whereby veloped mode of civic life, the "good" that all huthe people constituting a political unit serve as man endeavor is directed at, to borrow an exprestheir own voice in its affairs, and where gover- sion from Aristotle's Politics. In my exploration nance is entrusted to the governed, is manifestly of the world as it is, I am approaching these noble in decline. Is democracy defeated? Will it and ideas not as a critic, but as a mourner. For, while similar strains of thought be eradicated by these I believe wholeheartedly that liberal democracy troublesome times? In all fairness, democracy is a fine system, it now appears that it is out of has seldom ever been completely fair for all peo- touch with the harsh realities of the world, and ple constituting a polity. From Alcibiades to Hit- that it is being rapidly overtaken by fear, ignoler to Donald Trump, it is easy to see how democ- rance, and tyranny. I think that the origins of this racies can run amok when harnessed by decay lie in the expansion of globalization and charismatic demagogues for their own personal the political, social, and economic consequences or ideological ends. Many political philosophers it has brought. After the Second World War, when have written about the toxic influence of power much of the world lay in ruins, the victors split and the desire for it, and while these can be miti- into two camps. The Soviet Union expanded its SUMMER 2016 21 �sphere of influence in Asia and Eastern Europe, creating a rigid ideological bloc that propagated Marxist-Leninist thought both in the developed world and in the new nations emerging from the rapidly crumbling European colonial empires in Africa and Asia. Meanwhile, the United States, the United Kingdom, and France, soon to be joined by their former enemies Japan, Italy, and West Germany, set about creating a new global economic order based on capitalism and liberal internationalism. The idea behind this cooperation was to prevent the spread of communism, but also to forever ensure that militarism would never again grip Europe and throw it into another world war. If there was to be peace and solidarity in Europe, there had to be economic cooperation. Specifically, the adversarial tension between France and Germany had to end. From these humble beginnings, the organization of postwar Europe that later become the European Union would expand over the decades into the largest free trade area in the world, and the symbol of European integration. In the coming decades, these previously war-ravaged states experienced an enormous period of economic growth and prosperity. Meanwhile, the U.S . was experiencing a boom of its own, and an entire generation of people, the baby boomers, grew up and came of age in the most favorable economic circumstances ever known. The U.S. also built up the postwar economies of Taiwan, South Korea, and its old enemy, Japan, making the capitalist economic miracle a truly global phenomenon. However, the United Kingdom was not as much of a beneficiary, as it owed much financial debt to the United States, its economy was shrinking, and its empire was rapidly collapsing. For many of Britain's leaders, membership in the thriving European community looked increasingly desirable, and by 1973, after overcoming much opposition, the U.K. was finally a member. By the 1970s, however, a series of inflation cycles and supply shocks rocked the western economies, bringing industrial restructuring and financial hardship with it. The boom was definitively over. However, despite the sub22 THE EPOCH JOUR NA L sequent change in attitude in the 1970s and 1980s towards more conservative, free market policies, exemplified by Ronald Reagan and Margaret Thatcher, the political consensus from the end of World War II remained, and the west rebounded somewhat in the 1980s and 1990s, although not without consequences, many of which we are still dealing with today. The 1980s also saw the accelerated implosion of the USSR, and by the early 1990s, the Iron Curtain had collapsed, releasing an entire cohort of nations from oppression, and thus expanding of the western liberal consensus. Some of these countries, such as Czechoslovakia, transitioned relatively painlessly into this new global order. Others, such as Russia under President Boris Yeltsin, experienced crippling economic hardship and heightened social problems under capitalism. Vladimir Putin, who had been a KGB agent in the Soviet Era, then head of the FSB, which was Russia's post-Soviet internal security apparatus, and finally prime minister late in Yeltsin's second term, emerged in 1999 as Yeltsin's replacement at the helm, at a time when the Russian ship was rocked with considerable economic misfortune and military decline, ethnic tensions, and the former Soviet Republics spiraling out of Russia's control. At present, Putin has further consolidated his control over Russia, and the reformed presidency he inherited in 2012, after another stint as prime minister, has given him more power than he had known previously. At present, Russia is poised to assume greater control over its former subject states, as the proxy war in Eastern Ukraine continues and as doubts linger over whether NATO will make good on its commitments in Eastern Europe or not. Despite massive popular protests against his rule early in Putin's second presidency, it is now safe to assume that Russia's experiment with democracy and liberalization is over. Press freedom is severely restricted, and Putin can reign in Russia with firm control press freedom and law enforcement, and little accountability to the Russian people. On the other side of the continent, the European Union is experiencing problems of its own. In the high tide of liberal democracy during the 1990s, the member states of the European Community ratified the Maastricht Treaty, establishing the modem E.U. as a political union and paving the way for the eventual adoption of the common currency, the Euro. Since the adoption of the Euro and the consolidation of the European member states, the E.U. grew steadily (albeit unevenly) until the 2008 financial crisis, a defining event of our modem age. At the same time, numerous migrants and refugees, mostly Muslims, were fleeing troubled regions of Africa and Western Asia and are continuing to make their way into Europe, a process that had been underway for decades but started to accelerate due to war, poverty, and political repression following the 2011 Arab Spring. As the union still grapples with the financial crisis and increased immigration, many countries have expressed frustration with the E.U.'s fiscal insolvency and tolerant immigration laws, both for immigrants within Europe and outside of Europe. For the past two years, special attention has been directed to France, a country with a large and mostly unassimilated Muslim population, due to a number of extremely brutal terrorist attacks against ordinary French civilians. Many of these immigrants live a life apart from mainstream society, and the lower class neighborhoods where many of them reside have proven an effective breeding ground for radical Islamic terrorism. The backlash against the E.U. has been severe. The inability of the union to steer the hardest hit countries out of financial ruin has given rise to numerous political parties pledging withdrawal from European financial institutions, and many countries dealing with migrants and refugees have seen increased electoral success for far-right parties, which promise to uphold "European" cultural hegemony and strictly limit immigration. The biggest shock of all came in June 2016 when the United Kingdom had a referendum on continued E.U. membership, in which "Vote Leave" succeeded contrary to many peoples' expectations. The ref- PHOTO BY WIKIMEDIA SUMMER 2 016 23 �erendum itself was nonbinding, however it does require the government to either commence negotiations or the parliament to trigger article 50 of the Lisbon Treaty. If the negotiations succeed, then the U.K. can most likely leave on favorable terms with the European Union. If the negotiations fail and article 50 is triggered, then all ties with the E.U. will be severed completely in two years' time, which would be disastrous for both negotiating parties. With Euroscepticism on the rise, some E.U. countries, particularly the struggling economies of the former Soviet bloc, have been regressing towards less political freedom and cultural tolerance. In Hungary, where Prime Minister Viktor Orban and his national conservative Fidesz party dominate politics, there has been a trend towards less liberal democracy. The freedom of the Hungarian press is being curtailed, new laws inhibit challenges to Fidesz policies, and recently, a border fence was constructed to stem the flow of refugees, which was accompanied by calls within Hungary to "keep Europe European". In the United States, meanwhile, Donald Trump has successfully capitalized on decades of pent up white working class anger to become the Republican nominee for President of the United States of America. As hard as it is to believe, Trump's rise was predictable. From the 1970s until now, the Republican Party was able to achieve lasting electoral success by shoring up support from working class white Americans, many of whom felt left behind by the Democrats, who since the 60s had arguably moved too far to the left and had become the party of civil rights and women's liberation. However, both parties were committed to the liberal democratic consensus, and the decline of the parochial working classes in the rust belt continued unabated. In 2016, frustration with establishment politics, reduced standards of living,and sluggish economic growth since the 2008 recession has given rise to two extraordinary candidates. Donald Trump achieved success on the right by bashing immigrants, free trade and mainstream politicians, while Senator Bernie Sanders of Vermont 24 THE EPOCH JOURNAL achieved considerable (but somewhat less) suecess by attacking unfair corporate practices, the financial and pharmaceutical industries, and campaign financing. Even though he lost, Sanders may provide a glimpse at the future of the left, even though he is only radical by American standards. By mobilizing a large and enthusiastic popular following against the political and economic status quo, Sanders offers a more progressive response to the Democracies' lagging fortunes and the rise of right-wing nativist and authoritarian parties in the developed world. As countries that were once fertile for democracy regress into authoritarianism, and as authoritarian regimes such as China become more powerful on the world stage, Democracies need to respond with fresh vigor in order to reverse the ongoing decline of the Western ideal. But the question remains ambiguous: How are we as citizens of democracies to respond to the woes of the modem world? Shall we give ourselves up to the reactionary tide of autarky, nativism, and tyranny? Or, shall we breathe new life into our moribund democracies by promoting more fair and open societies, with equal rights and economic and social justice? The radical changes taking place in the world call for radical responses, and this question is solely up to us. ■ ECONOMICS Living with Keynes How Willard Maynard Keynes Changed Economics BY RYAN DAU (A'20) "We are all Keynesians now". namely gross domestic product, unemployment, This phrase, immortalized by a false at- and so on. Thus, there exists an unshakeable ditribution to Richard Nixon, was penned by none chotomy between the nominal economy and the other than the arch-free-marketeer Milton Fried- real economy, with total spending, influenced man in a December 31, 1965 issue of Timemag- both by private and public expenditures, impactazine. Consumers of "pop economics," a field ing only the former, and not the latter. Nominal which Friedman almost single-handedly found- variables are, to use the parlance of the time, a ed with the publication of the books Capitalism "veil" over the real economy, shrouding the imand Freedom along with Free to Choose, will no portant interactions between firm and client, emdoubt be shocked, with good reason. Friedman ployer and employee. As a result, government made his career as a public intellectual by op- public works programs could, at a pretty penny, posing the then-dominant Keynesianism in aca- boost inflation, but not job growth. Recessions, demic economics and public policy, allying him- then, were caused solely by government medself with the Reaganite supply-siders in the 1980 dling: a regulation here, coupled with a minimum presidential election and before that serving as an wage hike there, and the once flexible nominal economic adviser on the ill-fated Goldwater cam- variables become rigid and unmovable, propping paign of 1964. What, then, could he have meant? up the unemployment rate. The solution to a reLord John Maynard Keynes (his father cession, then, is simple: just stand there, don't do was a baron, a title he inherited) was a mathema- something. Or, more accurately, liberalize martician-turned-economist who, in 1936, published kets, lower tax rates, and wait for the economy to The General Theory of Employment, Interest, and come roaring back to health and wellness. Money, a learned treatise on the "new economAnd then came the 1929 stock market ics" which he had played a key role in founding crash, and with it, the Great Depression. Govat the University of Cambridge in the early 20th ernments in Britain, America, and Western Eucentury. Written to influence both economists and rope followed the classical remedy for handling politicians at the height of the Great Depression, recessions (after engaging in half-hearted fiscal Keynes repudiated, almost overnight, what was stimulus), and the economy stagnated. Keynes, called the "classical" view of the macroeconomy: in the General Theory, attributed this to what he changes in aggregate demand (the total amount of called "nominal wage rigidities", or as they are spending in the economy) only impact what econ- sometimes called, "sticky wages". Due to a comomists call "nominal variables," things like pric- bination of unionism, psychological forces (the es, interest rates, wages, and so on. Total spend- so-called "money illusion", where workers and ing has no impact on so-called "real variables," employers focus on nominal instead of real variS UMMER 2016 25 �ables), and the changing structure of the economy, wages were no longer flexible. As a result, even in totally unregulated labor markets, nominal wages could remain high even when demand for labor has fallen, producing what Keynes termed an "unemployment equilibrium". This result was viewed as impossible by classical macroeconomists. The only way to remedy this situation was to engage in vast, interventionist fiscal and monetary stimulus: expand the money supply, increase spending, and cut taxes to boost labor demand such that it can absorb these nominal rigidities and return the economy to full employment. What happened next vindicated what was now called "Keynesianism" via the biggest fiscal stimulus program in world history: the Second World War. As a result of rearmament programs across Europe and North America, unemployment fell to the point where there was labor scarcity instead of a labor surplus, and the boom carried on in America through the '50s (propped up by other fiscal stimulus programs, notably Dwight D. Eisenhower's interstate highway project). Within academia, Keynes's models for how the macroeconomy operated became the de facto, if not the de jure, method for exploring the operations of the economy and of the business cycle. Thus, even dissident economists like Milton Friedman relied on these models when critiquing left-wing government policies, using Keynes's premises to reach decidedly different conclusions. Thus, with modifications of Keynesian theory, although the general picture provided by Keynes is correct, it fails in the particulars; government spending may be stimulative, but it probably isn't worth the long-run cost of the stimulus, for example, or according to the monetarists (of whom Milton Friedman was their chief intellectual leader) only changes in the money supply can influence aggregate demand, making fiscal stimulus entirely impotent. Likewise, the rational expectations revolution inaugurated by the writings of the New Classical macroeconomists John Muth and Robert E. Lucas, Jr. placed severe lim26 THE EPOCH JOUR NA L its on the capacity for aggregate spending to influence real variables, a partial return of the classical dichotomy between nominal and real factors in the economy. On the Left, the New Keynesians adopted healthy portions of the new rational expectations model, finding that while one could stay broadly Keynesian in one's policy outlook, the ability for active fiscal and monetary policy to ameliorate recessions and depressions must be acknowledged as being highly limited. Nonetheless, even today when one opens up any principles of macroeconomics textbook, he or she will be confronted with the incomeexpenditure model, sticky wages, aggregate demand-aggregate supply models, all taken (and modified with a healthy dose of multivariate calculus and linear algebra at the graduate level) from the General Theory. All of us (or at least all of us trained in economics) are in this very real sense Keynesian. However, if one was to consult the average conservative, you would hear a decidedly different narrative: the economics profession was bamboozled by Keynes, tricked by a master rhetorician into cleaving the thin edge of the socialist wedge into capitalism. The so-called "supplysiders", led by the unorthodox economist Arthur Laffer and a group of journalists and policy intellectuals situated principally at The Public Interest and The Wall Street Journal, aided by Friedman's disingenuous popular writings which conflicted explicitly with his work as a professional economist, attempted to resurrect classical macroeconomics in the public sphere, hoping this would spill over into academia. However, this was not to be: as of this writing, there is not a single "supplyside economist" at any Ph.D granting economics department in the United States. To make a long story short, Republicans needed an alternative model to Keynesianism that could be easily explained to voters, inadvertently alienating economists (due to supply-side economics' lack of formal and empirical rigor) who might have been sympathetic to the Reagan tax policy. Termed "voodoo economics" by George H.W. Bush when he ran against Reagan Obama's efforts to revive the economy were sucin the 1980 Republican primary, the supply-sid- cessful in reducing unemployment and increasers argued that tax cuts could increase govern- ing GDP growth, although there are still divisions ment revenue under certain conditions, a partially over whether this plan was worth the cost. Some correct result summarized in the now-infamous conservatives, especially the "reform conservaLaffer curve, and that labor supply was remark- tives" situated at National Affairs, have made ably sensitive to tax cuts, a mostly wrong result peace with Keynesian economics in the same way disproven by data compiled on labor force par- that Friedman has; the models are right, even if ticipation and the productivity of labor after the the policy prescriptions are wrong. Nonetheless, Reagan tax cuts were passed. Thus, one could cut in Donald Trump's platform, one sees the typical taxes, boost GDP, increase government revenue, supply-side prescription for America's economic reduce the role of government involvement in the woes, namely, sharp cuts in marginal tax rates on economy, and increase labor productivity all in capital gains, personal income, and corporate inone fell swoop. What more could a conservative come. The mediocre effects of radical tax cuts, ask for? when isolated from the other positive economic Alas, this was not to be; Reagan's tax reforms of the Reagan administration (chronicled cuts ballooned the deficit, had no noticeable popularly in Paul Krugman's Peddling Prosperimpact on labor productivity, workers ended up ity), should give conservatives pause about conworking fewer hours after the taxes than before, tinuing to put such undue faith in the prognosticaand GDP growth recovered to its historical norm tions of the supply-siders. but did not increase beyond that as the supplyThe rest of the ideological spectrum, insiders predicted. cluding a great many conservatives and conserToday, in the wake of the fiscal stimulus vative economists, from Robert Barro to N. Gregprogram imposed by Barack Obama, according ory Mankiw, have learned to live with Keynes. to a recent poll taken by the American Econom- It's time that the rest of the Right learn to live ic Association, a majority of macroeconomists with him, too. ■ (including several conservatives) believe that PHOTO BY WIKIMEDIA SUMMER 2 016 27 �ELECTION 2016 Battle for the Senate 2016 Will Trump Spoil the Party? (A'19) (A'19) BY HENRY BARTHOLOMEW AND CYRUS SCHILLER Authors Note: the following is a rundown middle ground that Metcalfe cannot possibly of every U.S Senate Election taking place in seize in this very red state. Safe Republican. - CS November 2016. State-by-state commentary Arizona is indicated by HB for Henry Bartholomew, John McCain (R-1) vs. Ann Kirkpatrick (D) and by CS for Cyrus Schiller. Incumbency This one is highly interesting. John McCain, a is noted by an "I " following the candidates long time target of the Tea Party, is facing a priparty. mary challenge. While polls show he is likely to clear that hurdle, his advanced age, along with his Alabama great unpopularity with the far-right in Arizona, Shelby (R) vs Crumpton (D) No matter how great the potential Clintonian may lead to the end of his almost three decades in wave of victory, let us be frank, it will do nothing the U.S. Senate. While Rep. Ann Kirkpatrick, his to change the outcome of the race. Alabama has Democratic opponent, would not ordinarily pose been a Republican stronghold for many years, a great threat to McCain's political career, his siand it is unlikely that fact will be changing for a multaneous fierce feud with, and tepid endorsement of, Donald Trump does not sit well with long time. Safe Republican. - HB many in either party in Arizona, a state Trump carried handily in the primaries. For now, I am Alaska giving this one to McCain. However, a decisive Lisa Murkowski (R- I) v. Ray Metcalfe (D) Senator Lisa Murkowski emerged from a prima- defeat for Donald Trump in Arizona, which is a ry defeat in 2010 to win a second full term with clear possibility due to his standing with Hispanic a successful write-in campaign. This year, with voters, may turn out to be McCain's writing on tea-party challengers safely out of the way, she is the wall. Toss-Up. - CS poised to easily win a third term. Ted Cruz won Arkansas the Republican primary here, and Murkowski's ambiguous stance on Donald Trump may actu- John Boozman (R-1) vs. Conner Eldridge (D) ally help her more here than it would in other Ironically, one state Hillary Clinton will most cerstates. The Democrats meanwhile, nominated tainly not be carrying in November will be the Ray Metcalfe, a progressive state legislator who one in which she served as First Lady. While Arsupported Bernie Sanders during the primaries. It kansas was a Democratic stronghold for most of is fairly certain that Metcalfe has no chance, since its history, even holding out while the rest of the Murkowski has a greater spending and name rec- South swung Republican, those days are clearly ognition advantage, is incumbent, and occupies over, and Republicans have practically transfor28 THE EPOCH JOURNAL -med it into a one party state. Arkansas has a strong populist tradition, and that -- combined with a socially conservative white majority in an overwhelmingly rural state is the single biggest thing going for Donald Trump. Senator John Boozman was handily elected in the GOP wave of 2010, and a defeat this year is highly improbable. While Former U.S. Attorney Conner Eldridge has a lot of strengths as a candidate, the enormous unpopularity of national Democrats, particularly President Obama and the former first couple, all but eliminates the possibility of his election. Safe Republican. - CS California Kamala Harris (D) vs. Loretta Sanchez (D) Speaking of one party states, here is California, home of Richard Nixon and Ronald Reagan, and today a living testament to the GOP's failure to broaden its electoral appeal and bring diversity into the party. While Republicans do represent areas of California in the U.S. House, the heavily populated and fast-growing areas of the most populous state in the Union are about as likely to vote Republican as Alabama is likely to vote Democrat. In fact, the GOP is so irrelevant as a statewide party that they could not even nominate one of their own in a blanket primary, where the top two finishers face each other in an Election Day runoff. At the same time, the question for Donald Trump is not quite how many votes he will win in California, but how many he will lose. In fact, Clinton's victory in California will almost certainly amount to a wave so massive that no mad surfing skills can rescue the Republican Party in California from imminent drowning. For now, the choice is between Kamala Harris, the popular Attorney General of California, and Loretta Sanchez, a moderate Congresswoman from Orange County. While Harris is the favorite, a Democrat will win no matter what. Safe Democratic. - CS Colorado Michael Bennet (D- I) vs Darryl Glenn (R) At first glance, Senator Michael Bennett appeared to be in trouble. First of all, he was reelected by a razor thin margin in 2010, in what was a terrible year for Democrats. Secondly, his senior partner, Senator Mark Udall (D), was swept out of office in 2014 when he lost to Corey Gardner (R), in what was an equally disastrous year for Democrats. Bennet's opponent, retired Air Force Lieutenant Colonel Darryl Glenn, hails from the Republican bastion of Colorado Springs. However, what makes the greatest difference now is Donald Trump and the presidential election. While Republicans dominate vast rural and suburban swaths the metropolitan areas of Denver, Boulder, and Fort Collins are sufficient to lend this state a light blue hue. Election polls so far show that Michael Bennett has little to be concerned about. Likely Democratic. - CS Connecticut Blumenthal (D-1) vs Carter (R) The only poll here shows Blumenthal crushing Carter by a full 30 points. Furthermore, Connecticut hasn't voted Republican in decades. No contest. Safe Democratic. - HB Georgia Isakson (R-1) vs Barksdale (D) Isakson has a commanding lead over Barksdale, and I suspect that it would take something going truly off the rails for him to lose. Safe Republican. -HB Idaho Mike Crapo (R-1) vs. Jerry Sturgill (D) Behold this rural and mountainous state out west, known for its potatoes and minerals. Oh, and the Gem State has voted overwhelmingly for Republicans well into the present and has not elected a Democrat to a U.S. Senate seat since 1974. Safe Republican. - CS SUMMER 2016 29 �Illinois Mark Kirk (R-1) vs Tammy Duckworth (D) Oddly enough for such an important state, Illinois has had remarkably little polling. What little there has been has shown Duckworth with a lead, however, it really is difficult to say. As it is a rather Democratic state in a presidential election year, and in light of the polls we've seen, Leans Democrat seems appropriate, but with a hefty portion of salt. - HB Indiana Todd Young (R) vs Evan Bayh (D) Here we have a really interesting and important race. Indiana is traditionally a rather Republican state. It's gone red year after year, with the only recent exception being 2008 by a hair. However, it has a very good chance of falling into Democratic hands. Evan Bayh is a household name in the state, having been a governor and a senator in the past. He is popular across the aisle, with a full 16% of Trump supporters saying they intend to vote split ticket to vote for him. He has considerable financial reserves, having a blistering $9,500,000 in hand. He has high approval ratings. By contrast, his opponent, Young, has never held any national office, is far less well known, and has spent most of his money already, being stuck at barely a million in cash reserves. And a mere 3% of Clinton voters said they intended to vote across the aisle for him. While the state's natural conservatism could well kick in, polls show Bayh with an excellent lead, and it will be tough for Young to hold on. Leans Democratic. - HB Iowa Chuck Grassley (R-1) vs. Patty Judge (D) Even though Senator Chuck Grassley has made a name for himself as Judiciary Committee chairman by obstructing Merrick Garland's Supreme Court nomination, it is unlikely to hurt him in his reelection prospects. There is likely to be less Trump fallout in Iowa than in other states. While former Lt. Governor Patty Judge is a strong can30 THE EPOCH JOURNAL didate, and while Hillary Clinton is favored to win this light blue state, Grassley is not going to fall easily. Likely Republican. - CS Kansas Jerry Moran (R-1) vs. Patrick Wiesner (D) Ah, Kansas. You never disappoint us with your cereals, your wide open plains, and your steadfast commitment to the Grand Old Party, even reelecting your much despised governor two years ago over a Democrat whom even many Republicans supported. Even though Ted Cruz trumped Donald Trump in the 2016 Republican Primary here, Trump is extremely unlikely to lose this overwhelmingly white and rural state, and the freshman Incumbent Jerry Moran practically assured a victory in November, and due to Trump's low standing with college educated suburban voters, who mostly support Republicans in presidential elections, Moran is likely to outperform Trump. Safe Republican. -- CS Kentucky Rand Paul (R-1) vs Jim Gray (D) Rand Paul has a national profile, and is well liked and respected by many. While his fights with Trump have undermined him somewhat, Paul should have little trouble locking this state up. Safe Republican. -- HB Louisiana Jungle Primary Louisiana is unique among U.S. states to have a blanket primary on Election Day, and following the "Jungle Primary,", which sadly does not involve _actual jungles, the top two candidates face each other the following month in a runoff election. The top tier candidates to replace Senator David Vitter (R) on the Republican side are Reps. Charles Boustany and John Fleming, and State Treasurer John Kennedy (No, not THAT John Kennedy). The most popular choices on the Democratic side are Public Service Commissioner Foster Campbell and Caroline Fayard. The most recent major polling in the race was in June, showing Kennedy and Campbell as the highest polling candidates. In addition, KKK leader David Duke is running, although the sheer size of the Republican primary field, his low standing in the polls, and his sheer infamy makes it highly improbable that he will advance to the runoff, despite running alongside Donald Trump, who, unlike Duke, appears to finally be taking off the sheets as his advisors try to wake him up to the reality of his struggling presidential campaign. While it is uncertain who will ultimately triumph in the primary, John Kennedy's fiscal conservative credibility as state treasurer, along with numerous high-profile endorsements and a commanding lead in the polls, make him the most likely choice for U.S. Senator among Louisiana voters on Election Day. In the runoff, Kennedy's party affiliation in red Louisiana will likely be too much for Campbell to overcome. Even though the Democrats are less divided than the Republicans this year, it would take a series of grave missteps for the GOP if Campbell is to be elected. Thus, I predict that John Kennedy will be sworn in as U.S. Senator come January. Likely Republican. -- CS Maryland Chris Van Hollen (D) vs. Kathy Szeliga (R) Very little polling has been done in this state, as it is generally considered that Van Hollen has roughly the same chance as losing as a crab surrounded by hungry Marylanders has of surviving. What polling has been done shows Hollen up by as high as 25%. While some might point to the Republican governor as a reason for hope, it is worth noting that he won in an off year, with lower turnout, which traditionally favors Republicans, in a year that was a Republican tidal wave. Now, it's shaping up to be a tough year for the Republicans with Trump, it's not going to be an off year, and state Republicans have distanced themselves from their own party. Safe Democrat. --HB Missouri Roy Blunt (R-1) vs. Jason Kander (D) Once the quintessential bellwether, Missouri has been trending redder for the past couple of years, breaking its record of voting for the winner in every presidential election since 1908, when it voted against Barack Obama not once, but twice. By now, the rural heart of this heartland state has Ohio turned decisively against the Democratic Party, Rob Portman (R-1) vs. Ted Strickland (D) and outside of the two large metropolitan areas of Ohio is one of those states you just know will be St. Louis and Kansas City, as well as the Demoimpossible to predict. Almost election cycle alcratic island of Columbia, home of the University ways depends heavily to which way it goes, its of Missouri, the National Democratic Party is not population can swing both ways, etc. However, as competitive in elections as it used to be. Nevwe can say a few things. We can say that Portertheless, Jason Kander, the fresh faced Secretary man is outspending Strickland by a 3 to 1 margin, of State and Afghanistan combat veteran, is an that he has an effective political machine, that he exceptionally strong candidate for the Demois relatively moderate, that he enjoys a relatively crats. While polls show the incumbent Republihigh approval rating, and that Republicans will can Senator Roy Blunt ahead by a few points, a sink a lot into defending this state. We can also Clinton victory in this reddish tinged state, which say almost all recent polls have shown him with is improbable but definitely possible, may just something of a lead, albeit not a huge one. In light be enough to for Kander to outrun Blunt in this of that, I would say Leans Republican, albeit with tight contest. If Senator Blunt is defeated, I suga pinch of salt there. -- HB gest that he overcome the Blunt trauma and move to Colorado to continue his political career there. Leans Republican. -- CS SUMMER 2016 31 �I Nevada Joe Heck (R) vs. Catherine Cortez Masto (D) Republicans have had their eye on Harry Reid's Senate seat for a long time, and the retiring Democratic leader is leaving a space that the Republicans hope to fill. In 2010, the GOP destroyed its chances of defeating Harry Reid in a winnable race by nominating Sharron Angle, a Tea Party fanatic and all around weak candidate. This time, the Republicans nominated Representative Joe Heck, a much more formidable challenger. To succeed the outgoing Harry Reid, the Democrats nominated Catherine Cortez Masto, the former Attorney General of Nevada who would be the first Latina Senator if elected. In an off year election, I think this race would go straight to Heck (Ha!), since Republicans tend to do better in midterm elections. Presently, Heck also leads in the polls by a few points. However, Cortez Masto could easily be the main beneficiary of the higher turnout from a presidential election, and Donald Trump on the ballot definitely adds a different Angle (Ha!) to this swing state Senate contest. Toss-Up. -- CS New Hampshire Kelly Ayotte (R-1) vs Maggie Hassan (D) This race will be a terribly tight one. Ayotte is running in the shadow of Trump, and her limbo of being neither fully for or against Trump has not produced a great wellspring of enthusiasm among her base. The race has attracted loads of outside spending, and while Ayotte does maintain an advantage in that regard right now, she is being undercut by Trump's swiftly decreasing popularity in the state. Recent polls show Hassan opening up an edge, however, it is too far out from Election Day to be sure which way the race will go. Toss-up. -- HB North Carolina Richard Burr (R- I) vs Deborah Ross (D) North Carolina is an odd state to be up for grabs this year. It has voted Republican in 8 of the last 32 THE EPOCH JOURNAL 10 presidential elections, and as recently as 2004 Republicans were winning by as much as 13 points. Now, however, the polls show nearly dead heat. Clinton has a substantial edge over Trump, that has an excellent chance of bleeding over. To top things off, the Republican governor Pat McCrory, is also up for re-election, and is extremely unpopular thanks to the North Carolina bathroom controversy, having an astonishing 47% disapproval rating. Burr is really conserving his resources for the final push, and despite having a massive lead in financial reserves, Ross reporting 1.9 million, Burr with 6.9, he has spent barely anything. On the other hand, Republicans have registered 40,000 more voters than the Democrats have since last year, and Ross is a former ACLU director, which means that when Burr finally does unleash his financial reserves, he will have ample opportunity to paint her as a far, far leftist. Obviously this is going to be a very tight race, however, I'm inclined to say that it leans Republican. Burr's closeness in the polls have come after months of being out of state and spending little. Republicans are hard pressed on resources, and can not afford to help him too much in this suddenly competitive race, however, he may not need the help. He may simply need to be left alone. If he can disassociate himself somewhat from Trump and McCrory, and can use his personal resources skillfully enough, he has quite a good chance. On the other hand, if Ross is able to make the race about Trump and McCrory, he may be swept away in a Democratic tidal wave. We think, though, that as veteran politician Burr can manage a good, disciplined campaign, and probably has a 55-60% chance of victory. Leans Republican -- HB North Dakota John Hoeven (R-1) vs. Eliot Glassheim (D) No major polling has been done in this sparsely populated prairie state, however, one is not required to know a great deal about North Dakota to know that Democrat Eliot Glassheim is about as likely to be elected Senator over incumbent Republican John Hoeven as a Rabbi is likely to be elected Pope. Safe Republican. -- CS Oklahoma James Lankford (R-1) vs. Mike Workman (D) Barring a massive Sooner-style Tornado that tears through the entire state, destroying polling stations in Republican dominated areas on Election Day, there is absolutely nothing that can make this race competitive, especially when you account for the fact that the entire state IS a Republican dominated area. So much for that fantasy. Safe Republican. -- CS Oregon Ron Wyden (D-1) vs. Mark Callahan (R) Oregon is mainly remembered for Portland the ' largest city in the state, and which is known mainly for its thriving alternative culture and its quirky and unconventional residents. It was like San Francisco until San Francisco went totally mainstream. As you can imagine, no Republican would stand a chance of winning many votes in the Portland metropolitan area, which alone holds nearly half of the state's population. That, combined with the rest of the "Left Coast" portion of the state, as well as the fast growing area in and around Bend, makes it nearly impossible for a Republican to defeat an incumbent Democratic Senator. There is nothing this year that would likely widen (Ha) Callahan's chances of winning, since Republicans are likely to do exceptionally poorly the presidential race here. You could tally up every single inhabitant of the rugged and politically conservative interior of the state, and it still would not be enough to topple Ron Wyden. Safe Democratic. -- CS Pennsylvania Patrick Toomey (R-1) vs Katie McGinty (D) Pat Toomey had enjoyed a respectable lead here, right up until Trump's Kahn remarks, where he promptly tanked. Hope is not lost for him yet, however. Despite the fact that McGinty has been out fundraising him, Clinton apparently now con- siders the state safe enough to withdraw some resources from it, while the polls showing Toomey behind represent a swift and dramatic swift that may yet be reversed. However, that will require considerable skill on Toomey's part, and quite possibly a rejuvenation of the Trump campaign. Toss-up, but the Democrats have a golden opportunity here. -- HB South Carolina Tim Scott (R-1) vs. Tom Dixon (D) The day that the Republicans will have to fear losing South Carolina will be a true sign of either the end of the Republican party, or at the very least, its alteration out of all present form. Safe Republican. -- HB South Dakota John Thune (R-1) vs. Jay Williams (D) Senator John Thune was re-elected unopposed in 2010 with 100% of the vote. And in this deep red state, there are not going to be any Hillary coattails that Jay Williams can ride. Basically, the situation in South Dakota is as follows : in many ways just like North Dakota, only more Republican. Safe Republican. -- CS Utah Mike Lee (R- I) vs. Misty Snow (D) Utah is an extremely Republican state, even though Donald Trump is proving to be more than most Utah voters can handle. Nevertheless, Trump is likely to at least win a plurality of the vote here, the Democrats' failure to present a formidable challenger to Senator Mike Lee makes his re-election all but assured. While many politicos expected former Rep. Jim Matheson to enter the race, the popular moderate Democrat never did. Instead, the Democrats were left with Misty Snow, a grocery store clerk. All two major polls done in the last three months indicate that Snow must overcome an enormous polling deficit to pose even a small threat to the senator. Safe Republican. -- CS SUMMER 2016 33 �Vermont Pat Leahy (D-1) vs. Scott Milne (R) Casual polling shows this to be a totally safe Democratic seat, which is really only surprising if you're an exceptionally unobservant 6 year old. Safe Democratic. -- HB Washington Patty Murray (D- I) vs. Chris Vance (R) In many ways, Washington can be compared to deep-red Idaho, as the two share a similar culture on both sides of the border, and much of Washington's land area is rugged and mountainous. In fact, you can say that Washington is like Idaho but with a coast; a really, really liberal coast. Oh, also most of the population lives on said coast, especially in the bustling tech hub of Seattle, known all over the country as a bastion of progressivism. Actually, maybe Idaho and Washington are not all that similar. Safe Democratic. -- CS Wisconsin Johnson (R-1) vs. Feingold (D) Wisconsin will be a crucial state for Democratic victory in the fall. It hosts an extremely vulnerable Republican candidate, and is a relatively safe Clinton state. Feingold leads Johnson by a comfortable 11 point margin, and there is little reason to suspect that Johnson can do anything to turn 34 THE EPO CH JOURNAL this race around. Leans Democrat. -HB In Conclusion: The Democrat's path to re- taking the Senate is arduous, but far from impossible, and could consist of any number of paths. Their best path would be to start by retaking Illinois and Wisconsin, follow it up with a victory in Indiana, defend Nevada and then knock off Ayotte and Toomey. Combined with the very high probability they win the White House, that would give them an effective majority with Mr. Tim Kaine stepping in when .needed. However, they can do more than the bare minimum. They want icing, and lots of it. There are at least 5 other Republican states that have a chance of falling to the Democrats, and while they all are tinted red, only a few would have to fall to ensure that the Democrats could have a very nice hold on the senate. Meanwhile, the Republican path will lie in retaking Nevada, and holding New Hampshire and Pennsylvania. If they can really dig into those states, and not lose many of the pinkish ones up for grabs, they'll have a chance. But they'll be fighting a dozen battles, with an unpopular candidate, and weaker fundraising than normal. They'll be truly pressed to keep up on all fronts. Democratic victory seems likely, if they play their cards FEMINISM & TECHNOLOGY In Defense of Tumblr Feminism The influence of this one-of-a-kind social media platform on the coming of age of an entire generation BY KATELIN SAFFORD Authors Note: This work contains references to rape, child abuse, and PTSD. lfyou were to google the term "Tumblr Femi- nism," one of the first links that would pop up in your search would lead you to Urban Dictionary, a site that allows users to submit definitions for a plethora of words and terms that you may not find in a Webster's Dictionary. The Urban Dictionary entry for Tumblr feminism reads: "The school of feminist thought that, instead of fighting for gender equality, is more concerned with seeming liberal and feminist and not actually *being* feminist. This is often achieved through strict internet doctrine and openly ostracizing those who do not agree with them. One other symptom of Tumblr Feminism is that, when asked to explain their opinions, sufferers will get angry and storm off rather than actually answering the question." This is a pretty standard definition, where the addition of the word "Tumblr" to the concept of feminism has brought along with it all sorts of ugliness and negativity. The definition even seems to distinguish between Tumblr feminism and "real" feminism by stating that Tumblr feminists are not "actually *being* feminist(s.)" So we've established that "Tumblr" here is the bad word. But what is Tumblr? Tumblr is one of the many social media plat- (A'18) forms that has popped up in the last decade. Tumblr advertises itself as a "microblogging" platform, where users run non-traditional biogs consisting of long and short text posts, pictures, gifs, videos, and audio files. They can "reblog" things from other biogs onto their biogs (similar to the sharing feature on Facebook) and follow biogs, whose content will show up on their "dashboard" (which is similar to the timeline feature on Facebook.) Tumblr is unique in that the content is very varied and there is a huge measure of anonymity. The blog does not need to have your name attached to it and the picture doesn't have to be your face. Content ranges from everything to photography, history, politics, music, education, art, fiction, and personal posts about everyday life. Businesslnsider found that Tumblr is rare and valuable as an advertising platform because 46% of their demographic consists of folks between the ages of 16-24, one of the more difficult to reach demographics. They also found that "more total time is spent on Tumblr than on bigger social networks like Twitter, Linkedln, and Pinterest." This is likely because of the emphasis on multimedia content, meaning that many users spend a lot of time creating and interacting with the content, rather than just browsing their feeds or shooting off quick tweets. SUMMER 2016 35 �So how did Tumblr become a bad word? that many people find distasteful, and that is One thing that immediately comes to mind the one that has expressed a demand for "safe is that unique and very young demographic spaces" in their online and o:ffline worlds. that Tumblr has attracted and maintained. Safe spaces simply refer to places online or The demographic is both young and fairly in real life where people can feel safe, parpolitically vocal, which has led to Tumblr, ticularly with regard to their traumas. A safe more than many other social media sites, be- space is a place where someone with comcoming infamous for cringe-worthy political bat related PTSD doesn't have to be worried blogging. Under the umbrella of "cringe- about seeing a graphic war picture, where a worthy" I mostly include folks who refuse rape survivor won't encounter any mention to acknowledge any other viewpoint or who of rape or coercion. This involves, in a sense, dogmatically believe what they've been told a censoring within the space to keep upsetand try to enforce what they think is right ting things out. Part of the hive mind menwithout allowing for conversation, growth, or tality that often crops up in the super liberal learning. This is where the Urban Dictionary Tumblr demographic is one that is hell-bent on protecting survivors of definition likely comes from. "I also believe that abuse. In this sense, I think Not allowing for discussion leads many people to wonder people have a right to they err on the right side. I why these folks would ex- cut others out of their absolutely feel that no one should be shunned for their press themselves the way they lives who harm them, opinions, and it is infinitely do, and they conclude that is and a right to spaces important to listen to people perhaps because they like the where they can rewho disagree with you. I also appearance of being liberal believe that people have a treat from concepts more than they care about the right to cut others out of their actual issues involved. There that hurt them ... " lives who harm them, and a can also be a "hive mind" that right to spaces where they is established in large online spaces like Tumblr, which disallows for any can retreat from concepts that hurt them and thought or questions that put the hive mind's gather themselves, just like we sometimes collective opinions at risk. This hive mind on disengage from heated conversations to take Tumblr often protects itself by vigorously re- a breather or go home when we're tired. jecting and ostracizing anyone who slips up, There's a middle ground here that is often say by asking a question or doing something missed in conversations about Tumblr and the deemed racist or sexist or otherwise, with an demographic named after it. Safe spaces are implied insistence that mistakes are unfor- so important, online and otherwise, for innugivable and people can never change. While merable reasons. While critics would say that "calling out" the people in your life that you safe spaces isolate and insulate people from love who make mistakes can be an important important issues of conversation, I would arway of dealing with an issue, it must be ac- gue that having a space that is safe for taking knowledged that mistakes can be corrected or a deep breath before talking about a heavy learned from. or close issue is absolutely invaluable for There is another subset of this very good conversation. I love talking about the young and politically interested demographic issues that are close to me, even the heavy 36 THE EPOCH JOURNAL ones, because it's so important to talk about ligated to interact with it. My experience on these sensitive things, but I can't be blindsid- the website was one of coming onto it as a ed with them or my traumatic response will conservative-leaning Libertarian teenager render me useless. I want to talk about these whose racist, sexist upbringing had left me heavy or controversial issues, but it is crucial with very rigid ideals about the world around that I have a space where I can take a breath me, that often caused me to discriminate and prepare myself before entering the fray. against a whole host of people. I was conAnother critique of the desire for safe spaces vinced that being a "girly girl" implied being is that it makes those who want them weak, vapid and selfish, which caused me to aggresor that people are weak for wanting them. sively reject my inherent love for feminine My response would simply be that those things and try to be more boyish. On Tumblr, critics are not rape survivors being asked to many of the blogs I followed posted content talk about rape, or traumatized soldiers being I agreed with and liked- but much of it also asked to look at pictures of deployment, or challenged my worldview in a big and unchild abuse survivors being asked to watch comfortable way. I found that being able to documentaries about abused quickly scroll past the things children. It can be impossible I didn't like or want to read, "It can be impossible without knowing or having to to understand the strength and to understand the resilience these people have to think about the person behind muster simply to get through strength and resilthe post as I do on Facebook, their lives and try to process ience these people allowed me to slowly absorb what they've gone through. have to muster to get certain concepts and safely Survivors' contributions are through their lives ... " analyze my own feelings and valuable and safe spaces help position. I didn't feel threatto protect and enhance the parened reading something I ticipation of these parties in conversations didn't agree with, so I was able to process and about the issues that affect them. And Tumblr respond more slowly. I didn't have any honor was the first place I was ever introduced to to uphold against a poster who didn't know this idea that has become so important for my me and I didn't know. And sometimes those own well-being and the richness of my aca- opinions disagreed, I'm definitely not saydemic life. ing I blindly absorbed everything I scrolled This is why I can't help but defend Tumblr past, but I also found that I agreed in a bigger and its unique interface and way of present- way than I expected, and it really changed ing content, as well as much of the content my life. It opened up so many resources for itself. The idea of a hive mind goes both me, in a way that helped me to set aside my ways, and it has become quite trendy to rag pride and vain attachment to my previously on "Tumblr feminism" and the legitimacy held stances. I started to realize that loving of the platform. But much like twitter, Tum- pink cutesy stuff didn't have to contradict my blr has helped to revolutionize the way we strength, intelligence, and love for the people spread information and news. The interface's around me. use of the scrolling mechanic, with the added I would venture to say Tumblr has more anonymity not provided by Facebook, allows good content than bad, although I don't deny users to browse content without feeling ob- that plenty of bad content exists on the site SUMMER 2016 37 �POLITICS The Sinews of Democracy Campaign Finance and The Separation ofPolitician and Constitutent BY IVAN SYRITSYN (A'19) PHOTO BY CWOTE. TUMBLR.COM as well. Tumblr is not one entity- it is millions of different people with different ideas and passions and different ways of expressing those things to the world and the internet. Like any group, there is a fair share of bad apples. But these bad apples are easily blocked, and you can self-select for the kind of content you want to see. While this can contribute to a hive mind mentality or an isolating positive-feedback bubble, I maintain that social media should be primarily for fun. While Tumblr, twitter, and other social media platforms have helped to revolutionize the way we spread information, it is no substitute for real news and never will be. This is another reason I find it too harsh to judge Tumblr simply by the vocal political content- there is so much beautiful art, witty fiction, and gorgeous music on the site, as well as tons of educational blogs focused on history, linguistics, martial arts, and anything else under the sun that you could imagine. My experience on Tumblr was not unusual, either. So many young girls and women in 38 THE EPOCH JOURNAL my generation were gently encouraged to love themselves by constantly scrolling past pretty image macros that demanded "LOVE YOURSELF," in all-caps, or short paragraphs helping to reason out common insecurities or damaging assumptions about femininity and a whole host of other things. The passive information sharing on Tumblr helped to arm an entire generation of girls (and young people in general) with the tools to care about themselves and empower others, an effect that is often overlooked in conversations about the radical, dogmatic sect that Tumblr somehow became synonymous with. I would encourage everyone to question why they hate an entire·website for a particular sect of people and ideas that can be found lurking within it's depths, and to challenge their perspective of this distinctive social media platform and the power it has to do good in people's lives. ■ "I've always said that power is more important than money. But when it comes to elections money gives power... well, a run for its money."' --- Frank Underwood. the United States government. With a nominal GDP of $17.95 trillion, the US economy makes up 24.5% of the gross world product. This can give a lot of power to those who know how to maneuver these turbulent waters. That is why in the 2015-2016 election cycle the top sectors of the economy have spent over $1,482,521,410 in those who do not already know, political donations in order to sway political parFrank Underwood is the main character of theseties and candidates. ries House of Cards wherein after being denied These political donations are what enable the promised position of Secretary of State he different politicians to get reelected to their degoes on through power and cunning to become sired positions without having to worry about losthe President of the United States. As Frank proing out to an almost always underfunded opposgresses throughout the show he constantly eming candidate in an ever increasingly impersonal phasizes that power is more valuable than money political environment. Congressional and Presiand that it is through such political power as he is dential candidates have to care about hundreds acquiring that legacies are built. However, as his of thousands and millions of people respectively. experience shows, power does not come without This explosion of population and expansion of a cost. Frank Underwood happened to be part of voting power has reduced the individual power of the leadership of the very wealthy system that is the voter due to a simple process of division. As For SUMMER 2016 39 �the amount of eligible voters increases a greater divided without any sort of focus those interests amount of voters will be necessary to achieve the are thrown to the winds and are rarely heard by same amount of voting power. This decrease of those at whom they are aimed. From what I have gathered so far I have voting power per individual has a logical correladetermined that as the number of the electorate tion in the isolation of politicians from their constituency for no politician can truly listen to all has grown and the individual impact of voices people and understand their individual concerns. have diminished the political machine of this The only possible way that anything can be heard country has required more and more of a differis if individuals come together and petition the ent fuel. That fuel is money and inadvertently the politicians in unison. This, in a very basic form, time and lives of the people from whom this monis exactly what interest groups are and what they ey comes. For money is a representation of time do. Some groups may be smaller than others in spent and labor put forth. It doesn't appear in a the amount of people that comprise them and no person's hand out of thin air and from no cause. group is really large enough to vote in a politician Thus as different campaigns need more money, it requires much more than averby itself. Since they cannot diage people of common interest rectly tie the politicians to them"... money has become may put forth. Thus, even though selves through votes, groups take arguably the most money has always had a role in advantage of their current condieffective way to stress tions and use money to influence the importance of any politics, its role and impact has been increasing to a far greater their chosen candidates' points issue." level than before. With this inof view. As increased isolation crease the voters themselves are of politicians has become more accepted, it is important to project that which is worth less and often seen as commodities gathlacking in terms of personal contact through vari- ered and used at the appropriate time, with an apous appearances wherein the public perceives the pearance of goodness put forth to prevent tumult politician's understanding of the importance of and dissatisfaction which would break people out personal contact and interaction. If the person up of going along the rails preset for them. Thus as for election does not fulfill such rights the dis- we go forward with our lives we will have to obsatisfaction of the public will grow as they would serve whether, as money becomes more and more see the lack of effort to interact as a personal indi- influential in politics, the desires of the populace cator of the lack of care about themselves. These will be sufficiently addressed. Perhaps they will constant barrages of the public eye through po- be, perhaps not. If not then we have to observe for litical rallies and advertisements are quite expen- how long the situation can sustain itself before sive, costing from a few hundred to over a thou- something gives, whether those are more disorgasand dollars just for one 30-second spot on a local nized or united will have their voices be dominant station. Thus, in a time when the average House in the_political environment. Either way nothing seat costs near $1.7 million and a Senate seat stays the same forever and the winds of change near $10.5 million money has become arguably wear down even the sturdiest of mountains. ■ the most effective way to stress the importance of any issue. This phenomenon shows the effective application of the old phrase "United we stand or divided we fall." Wherever individuals have combined their money to push their interest so that their interests would be heard they eventually succeed. Wherever the interests of individuals are 40 THE EPOCH JOURNAL AGRICULTURE Your Right to Know Fear of Genetically Modified Organisms BY GRACE VILLMOW (A'20) Let's get this out of the way first: a GMO is an organism whose DNA was changed in a laboratory, typically by taking a gene from a related species, bacteria, or virus, and inserting it into its cells or editing the genome itself. The key steps, according to Harvard, are identifying a trait of interest, isolating said trait, introducing it into the desired organism, and then growing the organism. The pictured diagram (courtesy of the Monsanto Company) gives a basic overview. Enzymes (substances that organisms produce to act as catalysts that promote biochemical reactions), gene "guns", and bacteria are all common ways to create GMOs, although you would be loath to find an American that could name any one of these ways, or even describe what a GMO is. In fact, a 2013 Rutgers survey found that 53% of people know "very little or nothing at all" about GM foods, and a 2014 Pew Research Center survey found that a mere 37% of American adults thought that GMOs are safe to eat, even though a comprehensive analysis by the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine has made it abundantly clear that they are; and 109 Nobel laureates (who unveiled their Letter Supporting Precision Agriculture just a few weeks ago) agree; and all GMO products must be FDA-approved before they are available for human consumption; and yes, GMOs are held to the same health standards that all our other food is. Why do Americans feel this way? Well, it's complicated. A bit of history: the FDA's first approval of a genetically-engi- neered product was in 1921 , before Watson and Crick discovered DNA. Frederick Banting and Charles Best extracted the hormone insulin from the pancreas ' of dogs and injected into a diabetic boy, saving his life and proving that insulin could treat human diabetes. To this day, 100% of insulin used to treat diabetes is a GMO or genetically engineered product, but let's jump to when humans started figuring out what genes are in the first place - Watson and Crick, 1953. DNA is double-helix structure composed of billions of tiny sequences, and so the concept of splicing and replacing these sequences to create an altered product was the next step in genetic sciences. This is where speculators hit their first wall - when humans edit a genome, are they playing God? And, furthermore, is it ethical? Well, regardless of your views, there was no one there to stop them, and thus Herbert Boyer and Stanley Cohen developed and successfully cloned the first GMO in 1973, a strain of E. Coli made to acquire a plasmid (pSC 101 ), making it resistant to an antibiotic called Tetracycline. Together, the two scientists discovered that an enzyme (Eco RI) would slice pSCI101at a certain site. Into that opening, they inserted another gene that held resistance to a different antibiotic known ' as Kanamycin. They repaired the plasmid, and successfully grew subsequent strains that were resistant to both Tetracycline and Kanamycin history was made, and the biotechnology industry expanded rapidly. We hit our next wall in 1994. Editing the genes in a mere bacterium is SUMMER 2016 41 1, �STEP 1: Identify a trait of interest I Search appropriate environment Agricultural Need Screen list of chosen plants STEP 2: Isolate the genetic trait of interest Comparative analysis of genomes to identify trait STEP 3: Inset the desired trait into the new genome Genetic trait is cut and pasted into a plasmid using enzymes ► Gene Gun shoots DNA coated metal particles into seed Plasmid inserted into bacteria that then infects cells STEP 4: Growing the GMO Carefully controlled growth chambers are monitored to ensure that the new GMO grows and replicates. Ultimate growth conditions are determined at this stage. 42 T HE E POCH JOUR NA L one thing - what about the food we eat? Well, the first commercially available GMO product for consumption was known as the Flavr Savr Tomato, from a Californian company known as Calgene. Submitted to the FDA in 1992 and deemed as safe as any other tomato in 1994, the Flavr Savr was made slightly more resistant to rotting and softening, while still maintaining its color and flavor. It ultimately failed as a moneymaker, but this is attributed to Calgene's general inexperience in terms of growing and shipping. Nevertheless, the Flavr Savr set a precedent, and other types of produce soon began to follow suit. Today, about 90% of com and soybeans produced in the United States are classified as GMO products, along with about 70% of papayas, 95% of sugar beets, and 94% of cottonseed. In addition to this, a whopping 70% of the processed food you've come to know and love at your local supermarket contains some form of genetically modified organism, usually derived from com or soybeans. So, we've been doing this since the 1920's - what's with all the uproar now? One of the biggest names in the fight against GMOs is the Non-GMO Project. Established in 2003 by a small "natural" grocery store in response to customers that were concerned about genetically modified soy lecithin in some of their products. They developed a campaign called People Who Want to Know, which wrote letters to the manufacturers of "natural" food products to discover the GMO status of their food. Inspired by the choice of the Big Carrot Natural Food Market (located in Toronto) to cease purchasing GMO products entirely in 2001, more and more companies, from non-profits to big name food companies, chose to capitalize on this Right to Know movement. And that's where anti-GMO companies excel: they disguise a fear campaign on the basis of pursuit of knowledge. Who can argue with one's Right to Know? In fact, anti-GMO organizations just gained a major victory: Obama signed a bill in late July that will require GMO labelling for all GM produce in the United States. But if GMO foods are held to the same FDA standards as any other food, why would companies choose to do this? The answer is unsurprising: money. Take Chipotle Mexican Grill's pledge to remove all GMOs from their menu - this wording makes it sound like they 've done a complete overhaul of their menu, but they've actually just replaced two items. They switched to a non-GMO com tortilla supplier, and they now use a certified nonGMO canola oil as a pricier alternative to their old canola oil. Chipotle altered just two items, but as a business move, the anti-GMO campaign was genius. They produce exactly the same food at a higher price, and they get to advertise a better alternative to their original product, drawing uneducated consumers (remember the 53% in our Rutgers survey?) into their restaurant. Chipotle appealed to the ignorance to over half of the population in the United States, raised their prices, and kept the same 66 of the 68 items on their menu - and it worked. In the months following their G-M-Over It announcement, their price on the New York Stock Exchange jumped up over 100 points. This is absolutely brilliant from an economic perspective, but absolute nonsense from a scientific one. Chipotle has not gone completely GMO free at all. They have no control over whether their meat has consumed GMO products or not (and when 90% of com in the US is a GMO, they typically do), and any sodas that they sell are also liable to contain GM products. This was actually brought up in a lawsuit, and it has since been put on their website that they do not control what their animals eat ... all the way at the bottom of their G-M-Over It page. Let's take a look at what else they have on there. They begin with defining how GM Os are made: "A GMO is created by inserting genes from one species (typically bacteria or a virus) into the DNA of another. This can result in a plant with characteristics that wouldn't occur naturally, such as producing pesticides or the ability to withstand high doses of chemical herbicides." Factually correct, but with misleading diction. The first word that stands out to me is "naturally", but let's look SUMM ER 2 01 6 43 �at all the other ways Chipotle tricks its consumers, that it cannot be used upon any added colors, arlike "chemical herbicides". What is a chemical tificial flavors, or synthetic substances. We have herbicide? Well, it's literally all herbicides. Every thousands of food companies all over the world single one, because all herbicides have chemicals. tricking gullible consumers into thinking they're Everything has chemicals. Water is a chemical. buying healthier, safer products, even though the But chemical is a scary word, and so they include word "natural" has basically no meaning. Now, it it - they're not wrong, but it's like mentioning could be interpreted that the specific gene comthat their grass is green and their water is wet. binations of GMOs do not occur "naturally", but How about "producing pesticides"? that isn't the case, either - don't those very same That's a scary way of saying resistance to bugs sequences occur in other genomes? There is absoand other vermin through the production of Ba- lutely no scientific basis to prove that one spliced cillus thuringiensis, or Bt, a bacterium part of the gene would not work just as well in a different Bacillus cerus family. Found all over the world organism ... but they don't want you to know that. They don't want you to know the science from soil to sand, Bt is differentiated from Bacillus cerus because it contains a plasmid that pro- of GMOs. They don't want you to know about duces protein crystals that are toxic to insects. Not the science (or safety) of Bt.They don't want you to know that growing GMO proonly has the EPA found Bt nonduce can result in over 20% more hazardous to humans, but they "... remember: the yield in the same amount of space have also exempted it from food FDA has no speresidue tolerances, groundwater cific definition for the as a traditionally-bred organism, or that GM produce reduces pesrestrictions, endangered species word "natural". " ticide use by 37% and increases labelling, and special review refarmer profits by up to 68%, and quirements. It has no known effect on any wildlife other than insects. Essential- they definitely don't want you to know that any ly, just because it is toxic to a grasshopper does FDA-approved GM crops (read: every GM crop not mean it is toxic to a human. Would you stop available for consumption) are safe, have always eating chocolate because it is toxic to your dog? been safe, and will continue to be safe. The enI could rant and rave about "high doses of pes- tire anti-GMO industry benefits from consumer ticides" (typically farmers use the equivalent of ignorance, at the expense of farmers, the environone soda can over an entire field) and how they ment, and even ourselves. Yes, consumers have a completely left out the actual science of genetic right to know - but a label won't educate them. It modification in favor of mentioning bacteria and won't tell them which genes have been edited or viruses (more scary and meaningless words), but for what purpose. The science of GM Os needs to let's move onto my favorite word: "naturally". be taught in schools, to ensure that students will What does it mean for something to oc- grow up to be smart consumers that won't overcur "naturally"? Bears occur naturally. So do pay for the same product just because it has a nonearthquakes, radioactive decay, cancer, Ebola, GMO label on it. The bill Obama signed will only and cockroaches. Meanwhile, in the unnatural scare consumers away from perfectly safe food. department, we have vaccines, most of modem Many consider GMO foods to be a stepmedicine (RE: insulin), air conditioning, and ping-stone towards eugenics, another highly conTwinkies. Between bears and Twinkies, I think troversial matter that even I don't have a concrete I'll take my chances with the packaged pastry. opinion on. We have the ability to create super-huPerhaps I'm being facetious, but remember: mans; cure genetic disorders; and even eliminate the FDA has no specific definition for the word diseases, but at what cost? Our humanity? I'll be "natural". The only stipulations of the words are the first to admit that I don't know how far is too 44 THE EPOCH JOURNAL far. However, to the extent of my concern, GMO foods are yet another boon of human scientific development, much like in-home electricity or my personal favorite invention, indoor plumbing. In some cases, such as Golden Rice, GMO foods have even been proven to provide nutrients that consumers would not otherwise have access to. If I can leave my valued readers with one message about GMOs, it is this: educate yourself. Whether you choose to consume them or not, GMOs have become a staple in agriculture and a constant in your medicine - and that is your Right to Know. ■ SUMMER 2016 45 �JOURNALISM & POLITICS In Their Own Words BriefInterviews with Journalists and Politicians on the Role of the Media warding supporters or contributors with quidpro-quo 's. Where we sometimes fall short is that there, frankly, aren't as many reporters as there should be covering government, especially local and municipal government." ■ Laura Olson Kristen Welker BY SA WYER NEALE (A'18) This election cycle, the press is under attack. From being blamed for the rise of Donald Trump, to the pronounced influence of the democratizing effects of social media on the spread of information, to both nominees acting with an ostensible contempt for the press -- either revoking press access, as Trump has with the Washington Post, Politico, and the Huffington Post, or refusing to hold press conferences, as Sec. Hillary Clinton did from December 2015 to September 2016 -- the fourth pillar of our democracy appears to be both under pronounced scrutiny and to be in the process of being pushed out of the loop of our national conversation. With "mainstream media" becoming a popular slur for our news-sources, and in an age where anybody with a cellphone and Twitter can become a news reporter, we are forced to ask a serious question: what is the role of the press in a democracy? In April 2016, I, Sawyer Neale, was elected as a Delegate to the Democratic National Convention, representing Pennsylvania's 15th Congressional District. Over the course of the Convention, I had unparalleled access to journalists, both unknown and widely-renowned, and governmental officials working on every level of government, ranging from municipal, to state, to federal-level. Upon realizing in the weeks leading up to the convention that I would have this degree of access, I decided to spend my week in Philly seeking to find answers to the question of what the press ought to strive for. In this seeking, I attempted to find answers from members of the 46 T H E EPO CH JOUR NA L press, and politicians -- in their own words -- as to what role the ever-present media ought fulfil in a democracy. The following are some of the many responses I received over that week. Prior to the responses, which have been edited for clarity, are brief notes on the individual interviewed. ■ John Micek is the Editorial and Opinions Editor at The Patriot News. What, to you, is the role of the media in a democracy? "I've always seen us in an idealistic, old fashioned way, as a hedge on power, as a watchdog on authority. Sometimes we accomplish that goal in the way we're supposed to, and sometimes we don't, but I'd like to think that more often than not, we succeed." What does the differentiation look like? "The good way is reporting how money is spent, is holding power accountable, like finding out if some politician stands to benefit from a particular vote or a particular action he or she is taking, or if they are re- Laura Olson is a rep orter f or the A llentown Morning Call covering DC politics and p olicy. What should the media strive to do in a democracy? Kristen Welker is NBC News 'sWhite House "I think, hopefully, we aren't only telling Correspondent and member of Sec. Clinton 's people what's going on, but also putting it press corps. into context. We should be saying 'here's the What, to you, is the role of the media in a issues the candidates are talking about, here's democracy? where they agree, here's where they disagree, "I think that our role is to be watchdogs for and why this is happening.' I think that's imp oliticians, to hold them accountable for their portant because otherwise it's hard to make actions, their words, their policy proposals, decisions as to who should govern us. So, and their promises to the American people. we 're putting out information, as well as That means that we absolutely necessarily helping you sort through that information." ■ need to do a lot of fact checking. We don't always get it right, but we try to. Our job is to give the American people as much information as possible so that, on Election Day, they 're informed as much as possible." ■ SUMMER 2 016 47 �MikeVeon staying neutral. They have editorial pages, of course, where they editorialize on who they support, why they think this person should be elected, but I think that their news coverage is still not slanted, not political. I think there are some broadcast reporters do that, but it's mostly in the print. I think that's an important component!" ■ Mike Veon is the Former Majority Whip in the Pennsylvania House of Representative, who resigned after being convicted as a part of the Bonusgate trials of 20 I 0. What is the role of the media in a democracy? "I think the media has a very important role, and have held that role for a long time. Some of the media has seen that role changing, so that there is a more partisan press, today, for example, than there when I got into politics, just 30 years ago. Most of the press back then was much more neutral, and we've seen the landscape change in the way that the media covers politics. So, there was no FOX News, MSNBC counterpart opinions 30 years ago. This has made a dramatic difference in how media covers politics." Do you think this change is for better or for worse? What should they be striving to? "I think there is no one single thing that the media should do. I like the idea that there is a more partisan media presence. I understand that FOX News is going to promote the Republican Party. I recognize that MSNBC is going to say better things about Democrats. I think that as long as you understand what the rules are, you can work with the media. I think there also should be, and there are, media organizations who play it very much so down the middle. There are many print newspapers, for example, do a very good job of 48 THEEPOCHJOURNAL G. Terry Madonna is a prominent pollster and political commentator in Pennsylvania, and a professor ofpublic affairs at Franklin and Marshall College in Lancaster, PA, where he serves as director of F &M's 'Center for Politics and Public Affairs' and as director of the nationally-renowned Franklin and Marshall College Poll. In view of politics in general, what should media strive towards? What's the ideal goal of the media? "I'm a little old fashioned, and here's why: I think when you're covering a campaign, you ought to write what the candidates say, keeping it factual, not adding their own viewpoints about it. Don't put a line in there of interpretation. It's strictly about what the candidates say. Now, on the other hand, when you're on the editorial page, all things are fair game. They can have any opinion they want. The thing that's more fascinating is that recently the fact that a lot of reporters, in addition to covering events, also themselves do editorials. They are writing think pieces and columns, and that always results in the question being raised of 'well, when you're reporting, are you then adding your viewpoint into your reporting?' ... Another aspect of it, is that now you have a lot of reporters doing national talk shows. Like, you have a reporter from the Washington Post, or the New York Times, and now they're regulars for commentary, and so that's where the lines get blurred very quickly." So, in your view, the good kind of journalism would be straight facts, straight news, minimal editorialism, right? Why does that matter? What's the goal of it? "It matters because you have readers who are influenced by it. As such, I think you have an obligation when you're writing a news story to just write the news. Here's another aspect that's pretty important: today, you have most viewers, most listeners, most readers, read and view and listen to the content and to the stations that reinforce their own views ... Unfortunately, most people today are only comfortable with their views being reinforced, which is critical. They don't often challenge their perception of the world, and I don't think that's healthy for democracy. " ■ Mark Cohen Mark Cohen, elected in 1974 in the wake of Watergate, is the seniormost member of the Pennsylvania State House of Representatives. What is the job of the media in a democracy? "The job of the media in a democracy should be aiding the democracy. Giving people information in a manner that informs them, and doesn 't just inflame them. I think that the rise of FOX News over the last 20 years or so, has been a total disaster for the public. It's totally redefined journalism, and made journalism less reliable, and less effective in getting across the message of what people are actually standing for. " A cross between a watchdog, and transference of information? "I think they should be striving to give information. Sometimes the watchdog approach does that, but all to frequently it results in, for example, illegal leaks of documents from prosecuting agencies, be it the PA Attorney General's Office or the FBI. " ■ SUMMER 2016 49 �� Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource Epoch Journal Creator An entity primarily responsible for making the resource St. John's College Contributor An entity responsible for making contributions to the resource St. John's College Greenfield Library Text A resource consisting primarily of words for reading. Examples include books, letters, dissertations, poems, newspapers, articles, archives of mailing lists. Note that facsimiles or images of texts are still of the genre Text. Original Format The type of object, such as painting, sculpture, paper, photo, and additional data paper Page numeration Number of pages in the original item. 26 pages Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource The Epoch, Volume X Issue 1 Description An account of the resource Volume X, Issue 1 of The Epoch Journal. Published in Summer 2016. Creator An entity primarily responsible for making the resource Neale, Sawyer (Editor-in-Chief) Publisher An entity responsible for making the resource available St. John's College Coverage The spatial or temporal topic of the resource, the spatial applicability of the resource, or the jurisdiction under which the resource is relevant Annapolis, MD Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource 2016 Rights Information about rights held in and over the resource St. John's College owns the rights to this publication. 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JOHN'S COLLEGE LIBRARY 111111111111 \\ ~11~1mr1~111~~rn1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 3 1696 01155 6196 �AFRICA & MIDDLE EAST S The Gem of Africa Moves Beyond Its Diamond Age Tex Pasley AMERICAS Cleaning Up The Mess: The Aftermath I I in Haiti Erin ·Shadowens ASIA Japan Confronts Student Suicides 15 Shikshya Adhikari EUROPE Don't Bank On Gordon Brown 19 Gordon Greer and Kurt Strom BEYOND NEWS 23 !hrough the Lens The Epoch Staff For This Issue Editor-in-Chief Managing Editor Artistic Director Business Directors Executive Editor Web Design Tex Pasley Erin Shadowens John Vining Shikshya Adhikari Andrew Danders Laurel Fischer Eric Honour Founder, Editor-in-Chief Zachary Fryer-Biggs Soldier carries supplies in Haiti Photo Credits: Cover: Adam Cohn; TOC: US Army; 5: Esther Dyson; 8: Swamibu; I I: US Army; 12: UN Development Programme; 15: Flowzim; 16: Jessive Spengler; 19: andriux-uk; 21: World Economic Forum; 22: andriux-uk; TTL: Amazon Community Animal Rescue. The Epoch is produced and distributed in Annapolis, Maryland. Please contact The Epoch for information on advertisements at info@epochjournal.org. Opinions expressed in articles or illustrations are not necessarily those of the Editorial Board or St. John's College. © 20 I 0, The Epoch INFO@EPOCHJOURNAL.ORG ASSOCIATED COLLEGIATE PRESS WWW.EPOCHJOURNAL.ORG '1 ! 3 �-- I -l.. ISRAEL I PALESTINE A Jewish human rights \ organization is trying to build a museum on top of a centuries-old Muslim burial ground. Palestinians have, obviously, filed a petition with the UN in protest. The two sides have been fighting over the location since 2004. /- I . '_ I "' The Gem of Africa Moves Beyond Its Diamond Age \ I '' ' ' ' "'"' \ I / "' -r ... / ,, \ 1 --1_.,-''f I I \ \ = " 1 ., - / .. ' I " "' ' ",,- '...,,. ........ \ L-----''' J I YEMFN A cease-fire agreement was reached between the government and Houthi rebels after six years of fighting. The government is motivated to bring stability to the conflict in order to focus on many Al ~ Qaeda members operating within the country . .J ,' ,..,\ I I ) - "' \,, I I BOTSWANA ' ~ ""' I I by Tex Pasley \ I, \ ''I'm sure that the results explain themselves. The country is thriving," says Joshua Tim, a native of Botswana who is currently going to school in Canada. Given the flood of negative news that flows out of Africa, most probably wouldn't think Tim is describing an African country. But he's speaking of Botswana, where the world's largest diamond supply and a stable democratic government have turned a land-locked, oil-free country into an African success story. "Many people have the common misconception that every country in Africa is ripped by political strife. This is in fact, not applicable to Botswana." In April of 1967, less than a year after Botswana gained independence, the Orapa diamond pipe was discovered. Two months later, the De Beers Botswana Mining Company was formed. By 1971, a diamond mine at Orapa was officially commissioned. Within five years, little Botswana had found its path to big success lying underground. Botswana boasts a Gross Domestic Product per capita of$13,900, one of the highest in Africa, and is ranked as the least corrupt African country in Transparency International's Corruption Perceptions Index (CPI); every election since independence has been fairly contested, with no history of contested results, votetampering, and voter coercion. Of course, all that success can be traced to one thing "Diamonds play a major role in our economy; most of Botswana's revenue is obtained from the diamond industry," says Bahati Letlhogonolo Mwemutsi of Gaborone, Botswana. "We would be hard hit really [if we didn't have diamonds]. Other sectors like agriculture and tourism are still underdeveloped and contribute a small part of the country's total . mcome. " And in 1990, the then Minister of Mineral Resources and Water Affairs, A.M. Mogwe, said: "The diamond mines were a Godsend, and rapidly transformed the economy, increasing the revenue of the country from less than P 10 million (Pulas, Botswana's currency) a year at 5 �ZIMBABWE ~ Orapa ~ Letlhakane BOTSWANA SOUTH AFRICA Independence to over a billion today." Botswana's diamond wealth, unlike the much-publicized "blood diamonds" of West Africa, translated into prosperity for the entire country, and not a wealthy few.Absent also are the reports of violence and child labor that taint the product in other diamond-producing nations. Currently, all four diamond mines in Botswana (see map) are managed through a 50/50 partnership between De Beers Consolidated Mines, Ltd. and the Botswanan Government. But just like oil, diamonds are a non-renewable resource-some estimates see Botswana's diamonds running out within a generation. "As diamond revenues decrease Botswana needs to have developed a diversified economy," says John Gibson of Maun, Botswana. Gibson is a brand 6 manager for Chobe Holdings, Ltd., which operates two safari companies in Botswana: Desert & Delta Safaris, and Ker & Downey. "The domination of the economy by a capital intensive industry such as diamond mining needs to be addressed. In terms of developing a wider economic base, the ability to beneficiate the countries raw materials will be important as that is where the country has a comparative competitive advantage." Recently the global economic recession exposed Botswana's need for new economic thinking. A luxury good, such as diamonds, will not lead the country through both good times and bad. "Diamond prices were at an all time low and we recorded the highest budget deficit in a very long time," says Mwemutsi. "So I think we as Batswana (a plural form referring to the citizens of Botswana) should play a key role in radding sustainability; we should not solely rely on the government to provide resources." Where should Botswana look to plan for a sustainable future? Disregarding what's underneath the ground, Botswana is still a country half-covered in desert. It imports most of its food, water, and oil. "I think they are putting in a fair deal of effort," says Mwemutsi. "In order to achieve sustainability; it is essential for the government to work hand in hand with its people. For example, Botswana imports most of its food products from South Africa. This costs the government a lot, money which could be spent to develop the agricultural industry in Botswana." While it's miraculous that they've proven to be successful so far (large mineral wealth doesn't always correspond with stable governance and a productive middle class), the success would be more miraculous if they can continue to be an economic leader in Africa beyond the diamond age. "Skills development remains a primary group focus," says Gibson. "Telecommunications have improved considerably allowing us to centralize a number of functions that were previously externally based. We are now looking at improving skills to take advantage of this. The principles of Vision 2016 are at the heart of our operations. As a growing company many of our goals are in common with a growing country." "Vision 2016" is a program sponsored by the Botswana government that sets out seven strategic goals that Botswana hopes to achieve by the year 2016. While the goals are appropriately vague (e.g., ''An Open, Democratic, and Accountable Nation," ''A Prosperous, Productive, and Innovative Nation," etc.), the specifics at least point to a government that is aware of the problems of sustainability. There are signs that the government is taking the practical steps necessary so that i.n 2016 "Botswana will have diversified its economy, with mining, agriculture, industry, manufacturing, services and tourism all making a substantial contribution. Botswana will have an vibrant and energetic economy that is able to meet the competitive demands of the 21st century, and attract investors," as their website states. "Botswana is heavily concentrating on Health and Education," says Tim. "There are hospitals being built and the Government sponsors students to do their tertiary education in worldrenowned Universities. Also Botswana is trying to get good world relations and trade. The president of Botswana recently visited the USA and had a meeting with President Obama. He also traveled to Singapore as to improve trade relations between the two countries." When it comes to sustainability; better national health will be an essential step in stabilizing Botswana. The country has the world's second highest HIV/AIDS adult prevalence rate (the percentage of adults in the country with HIV/AIDS). Nearly a quarter of the adults in Botswana are infected. By 2016, Botswana wants to have no new HIV infections. ''At one time the HIV/AIDS epidemic threatened many of the gains that Botswana had made since independence," says Gibson. ] "Intervention by government, often in partnership with the private se~tor, has however wrestled the initiative back and Botswana can now look forward to a much brighter future. A great deal of human capital was lost during the early years of the epidemic, the effect of which remains to be seen. I believe however that efforts to diversify the economy have been hampered." Desert & Delta Safaris, one of the two safari companies under Chobe Holdings, Ltd. (Gibson's employer), was singled out in a report by the International Labor Organization for their success in dealing with AIDS prevention. 99% of Desert & Delta Safaris employees have participated in voluntary counseling and testing (VCT), compared to a 51 % rate for Botswana as a whole. Botswana has been finding economic success in the tourism industry. The country's wildlife and stable governance have made it an attractive place for safari companies to ply their trade. "The tourism sector is booming," says Mwemutsi. "With great attractions such as the Okavango delta, and rock paintings of the indigenous Basarwa tribe. The government has allocated a substantial amount of funds to try and develop this sector." There are also development programs being put in place to help those entering the job market find positions outside the diamond industry. "There is one Entrepreneurship program that has been going on for quite some time now called CEDA, the Citizen Entrepreneurship Development Program," says Tim. "Basically a young citizen (21-35) is given a loan of up to a million Pula depending on the project/ business/venture he wants to create. He or she is then given 25 years maximum to repay the loan. This program started off extremely well, businesses, farms, etc. were being created everywhere. Although some people defaulted on their loan repayments, most people were able to pay back their loans." One challenge that industries face will be transitioning into a more free, competitive market. As the diamond wealth owned by the government becomes less of a crutch for the rest of the economy to stand on, businesses will need to compete in a less regulated market. "The government does have quite a bit of control over the main sectors of the economy," says Tim. "Most large parts of the economy are controlled by either parastatals or local municipalities. But I would not say that they control every resource. Merely supervise that things may run efficiently." As was indicated earlier, political stability has been essential to the growth of Botswana; every election since independence has been freely and fairly contested. This political landscaped, A History of Diamond Discovery in Botswana 1996 1967 Vision 2016 is unveiled by the government of Botswana, with the intent of making Botswana competitive with developed countries . The Orapa diamond pipe is the first discovered in Botswana. 1965 2009 1968 1978 2001 De Beers Botswana Mining Company is formed . De Beers Consolidated Mines Ltd . and the government of Botswana form Debswana, a 50/50 partnership between the two groups. Debswana becomes the first company in the world to offer anti-retroviral HIV treatment to its employees . 7 �which seems to be closely related to the monetary success, will need to pair this optimistic economic future with an optimistic political future. "Botswana has a history of inclusive government," says Gibson. "Free and fair elections since independence coupled with a vocal opposition has allowed for real debate on the national agenda and developed an accountable government that is in touch with the needs of its population. Government has also been frugal and far-sighted, saving for the future. Politicians are viewed as servants of the people." But the political landscape has its downsides. The Botswana Democratic Party (BDP) is the only party to ever hold majority power, and the current president, Ian Khama, is the son of Seretse Khama, who served for 14 years as Botswana's first president. While others 8 might view such political stagnation to be harmful, the Batswana are content with political stability. "It doesn't matter as long as we are being ruled in Democracy," says Tim. "I would rather be under one ruling Party in a growing and stable economy, than have various different ruling parties destroy our land. Most Botswana are happy with that." At this point, there is little sign that a major political shift will sweep the country, bringing a new political party to the forefront. "I think it would be far too difficult [for another party to take control]," says Mwemutsi. "I mean if the ruling party has more seats in parliament it would be close to impossible for opposmon representatives to try and make any progressive amendments. Mwemutsi continues, "I can't say if I'm happy or not, there really is no perfect party. Each and every party has its accomplishments and flaws. BDP has had its times of well ordered rule and also questionable decisions." The western press has recently focused on Zimbabwe, Botswana's neighbor, where Robert Mugabe and inflation rates in the quadruple digits have broadcast a bleak vision of Africa to the world. It remains to be seen what these «questionable decisions» that Mwemutsi mentions will mean for the future of Botswana, or if visions of a bright future can be transformed in realities. * The following people were interviewedfor this article:]oshua Tim - Botswana native studying in Canada; Bahati Lethlogono Mwemutsi - resident of Gaborone, Botswana; john Gibson - resident ofMaun, Botswana �l+I CANADA At the end of December, Prime Minister Stephen Harper announced that parliament would not reconvene until March, instead of returning at the end of January. The decision means that all bills that were in the process of moving through parliament must be reintroduced, leading many to think that the decision by Harper was cynical and politically motivated. Cleaning Up The Mess: The Aftermath in Haiti by Erin Shadowens • HAITI Joseph Alcidas was heading home from the airport in Port-auPrince when the bus began to shake. "The bus was jumping. I think [the jumping came from] the driver who was playing with the brake and everybody started to jump off the bus." Luckily, no one was hurt. However, the earthquake that ravaged Port-au-Prince, Haiti and the surrounding area on January 12 was not equally kind to the rest of the capital. The Haitian government estimates that 150,000 died in the quake and its aftermath. Anna Cerulli arrived in Port-auPrince two weeks after·the earthquake hit to find the neighborhood around her shop decimated. "The houses [were] entirely destroyed. We have a store, rented by Unibank, near the central bank. The building [was] destroyed completely." Haiti, one of the world's poorest countries, suffered almost a complete loss of infrastructure, buildings, bridges, roads, etc in Port-au-Prince, its most developed region. Now what is left, as Cerulli describes, is "bad odor, we can't breathe." Or, as Alcidas put it: "Mess." Haiti's coast is familiar with nature's fury, experiencing annual hurricanes that make building stable businesses and economic solvency extremely difficult. However, nonprofits and NGOs working in Haiti have encountered some of the most significant setbacks due to this earthquake, the worst in over 200 years. The earthquake was centered on a fault line that runs right by Portau-Prince. "One of our schools on Delmas 28 is flat - it was a four story building - primary and secondary school," says Debbie Vanderbeek, the program director for Hope for Haiti's Children, "Our school in Cite Soleil has damage to the structure - not sure of the extent i' II �of it at this time. At least one of our fuzzy as we are trying to access the distributions as "darwinian." children died, we have not been able needed goods to distribute. Because Many in Haiti are further to find all [of the children] yet. Many we are not a relief organization, concerned by the dangers of crime lost their homes, family members and we don't have set contacts in place. in the weeks to come. In addition to had injuries. Many others have left However, we don't have a network looting, most of the prisons in Portfor the provinces." through which to make distributions. au-Prince were destroyed, freeing While Vanderbeek cannot The food and relief need to get to the prisoners that remain unaccounted measure the extent of the damage yet, people, so many thugs take advantage for. organizations that are not equipped and keep relief from the hands of "The day of the earthquake to provide aid to and the day after-victims, such as Hope " I have seen more pain, suffering and utter dev- the buildings were for Haiti's Children, astation over the past two weeks that I have in collapsedandeveryone are limited by their was released. The lack of supplies and my 52 years." - Debbie Vanderbeek word is that prisoners training. left with whatever "I had a medical team here for a those truly in need who are not able weapons were at the prisons," says week. We only treated wounds, no to fend for themselves." Vanderbeek. "There were many . surgeries, for people who had not yet In the aftermath, rampant looting gang leaders, kidnappers ... They are had any treatment or who were on and corruption ensued. Although food reorganizing themselves now." the verge of infection from previously distributions have been organized Democracy Now reports that treated injuries," explains Vanderbeek. by the United Nations' World Food roughly 60 to 80 percent of the "I don't think anyone can even begin Program, management tends to break prisoners were not charged with to have a good handle on the level of down amongst the hungry and the any crime and, additionally, several setback for Haiti, or for individual homeless. The New York Times went political prisoners were able to obtain organizations. Relief efforts are still so far as to characterize the food freedom in the earthquake. All the 12 First Week of Relief Efforts in Haiti January 14, 20 I 0 January 13, 20 I 0 Relief teams from Dominican Republic, Cuba, Peru, and United States arrive in Haiti Over 20 countries are in Haiti. However, destroyed infrastructure made food distributions almost impossible January 15, 20 I 0 9,000 bodies are cleared from the streets. January 18, 20 I 0 5,800 American troops are in and around Haiti, with an additional 7,500 marines on the way. 0000 0000 January 12, 20 I 0 January 16, 20 I 0 January 17, 20 I 0 Earthquake hits Port au Prince, Haiti . Argentine military hospital is the only hospital that remains open. Estimated one million Haitians are homeless . Red Cross medical Emergency Response Units (ERU) arrive . Canada announces it would send over 1,000 soldiers to help secure Port au Prince . same, Haitians remain paranoid in devastated neighborhoods where they cannot lock their doors. "With all the prisoners having been released there are more of them out there," says Vanderbeek. "People have been told to organize themselves in their neighborhoods to protect themselves. I know of many neighborhoods organizing men to provide watches throughout the nighttime hours." While Haitians struggle to deal with these problems, a massive international relief effort is underway. People from around the world, as well as the neighbors next door, are working to put Haiti back on solid ground. "The Dominican people made a telethon, reaching ... 58 ,000,000 pesos across [the] Sur Futuro Foundation," says Silverio. "At this time, the Dominican Republic is trying to do all we can ... Our government is ready to [extend] all the help to Haiti." Around 3,000 Haitians have been transported to the Dominican Republic to receive medical care. While the neighboring country welcomed earthquake victims, the DR has militarized in cities and around hospitals to accommodate the population influx. Moreover, the government is intent on avoiding a permanent wave of Haitian refugees . "Right now, they [Haitians that received medical care] are here, waiting to leave the hospitals after the operations they have received," says Martiris Silverio of Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic. "Some people have rented houses [for] ... the Haitians, until [the] postoperative process ends." Although the DR has not seen any inrush of Haitian migrants beyond those seeking medical care, Silverio remains wary of the future. "Haitians [won't] easily leave DR, they prefer to stay here as illegal immigrants ... All over the world immigrants prefer to stay in a better country than they belong." Nevertheless, the government has taken clear steps towards returning Haitians to their homes, or what is left of them. Silverio explains, "In the border with Haiti, there are eight mobile clinics and the ambulance units with Diraccion Nacionel de Emergencia Disastres personnel, who attend 612 patients with various trauma. At this time [they] have addressed 14,000 victims. The public health secretary... started the transfer of the sick people in recuperation to the camp established in Fond Parisien, Haiti." The United States has been patrolling the waters between Haiti and the Florida coast to stop and turn around any refugees seeking asylum. So far, there has been no exodus of Haitian victims yet, beyond those in need of serious medical care. Amidst a labyrinth of adversity, no one can predict what can happen next for this desolate, poor country. While millions of dollars are donated every day towards rebuilding the capital, Haiti's long-term hopes are dependent on the reconstitution of an entire government infrastructure, not merely buildings. Furthermore, the acting government has hardly prepared for the next inevitable natural disaster, a fact of life in the Caribbean region. "I have seen more pain, suffering and utter devastation over the past two weeks than I have in my 52 years. Even in the midst of all this though, I see hope ... The ability of the Haitian people to survive is incredible. We treated a lady who was trapped under her collapsed house for three days, with her dead five year old beside her and she was still praising God." ii! I.' 1'1 I I I * I The following people were interviewed for this article: Joseph Alcidas - Port au Prince, Haiti; Anna Cerulli - Port au Prince, Haiti; Debbie Vanderbeek - Program Director Hope for Haiti's Children, Haiti; Martiris Silverio - Student, Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic 13 �Japan Confronts Student Suicides .....-... ll PAKISTAN More than 30 police officers were killed in two suicide attacks in two days. The attacks took place in the Northwest Frontier Province, which borders Afghanistan. The Pakistani Taliban has been previously responsible for violence in the region . ~ D SRI LANKA General Sarath Fonseka, a challenger in the recent presidential election, was arrested in a raid on his office. Supporters of Fonseka say the arrest was politically motivated, but the official word is that the arrest is related to events at the end of Fonseka's military raid. • CHINA The first ever Gay China Pageant was shut down by the government, due to a lack of necessary permits. The organizers of the pageant had not sought government approval, knowing that if they had, their request would have been denied. China held its first gay pride celebration this past summer. by Shikshya Adhikari e JAPAN "One day I was coming from a public library," shares James Ronald, a Ugandan college student in Japan, "and I saw this guy standing on top of a . wall about to jump onto the road. He was surrounded by people who were trying to calm him down. It scared the wits out of me." "That's ... quite a subject," says Funakoshi Jushirou, a college student in Japan. When asked about the possible reasons behind the high student suicide rate in Japan, he answered, "in my opinion, they seem to run away from reality to put an end to all the 'darkness' in their lives." "Well, as for myself, I do not see any genuine reason for that,'' says Ronald. An average of 100 Japanese people are said to commit suicide each day. In 1955, Japan's suicide rate peaked at 25 .1 suicides per 100,000 people. Since then, the rate steadily decreased until the year 2000, when it returned to 1955 levels. Statistics from 2007 peg the rate at 24.4 per Trains can be held up for hours because ofsuicides 100,000, givmg Japan one of the world's highest suicide rates (the number in the United States, for comparison, is 11.1 per 100,000, according to the most recent data). "Depression among students is one of the most significant reasons. I do not think this is anything new. Having said that, the social structure of Japan is what leads these kids to depression. Now, this is something new to me," adds Ronald. "If you want to know about suicides here, you need to get into Japanese culture," says Kevin Broderick, an English language teacher ,, I 15 �in Japan. "It's very repressed. I mean conformity is the way here. Yes, there are people who are out of the box but no one here is confrontational and you are always supposed to think about the other person," adds Broderick. He gives us a picture of a social gathering in Japan. "Think about going out to eat and having a glass of beer. They order big bottles of beer. However, you are never supposed to pour for yourself. The other person should somehow notice that you are done and then should offer to pour you some more and you never say no. It will be regarded as too confrontational." So how does this kind of repression lead to suicide among children and teenagers? It is reported that even elementary school children have committed suicide. "The surprising thing is that it is totally different in college. The pressure is more on the children in school level, whether it be the ones in elementary, middle or high school", says Jushirou. 16 "Yes, it is a repressed society speak first even though you are in and that puts a lot of pressure on a conversation-based school. Everychildren at a young age. This kind one seems to be too focused on their of pressure has eventually led to sentences being perfect and it is like many cases of suicide," says Henne- pulling teeth a lot of the time." pin Marquette, a language teacher in Jushirou points to the fact Japan. He adds, "You are expected to that these student suicide cases are excel at everything. Japanese school spreading widely, and the depression students have to appear for a lot of is infectious to the whole country, tests as well to enter into good high especially the student population. schools and colleges. With long When an 18-year-old singer, Okada school days and evenings and man- Yukiko, committed suicide in 1986, datory after school clubs and study a series of copy-cat suicides, known groups, you hardly have any time to as'Yukiko Syndrome' spread through do other things which you might en- Japan. joy. There is no freedom to do any"I don't understand. It's just so thing but school-related activities. absurd. This thing is spreading like Also, the birth rate in Japan is so low virus. I think suicide has become currently that extra pressure is put more of a trend," says Jushirou. on the children born to either follow One explanation for the recent their parents' footstep or make them spike is technology. Young people who have access to chat rooms and proud in any way possible." Broderick says, "you are not sup- instant messaging are able to bring posed to say anything to your par- their suicidal instincts into contact ents either and are also supposed to with other like-minded peers. keep your emotions and opinions to "Technology is supposed to make yourself." He continues, "here, it is things convenient for the society and more like if you are the teacher, you make the life of the people comfortable as much as possible. However, I think technology is worthless when trying to prevent these kinds of situations. Instead, it has made things worse," says Jushirou, pointing to a trend of mass suicides which originated over the internet. While this anecdotal evidence is troubling, can the rise in the suicide rate over the past decade be directly related to increased use of the internet? "I think it is more or like wanting to join and be a part of the community where you find other children of more or less your own age sharing the same problems as you do. This results especially from the feeling of being shunned, misunderstood or out of place in your own community," says Marquette. Almahr Hasan, a Saudi Arabian student in Japan says, "notice that we are talking about big cities like tudes. people to be involved in such activi· Broderick says, "there is a lot of ties. There are people who very readTokyo, Osaka and others. Parents here work a lot. Sometimes, they pride here. Although more arid more ily provide help unlike some people are out for the whole day and come cultures are getting mixed in Japan, in the society who consider the suiback as late as 11 pm. So, I guess there is definitely some level of pride cide cases nothing but spectacle. I that would make the children feel that needs to be taken away first." believe the responsible ones should This "level of pride" takes shape step up more and try to get rid of unwanted due to lack of close communication." on the playground, where who wins this problem." At one point, seven young people and who loses adversely affects the Broderick says, "I know for cerwere found to be dead in a van out- psyche of those who lose. tain that there are rehabilitation "Bullying has to be eliminated centers which would work very efside Tokyo by the Japanese police. This was believed to be Japan's larg- but at the same time it is very dif- fectively provided people accept est group suicide. their help." It In 2004, six people "One day I was coming from a public library and is reported that were found to have I saw this guy standing on top of a wall about to psychiatric care died of carbon monis most available oxide poisoning by jump onto the road. He was surrounded by peo- to students from burning charcoal ple who were trying him down. It scared the wits January till May, stoves in their cars the examination out of me." - James Ronald in the city of Fumonths, which kuoka. It seems like are highly stressmany people across Japan meet on- ficult to do so. I have seen some kids ful for Japanese students. line looking for people to die with. with fierce independence but the Marquette says, "I am sure the "It is just ridiculous. Yes, tech- majority of kids have been taught to government is working to change nology is a means but I do not think work together as a team and to think things. But, every Prefecture in Jait is wholly responsible. I think it all that individuals are not as important pan does things differently and I can depends on the personality and psy- as the whole. People that are differ- imagine that it would be a very difchology of that certain person," says ent in any way are very easy to single ficult problem to solve or work on." out. Thus, these kinds of bullying Jushirou. Jushirou offers an explanation: "I Not only has the suicide rate can lead to choices children would believe that it all comes down to a been increasing, but the suicides not normally make in everyday lives person. No matter what, I do not follow specific patterns. And while such as joining in to bully other stu- think it will be easy to trace and people have trouble explaining them, dents. And, students who become analyze what a person is thinking or the target commit suicide," says what one goes through. I would like they know the patterns are there. "The cases of people shooting Marquette. Tokyo had started alter- to emphasize what I said earlier. Yes, themselves are very rare here . But native schools for bullying victims there is help available. However, that most of the time, we hear about and it is said to have reduced some all depends on how much of it you people jumping in front of moving kind of pressure from the students. are willing to accept. One should be trains. And, it happens most in cerThe pride that Broderick men- able to look at the positive side, I tain times of the year and it gets so tions extends to the next stage. If guess. * bad that train delays will be com- a child is beaten up by a bully, the mon. Sometimes, you wait for an victim is often too proud to seek hour for your train to arrive. I have out help, or to call on someone else The following people were interviewed fo r experienced it for a good amount to help fix their problems. Help for this article: Funakoshi ]ushirou - a colof time in the past two years," says those contemplating suicide might lege student in Japan; Kevin Broderick Broderick. be available, but it's no help if noEnglish language teacher in Japan, from While depression and the in- body uses it. America; James Ronald - A Ugandan ability to meet high standards effect Jushirou says, "well, there are student studying in Japan; Almahr Hasan children all around the world, what counselors who are willing to help -A Saudi Arabian student studying in jaabout Japan makes the suicide rate children with problems. However, pan; Hennepin Marquette - A language so much higher? The answer, some reluctance to acknowledge the probteacher in Japan think, must lie in the cultural atti- lem in the first place is what leads 11 I �Don't Bank on Gordon Brown RUSSIA A natural gas pipeline that will lead through the Baltic Sea from Russia to Germany has been given the go-ahead for construction. The pipeline will deliberately skip politically unstable Eastern European countries so Russia's plentiful natural gas supplies can reach Western Europe more reliably. In the past, Russia has cut off supplies which flow to Western Europe, in order to send a political message to countries on the pipeline, such as Ukraine. - • I I ROMANIA 8,000 documents from an anti-communist revolution in 1989 will be declassified. Many hope that the declassification will lead to more convictions for human rights violations during the revolution. -, '..._ ... ; ,•--~,_,,..-. -- I\. I I - ITALY I 00 African immigrant workers in the southern town of Rosarno rioted on Jan. 7. The riot was in response to a shooting incident, where two African farmworkers were injured by townspeople, with no apparent motive. It was not the first racially motivated shooting in the town . A few days after the riot, all of the African farmworkers had been evicted. president on Feb. 7. The election was significant because Yanukovich had previously been defeated by Victor Yuschhenko in 2004 during the so-called "Orange Revolution," where Yanukovich was viewed as representing the "old" Ukraine and its Soviet ties, while Yuschhenko and the Orange Revolution were meant to symbolize a new Ukraine more connected to the west. by Gordon Greer and Kurt Strom ~1 ~ ~~ UN ITED KINGDOM "It really sucks when the Government seems to take more interest in the rich than the middle class," says Thomas Randolph, who resides in London, England. Last April, a man was killed, bank windows were shattered, and bankers were attacked. Randolph speaks about the day: "From my window I could hear sirens all day and saw thousands of people being chased by officers. Everyone was throwing bottles, the police were using their batons and pepper spray." Heather Golding, who lived in Britain and worked for the British Labour Party at the time, was also present at this incident. "The news people were saying 'stay in your homes, if you are a businessman do not leave your house' and 'they are attacking people wearing suits.' In fact, I believe one guy died that day when the police came in against the protestors." Golding continues, "and the thing is, it wasn't one mob based A crowd demonstrates against financial institutions in London on one political philosophy, there were numerous groups of different backgrounds forming one collective mob. They were shocking; it's shocking that the people could get so riled up that Conservatives were marching with Marxists and Socialists with members of the BNP." Randolph relates a similar tale: "I was afraid people were gonna get killed, I think a few people did actually die, but I didn't partake in 19 �Fallout of Financial Crisis 1997 October, 2008 Mid 2008 Labor Party comes into power under leadership of Tony Blair. Gordon Brown becomes the British Exchequer. Collapse of American investment banks leads to turmoil within RBS (Royal Bank of Scotland), Barclays, and Lloyd 's of London. Certain elements within the Labor Part attempt a failed coup to oust and replace the PM Brown in the "Lancaster Plot." 1997 2010 1997-2006 2007 Under Blair and Brown's guidance, the UK moves closer into alignment with the United States , in both politics and finance. Due to rising unpopularity within his own party, Prime Minister Blair hands over the reins of government to Chancellor Brown. 2010 General parliamentary elections to be held before June 3rd . David Cameron, Conservative candidate for Prime Minister, is currently favored to win . any of it. Wish I'd gotten pictures As Chancellor of the Exchequer pornography with it which was really · though. It was insanity out there in under Tony Blair, his management of scandalous." Gordon Brown was the streets. Fortunately, I'm not a the British economy, once considered not personally involved with these banker so I didn't really fear for my Brown's major asset, became his scandals, but they did occur while he life." was in power. largest liability. These stories reflect a fed-up Golding, who worked for the The Pension Scandal is yet populace. With elections on the British Labour Party, has a dark view more salt in the wound for many way, the table is set for a major of how the party and Prime Minister already dissatisfied Britons. Two of shift in Britain's political landscape. Brown will fare this upcoming the United Kingdom's major banks, Since 1997, under the leadership election. the Royal Bank of Scotland (RBS) of Tony Blair and Barclays, were and now Gordon "There's no way, no way Gordon Brown will be severely effected · Brown, the Labour by the economic reelected, he has screwed up way too much, he crisis. RBS, which party has con trolled Parliament. Prime really hasn't done anything and he put this election had aggressively Ministers have expanded during at a really bad ti me." - Heather Golding the OOs, watched the power to call elections whenever substantial and "There's no way, no way, that highly leveraged investments in they please, allowing them to take advantage of times when their party Gordon Brown will be reelected, banks like Bear Stearns and Lehman is popular. However, Brown must he has screwed up way too much, Brothers vaporize. Another bank, call an election by this summer, or he really hasn't done anything and Northern Rock, completely went Parliament will be dissolved. Given he put this election at a really bad under, and had to be bought out by the mood of the people, this does time. Ms Golding continues the British government. not bode well for the British Labour by relating the mistakes Labour Numerous companies have let has made, including a widespread employees go; Northern Rock laid off Party. From the outset of his scandal in Parliament. 1,300 employees in 2008 alone. Due "The biggest incident occurred to its merger with Lehman brothers, tenure, things seemed dark for Brown. He spent the summer of not long ago, it was called the 'Pension Barclays had to lay off nearly 3,000 2008 squelching an attempted coup Scandal.' It involved members of employees. In order to repay a 20 from within his own party, more Parliament, particularly House of billion British pound loan from Her commonly known in the United Lords members getting outrageously Majesty's Government, RBS had to Kingdom as the "Lancashire Plot." large pensions and other Parliament fire over 14,300 people in a single Once he believed his leadership to be members using taxpayer money year. The malady of these institutions secure, his position was threatened by to fund their personal affairs such the financial crash of October 2008 . as house building and one bought can only be seen as the symptoms of 20 a greater crisis effecting the current economic statistics regarding the United Kingdom--the British deficit is reported to have reached over£ 178 billion. Randolph continues to tell of the sacrifices he has made: "It's been hard for all, really, but I was able to keep my job. Most of the people I went to school with or living in my neighborhood weren't as lucky as I was back in 2008 and in 2009. The real trouble for me has been the increase of prices and inflation on everything, gas, food, you name it they tax it." He tells of other who were deeply hurt by the crisis. "My best mate from college, he lost his job and later couldn't pay rent in his flat so he came and lived with me briefly, now he's with his mum. He's still looking for work actually, but the way things are I can't say really how he'll do with this economy." Thus it seems likely that when Randolph's friend walks into the polling booth sometime this spring (the election must be held on or before June 3rd), he wili not be looking to keep Gordon Brown in office. "You see, when Tony Blair resigned in 2007 he appointed Brown as Prime Minister, he was never elected so that puts off a lot of people already who say 'we never voted for you, we never elected you,"' says Golding. "Also he had a chance to hold an election in 2007, and back then he was popular, because he had the support of Blair who was popular when he left, but he didn't and so when he has one now, before June, he will lose to David Cameron." David Cameron has been a vocal opponent of Prime Minister Brown's policies both when he was Chancellor of the Exchequer and as Prime Minister. He is also the head of the Conservative Party, and will take over as Prime Minister if the Conservatives receive the majority of the vote. (The Prime Minister is somewhat analogous to the Speaker of the House in the United States, in that they are the leader of the majority party in that house. In the United Kingdom, the Prime Minister is elected to the House of Commons). Recently, Cameron told the London Times, "our recession, the great recession, is the longest and deepest since the war and coming out of recession does not mean that our debt crisis is over. In fact far from it: Labour's debt crisis is now Gordon Brown at the World Economic Forum 21 �British cops stand guard at a protest the biggest threat to our recovery so we will only get this recovery right if we start right now on a proper debt reduction plan." Blame for the collapse has been wielded heavily, with Labour taking most of the hit. Randolph expresses why he feels the Prime Minister specifically is responsible: "Well, the current Prime Minister was head of money, Chancellor of the Exchequer, before he was Prime Minister, you know?" He continues, "so if I could blame anyone I'd say that Brown sort of messed up with this." Randolph expresses disgust at Brown's practices: "Until the economic recession and collapse I stood behind Labour nearly one hundred percent of the time, now though, I can't really say. Brown has made mistakes, there's some scandals {925) BUY-BACK and stuff like that. I might vote for Cameron." Despite Golding's hopes for a Labour victory, he states what he thinks is the likely outcome: ''I'd have to say that Brown will lose, Conservatives will have power, and we'll all be really sad." Randolph, who is not particularly political, also believes that change is coming. For his prediction on the election results, he says, "I guess I just want to say that whoever wins I want them to be more of a representation of the people who vote, me. I'm a voter and I hope my vote matters and I hope what I say matters, beyond that though, I can't really say anything for certain." With a laugh, he concludes: "if only I could predict the future we wouldn't be in this trouble then." * The following people were interviewed for this article: Thomas Randolph-Citizen, London UK; Heather Goldinglntern, Labour Party Offices, London; Mark Rector-Project Manager, Lloyds ofLondon; Raymond Clear-Citizen, UK {260) 399-6111 - English (212) 380-1763 Espanol �)> :tJ -I :::J 0 :::r :::J • (1) ~ -c OJ 0 :I~'- tv ~ 0 ~ . m -c Q_ >< 0 -· y> - - n ::T o I ST. JOHN'S COLLEGE LIBRARY 11111111111111111~11m~~rn ~m111111111 1 1 1 31696 01155 6196 g , :::J ~ - ~ ,..~,~---· 11:1~~~;7=e4 ;,•4t~~~ ~~~~· DAT DUE I I � Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource Epoch Journal Creator An entity primarily responsible for making the resource St. John's College Contributor An entity responsible for making contributions to the resource St. John's College Greenfield Library Text A resource consisting primarily of words for reading. Examples include books, letters, dissertations, poems, newspapers, articles, archives of mailing lists. Note that facsimiles or images of texts are still of the genre Text. Page numeration Number of pages in the original item. 24 pages Original Format The type of object, such as painting, sculpture, paper, photo, and additional data paper Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Creator An entity primarily responsible for making the resource Pasley, Tex (Editor-in-Chief) Title A name given to the resource The Epoch, Vol IV Issue III Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource 2010-04 Description An account of the resource Volume IV, Issue III of The Epoch Journal. Published in Spring 2010. Identifier An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context Epoch Journal Spring 2010 Coverage The spatial or temporal topic of the resource, the spatial applicability of the resource, or the jurisdiction under which the resource is relevant Annapolis, MD Publisher An entity responsible for making the resource available St. John's College Language A language of the resource English Type The nature or genre of the resource text Rights Information about rights held in and over the resource St. John's College owns the rights to this publication. Format The file format, physical medium, or dimensions of the resource pdf Student publication https://s3.us-east-1.amazonaws.com/sjcdigitalarchives/original/ada6381b383a2f4235766b0449699de2.pdf 2c6b465b6aa1e3a8238dedd6179d5cd7 PDF Text Text ST . JOHN'S COLLEGE LIB RARY 1111111111111 ~11~mr11111111~1 rr m111111111111111 1 3 1696 01155 6311 I 60 COLLEGE AVE, ANNAPOLIS FALL 2011 I VOLUME 6 I ISSUE t 1 I DATE DUE L �Chick & Ruth's Delly Serving St. John 's Students with the Best Breakfast, Lunch, Dinners, Milk Shakes, Appetizers & Desserts since 1965 WE HAVE FREE DELIVERY! ALL OUR GREAT FOODS BROUGHT TO YOU or JUST COME IN AND RELAX WITH US. Write for The Epoch. Visit us at www.ChickandRuths.cont The Epoch Journal is St. John College's currentaffairs magazine. It publishes researched articles and long reviews of global events and cultureall written and edited by members of the polity. We need writers, reviewers, copy-editors, designers, researchers, photographers, and artists in order to produce a professional . magazine. We meet on Sundays at 7 PM in the Gadfly office, located in the lower level of the BarrBuchanan Center, inside of Woodward Hall. If you can't make it, email Erin Shadowens (at erin.shadowens@sjca.edu) to discuss working on the next issue ..Article submissions for the next issue are due on January 15th, 2012. 165 Main Street, Annapolis, MD 21401 Phone 410-269-6737 Open 6:30 am till 11 :30 p.m. ' Fri. & Sat. till 12:30 am St.Johnsadd10/24/10 �Letter from the Editor NOVEMBER 20 1 1 I began writing for The Epoch during my fre shman year at St. John's; over the past three years, I have actively participated in every issue, writing eleven articles and acting in an editorial position for ten. Throughout that time, I have seen the publication evolve aesthetically, from loud and colorful maps to a more minimalist and understated palate. The look of the publication reflects the thinking and taste of the editors, but it would be wrong to conflate the aesthetics with the quality and substance of the articles. While the look of The Epoch has changed, the mission has not: to provide quality, indepth articles that bring the greater world to the St. John's College community. In this issue, we have articles on terrorist bombings in India, media and democracy in Ecuador, and Hispanic immigrant culture on the Texas border. Each of these articles attempts to distill an ongoing issue for our readers while maintaining a focus on the human beings involved. I hope that readers will not simply see these articles as examinations of different countries, but rather as looks into ongoing, international conversations. Ecuador's debate about democracy is yet another voice in a 2,500 year dialogue, and Mumbai's response to terrorism is eerily comparable to New York City's. I am excited to begin this new year with such a fantastic issue. In the last year, I have been impressed by the growth of student-produced work, from The Gadfly to the Community Exhibition, to Energeia. I hope that The Epoch will continue to bring a distinct tenor to the rich array of voices in our polity. Erin Shadowens Annapolis, Maryland EDITOR Erin Shadowens PUBLISHER + DESIGNER J. Keenan Trotter BUSINESS MANAGERS Shikshya Adhikari Andrew Donders ILLUSTRATOR SashaWelm DISCLAIMER The Epoch Journal is produced and distributed in Annapolis, Maryland. Opinions expressed in articles or illustrations are not necessarily those of the editorial board or St. John's College. ADVERTISING To place an advertisement, please email advertising@epochjournal.org SUBSCRIPTIONS The Epoch Journal is published four times a year. Subscriptions and back issues may be ordered on our website. SUBMISSIONS Students, faculty, and staff of St. John's College are encouraged to submit manuscripts fo r to Th e Epoch Journal. Email editor@ epochjournal.org for more information. MAILING ADDRESS The Epoch Journal 60 College Avenue Annapolis, Maryland 21 401 WEBSITE WWW .EPOCHJOURNA L.ORG �m ael Correa was elected President of the Reublic of Ecuador in 2007, when he ran with the lianza PAIS political movement. Alianza PAIS endorsed a political alliance with the Ecuadorian Socialist Party and the Communist Party of Ecuador, and is usually denominated as the Revolucion Ciudadana ("The People's Revolution"). The movement seeks to steer the Ecuadorian government toward "socialism of the 21st century" -a concept which acquired global currency when it was adopted, in 2005, by the Venezuelan leader, Hugo Chavez. In the past four years, Correa's administration has dismantled Ecuador's Congress and re-written the country's constitution, among other radical changes to the government's structure. But what has undergone the most profound and long-lasting transformation is the Ecuadorian media. Shortly after his ascension to the presidency, President Correa verbally opened fire against various media organization, labeling them as "savage beasts;' "informative mafias;' and "charlatans;' thereby declaring a fiery war against the press. In 2008, government officials, citing technical irregularities with the station's license, shut down Radio Sucre, a fre quent critic of Correa's administration. The list of media stations expropriated by the government since then has only increased: El Telegrafo (a newspaper), Cable Noticias, Cable Deportes, La Otra Group (a magazine publisher), Radio Universal, GamaTV, and TC Television. (The last two stations together account for about forty percent of the country's nightly news audience.) Around the same time of Radio Sucre's dismantling, officials of Correa's announced that the expropriated stations and the assets seized from them would be sold. (As of 2011, this promise remains unfulfilled.) Meanwhile, Correa's government created several new media organizations like EcuadorTV, Radio Publica, El Ciudadano, and Agenda Ecuatoriana de Noticias ANDES. Three years later, in August of this year, Correa won a $40 million libel lawsuit he had filed against journalist Emilio Palacios, and STOP, the directors of El Universo, which is one of the largest newspapers in Ecuador. The lawsuit cited an article published in El Universo in which Palacios, the article's author, remarked that President Correa could be prosecuted by a future administration for allegedly ordering Ecuador's military to open fire on police officers during a police rebellion on September 30th of last year. the fear aroused in them by the current regime, which targets individual journalists and media outlets by imposing harsh monetary penalties. llrns, in the service of reporting the truth, Ecuadorian journalists make something of a brave statement-about their country, to be sure, but also themselves. The anxiety of practicing journalists and private media has only worsened since May 7th of this year, when a national referendum-a plebiscite, or ballot-proposed by President Correa passed by a hair's breadth. The referendum in question asked voters whether, in an effort "to avoid the excesses of media;' there should be established a "Regulatory Council that may regulate the broadcast content:' Having won the referendum, Correa's government has legitimized government censorship and control over the information and opinions that can reach the public, thus defusing the country's few weapons against government corruption. Alfonso Perez, the director of one of the most influential Ecuadorian online newspapers, Ecuador en Vivo, told me that the state-owned media outlets have never reported on cases of corruption in Correa's government. According to Perez, "All allegations of corruption that have occurred in this government come only from the private media:' And Correa has not lacked an expensive taste for corruption: a recent scandal involved illegal contracts, valued at 300 million dollars, between the government and the President's brother, Fabricio Correa. "President Correa needs to discredit the press; he needs to take away its credibility;' Perez told me, "because the press is the only way for citizens to have free and independent information that is not originated from the government:' Though Correa has never shown the press much respect, he did give much credit to WikiLeaks, the document-leaking website, to the point of expelling Ecuador's U.S. Ambassador, in April 2011, after WikiLeaks released a series of confidential diplomatic cables of the U.S. State Department, which reevealed that the U.S. Ambassador at the time, Heather M. Hodges, did not endorse Correa's decision to retain a former police commander, Jaime Aquilino Hurtado. (In one of the cables, Hodges had speculated that Correa knew Hurtado was corrupt but kept him around as commander of the national police to ensure he remained "easily manipulated':) When it comes to Correa, Ecuadorians are split in half. This past summer, I interned with TeleAmazonas, which is one of two major television stations that remain unaffiliated with the government. During my time working at the station, which Correa's government has repeatedly sanctioned and at one point illegally forced off the air for three days, working journalists employed the term "self-censorship" to describe their worry of falling prey to As Perez put it, "Correa has unleashed a vicious intestinal ruction in Ecuador, one man against the other:' If you walk around the streets of Quito, the capital of Ecuador, you can witness, on every corner, of every neighborhood, the fading remains of graffiti promoting Vota SI or Vota NOthe residue of last May's national referendum. At the heart of this national disunity lies a deep disagree- �ment on what democracy means for Ecuador. President · Correa's ideology has extended so far as to say that even Cuba is a kind of democracy-although Cuba has just one political party, just one candidate for the Presidency, and has been ruled by just one man, Castro, since 1959. "Cuba is not a western liberal democracy, but it is a democracy;' President Correa told Mexican journalist Jorge Ramos. "To have a democracy doesn't mean that you have to hold elections every four years, but it is a kind of government of the people for the people:' In a different interview, Correa asserted that he, as the President of the Republic, functions as the Chief of the entire Ecuadorian State: "Listen to me well-the President of the Republic is not only Chief of the Executive Power. He is the Chief of the whole Ecuadorian State; and the Ecuadorian State is the Executive Power, the Legislative Power, the Judicial Power, the Electoral Power, the Power of Transparency and Social Control, the Superintendence, Attorney, Comptroller; all of that is the Ecuadorian State:' Correa is arguing in the tradition of Louis XIV, implying that he is the state; he assumes a kind of Hobbesian understanding of representative government. But Correa claims to support a democratic state, too; he won the presidency on a pro-democratic and anti-corruption platform. One can sense, in this paradox, either an evolution of Ecuador's democracy or its total collapse. "The dictatorial democracy;' Cuban journalist Carlos Alberto Montaner has written, "as described and defended by the Dominican Juan Bosch in a 1969 essay titled 'Dictatorship With Popular Support; and revived by Venezuela's Hugo Chavez in the so-called 21st Century Socialism, is in turn rooted in the enlightened despotism of the 17th and 18th centuries. It's a type of government in which the authority-exercised by an exceptional caudillo legitimized in the polls by a majority of voters who renounce their rights and their control over their lives - is imposed upon the masses allegedly for their own glory and benefit:' One half of the country-those who voted NO on that national referendum- support the "western liberal democracy" that President Correa excused Cuba from having. A liberal democracy is one in which people allow themselves to be governed as long as their individual rights are protected by a constitution that emphasizes separation of powers and a system of checks and balances _ between the branches of government. This system of accountability is quickly vanishing in Ee- uador. The fate of Ecuador's Congress, which balances the Executive Power, remains the most vivid example. Near the beginning of Correa's presidency, Congress approved his plan to hold a referendum for the purpose of setting up a Constituent Assembly to rewrite the Ecuadorian Constitution. The referendum took place on April 15, 2007. But after the date was decided, Correa revised the referendum to grant more powers to the Constituent Assembly. One of these powers was the authority to dismiss Congressan authority which Congress itself never approved. As a result, 57 members of Congress, which was controlled by Correa's opposition, reacted by trying to impeach the President of the Electoral Tribunal. Still, Correa, explaining that their decision was constitutional, defended the Electoral Tribunal's expulsion of those members. Alfonso Perez told me that the Legislative Power, which is now called "National Assembly" instead of "Congress;' is unlikely to do its job: "The moderator of the executive branch, which is the National Assembly, is no moderator" he says, "Correa has them handled like puppets': A few months ago, my brother wrote and published an article criticizing the national referendum. Among relatives and friends of my hometown, nobody discussed the quality of his article, the strength of his arguments, or his style of prose. Nobody agreed, or disagreed. "How brave of your brother to publish that!" or "Finally someone has the nerve to speak up!" were the kind of sentiments expressed. As president, Correa has transformed free speech into an act of bravery, and Ecuador itself into a country where voicing disagreement with public figures isn't a civic right or public duty, but an act of valor. The only thing that Ecuadorians who support a liberal democracy have left is their right to raise their voices and speak their minds. Even if Correa and his supporters think otherwise, a great number of Ecuadorians believe that it is the media's duty to monitor the government, not the other way around. Left unchecked, Ecuador's government-any government-may as well possess, and act with, unlimited power. "Correa doesn't understand that the owner of the power is not the state, but the citizen!" Perez said fervently. "Therefore the citizen has to be accordingly informed, and in a plural manner- not only with the exclusive and alienating information of a government as dogmatic as the one we have:' • 1 MUMBAI? The limits of logic in urban terrorism By Shikshya Adhikari. • • people were scared, shocked and mostly angry;' explains Neha Bansod, an Indian citizen. The city of Mumbai was bombed thrice on July 13, 2011. The bombings occurred on Wednesday evening at 6:54 pm, 6:55 pm, and 7:05 pm, killing more than 20 people and leaving 141 injured. A Times of India article ["Three blasts rock Mumbai; 21 dead, 141 injured;' July 14, 2011] quotes the home minister of India, Palaniappan Chindambaram-"we infer that this was a co-ordinated attack by the terrorist;' the reason being the close timing of the consecutive explosions. Mumbai has had three major terrorist attacks in the last decade and the city seems to have been on edge since then. "The year 2006 was bad': says Sidarth Shah, a resident of Mumbai and a freshmen at St. John's College. "The local trains were badly hit in rush hour:' On July 11, 2006 Mumbai witnessed a series of seven bombings within a period of 11 minutes. This attack was quite severe as more than 200 people lost their lives and over 700 were injured. Mumbai was again attacked in 2008. "Coordinated terrorist attacks struck the heart of Mumbai, India's commercial capital, on Wednesday night, killing dozens in machine-gun and grenade assaults on at least two five-star hotels, the city's largest train station, a Jewish center, a movie theater and a hospital" [The New York Times, Somini Sengupta, November 26, 2008]. The attacks had lasted for three days, from November 26 to 29, again leaving hundreds of people dead or injured. "The effects of this attack definitely stayed for a while;' says Shah. Shah also adds, "The recent bombings [ofJuly 13] were much smaller comparatively. Some shops were hit. However, the Dadar train station was not bombed. One of the places that was bombed was about fifty kilometers away from the very populated station:' Hit were the Opera House, Zaveri Bazar and Dadar west localities. So, how then did the people of Mumbai respond to the recent bombings? Jyotsna Mehta, a Mumbai city resident, responds somewhat differently. She says, "People were sad and supportive towards the victim. But, most importantly, they were disappointed:' Shah, who lives quite close to one of the bombed sites, Dadar, was on the bus back to Mumbai from Pune and the bus station is in Dadar. He says, "I got scared. Nobody wants to run into that. I got the news that bombings were still taking place and was advised by my family to stay on the bus:' Momentary panic, anger, resignation or indifference which of these reactions resounded after the initial alarm, dread, and confusion? It seems that as time passed, so did panic, anger and sad resignation. Shah says, "Things got back to normal some hours later and people were completely free to move around. Nobody I know was hurt. As a matter of fact, there have been so many bombings that people have become indifferent:' Mehta adds, "People had 'I am used to this' kind of attitude. Yes, people got normal the next day. Mumbai was running at its normal pace once again:' What is normal for Mumbai? What is Mumbai's normal city pace? Mumbai is one of the most populous cities in India, with a huge metropolitan population of approximately twenty million. The city hosts a great number of industrie-including the huge film manufacture-and is home to many renowned and respected people. It is the capital city of Maharashtra, the Indian State. Mumbai is said to have the highest GDP (about 200 billion) and it ranks among the world's top ten trade cities. Mumbai also contributes seventy percent of the capital commerce to India's economy. Along with big numbers, big businesses and big people, the great city of Mumbai also consists of the everyday hustle and bustle of normal people. Mumbai represents a great mass of crowd with their daily business. With crowded buses, trains, streets, shops, stations, �Mumbai's populous is unstoppable. Is it this populace that is being targeted constantly? When asked why Mumbai has constantly been the victim of many terror attacks, Shah says, "Mumbai is a popular city. It is one of main attractions in India. And, I think it is the masses that are triggered all the time:' Mehta says, "Mumbai has well-developed local trains, a huge population and stock market. If Mumbai shuts down for some reason, everything drops and consequently, its trade is badly affected:' It is the masses that seem to be targeted the most. Delhi, the capital city, with all the government buildings and offices, has not been hit as badly and frequently as Mumbai. "With the masses and the area that contains the masses being targeted, there is so much you can avoid. Personally, I felt pretty safe to continue using the train. Some of my friends' families got paranoid and they suggested using taxis instead of local train. But, that can also go on for a certain period of time. There are small shops in those places. People have to pass through them to get anywhere. How much can the police block and for how long?" questions Shah. It seems reasonable for the city to resume its normal life again. Investigations were made concerning the attacks, articles were published, certain groups were suspected and, condolences offered by the leaders of the nation and of other nations. The general sentiment was that the incident was yet another terrorist attack --the status quo. Bansod says, "Nowadays, terrorists only choose places that are internationally known and where they will be able to garner maximum publicity. Terrorism is sustained on publicity these days:' Even though a 'terrorist attack' was what the investigations pointed to, the official reports are yet to come. Mumbai police detained several men for questioning and among them was Faiz Usmani, the brother of one of the accused members of the 2008 Ahmedabad bombings case. Reports say that the first finger was pointed at the Indian Mujahideen (IM) and Student Islamic Movement of India (SIMI) . Alj ezeera reported [The (in) visible in Indian terrorism, Irfan Ahmed], "Shortly after the attack, the police said that IM and SIMI were behind the blasts'; pointing to the fact that Muslims are generally the first ones to be accused of any terror attacks. The article also expresses that the Muslim population were generally harassed by the officials after every one of these incidences. "It is difficult to claim anything;' says Shah. "One of the bombed sites, Zaveri Bazar, is predominantly a Muslim area:' In the past, Hindu activists have also been responsible for the bombings in some religious Muslim sites. In 1993, India witnessed a terrible Hindu-Muslim riot where both parties were equally responsible and victimized. Mumbai, along with other big cities, have designated Hindu and Muslim areas, generally popular among the less wealthy people. Bansod says, "The people of Mumbai have a fairly liberal attitude. There are misguided youths in all countries and India is not devoid of its fair share. India is very , proud of its secular credentials:' Mehta adds, "People are treated equally in middle or upper middle class families. However, I cannot speak for certain on behalf of the people belonging to lower classes. It might also be a way for politicians to avoid giving answers and get into deep investigations . So, they usually blame religion:' Next, Pakistan's role in the bombings became a question. Reports indicate a connection between the accused groups and Pakistan; however, the statements are once again not official. The 2008 attacks by the Lakhshar-eTaiba militant groups almost put India and Pakistan into a state of war. Pakistan has been under severe international pressure to recognize the members of these groups since 2008. However, these groups still seem to be operating. Considering the Indo-Pak history, one can see how India blaming Pakistan is the most likely outcome even though Pakistan offered condolences on the blasts. Shah says, "Condolences are offered all the time. There is nothing new in that. Pakistan offered condolences, so did America I and Europe:' Mehta says, "These statements are made by officials and I do not think they are true. I believe people in Pakistan want peace as well. If brains are washed and people manipulated, there is nothing that can be done:' It is difficult to calculate Mumbai's response to these terrorist attacks. The question arises: is Mumbai safe for all? Mehta says, "Mumbai will never be safe; but, people are and will be more aware. This time people were not interested in candle-lit protests or other such activities; but, they really wanted the government to take some serious actions:' "There is always a shock that follows;' says Shah. "It would be inhuman if there wasn't any. But, shocks last · less each time. [... ] The security is pretty good for what is possible with the number of people entering and exitin• g Mumbai per day. I feel safe:' I I I J ---- ,, r Ar\JSAS I I f I n1,wry 1, 1990 scr1r 1 1 ,'~ I t"tlfl K lnmete r~ 1,1 lll(l I 200 M i l"'.' _) Lili l 1Plll g I - _.di 1 vdl..10 t ;;.ulJ•. I '-'IJ DISCLAIMER H1r:Kor·/ ot 1t .... 1np1 HK CJ!')' :' .~ 1 :·:;:.;,, """ Tlw· L .. ~-.'·'- ,:.~ "'~' . -,1. THE rn.1t•'o.'.1'> t.1·:n_ ra1cd by the Te xas\{\ - - - - - ' · 11..;frrq r.1s \Gt ogrnphlc tnform l;ltl o n t/•_• ·:L)1n1:. J'" 111:idc lo the acc urn cy c ' r ... 11t·r.rnpl -===--==----=~~--=----M 1/r CJ) 1,i;;i.1 ~00 into, r11.•li·..,r ~r-. o·:. ri he re in nor t o Its ijullrll/ f.ilrl H.iy .. 1: ulSP -he: ··c 1lc 11iJ L ef11i on o t s it mi'lp pe d , t.t 1p 1.Jp:J i! ed Augu sl 2007 by M T _I'1" SOUTHED~ ST,~ II ~ The fragile future of South Texas's immigrant families By Ian Tuttle, �• • T h e y call them sanchas;' says Peggy, a former manager for Sam Kane Beef Processors, Inc., a pillar of south Texas' agricultural economy located on the industrial outskirts of Corpus Christi, Texas, a Gulf Coast city of 300,000 a couple hours north of the border. Peggy is referring to the line workers at the plant; there are about a thousand of them, mostly Hispanic, almost exclusively male. "I would say nine out of ten have someone on the side;' she says-those are sanchas, "other women:' "It's a very odd culture:' Precisely what culture Peggy describes is unclear. A chaotic amalgamation of social forces-some arriving from Latin American sending countries, the rest culled from an increasingly heterogeneous America-is creating a new culture among American Hispanics, a fusion of old and new world customs that is driving the devastating phenomenon sweeping Hispanic America: the collapse of the Hispanic family. Whether the "sancha subculture" is behind that trend is unknown; regardless, it is indicative of the pervasive and problematic breakdown of traditional sexual and familial standards that threatens the social stability of a prominent ethnic group and their adopted nation. South Texas, a region of twenty-eight counties comprising much of the territory south of San Antonio stretching to the Mexican border, is seventy-two percent Hispanic. Texas, by comparison, is only thirty-eight percent. The region includes four growing metropolitan areas whose population growth outpaced that of Texas as a whole from 2002 to 2007, and McAllen, one of those metropolitan areas, boasted one of the country's fastest growing real estate markets in 2008. In age, south Texas is young. Persons under the age of twenty-five account for nearly half of the population, and the median age along the border is twenty-nine. And the region is a natural entry point for immigrants (legal and illegal) because it has maintained much of the cultural identity of Mexico, which still exercises a significant cultural influence over much of Texas south of San Antonio. It is in this region-and in similar pockets nationwidethat the collapse of the Hispanic family is playing out most prominently- not only at Sam Kane Beef, but within companies, hospitals, government offices, public school systems, and churches across the region. However, what is occurring in south Texas may be indicative of the future of the country. The Census Bureau predicts that Hispanics will be·the country's largest minority by 2050, tripling in size to become almost a full third of the American population by mid-century. So it is likely that the collapse of the Hispanic family, which is already exacting a heavy toll on Texas and California, will soon become a national issue. The behavior Peggy describes is difficult to classify: it is neither outright polygamy (the man is married to only one woman, whom he considers his primary companion) nor simple adultery (many Hispanic women appear to have accepted that their partners may be involved with other women). And for the men it is fully justified. "The man feels that he deserves to have his needs met;' says Peggy, "and each woman fulfills a different need. He has the 'main' mother of his children, then a woman he can visit on the way home from work, then a woman who will go hunting with him:' And while he only considers one woman his wife, he usually has a child (or children) with each. "We would have a worker request time off because his wife had had a child, then come back three months later and ask for time off-because his wife had had a child. One man had four children in a single year:' For some workers, almost their entire paycheck goes to child support fees-and child support checks are addressed to several different locations. What is most shocking to Peggy, though, is the wholesale acceptance of this behavior among many Hispanics. "There is no stigma behind it whatsoever;' she says. She recounts speaking to one of the plant's cafeteria workers whose daughter gave birth at 13; she bore two more children before she turned eighteen. "The parents loved it, encouraged it-they wanted more children in the family:' In a 2010 report, the Centers for Disease Control (CDC) revealed that, in 2007 (the latest year for which data is available), a little over half of Hispanic children were born to unmarried mothers. While this is noticeably behind the illegitimacy rate of black women (seventy-one percent), it is much more worrisome with the Hispanic population expected to triple over the coming decades. And the unmarried birthrate for Hispanics is staggering: Every 1,000 unmarried women bore 108 children, up from 100 at the beginning of the decade and 90 per 1,000 in 1990. The numbers reveal that unmarried Hispanics are having twice as many children as unmarried whites and one-anda-half times as many as unmarried blacks. And the trend shows no signs of slowing. Heather MacDonald, a scholar at the Manhattan Institute, has led the effort to study the change occurring within Hispanic America, and she admits that determining the causes of Hispanic family breakdown is difficult. Several forces appear to be working simultaneously. First is immigration, which has forced a clash of customs. It is well-documented that Hispanics have significantly higher birthrates than white Americans, which has fueled steady population growth throughout Latin America and is driving the Hispanic population boom in the United States, but it is unclear from what this inclination stems: perhaps from the need of those in farm-based economies to have many children, perhaps because of higher infant mortality rates in Latin America, perhaps from a deeper concern for the perpetuation of bloodlines than is seen in the United States, perhaps from some com- bination of these motives or others. However, with migration to America, that custom has confronted progressive American culture. The CDC report shows a threefold increase in the percentage of children born to unmarried women among white Americans since 1980 (the first year of available data for all races), a phenomenon, at least in part, of decreasingly stringent sexual mores. Hispanic immigrants, who are inclined to raise large families, have had to confront America's increasingly tolerant sexual culture, and they seem to have embraced a sort of synthesis: large "families" without the traditional family structure. Though this cultural collision may bear partial responsibilty, it cannot be the sole cause. As Mac Donald has observed, the illegitimacy rate in Latin America is also very high. Can this be chalked up to globalization? That seems unlikely. But immigration is undoubtedly playing a role in the collapse of the Hispanic family; it is the extent of that role which remains unclear. Second is a lack of focus among Hispanics on education. The contrast here, notes Mac Donald, is with Asian immigrants who, on average, demand significant academic effort on the part of their children. That same demand and effort are missing in Hispanic families. And perhaps because of a lack of focus on the classroom, Hispanics are more likely to end up in poverty, to be unemployed, and to end up in prison than are Asian Americans, who are disproportionately represented at elite universities, are the highest earning ethnic group, and, according to a study published in 2010 in the Journal of Studies on Alcohol and Drugs, are at the lowest risk of any type of youth substance abuse, from cigarettes and alcohol to marijuana and harder drugs. Moreover, Asian Americans have the lowest illegitimacy: just seventeen percent. Third is an attitude that has been uniquely demonstrated in Hispanic culture: machismo, a desire among many Hispanic males to demonstrate masculinity. The overwhelming majority of the men at Sam Kane Beef, notes Peggy, have facial hair, and she suggests that the number of wo en a man can claim acts as a sort of "machismo signifier;' a type of status symbol. (She describes it as "collecting" women.) And neither the attitude nor the behavior is restricted to low socioeconomic classes; both are present among wealthier Hispanics, she says, just more discreetly practiced. What in the breakdown of the Hispanic family distinguishes it from the collapse of the black family, chronicled meticulously since Daniel Patrick Moynihan's groundbreaking 1965 study, The Negro Family: The Case for National Action? Mac Donald, in a 2006 City Journal article, identifies a key difference: "many of the mothers and absent fathers work, even despite growing welfare use:' Peggy affirms this: "Labor at the plant is enormously difficult, and the workers are incredibly diligent, incredibly hard-working:' And this poses a striking contrast to the sense of entitlement Peggy observes in the men. Whether these conflicting strains will persist remains to be seen. Peggy rtotes that younger generations of Hispanics are not demonstrating the same work ethic as their elders. "They are unable to cope with the strain of the work at the plant;' she says. "Our turnover rate peaked at sixty percent at one point-three out of five hires leaving within months:' The decline of that work ethic-and the perpetuation of the decline of the Hispanic family-may hinge, at least in part, on a related trend Mac Donald observes: growing welfare use. That federal and state welfare systems provide financial support for children born into poverty may not act as an impetus to out-of-wedlock births, but it certainly is no deterrent. Peggy says that the multigenerational Hispanic family structure can better utilize the monies offered by welfare programs: "The daughters give birth, and the mothers and grandmothers take care of the babies using welfare money:' However, an official from Texas's Department of State Health Services (DSHS), speaking on condition of anonymity, argues that, where drugs are involved, the system does, in fact, act as an impetus. Using state welfare money, she says, women can purchase large quantities of meat and trade it for drugs; by bearing more children they increase their welfare subsidy and feed their (or their partner's) drug habit. These instances are the exception, rather than the rule, but they reveal the inherent difficulty of constructing and maintaining a fair and sustainable welfare system. And illegitimacy takes a devastating toll on the economy. Sam Kane Beef originally provided insurance for both employees and their families, but a million-dollar bill for the simultaneous Neonatal Intensive Care Unit (NICU) treatment of one employee's two out-of-wedlock children-each born to a different mother-forced the company to restrict insurance coverage to employees alone. And the financial burden that the company was forced to offload fell onto the shoulders of Medicaid and other government programs. Moreover, the detrimental effects of single-motherhood are well-documented: children raised by single mothers are more likely to grow up uneducated, impoverished, and imprisoned-an enormous burden on America's public schools, courts, and prisons. Illegitimacy is proving a massive drain on both private and public coffers. Are there solutions to this trend? The matter goes much deeper than public policy, though significant reforms could contribute to the trend's reversal-or at least its slowing. Some have asserted that the Catholic Church, focused for so long on internal struggles, neglected its responsibility to act as a moral force for Hispanics, and Peggy observes that the men and families in question demonstrate little spiritual activity. "They might believe �in God;' she says, "but they are not involved in churches or any other activities we might consider spiritually enriching, and they certainly don't talk in spiritual or religious terms:' But she wonders whether the reemergence of the Catholic Church would make much difference: "If the Catholic Church became a socially engaging force again, would it even help? The families are the ones encouraging this behavior:' Any process of transformation, then, is forbiddingly complex. Effective change will require significant policy reform in multiple arenas, as well as a moral renewal within both the larger American and Latin American cultures. The initial problem, amid such overwhelming difficulty, may be determining where to start. However, this is not to say that the Hispanic family is in imminent, unavoidable doom. Hispanics have not suffered the same ghettoization as blacks-though inklings of that can be seen in heavily Hispanic states along the southern border. The Catholic Church remains a potentially positive force, particularly when its moral values receive backing in the home. Latin America is home to half of the world's Catholics, but in recent years Catholics have been leaving the church in droves amid infighting between conservatives and progressives. Yet, despite the loss, many Latin American immigrants maintain at least a vestigial Catholicism, and new efforts in Latin America to reach out to those who have left the Catholic Church may prove effective among American Hispanics, as well. Moreover, the attenuation of the Catholic Church has not entailed a widespread rejection of Christianity. Pentecostal Protestantism has seen dramatic growth throughout Latin America, and a variety of denominations hope to fill the spiritual void. There is ample opportunity for spiritual renewal-if these institutions will accept the challenge to assert a revitalized public morality. And any resurgent public morality must be accompanied by thoughtful public policy reforms. A study published in 2007 in the Journal of Studies on Alcohol and Drugs found that Hispanic immigrants to the U.S. are more likely to engage in illegal drug use and alcohol abuse- and that likelihood increases as they become acculturated. Considering that many of these immigrants are coming from quasi-narco-states like Mexico, this tendency is par- ticularly disturbing. The DSHS official argues such drug use has much to do with familial collapse. Severe, mandatory sentences punishing drug use lock Hispanic men into the prison system without providing opportunities for rehabilitation; even after their release, a criminal record diminishes their chances of employment and financial security. Her theory suggests several crucial reforms: an immigration policy that would strengthen America's borders and reinforce ideals of citizenship; drug policy reform that would effectively target minorities and the poor, who are disproportionately more likely to become substance abusers; welfare reform that would prevent systemic exploitation; and prison and sentencing reform that would facilitate treatment and rehabilitation. Those changes are not enough, she says, but they will be a start. Finally, employers have the ability to effect behavioral change. Peggy notes that Sam Kane Beef has always been willing to hire individuals passed over or rejected, for whatever reason, by other employers; many of their employees, she says, are "those on the fringes:' Reflecting on the company's hiring process, she affirms, "If you're willing to work hard, we're willing to consider you:' And, she points out, Sam Kane Beef has created a healthy work environment that encourages employees not simply to work hard but also to fulfill familial and social responsibilitiesfrom paying alimony on time to attending rehabilitation programs. Peggy says that local judges are aware of the unique atmosphere at Sam Kane Beef and that it factors into their consideration of employees' cases. Where the government incentivizes or perpetuates troublesome behaviors, individual employers have the opportunity to disincentivize by creating healthy, socially responsible work environments. Sam Kane Beef offers a strong, encouraging example for other employers. But the burden of transformation remains, ultimately, in the power of America's Hispanic community. And that community is at a crossroads. If older generations-or, perhaps, the newest generation of parents-can shift the cultural paradigm, the Hispanic family may be rescued. But if they will not, Hispanic social stability faces a long slide into chaos, and, as Hispanics become a greater part of the national population, America will likely slide, too. • ESSAYS+ REVIEWS '. �TfilCKED Obama as illusionist By J. Keenan Trotter' B efore I get into my review of Jason Mattera's book, Obama Zombies (THRESHOLD; $25), I want to suggest two changes to his work that should make his ideas clearer to readers. Wherever Mattera mentions the word "conservative" or something variant thereof, scratch it out with an ink pen and write "conservative policy''. And where he writes "health care;' again scratch it out and write "health insurance''. His arguments, and his book, make much more sense after these edits are made. Now, on to the book, which was born out of the historic 2008 election of Barack Obama. This event both surprised and did not surprise this book's author, according to whom John McCain-Obama's primary opponent-"was an atrocious presidential candidate" who "looked like death:' Mattera pumps much blood about McCain's military history, specifically his experience as prisoner of war. in Vietnam, yet the narrative McCain's campaign built out of his heroism strikes Mattera as lukewarm and ineffectual. "McCain's message was about self-sacrifice;' he writes, "which was, eh, okay:' TI1e glib tone pervades the work, which might be an inheritance of its very real and consequential subject matter: the easy transformation, in contemporary America life, of cultural rapport into political power. To be clear, Mattera deems Obama's tenure an utter failure: "We've seen a president who distrusts his country, genuflects to dictators around the world, and takes massive dumps on the idea of American exceptionalism;' he writes. Obama's various failings are not, as noted, the primary matter of Obama Zombies, as the book's title suggests; rather, it is the generation (in which Mattera counts himself) largely credited with the success of Obama's presidential campaign- namely, 18-29 year-olds, the demographic of which Mattera calls, yes, "Obama Zombies''. Mattera's first method of illustrating his thesis is plain, even shopworn: scouring televisual records of the 2008 Obama campaign and waiting for someone-usually a college student or celebrity-to say or do something ridiculous. For example: during election coverage arranged by MTV at a university in Florida, Sarah Phillips, a student, was recorded saying, upon witness of the night's Democratic victory, "It's probably the most excited I've ever been in my entire life. I seriously think I had an emotional seizure or something. My whole body siezed up. I couldn't breathe. It's like I really mattered ... I picked the president! That was me! ... I think I'm in love with America right now!" Such fervor, as anyone who was a conscious human being in 2008 will agree, was widespread. All of this excitement baffles Mattera. Why are these young people so enamored by this unknown senator from Illinois? Because the Zombies were not drawn to him by default, i.e., by repulsion to another candidate. This is Mattera's theory, anyway, which if evaluated in light of some of his "takedowns" of figures such as Jon Stewart (who is "self-loathing': according to Mattera, presumably because he employs a stage name) and Stephen Colbert (who is merely "self-hating"), shall begin to draw concern. Whom Mattera discusses in very little detail is George W. Bush, that president we had for eight years before Obama. The political moment of 2008 can be difficult to recall correctly because, while Obama was obviously incumbent to the presidency, he wasn't yet the actual commander- �in-chief. Bush was. And in the years leading up to that year's election no person took a stronger beating than him. The possibility missing from Mattera's book is that without Bush there would be no Obama, or, to be more specific, no particular fervor which swirled around him and anointed him with powers of foresight and wisdom. To many of the Americans quoted in Mattera's book, Obama seems not only inspiring or affirming but penitential, the public's reward for enduring eight long years of a very unpopular presidency. But no. Mattera's theory of Obama's success is this: the voting public was systemically fed misinformation about the fiscal and social policies with which Obama marketed himself, and also suffered from the most technologically-advanced presidential campaign in history. The Republican party-or, variously, "conservatives" -had no chance winning. Plus, "Gramps;' Mattera repeats, speaking of McCain, "looked like death:' Mattera is correct to recognize the evolving, and growing, influence of media on the outcomes of electoral politics. He writes somewhat well about the game the news cycle makes of campaigning. This game, he suggests, rotates through trials of identity, race, religion, class, education, and so on. But instead of reporting on this game, the primary product of which is caricature and distortion, Mattera elects to play it himself. For example, Mattera quotes from an on-air transcript of a conversation between MSNBC News Live host Tamron Hall and Chicago Tribune reporter Jill Zuckman, who was reporting on a television advertisement touting McCain's military record. "Senator Obama's got a great success story, too;' Zuckman says, "and it's just a different one and I think voters are equally impressed with what he's all about:' Mattera, verbatim: "Ah, yes, the story of a kid who was sired by Ph.D. parents, went to two Ivy League schools, and grossed millions in book deals is somehow comparable to the hellish brutality Senator McCain faced as a prisoner of war. Beam yourself back down to reality, Zuckman:' It's true that though Obama's father never finished his doctorate, his mother did, and it's also true that Obama graduated from Columbia and Harvard, at both of which he almost certainly benefited from affirmative action policies in place. He has written two best-selling memoirs. And yet-and this is perhaps to Mattera's credit-this remains a difficult position to argue from. It seems vulgar to discuss the extrapolitical life of John McCain, so I won't here, but that leaves Mattera's statement unanswered. Even so, do we really want to weigh the personal hardships of presidential candidates? Is that a productive discourse? After all, Mattera himself seems to resist any judgements not strictly based on policy. The author persistently critiques Hollywood-and its central figure, the celebrity-because, as Mattera argues, its members gain the most from the free market yet consistently favor candidates who wish to regulate it. This dissonance has trickled down to mere consumers, especially Zombies, who vote against their own interests. This is Mattera's central thesis: that popular culture has made us unable to recognize what it best for us; that individuals like Sean Combs-the overfamous rapper and entertainment mogul-have replaced politicians as the monuments of public life. Combs, apparently, is an exemplar of the free market because of his outsized success. Here is how Mattera sees it: As a boy, Combs was born in the public housing projects of Harlem, New York, and was only a child when his father was tragically murdered. He attended Howard University in Washing- Book.Notes Between Men W ritten over nearly a decade Chad Harbach's The Art of Fielding celebrates the sweaty (and very mental) toil anyone great or even merely good at anything-baseball, scholarship, writing, love-confronts in daily life. Harbach's book features a South Dakotan dirtbomb-prodigy named Henry Skrimshander, whom Mike Schwartz, a Harpooner at Wes- . tish College (whose mascot takes from a singular visit to the college by Herman Melville, in 1880), discovers at a random Illinois baseball game. Skrim's performance, we learn, "was like taking a painting that had been shoved in a closet and hanging it in an ideal spot. You instantly forgot what the room had looked like before:' That's a pretty good way to describe the experience of reading The Art of Fielding. Though · wrought from rather fine depiction (a character's eyes are "a lovely, light-bearing color, like the lucid amber in which prehistoric insects were preserved"), The Art of Fieldings real success rests upon Harbach's recognition of shortcoming of language as it pertains to the relationships ambition forges between men. Thinketh Schwartz: "Maybe it wasn't even baseball he loved, but only this idea of perfection, a perfectly simple life in which every move had meaning, and baseball was just the medium through which he could make it happen:' \ ton, D.C., while interning at Uptown Records in New York City.. . . Today, for better or worse .(for worse) . . . Combs is a household name. . . . Diddy loved music, loved promotion, loved the spotlight, and worked his derriere off to achieve his dreams. Uncle Sam didn't orchestrate it. He did. Not Washington. This paragraph is a rather large tactical error. Mattera wishes to see federal government-all government-end its involvement in the lives of private human beings . And yet he mentions that Combs was "born in the public housing projects of Harlem, New York:' Who funds public housing? Combs, had he lacked proper housing (and, very likely, health care via Medicaid) may have had a very different life: the reason for which the social contractfunded by taxpayers, administered by government agencies-exists in the first place. It's clear that Mattera has read his Ayn Rand. He salts his prose in a manner intended to convince the reader that he or she is essentially awesome and super-talented and hence should not be taxed. It's Rand's method, paraphrased and interspersed with one-liners, hey-ohs, jabs. For both clear policy and a humorous perspective on the political scene, Obama Zombies is strangled, almost numbingly incoherent. When he has something to say, he tends to get it completely wrong. Yet however frivolously a author considers the task of honest thought, his critic ought to treat the objects of his output seriously-especially in politics. One issue, for example, that Mattera handles with particular concern is health care. He introduces Gabriel Humphreys, whom MTV interviewed for a report called "The Young, Hot, and Uninsured:' According to the report, Humphreys injured himself while snowboarding but de- layed seeking medical treatment because he doesn't possess health insur:ance and would therefor have to pay for the treatment (surgery) without subsidies. Here is Mattera: "Hey, dude, if you don't have health care, and don't want to pay for it, then don't go snowboarding! If you still believe in personal responsibility, any personal responsibility, raise your hand. Why should you, I, or anyone have to fund this brother's [sic] snowboarding accident?" Two things. First: As mentioned before, Mattera shifts the discussion from health insurance to health care by equating the two terms. (This is an important and possibly conscious decision on Mattera's part: it is the necessary condition of advancing the argument that health care-all health care-ought to go the way of plastic surgery and LASIK, which is to say the way of the free market.) Second: the idea of "personal responsibility" is, in fact, admissible here. If Humphreys wasn't prepared to suffer injury, he should have avoided the possibility of injury. But what if, instead of tearing his rotator cuff, he was diagnosed with cancer? Is it within his personal responsibility to avoid cancer? Mattera's questionwhy I should help subsidize this man's health care with my tax dollars-is answered simply: because under that system he-everyone-would do the same for me. A popular counterargument says that redistributive policies aren't inherently anti-capitalist but inevitably become so when made government policy. Under this argument, various charities, and churches in particular, ought to administer (or subsidize) health care to those who cannot afford it by themselves. In theory, there's nothing obviously wrong with this idea- it reflects the arrangement of early America-but tax dollars still go to those institutions in the first place, and those institutions would inevitably request more and more tax breaks and grants (given their responsibility to administer free health care) that eventually the arrangement would begin to resemble either the for-profit health care industry or the socialized systems of Western Europe. Since this experiment rests upon the certainty that tithing is preferable to taxing, that those who help others ought to do so out of their will rather than a forced contribution, then why would a more efficient means of ensuring affordable access to health care remain beyond the frame of a person's will? Wouldn't you want to guarantee, on a moral principle, that those less fortunate than yourself aren't financially ruined by one hospital visit? It's not as if America doesn't have a defacto socialized health care system-it does. But it operates not out of one policy but in isolated services to certain populations: Medicare (seniors), Medicaid (the poor), CHIP (children), various state laws (Romneycare, most famously), the EMTALA legislation (for those who cannot afford the emergency room), TRICARE (servicemembers and veterans), and a collection of government policies, charities and religious organizations for every ailment imaginable. Is this patchwork array truly preferable to a more open and less confusing system? It's true that such a system has enabled much innovation in health care, from which we get the koan that America has the "best health care system in the world:' But who could mistake our system, which actively conspires to deny people treatment-either as a function of the profit motive or actuarial science-for some kind of international example?' Who would confuse a Gu- * The relevant journalism here is that of the Los Angeles Times, whose reporter Lisa Girion demonstrated, between 2006 and 2008, that a bunch of health insurance companies in California practiced startling amounts of "recission'; a policy whereby the company's "customers" are investigated for fraudulent applications �cci store for a hospital? Then Mattera attempts semantics. Is health care a "right" or a "commodity"? Mattera argues the latter by telling us-with complete seriousness-that "food is a much more basic necessity than health care, yet we do not have food-based insurance, or even food-based savings accounts:' Actually, we do. It's called the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, also known as food stamps, into which every citizen pays. Moments such as these deflate Mattera's book, and will anger the reader, especially one who reads authors like Mattera in order to rehearse and confirm their own political convictions. What's strange is that when Mattera confuses terms (namely, health insurance versus health care) it is often to his tactical disadvantage. It would be hard to argue that he believes himself when he insists that "personal responsibility" will solve the problem of how to provide health care to 300 million American citizens. I say this because I do not think Mattera understands what he is actually saying, particularly about health care. For example: Why, he asks, not just exercise the free market? Why: because health care within a free market which is not profitable will not be administered. Mattera would be forced to admit this. It's the free market. Yet in health care we are not talking about cellular phones or shoes. We are talking about the welfare of human beings. The market works in after they receive a potentially expensive diagnosis. Under the auspice of honesty, these health insurance companies scrutinized the records their insurees submitted when buying their policy with the goal of finding the smallest of errors- a misspelling, for example, or a failure to report a small cough on two separate forms - and, in the many cases in which a company found an error, retroactively canceled policies. All of which of course demonstrated that health insurance companies profit not from administering health care, but from withholding it. a lot of contexts, but it probably will never work in the health care industry, or at least not directly. Mattera might read this last sentence and think, but what about all those "forprofit" health insurance companies? Again: health insurance is not health care. The point of health care reform was to ensure the former to guarantee the latter.* The underlying debate is whether we have a right to treatment. It's a very good question. The only piece of insight Obama Zombies adds, however, is that Mattera is unaware of food stamps. Mattera's treatment of health care is intended to demonstrate the mortal sin of government: wealth redistribution. Mattera is slightly more skilled here than when he's talking about celebrities or health care. The anecdote he provides to illustrate his point is fairly well-known. In April of 2009, a young woman named Alyssa Cordova videotaped interviews with students at George Mason University. The conceit was this: the students * The crucial example here is South CSCarolina's Jerome Mitchell, who, as reported by Reuters last year, purchased private health insurance from Fortis (now known as Assurant) before leaving for college, in 2001. A year later, Mitchell was diagnosed with HIV, soon after which he learned that Fortis had rescinded his health insurance for what turned out to be an erroroneous note one of Mitchell's nurses- not Mitchell himself- had written during his diagnosis. Now, consider this for a moment. Did no one at Fortis think that denying Mitchell treatment for HIV would be a fairly big deal, especially since HIV is notoriously expensive to treat? Did no one there think that conspiring to deny an eighteen year-old HIV-positive man was clearly a moral harm, and also evil? The better question might be: did it surprise any person at Fortis/ Assurant that the state of South Carolina would force the company to pay Jerome Mitchell ten million dollars, on top of reinstating his health insurance, for hedging their profits with his life? were asked whether they would favor a "grade redistribution" program whereby students with certain grade point averages would relinquish their extra points to students who didn't earn enough good grades to graduate. This is, of course, a stupid idea, and the George Mason students said so. Then the students were asked if they supported raising tax rates on the upper echelon of taxpayers. The students were unanimous: they supported the tax hike, which is-yesa method of wealth redistribution. Then Cordova asked what the difference was between redistributing grades and redistributing income. I won't quote the students' defenses, nor Mattera's heckling, because the former were probably edited down to inanity (it was, after all, for YouTube) and because the latter just laughs. So there is no difference! There is a difference. Unlike grades, which are only earned-and that's to say nothing of the SAT tutors high school students either employ or (as college students) become-wealth comes to an individual from many sources. One of these is income. Another is inheritance. Wealth redistribution, as a model of social welfare, seeks to account for the fact that humans are born into wildly different circumstances; that the conditions, the household, the money in which a person is raised depend nothing on "individualism" or "working hard" or any language ·nvolving the straps of boots but pure, utter luck. It's true that some very successful people arise from not much of anything. But the imaginary figure whom Mattera often conjures- the go-getter who doesn't need and has never needed the government-is extinct. I will not bore you with the details of the government's silent, benevolent influence on your life, from the food you eat to the roads on which you bike or drive, to the water you drink, to the food stamps you might need if you lose your job, from beneficial (but yes, sometimes messy and inefficient) government agencies to--as Mattera would. surely agree- the most powerful military force in the world. Every successful American benefits, in some way, from the government. That's bad news for someone who instinctively distrusts the government to do its job-to even exist. Mattera devotes a delightful though often strange and misguided chapter to two important figures in entertainment: Jon Stewart and Stephen Colbert. Mattera is correct to assert that, when considering the cultural forces involved in ensuring Obama's victory, these two men cannot be ignored. Stewart (and by extension, Colbert, who was eventually granted his own show) is known for his satirical news program, The Daily Show, which Comedy Central broadcasts. The Daily Show in its present form debuted in 1999, but it rose to prominence only with the second election of George W. Bush. Stewart's basic-cable status never limited his appeal. (His quips benefitted much from the nascent video-sharing website, YouTube.) And his influence is obvious: Stewart's haranguing of Bush-era policies, and the cast of politicians who enabled them, created a generation of young viewers distrustful of the ability of grown-up policymakers to say what they mean. And nearly all of them were capable of voting in November 2008. Did Stewart enable Obama's presidency more than we'd like to think a "fake-news" anchor could? Mattera thinks so. But this is not, he argues, to Stewart (or Colbert's) credit. They merely indulge young people's desire for a good joke. "Replacing any type of traditional news source with acerbic comedians is crazy;' h~ writes. "Young people would rather laugh than think, feel than analyze. Humor is a feeling, so it plays right into the left's best weapon: emotion:' Mattera does not understand his own arguments here. Has he ever watched an episode of The Daily Show? If he'd chosen to sit down and watch, he might have recognized Stewart's method. In place of critiquing the emotings of excited college students at political rallies, Stewart walks his audience through the prevarication and silliness of American politics, a model of investigation which "traditional news sources" have chosen, out of either fear or money, to eschew. Matter's indictment of comedy might be his biggest mistake. To Mattera, it's like a taste or a temperature: a physical sensation. Literally, a "feeling''. This is terribly wrong. Comedy is a subset of thought, a powerful tool of recognition and resistance. Stewart and Colbert employed it foremost for entertainment. It required the accident of a terrible presidency for their words to sublime into political power. I think Mattera is trying to accomplish something similar with this book. The technique's all wrong, though. He ventures African American Vernacular English for zero reason except shock. He brands Gideon Yago, a former news correspondent for MTV, "effete;' "the mother of all metrosexuals'; "the uberwoman of all men;' and "tight-pants Gideon''. He deploys the exclamation point in the same manner a better author might use a question mark, or a period. The effect is disarray: judgement and accusation without reason or reflection, and throughout a mercurial containment of his own hatred. I wonder if this was intentional in some way. Obama Zombies might be a purely performative work intended to communicate Barack Obama's effect not on those who voted for him, but on Mattera himself. This is what you did to me, he's saying, even if he doesn't know it. Obama Zombies is a book in search of blame. Whom to charge, though? Mattera seems unsure. Is it MTV, whose undue influence on the minds of young people manufactured Obama's victory? Is it academia, with Book Notes Improvement Art T he Chairs are Where the People Go is a collection of monologues by Misha Glouberman, a Canadian artist, who discusses, variously, gentrification, relationships, email spam, racial consciousness-nothing especially daring-but most importantly the philosophy of improvisational acting, which is obviously Glouberman's deepest concern but is also one of those things-among them organic food, parenting, environmentalism-which make for writing so boring that readerly fatigue often eclipses the potential for change the subject matter presents. Locavorism, attachment theory, and androgenic climate change are of significant meaning to our lives, and future lives- and this is what makes the book so frustrating. The contradictions posed by performance, group dynamics, emotional release-all of which improv reveals-even when treated with equal consideration, suffer Glouberman's unwaveringly positive attitude, which liquefies all matter into easily swallowable self-help gel capsules. And who wouldn't like that? For example: at a public-confessional event he organized for his college reunion, Glouberman notes that "there was this African American guy who described a kind of racism that had been invisible to all of us:' Must earnest effort always suffer from itself? �its proliferation of books that aren't The Federalist? Is it Obama himself? Mattera does offer a clear explanation for the Republican defeat: John McCain. Here I'm inclined to agree with him. McCain's campaign, as Mattera notes, was painful to watch and must have been embarassing to support. (You need only one figure, Sarah Palin, to understand the cynicism and stupidity of McCain and his handlers.) This explanation would lend legitimacy to the idea that Obama is a bad President, at least according to the terms by which Mattera judges his leaders. But Obama is, actually, a pretty decent president. He inherited a broken economy and has worked assidously to fix it. He passed health care reform, which, though imperfect, will protect citizens from documented abuses and excesses. Though he won't take credit for it-doing so would disadvantage his 2012 run-he is responsible for the maneuvering required to abolish "Don't Ask, Don't Tell': And he ended the murderous legacy of Osama bin Laden. The reality of the Obama presidency makes Mattera's book an aesthetic exercise. It physically pains Mattera that Obama sits in the White House. It is not a huge discovery that a lot of people, on the other hand, really like Obama, especially the facts which his skin color and upbringing convey: that you can be an ethnic minority, that you grow up in a single-parent home, and still become the President of the United States. Mattera treats this sort of recognition- Obama/ President as symbol, not policy-maker-as an error in human judgement. It's difficult to disagree with him here. You should vote in your interests, which is to say in terms of policy, not identity. But you're not going to convince Mattera that a single voter favored Obama because of his policies. Though you'll wonder which manner of voting, in terms of Obama, Mattera thinks is worse. Mattera's "six-point battle plan': which concludes his book, is refreshing in its honesty. Bush was "reckless''. Government "ruins lives': Reagan is "the greatest modern president''. But yet again I don't think Mattera has walked himself through his own arguments. After and before which he encourages his readers to change the world they inhabit by embracing conservative policies, he informs us: ''All the 'we can change the world' mumbo jumbo we hear on commencement day is utopian and immature. Truly. We've got to grow up:' Can or cannot young people-can anyone-do much of anything about their station in life? Mattera can't quite decide. The author could be discredited for his approach. He does, after all, argue that "Obama Zombies" would, with enough education, rescind their political convictions. This means that he thinks the Zombies are generally stupid, perhaps as a consequence of their youth or their generation's anomie. But they're not stupid, and Mattera knows this. The only level on which he can engage them is by calling them crazy, or brainless, or simply ridiculous. Which is, frankly, at least a little reassuring. Nobody ever gains much of anything with such little to say. Yet it's a little heartbreaking, I want to add, that Mattera has chosen to call those whom he hates most-the supporters of President Obama-as something other than human. This kind of strategy befits his book, which gives its reader everything it promises-several conspiracy theories, the "unmasking" of liberal media, and the frequent hypocrisies of celebrities. (Al Gore's "Live Earth" concert series, and what it intended to accomplish, remains baffling.) But such a method won't work in politics, the arena Mattera obviously hopes to enter. In that sphere of American life, fractured and ridiculous as it is, you are required to engage your adversaries as human beings. • Book l\Iotes Monography •• T o start with, look at the all the books": This is how the third novel of Jeffrey Eugenides, The Marriage Plot, commences its long survey of college senior Madeleine Hanna, or at least the room in which she eventually awakens on the morning of her graduation from Brown University in 1982. Mention of just how wildly this begining differs from the nature of the author's first two novels (the choral grief of The Virgin Suicides, the melodic exuberance of Middlesex ) may seem petty, but we soon learn it's not: this is a book about the travails of college students as they come to terms with the books, 7 CONTWBUTORS Macarena Pallares is a junior from Quito, Ecuador. She has worked at TeleAmazonas, one of Ecuador's and the ideas those books arouse, as they leave behind a leafy college quad. Eugenides is correct to recognize just how fresh and exciting it is to read "difficult books" -e.g., Derrida-a sensation only heightened by his novel's post-Vietnam setting, but it's a pretty weak foundation. Books alone, books only, are not enough. We never find Hanna or her peers-Leonard Bankhead, a depressed philosopher-scientist of uncommon brilliance, or Mitchell Grammaticus, a wayfaring theologian cursed with religious ambivalence- actually using a book to make sense of their lives. Like Eugenides, these college graduates quote books like exquisite literary impresarios without digesting any their value. Th e Marriage Plot survives on Eugenides's emphasis that books can depict and inform and question human life but cannot replace it. few privately-owned television stations. Ian Tuttle is a sophomore from San Antonio, Texas. He has worked in the office of U.S. Senator John Cornyn. S11ecial thanks to Noah Litvin. �ST. JOHN'S COLLEG E LIBRARY 11 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 ~mr1,r1r1 1111rm11111111 1 1 1 1 . 31696 01155 6311 60 COLI~EGE AVE, ANNAPO FALL 2011 I VOLUME 6 I ISSUE 1 1 DAT DUE I I I � Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. 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Format The file format, physical medium, or dimensions of the resource pdf Student publication https://s3.us-east-1.amazonaws.com/sjcdigitalarchives/original/ecaf3c633c34fbab6d8b566dd7a1d8ee.pdf 189901ec11a4b55caeda9d8ab41d537d PDF Text Text . ,~ \~Il ~\l\i~~\1!1li\ifl1i~\ \ Ill\1111III III1 II1\f1 1 1 . 3 1 ~ 156 5~87 DAT UE I \Jl{f - / / I �Chick & Ruth's Delly Serving St. John's Students with the Best Breakfast, Lunch, Dinners, Milk Shakes, Appetizers & Desserts since 1965 WE HAVE FREE DELIVERY! ALL OUR GREAT FOODS BROUGHT TO YOU or JUST COME IN AND RELAX WITH US. Visit us at "WWlV.ChickandRuths.coill The Epoch Journal 165 Main Street, Annapolis, MD 21401 Phone 410-269-6737 Open 6:30 am till 11 :30 p.m. ' Fri. & Sat. till 12:30 am St. Johnsa dd10/24/10 �EDITOR Erin Shadowens PUBLISHER + DESIGNER J. Keenan Trotter ASSISTANT EDITORS Ian Tuttle Macarena Pallares BUSINESS MANAGERS Shilcshya Adhilcari Andrew Donders ILLUSTRATOR SashaWelm DISCLAIMER The Epoch Journal is produced and distributed in Annapolis, Maryland. Opinions expressed in articles or illustrations are not necessarily those of the editorial board or St. John's College. ADVERTISING To place an advertisement, please visit our website to contact us. SUBSCRIPTIONS The Epoch Journal is published four times a year. Subscriptions and back issues may be ordered on our website. SUBMISSIONS Students, faculty, and staff of St. John's College are encouraged to submit manuscripts for to The Epoch Journal. Visit our website for more information. MAILING ADDRESS The Epoch Journal 60 College Avenue Annapolis, Maryland 21401 WEBSITE EPOCHJOURNAL.ORG PARTY FOUL On Geoffrey Kabaservice's Rule and Ruin THE MEDIA cannot help but cast the current Republican presidential primary as a war of party identity. Mitt Romney, the candidate with executive experience in the public and private sector, looks good on paper, but the party establishment views him with a skeptical eye, especially since he is a graduate of a suspicious Wall Street tradition, as well as a member of a religion that makes evangelical Christians, who are arguably the grassroots backbone of the Republican Party, politically queasy. As a result, the running narrative has been the cyclical identification of the "not-Romney" candidate, from the tea party darlings Michelle Bachmann and Herman Cain to established Republicans like Newt Gingrich and Rick Santorum. Republicans cannot decide whether they want a business conservative for the current economic climate, or a social conservative who will bring the party establishment even further to the right. Candidates with a history of moderate conservatism, such as Tim Pawlenty and Jon Huntsman, were easily chewed and spit out by primary voters; that said, Romney's ability to build a campaign machine in states like New Hampshire and Florida indicates that he can speak directly to conservative voters, though it is unclear what would happen in a general election (voter turnout in almost every primary is down). If anything, the Republican primary has painted a picture of a fragmented party, which desperately needs to coalesce behind a single candidate in order to pose a serious challenge to President Obama in November. THE REPUBLICAN Party has been here before .. .in 1964. Senator Barry Goldwater of Arizona was the clear front runner in that year's presidential primary. He appealed to the southern white voter who was frustrated by the civil rights movement and the federal government's intervention to compel integration of schools. Geoffrey Kabaservice's Rule and Ruin: The Downfall of Moderation and the Destruction of the Republican Party spends significant time dissecting this chapter in political history, especially since it was a moment that foreshadowed the transformation of the Republican Party. Kabaservice describes a party dominated by moderate conservatives, who all had a hand in opposing McCarthy -era blacklists and drafting the landmark Civil Rights Act of 1964. Goldwater, in the name of small-government conservatism, opposed the CRA, and ultimately alienated himself from the party establishment. For mo st moderates, the possibility of cooperating with Goldwater disintegrated on June 10, when Goldwater returned to the Senate and was one of only six Republicans to join segregationist Democrats in voting against ending the filibuster over the Civil Rights Act of 1964. The Senate overcame the opposition of Goldwater and the southerners by voting for cloture, 71-29-the first time in history that the Senate had mustered the necessary two-thirds vote to shut off a filibuster on a civil rights bill. Nine days later, Goldwater was again one of six Republicans to vote against the bill itself, which passed 73-27. In opposing the Civil Rights Act, Goldwater was setting his standard against not only one of the most significant pieces of Congressional legislation in the twentieth century, but also one of the greatest achievements of the Republican Party (98) . Kabaservice goes on to describe the important role played by Republicans in drafting the CRA, in particular House Representative William McCulloch from Ohio. McCulloch made sure to restrain federal overreach in the CRA, specifically in removing "measures that struck him as unconstitutional or overreaching, including th~ elimination of racial imbalance in education, fede al controls on banks and mortgage companies, and racial quotas for employers" (100). Although McCulloch sincerely believed that the government could and should intervene to prevent the discrimination of minorities, he would not allow the federal government to excessively intrude into the private sector. McCulloch's version of the bill ensured that civil rights legislation could be tenable for Republicans and pass the House, which included eighty percent of Republicans. When Goldwater voted against the bill in the Senate, he effectively undermined what should have been seen �as a Republican achievement (101). Goldwater's rejection of the party establishment led to a search for a primary challenger. Here again, one cannot help but compare the 1964 primary with the ongoing primary, where establishment Republicans look wistfully at governors like Mitch Daniels of Indiana and Chris Christie of New Jersey, contemplating what could have happened if at least one had entered the race. Political commentator William Kristo! has been vocal about drafting Daniels or Congressman Paul Ryan for a last-ditch challenge that could possibly go to the convention, though it has become clear that no new candidate could enter the race at this point and win, especially with the overwhelming fundraising and organizational handicaps. The odds were long even in 1964, when the Republican establishment got their wish: William Scranton, governor of Pennsylvania, entered the race. Scranton, a moderate who many attempted to cast as a Republican "Kennedy;' remained ambivalent about running for president, which Kabaservice attributes to simply not wanting to be president. By the time Scranton entered the race, Goldwater had already won a majority of delegates to take to the convention; the only way to win would have been to convince the delegates to change their votes from Goldwater to Scranton, which might have been possible if these delegates were supporters of anyone but Goldwater. Goldwater attracted, as Kabaservice describes, the most stalwart and bullheaded supporters, who were excited to be on the inside of the party. These supporters made up the Goldwater delegation, making a Goldwater nomination inevitable. Although the remote possibility of winning remained a constant hope, it was ultimately pushed to the periphery in order to make the Scranton campaign an answer from moderate conservatives to the new breed of conservatives with Goldwater. Despite winning the nomination, Goldwater did not receive a unified welcome at the GOP convention. In fact, the 1964 convention was filled with contention; from booing of speakers t9 assaults on African-American Republicans: Most of the howling came from the galleries, as Clif White attempted to restore order on the floor, but the official delegates were part of the uproar. Doug Bailey was at the convention, and he was sure that the clamor "wasn't just the galleries. It was the floor, it was the hall. The venom of the booing and the hatred in people's eyes really was quite stunning. I remember I was standing next to an officer from the San Mateo Country Sheriff's Office, who was there to keep the peace, and there he was, pistol unsheathed, booing along with everyone else:' Tanya Melich, the political research director of ABC News at the convention and a moderate involved with the New York YRs [Young Republicans], remembered that the anger directed at Rockefeller was "horrible. I felt like I was in Nazi Germany. It was really scary:' Dwight Eisenhower found the tumult "unpardonable-and a complete negation of the spirit of democracy. I was bitterly ashamed:' Ike later claimed that his young niece had been "molested" by Goldwater thugs on the convention floor (113). KABASERVICE ASCRIBES the toxicity of the convention to a violent struggle between establishment Republicans from the Northeast and the growing number of conservatives from the South and the West, who wanted to be the new establishment. Kabaservice aptly quotes journalist Murray Kempton: "This convention is historic because it is the emancipation of the serfs ... The serfs have seized the estate of their masters" ( 114). The convention was fundamentally a "rebellion against the prim and proper mores of the East;' in favor of regions with growing industrial economies. Kabaservice lists the different companies growing in places like California to underscore the East's loss of economic influence, which translated, beginning at the convention, to a loss of political influence. Although it is unlikely that the 2012 Republican convention will be as ugly as the 1964 one, it will not be the bastion of party unity that it has been before. The party is changing, and change breeds political violence in the form of literature, advertisements, debates, and personal attacks. Kabaservice deftly identifies a period in political history that speaks to the current climate, yet he fails to recognize the opportunity that presented itself then as it does now. The ugly side of democracy is still democracy, and these tumultuous times in history are always the catalyst for a great conversation where some political ideals die and others are born and nurtured. Democracy doesn't always come to the right answer, and Goldwater was not the right answer for a country finally healing from Civil War-era wounds. Yet Goldwater was the beginning of a great transformation, even though many objected to that transformation. Kabaservice ends his book lamenting the death of the moderate conservative, though he most likely means that he would prefer a Rockefeller or a Scranton, moderate Republicans who are amenable to Democratic policies, to a tea party candidate. Nevertheless, Kabaservice makes an important point when he correlates the fall of moderate conservatism to abuse of power by Republican leaders. The 2000-2008 Bush years were hardly examples of economic pragmatism, and the debt ceiling crisis last summer left the country salivating for moderates, in both parties, who would be capable of compromise. Whether or not you agree with his final analysis, Rule and Ruin is a timely and important book. By looking back at the history of the Republican Party, the reader can gain a better understanding of the present political climate and enter the transformative conversation happening right now. -Erin Shadowens �FEATURES+ REPORTS . ( ""'. .. • • I ,. �RUSSIAN FICTION Moscows struggle for democracy By Evgenia,Olimpieva, WORD PLAY: Protestors pun "You do not even represent us" with "You do not even know who we are:' MARCH 4, 2012-the date of the upcoming presidential elections in Russia. With the Russian population's traditional political apathy, nobody expected that there would be anything new and exciting about presidential elections this year. And it probably would have been just so was it not for the State Duma (Russia's parliament) elections that happened on December 4, which caused social unrest that has continued over the past two months. The wave of protests started on the night of December 4 right after the Duma election results were published. The results revealed an outrageous electoral fraud and confirmed once again that the democracy in Russia is a fiction. The protest wave reached its peak on December 10: people from 99 Russian cities and 42 cities around the world went out on the streets to attend peaceful demonstrations to show their disagreement with the results of the elections. On December 24 and February 4, between 80,000 and 100,000 protesters flooded Moscow in the biggest demonstrations that Russia has seen since the fall of the Soviet Union. The main cause of the protests was the fraud revealed in the December 4 Duma elections, anticipated by Russian and non-Russian election observers, and evident as results rolled in. Outright fabrication was abundant and obvious: 93.14% of the electors (353 people) "voted" for United Russia (the country's leading party) in one of the Moscow psychiatric hospitals. Similarly, in Chechnya, where a staggering 99.51% of the population cast a vote, 99.48% of those chose United Russia. Volunteer poll observers witnessed voter fraud but were unable to stop it; many of the observers were removed from electoral quarters because of "excessive activity;' that is, attempting to stop electoral abuses. Often, the ballots filled out in favor of United Russia would be found inside the electoral baskets before the elections even began. "Carousel voting;' in which a group of people is driven from one electoral centre to another, voting at each one, was another method of fabrication. Some employers threatened their workers with dismissal if they refused to vote for United Russia. Finally, the numbers were simply changed while being transferred into the computer system. With more than 70 million Russian internet users, reports of the frauds instantly spread around the country, becoming the cause and the central grievance of the protest movement. T H E V ERY FIRST protests were violently suppressed by the police and additional special forces. Many people were arrested and then sentenced without having an opportunity to see a lawyer. Later on, seeing that so many people were going out on the streets, the authorities allowed the protests, which have continued peacefully since. Many people arrived at the demonstrations with white flowers and balloons. By carrying the balloons people were saying "we have been deceived"-in Russian menya naduli (literally, "I have been inflated") means "I have been fooled:' The main symbol of the protest was a white ribbon, which Putin, �during a televised call-in show, said he mistook for a condom: "Why did they unwrap it?" was the first question that came to his mind, he said. Protesters responded creatively, bringing posters that read, "Use contraception against political AIDS!" or the extremely crude "Dutin-Pick;' where transposing the first letters of the two words suggested the source of "political AIDS" and the nature of that source. In a response to Putin's statement that December 10 protesters were paid by the United States, people brought posters that said, "I am here for free:' or, "The Unit ed States gave me $10 for being here:' In the same infamous TV show, Putin, after charging protesters with antiRussian sentiments, compared them to the bandar-log-monkeys from "The Jungle Book:' In St. Petersburg, a man in a monkey mask carried a poster reading, "Have you called for me?" (In the well-known cartoon, the python Kaa hypnotizes the monkeys, calling them to move closer; Putin quoted the snake on the show, saying, "Come to me, Bandar-logs!") In a response to Putin's accusations of the West, people brought posters that read, "I want to be friends with the West" and, "We don't believe in the foreign enemy". To those familiar with Russia, the notion of protests with thousands of participants has long been unthinkable. It is important to remember that Russia is not the kind of country where protesting is a typical tool for the expression of civic concerns and demands. Demanding from those higher in rank is not in the Russian mentality. The 'fact that so many Russians are aware of their country's revolutionary past and have fresh memories of the mess of the nineties, which followed the fall of the Soviet Union, explains why protest is the last tool for civic expression that a Russian citizen would turn to. Just a month ago, Russians protested only when the issue was a matter of life and death and when there were simply no other options left. Other than that, it was only nationalists or communists who went out on the streets. The De- choice is a policy that gives millions of people maximum opportunities for economic activity, and protects them with laws backed by the full weight of state power. My choice is a Russia that, over the next decade, will build an economy offering a high standard of life and an economy that makes life comfortable and interesting and proBEFORE DUMA ELECTIONS duces what is necessary to make Russia THE ELECTORAL fraud became a one of the world's leaders:' Meanwhile, Putin cultivated the imlogical culmination of the announcement made by the president Dmi- age of a brutal and direct politician, a try Medvedev on September 24, 2011, man of actions rather than words. His saying that Vladimir Putin was run- speeches were often rude and abuning for the presidency again. Dmitry sive, and were filled with scorn and Medvedev was elected to the Russian sarcasm. As opposed to Medvedev's presidency in 2008, backed by outgo- highly civilized and educated speaking ing president Vladimir Putin, whose style, Putin's language, although gramtwo consecutive four-year terms made matically correct, has been a fusion of him constitutionally unable to run working class and prisoners' slang. The again. For years there had been no fig- image of a leader who thought like the ure who could somehow compete with working class and was sympathetic to Vladimir Putin, and many hoped that it has always been extremely important Medvedev would become an opposi- to Putin. At the recent United Russia tion leader, despite the fact that it was convention, the prime minister's canPutin who appointed him to the presi- didacy won praise from Valeriy Yalushev, a steelmaker from Nizhniy Tagil. dency. During his time in office Medvedev He said that Putin "visits our factory created the illusion that he was slowly from time to time, gives us advice and moving away from Putin. They were makes suggestions; that is why we do never shown together on the televi- our job well:' Direct involvement in sion; they never openly praised or the factories' business has been Pusupported each other. Their focus and tin's calling card for years. He became political strategy aimed at very differ- popular by publicly exposing the corent groups of the population. Medve- ruption and crimes of the factories' dev appealed to the educated, intellec- managers. The contrasting images of Putin ' tual masses, and the businessmen. His rhetoric was always p o-libe al and and Medvedev appeared so different pro-modernization. He positioned that many believed truly competitive himself as an intellectual, democratic, elections were near with Medvedev as European-minded politician. A gradu- a plausible leader for Russia's future. ate of St. Petersburg State University, But any hope of Medvedev becomwith a Ph.D in law, he fit perfectly the ing the standard-bearer for Russia's political opposition collapsed when, image of a liberal reformer. on September 24, 2011, at the twelfth IN THE SUMMER of 2011, at the meeting of United Russia, Medvedev opening of the St. Petersburg Inter- announced Putin's candidacy and, national Economic Forum, Medvedev moreover, announced that this rotadiscussed his modernization plans for tion had been planned long ago. Some Russia's economy, repeating over and Russians have lampooned the action over again that it was his choice, his as rokirovka, the Russian term for view of Russia, as if deliberately op- "castling" in chess. When the rotation posed to somebody else's view: "My became a reality, the pair lost the trust cember protests, then, mark a radical shift in Russia's political climate. As a young protest participant, Alexandra Tkach, said, "It seems that everything changed overnight; something that was unthinkable a couple of days ago is a reality today:' DEMANDS: "We want to live in an honest countrY:' ��I DAnA: MHE 1oi ~ TYT 1 non\Poc ~nA ~OICT091b and respect of millions of people. Both Medvedev and Putin became the targets of endless, and often very talented, mockery. While Putin is still up on the stage getting ready for the future elections, Medvedev is slowly fading from the public eye. In the public eye, he turned out to be nothing but Putin's puppet. As somebody put it in a joke: "Medvedev seat warmers-guaranteed for four years:' Medvedev's announcement of a long-planned rokirovka deeply offended millions of Russians and made Russian "democracy" look like nothing but a staged show. WHAT COM ES N EXT THUS SPOKE RUSSIA: "My voice has been stolen'' (taped on mouths); "I did not vote for these bastards: [emblem of United Russia]; I voted for other bastards: [emblems of all other parties that partook in the elections]" (poster, left); "We do not need revolution, we need honest elections" (poster, right). "[The Statue of Liberty] gave me $10 and asked me to stand here:' INCENTIVES: SO, AFTER ALL of this, will Putin come back? Yes, probably. No strong alternative has arisen who would be able to unite the opposition. As one of the St. Petersburg protesters said, "I do not know what to do. They will give me a heart attack. There is no one to vote for, we have not been given an opportunity by our two 'cuties:" However, she expressed confidence that the opposition would be able to find some leader that would unite people before the presidential elections. Unfortunately, though, such a figure has not appeared yet. Excluding the Communist Party, the only candidate running for the presidency and somehow capable to compete with Putin is oligarch Mikhail Prokhorov, who some believe is part of a Kremlin effort to deceive voters. But it is very unlikely that he can gain significant support: since the nineties, for many Russians "oligarch" is a synonym for "thief': Thus, ·Putin will likely be back for at least one more term. Putin's return does not mean, however, that the protests have been pointless. The government has been forced to recognize the existence of civil society and the power of its own people. The authorities saw that Russia has changed; it is no longer submissive. It is no longer a politically apathetic society, but a demanding society that holds its government accountable for its actions and words. I think it was not just the government that learned something about its people, but the society itself realized its present state. Perhaps the people of Russia are recognizing the need for real, decisive reform. Because of this "Russian Spring;' people with a deep political consciousness became aware of their own power and found widespread support. Hopefully, the protests are a sign that civil society in Russia is starting to wake up and mature, and that it will force the government to attend to the wishes of the people. Moreover, the protests have provided strength to anti-Putin opposition, increasing the possibility that Russia can see the end or at least the weakening of the Putin regime. The opposition might not have much power this year, but it will in the future if people keep on speaking and the civil society keeps on growing. The protests mark a change in the Russian people's attitude towards their own role in the country. Russia has grown up as a society, and this society now demands corresponding changes among those who hold political power. �CROSS-PURPOSES Syria's Christian question By Ian Tuttle, "THE MEDIA are liars;' says Joshua. "What the media is showing-fighting, killing-that's not regular life. There is a problem, but not like you see on the news:' His brother, Thomas, concurs: "The regime is simply not that bad. We have rights. We have freedom:' Joshua and Thomas are both Syrian Christians who, after living several decades in Syria, now reside in the United States. But their kinship to their homeland, where much of their family remains, is palpable. The brothers can trace their family's history in Syria back more than a millennium. "We've been there forever;' one says. "The boundaries and governments have changed, but we have always been there:' Syria is unique among Arab nations. Under the secular regime instituted by Hafez al-Assad and now led by his son, Bashar, the nation's two million Christians, comprising ten percent of the population, are allowed to practice their religion with relative freedom. Clergy are not in danger. In the country's major cities, church bells mingle with Muslim muezzin calls to prayer. For Christians, say the brothers, there is opportunity for prosperity. But to Western observers, the Assad regime is a brutal dictatorship whose sophisticated leader uses a state-run press and widespread military and intelligence network to crush dissent. For more than a year, protesters have staged demonstrations against the regime, many of which have ended in staggering body counts, and the protests are now intensifying, threatening civil war. For Syria's Christian minority, the country's deteriorating situation is alarming. They fear that the overthrow of the current government will lead to the targeted persecution of Christians and the ascendancy of a militant Islamist regime. Like their coreligionists in Egypt and Iraq, they worry that, should the protests succeed, they will no longer have a Syria to call home. THE CHRISTIAN community in Syria has a storied past extending to the first known use of "Christian'' at Antioch (modern-day Turkey), as recorded in the Book of Acts. When various eastern Christian sects separated from the Roman Church over theological and political differences in the fifth century, many found refuge in the hills of northern Syria. Over the next millennium, they suffered the ravages of the Islamic conquests, the Crusades, the thirteenth-century Mongol invasion, and the political domination of the Ottoman Empire. However, they managed to take advantage of opportunities to trade with European merchants, securing some measure of economic autonomy. When the Ottoman Empire collapsed, Syrian Christians emerged as the region's pivotal thinkers: George Antonius, a British-Syrian diplomat, published The Arab Awakening in 1938, and Michael Aflaq cofounded the Arab Socialist Ba'ath Party in 1947, which would eventually come to power under Hafez al-Assad. For these thinkers, forging an Arab cultural identity that transcended religious divisions was a way to ensure Syria's minority Christians would avoid future discrimination and persecution. Hafez al-Assad rose to prominence as part of the five-member military committee that launched a successful �coup in 1963. The revolution, which was countered by significant internal brought the Arab Socialist Ba'ath reforms. Syria had experienced doz- Syrian Christians like them, then, the Party to power (Saddam Hussein was ens of attempted coups since the fi- protests taking place in certain parts of the country are worrying. from the same party, though the Syr- nal departure of French troops in the ian and Iraqi branches suffered a major mid-1940s. Hafez's emergence as sole ideological schism in the late 1960s), leader brought much-needed stability THE SYRIAN uprising began in upended Syria's social and political to the country. He initiated massive March 2011 as demonstrators, calling structures, transferring power to the infrastructure projects, from modern for the release of political prisoners, minority Alawites, a Syrian subset of roads, hospitals, and schools, to dams marked a "Day of Dignity;' coordiShiite Islam that comprised only twelve and electrical grids. And although nated, like many of the demonstrations percent of the population, over the ma- he stamped out political dissent, he that have characterized the so-called jority Sunni Muslims. Over the next opened the country to foreign invest- "Arab Spring;' through social media. seven years, Hafez rose through the ment and reformed the constitution to Eight days later government forces Cabinet (he presided as Defense Min- protect religious minorities, like Syria's killed a number of protesters in Deraa, stoking further unrest. Attempting ister over Syria's humiliating defeat to dwindling Christian population. conciliation, the government released Israel in the 1967 Six-Days War) to beBashar came to power in 2000, the dozens of political prisoners and, a come the country's unchallenged lead- second-choice successor to his father er in a bloodless 1970 coup. To secure (who had originally chosen his first- month later, lifted the country's state his regime against Sunni majoritarian- born son, Basil, for the presidency, of emergency, which had been in force ism, he promised security and a variety until his untimely death in a car acci- since 1963. In May, as tanks appeared of freedoms to Syria's minority popu- dent). Bashar's early presidency was in Homs, Deraa, and the suburbs of lations, among them Christians, with marked by a restrained liberalism: the Damascus to quell intensifying anti-regime protests, Assad granted amnesty whom he shared an ideological bent. release of hundreds of political prison- to the country's political prisoners. Hafez's thirty-year rule was marked ers, a loosening of restrictions on poA back-and-forth of bloody crackby growing international influence and litical conversation, attempts to curtail down and conciliatory measures has the consolidation of internal power. widespread government corruption-a Hafez emulated the Soviet police state, development many optimistically la- characterized the government's reestablishing 15 separate intelligence beled the "Damascus Spring:' Western sponse to the widespread protests. agencies, which conducted surveil- observers, however, argue that this lib- However, as the protests have inten lance mainly on Syrian citizens. And eralism has diminished over Bashar's sified, the government response has he was willing to shed blood to main- presidency, giving way to a resumption become more brutal, and in January tain firm control. In June 1979 the of police-state activity-surveillance the government vowed an "iron fist" Muslim Brotherhood killed 50 Ala- of civilians, state-controlled media, response. In Homs, an epicenter of anwite trainees at a military academy in political imprisonment and torture, ti-regime demonstrations, more than Aleppo, Syria's largest city, and a year etc. Syria, under both Assads, has long 200 people were killed in an attack on later attempted to assassinate Assad by been condemned for gross human February 2, 2012. Protesters say that government forces have been shelling grenade. The day after the attempt, a rights abuses. the city indiscriminately and snipers military unit headed by Hafez's youngNevertheless, for Christians, both have been firing on women and chiler brother, Rifaat, shot several hundred Hafez and Bashar ensured opportupolitical prisoners and religious dissi- nities for religious, political, and eco- dren. But Joshua and Thomas are quick dents in their cells at Tadmor Prison in nomic freedom unparalleled elsewhere to point out that the matter of aggressor and victim is extremely complithe worst prison massacre in history. in the Middle East. Notes Joshua, cated-and they blame Western media In 1982 Muslim extremists rose up in "Christians can be found in every posioutlets for obscuring the facts. They Hama, killing Ba'ath Party officials and tion: in the government and the Cabisay that the protesters are not peaceful calling for a nationwide revolt. In re- net, in the military, in business:' demonstrators; they are firing on Syrsponse, Hafez destroyed half the city, "As a Christian;' says Thomas, "I ian troops, who are, naturally, returnand death estimates range from 10,000 have more freedom in Syria under ing fire in self-defense. Syria's protests, to 40,000 people, mostly civilians. For- Assad than here in the U.S. under says Thomas, "are not spontaneous. eign correspondent Robin Wright has Obama:' And, he argues, Bashar's This did not just happen, say, because called it one of "the single deadliest Syria is, politically, very open: "Under of the 'Arab Spring: They [the protestacts by any Arab government against Hafez, there was no political discusers] made things happen. Everything its own people in the modern Middle sion permitted. Under Bashar, you was planned:' And the "Free Syrian Easf' can say anything, joke. You feel a lot Army;' a band of Syrian military defecHowever, the domestic oppression of freedom:' For Joshua, Thomas, and tors and others who have formed an independent militia to defend protesters against government forces? "Only a tiny portion are actually military defectors;' says Thomas. "The vast majority are drifters, crazy, the down-and-out:' According to the UK-based Barnabas Fund, which aids Christian minorities facing persecution, Syria's Christian community has recently suffered several kidnappings, purportedly by the Free Syrian Army, which has demanded large ransoms. At least two of the kidnapping victims were killed after the money had been paid. "Some families;' the organization reports, "are becoming so desperate that they tell the kidnappers to kill their loved one immediately rather than subjecting them to torture:' And what of the Syrian National Council, a coalition of anti-Assad Syrians in Turkey that bills itself as Syria's transitional government and the true representative of the Syrian people? The group is headed by Syrian academic Burhan Ghalioun, who has lived in France since 1978. Joshua scoffs. "The SNC claims to represent the people of Syria. Its leader, Ghalioun, has not even been in the country since the '70s. How can he claim to represent his country?" Moreover, the fragmentation of the Free Syrian Army into several small, competing bands hints at the fracturing of the anti-Assad opposition, which, despite the government's severe tactics, has failed to organize into a unified front, permitting its goalsoutside of the overthrow of the current regime-to remain vague. As the uprising intensifies and the country nears civil war, fissures are beginning to appear between pro-democracy demonstrators and Islamic extremists. Also complicating the situation is the response of the international community. In May, the United States and the European Union tightened sanctions on Syria; by August, President Obama and European allies had called on Assad to step down. In October, a United Nations resolution condemning Syria failed; the Arab League sus- pended Syria and voted to impose sanctions in November. The following month Syria allowed Arab League observers to enter the country to monitor the situation; in January the monitors left because of the increasing violence. In February-on the day of the massive attack on Homs-Russia and China blocked a UN Security Council draft resolution condemning the Syrian government. SYRIA'S GEOPOLITICAL significance as a strategically located, influential Middle Eastern power has frustrated unified international action. For the United States, Syria has been a longtime antagonist, despite the overtures Hafez made to Washington when the Soviet Union collapsed. Bashar's Syria comprises a fundamental threat to Middle Eastern stability and Western security. Syria is suspected of funneling arms to insurgents into postSaddam Iraq; moreover, after a break in relations when the Soviet Union dissolved, Syria is again receiving economic and military assistance from Putin's Russia, whose oil interests are served by Syria's advantageous geography and whose anti-American military interests are served by a powerful Middle Eastern ally. (Russia recently sold $550 million worth of fighter jets to Syria.) Similarly with China, which has also made overtures in post-Qaddafi Libya. Finally-most importantly for Western security-Syria is the sole Arab supporter of the Iranian regime headed by Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, on the verge of acquiring nuclear weaponry, and non-Arab Tehran is unlikely to sacrifice this key ally, which supports its ideological interests. Herein may lie the trouble for the Arab League, for whom an aggressive Iran threatens the sovereignty of the predominantly Sunni Muslim Arab states in the Middle East. Iran and Assad's Syria are bound by a shared Shiite Islam. Thus, the Arab League's condemnation of Syria can be seen as much more than a humanitarian concern. It would seem, then, that America's interests would be best served by Assad's overthrow. However, the Obama administration has maintained that the Syrian conflict can be resolved without military intervention, a position many find incongruous given the administration's willingness to use force to oust Muammar Qaddafi from Libya to prevent a "humanitarian crisis:' Why, they ask, was the administration willing to intervene in Libya to prevent killing yet remained unwilling to intervene in Syria, where the United Nations estimates 5400 people have already died since March of last year? For the United States, taking action now will likely require choosing which of two unpalatable alternatives is worse: a well-funded, internationally influential state sponsor of terrorism with close ties to Iran, or a rogue Islamist regime with access to Syria's extensive chemical weapons network, which may be willing to indiscriminately use or sell that technology. "There is a problem;' says Joshua, "there is blood. But not like we see in the media:' They say the media and the Obama administration, by taking any steps toward Assad's removal, are making "a huge mistake;' the same mistake they made one year ago as the ''Arab Spring" took hold throughout the Middle East: backing protesters whose goals and motives are unclear. For Syria's Christians, America's approach to the ''Arab Spring" showed that the United States preferred betraying dependable-if disreputable-allies for capricious demonstrators, permitting stable governments to be replaced with Islamic extremists. "The US sold out Mubarak. Who wants to align with America now? That is exactly what Arabic news is saying. They are worried that the US will sell them out in a moment:' Granted, the situation is different in Syria, where the present regime is not an ally and is decidedly anti-American. However, Joshua and Thomas firmly believe that whoever is next will be much worse. And for Syrian Chris- �tians, the unpredictability is precisely head Ayman al-Zawahiri, who took the problem. "Who's next? That is the over after the death of Osama bin crucial question. That is the question Laden, has issued a video calling on everyone needs to be asking:' Syria's Muslims to support the Syrian rebels. small Christian population, they say, Joshua claims, furthermore, that alwatched what happened in Iraq, where Jazeera has manipulated coverage of 400,000 Christians fled the country the conflict to generate international following the downfall of Saddam sympathy for the rebels. Difficulty getHussein (half of them into Syria), and ting independent media into the counin Egypt, where the country's Coptic try has made determining the extent Christian minority has become a tar- of the situation challenging-thus the get of Islamist violence since the oust- conflicting accounts of suburban skiring of Hosni Mubarak. "In Egypt, they mishes and widely divergent death esare burning churches, burning Chris- timates. However, the brothers claim that the tian homes and business-200,000 have fled, and the rest cannot leave media distortion goes far beyond even their homes;' says Joshua. And, as the this. "55 percent of Syrians support brothers observe, in the wake of the the regime, did you know that? Five Mubarak regime, Islamist parties- million people have taken to the streets chief among them the Muslim Broth- to show their support of Assad!" He erhood-have vaulted into power with is citing the recent YouGov Siraj poll huge popular support. Among the commissioned by the Doha Debates, groups comprising the Syrian National funded by the Qatar Foundation, and Council is the Syrian arm of the Mus- while the number of pro-Assad demlim Brotherhood. Thomas says that the onstrators is difficult to verify-some driving Islamist force in the protests is reports claim tens of thousands, some obvious. "Look at the FSA [Free Syrian claim millions-it remains a fact that Army]: there is not a single Christian, Assad enjoys widespread support. And not a person of any religion except Is- for good reason, says Thomas. "Assad lam or ethnicity except Muslim. It is has accomplished many reforms that nothing but al-Qaeda-lite:' And his no one wants to talk about: elections worries may not be unfounded. US for Syrian Congress, for instance. SyriDirector of National Intelligence James ans receive free education through colClapper told Congress in February that lege, free healthcare, a certain amount al-Qaeda "is extending its reach into of food free; we have no income or Syria'' with help from Iran. Accord- property tax:' "The fact is;' says Joshua, "there are ing to Clapper, al-Qaeda is infiltrating anti-Assad groups, likely without their no problems throughout most of the knowledge, increasing the possibility country:' that extremists would fill the power vacuum that could occur should the Assad regime fall. Moreover, al-Qaeda I THE IMMEDIATE fear for many, especially Syrian Christians, is civil war. "Civil war will be a disaster;' declares Joshua. "It will kill the economy. It will lead to blood in the streets:' And Bashar, Thomas says, is trying to avoid that. "Bashar is a nice guy, nothing like his father. He is well-educated, westernized-not at all like they make him out .... Hafez would have killed everybody in a week:' Yet as the international community applies pressure and violence increases within the country, civil war becomes more likely, and the threat of massive bloodshed looms. Syria's Christians, writes Kurt Werthmuller, Research Fellow at the Hudson Institute's Center for Religious Freedom, are "in an increasingly untenable position: they are caught between a minority-friendly and yet oppressive dictatorship; a mass uprisfog that is brave and legitimate, but with a growing armed faction; and the feared possibilities of sectarian violence in the short-term, and Islamist rule in the long-term:' "Syria will go back 1500 years if the regime falls;' says Joshua. For Syria's Christians, the threat is second-class citizenship, a drastic diminution-perhaps even annihilation- of their freedoms, and transformation of their historic homeland into an extremist caliphate. In Homs, where the fiercest fighting is occurring between rebel and government forces, 100,000 Christians are trapped in the city. That seems to be the situation fo Syria's Christians nationwide. They are trapped, and there is nothing to do but to wait, hope, and pray. • tan 7 EVGENIA OLIMPIEVA is a sophomore who grew up in Russia. In addition to writing "Russian Fiction;' she took the pictures which accompany her article. �\ D E I \llff - // � Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource Epoch Journal Creator An entity primarily responsible for making the resource St. John's College Contributor An entity responsible for making contributions to the resource St. John's College Greenfield Library Text A resource consisting primarily of words for reading. Examples include books, letters, dissertations, poems, newspapers, articles, archives of mailing lists. Note that facsimiles or images of texts are still of the genre Text. Page numeration Number of pages in the original item. 24 pages Original Format The type of object, such as painting, sculpture, paper, photo, and additional data paper Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Creator An entity primarily responsible for making the resource Shadowens, Erin (Editor) Title A name given to the resource The Epoch Journal, Vol VI Issue III Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource 2012-04 Description An account of the resource Volume VI, Issue III of The Epoch Journal. Published in Spring 2012. Identifier An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context Epoch Journal Spring 2012 Coverage The spatial or temporal topic of the resource, the spatial applicability of the resource, or the jurisdiction under which the resource is relevant Annapolis, MD Publisher An entity responsible for making the resource available St. John's College Language A language of the resource English Type The nature or genre of the resource text Rights Information about rights held in and over the resource St. John's College owns the rights to this publication. Format The file format, physical medium, or dimensions of the resource pdf Student publication https://s3.us-east-1.amazonaws.com/sjcdigitalarchives/original/22066435e81a750673bd7e70e3d75ff0.pdf 70a73beb4ca8cbcf66e00bdb9906fcb4 PDF Text Text �Chick & Ruth's Delly Serving St. John's Students with the Best Breakfast, Lunch, Dinners, Milk Shakes, Appetizers & Desserts since 1965 WE HAVE FREE DELIVERY! EDITOR'S NOTE ALL OUR GREAT FOODS BROUGHT TO YOU or JUST COME IN AND RELAX WITH US. Visit us at www.ChickandRuths.cont LETTERS FROM departing editors tend to look back and look forward, and my letter will be no different. Looking back, I am incredibly proud of The Epoch and how it has evolved over the past six years. Looldng forward, I am hopeful that the publication will continue to provide students with the opportunity to connect our education to the world beyond 60 College Ave. Looking forward, I think it is important to say something about The Epoch's audience: the polity. Seniors tend to dominate most polity organizations simply by the fact that they have been here the longest; nevertheless, no senior can miss the gradual and notable changes that happen on campus. The character of the polity changes with each new class, which can be disconcerting to a senior with one foot out the door. That said, I think current seniors should be reassured when they see the changes taldng place. Even though the vast majority of the < 1mpus responded critically to the hate speech law, no one can argue :;;; that the debate that ensued was not important and healthy for this campus.· I have heard grumblings about the Pink Triangle's Sexual Awareness week advertisements, but these grumblings generally lead to a conversation about the very issues Pink Triangle wants the polity to address. There has been more discussion about campus issues in the last semester than my whole four years at St. John's, which testifies to the admirable efforts of students to expand and to enrich the conversations we have. I hope that these conversations eventually become written works for any of the campus publications. One final look back: I am not exaggerating when I say that the magazine has never looked better, which is entirely due to the creative efforts of J. Keenan Trotter. The success of this year's magazine would have been impossible without him. I would also like to pick out Shikshya Adhikari and Andrew Donders, who have both worked to ensure that The Ep- och can afford to publish. Finally, I would like to thank some non-seniors who have been writers, editors, designers, or all three: Ian Tuttle, Maca Pallares, Evgenia Olimpieva, and Sasha Welm. ERIN SHADOWENS 165 Main Street, Annapolis, MD 21401 Phone 410-269-6737 Open 6:30 am till 11 :30 p.m. ' Fri. & Sat. till 12:30 am St.Johns add10/24/10 EDITOR-IN-CHIEF �SANTO RUM EDITOR Erin Shadowens PUBLISHER+ DESIGNER J. Keenan Trotter EDITOR-ELECT Ian Tuttle BUSINESS MANAGERS Shikshya Adhikari Andrew Danders ILLUSTRATOR SashaWelm DISCLAIMER The Epoch Jou rnal is produced and distributed in Annapolis, Maryland. Opinions expressed in articles or illustrations are not necessarily those of the editorial board or St. John's College. ADVERTISING To place an advertisement, please visit our website to contact us. SUBSCRIPTIONS TI1e Epoch Journal is published four times a year. Subsc ription s and back issues may be ordered on our website. SUBMISSIONS Students, faculty, and staff of St. John's College are encouraged to submit manuscripts fo r to The Epoch Jou rnal. Visit our website fo r more information. MAI LING ADDRESS Th e Epoch journal 60 College Avenue Annapolis, Maryland 21401 WEBSITE EPOCHJOURNAL.ORG On April 11, Rick Santorum, former Pennsylvania senator and chief contender to Mitt Romney for the Republican presidential nomination, suspended his campaign. Santorum, though second in the race for delegates prior to the summer's Republican National Convention, had fallen well behind Romney, whose political infrastructure and campaign war chest had enabled him to outspend Santorum in every primary contest. In his withdrawal speech Santorum observed, "This race was as improbable as any you will ever see for president:' Indeed. Santorum's remarkable ascent to prominence and his gracious withdrawal, clearing the way for Romney's nomination and the official start of the general election, assures him a future in Republican politics. Santorum's campaign also succeeded in rallying the conservative base around the social issuestraditional morality, religious freedom, the sanctity of life and marriage-that the Romney campaign has downplayed to emphasize the economy. Romney cannot assume that he will automatically pick up Santorum voters. His general election campaign will require him to reassure conservative voters concerned about social issues that he will be their staunch defender in the White House. But, despite the long, difficult primary race, Santorum's participation may, in the end, help Romney greatly: it showed him what much of the country is seeking in their presidential candidate and that Santorum's candid approach to their issues remains a viable path in American politics. IN THE NEWS BY IAN TUTTLE RON PAUL As this goes to print, one Romney opponent remains in the GOP primary race: Texas Congressman Ron Paul. Paul, who enjoys the faithful backing of a good number of uniquely young supporters, bears the standard of a libertarianism at odds with much of the Republican Party. However, if he is able to secure enough delegates before the convention, he can assure himself a prime speaking spot and, perhaps, a voice in shaping the platform. Yet Paul's presidential chances are assuredly over-if they ever began in earnest-as are his days in Washington. The longtime congressman is not seeking reelection to his House seat. BORDER WAR The Supreme Court recently heard arguments about the controversial Arizona immigration law, signed nearly two years ago by Governor Jan Brewer, that would allow police officers to check a person's immigration status if they believe the person is in the country illegally. Lower courts blocked key provisions of the law, forcing the case to the Supreme Court. Several other states have passed similar laws that will depend on the Court's decision, which will be released this summer. �GRATITUDE Aid politics in Nepal By Shikshya Adhikari, THE RESIDENTS of Kathmandu, Nepal (of which I am one) regularly express concern over the economic and political degeneration of our country while watching news on our flat screen televisions or talldng on cell phones as we drive to work. The number of vehicles on the streets or the haphazard increase of public transportation has become a measure of over-population. We are aware that the amenities we enjoy are by no means the industrial products of our country. (Nepal was formally categorized as a developing country, but recently as underdeveloped). Facilities-ranging from good roads, bridges, and traffic signs to automobiles, cell phones, and televisionshave been provided for us by the developed nations of the world. Thus, the average Nepali citizen is constantly aware of their dependency on foreign aid through these imported amenities, which directly influence their daily lives. The government of Nepal does not have anything less to be grateful for. It has been receiving a good amount of aid in spite of being unable to rid itself of a huge deficit. Whether in the form of loans or occasionally in the form of grants or gifts, the government receives money for new "development" projects quite regularly. The projects extend for a long period of time and we encounter failed projects more often than not. Nevertheless, foreign aid in the form of money keeps flowing into the country. No wonder we have been witnessing debates in the international economic: arena regarding the benefits of foreign aid. Despite the luxurious benefits enjoyed by the majority of upper- and middle- class families, in addition to the amount of money received by the government, Nepal's growth is stagnant; the rural communities are still struggling with a lack of infrastructure, infant and maternal mortality rates, low literacy levels and other such problems that directly hinder the progress of the country. Nepal imports the majority of the industrial goods from developed nations all over the world; however, the United States is one of its major money donors. The US has been providing a huge amount in foreign aid to third world countries all over the world. Debates exist concerning the role of the United States in providing various countries with a significant sum of foreign aid, as well as the balance between the money supplied and benefits attained. The role of United States has especially been discussed because it is one of the largest aid donor to third world countries. "Since 1946, the United States has given over $146 billion in humanitarian assistance to foreign countries. In 1985, the United States provided over $10 billion in nonmilitary aid abroad, ranging from free food to balance-of-payments support to project assistance and population planning programs. AID (International Aid) employs over 4500 employees to administer these programs ..." [Cato Policy Analysis No. 65; Policy Analysis, The Continuing Failure of Foreign Aid by James Bovard]. Heaps of money with very little positive impact-this has been the major complaint of economic and political analysts. The altruistic intentions of the United States have been marred by some detrimental instances in developing and underdeveloped countries. James Bovard's article cited above mentions the confiscation of subsistence farmers' meager plots by the government oflndonesia for AID financed irrigation canals. Similarly, farmers in Mali were forced to sell their crops at giveaway prices for a joint project between AID and the Mali government. Free food provided by the US to countries like Egypt and Haiti resulted in a significant drop in prices of the crops sold by farmers of those countries. ONE MIGHT raise the questionHow can aid be provided, if not through the government? There are a variety of means, and foreign aid often takes the form of neither money nor trade, but help- the kind of help that makes the citizens of third world countries capable of investing in their own development and growth. I intend to bring our attention to the field of international development that has taken a major hold of the world, especially of the relationship between developed and developing/underdeveloped nations. In Nepal itself, there are many international organizations, predominantly US organizations, taldng steps towards improving Nepal's rural and urban coll?-munities. More organizations have been gearing their effort towards not just establishing and running development projects but interacting with communities to help them with their growth and sustainability. Countries like Nepal need more of these organizations, which help people attain social, cultural and environmental sustainability along with economic development. When the government is in turmoil, I, as a citizen of an un- derdeveloped country, am extremely thankful for the effort of these organizations. People have argued in favor of separating politics from development. Can it really be done? Some of the organizations have given people of rural areas training on ways to deal with the local governmental authorities. This kind of training indicates that no matter how much one wishes to separate these two aspects, they are not that separable. Every developmental act, be it the construction of a road or trade between one region of the country to another, requires proper knowledge of the government rules and regulations on a local and national level. How can local government function for the benefits of a small community when the national government itself is incapable of moving along the path of stability and incorruptibility? I wonder whether international organizations can establish institutions that can work with the government of countries like Nepal until it stabilizes itself and becomes capable of running the new system on its own. What I am asldng for is not continuous vigilance on and violation of a country's autonomy. We should work to establish an institution which will work closely with government officials for a short term to help a newly budding democracy support its citizens. �CONTROLLED The drug wars racial dimension By Erin Shadowens_, "A BIT OF common sense is overdue in public discussion about racial bias in the criminal justice system. The great debate over whether black men have been targeted by the criminal justice system or unfairly treated in the War on Drugs often overlooks the obvious. What is painfully obvious when one steps back from individual cases and specific policies is that the system of mass incarceration operates with stunning efficiency to sweep people of color off the streets, lock them in cages, and then release them into an inferior second-class status. Nowhere is this more true than in the War on Drugs" ( 100) . Michelle Alexander's book, "The New Jim Crow:' does not waver from a firm resolve that the U.S. justice system is racist and works to reinforce an American caste system in the same way that Jim Crow laws sought to in postreconstruction America. In her introduction, Alexander explains that the current debates about race often miss the way our institutions perpetuate racial divisions: "What is completely missed in the rare public debates today about the plight of African Amercians is that a huge percentage of them are not free to move up at all. It is not just that they lack opportunity, attend poor schools, or are plagued by poverty. They are barred by law from doing so. And the major institutions with which they come into contact are designed to prevent their mobility" (13). ALEXANDER begins with a historical overview from Jim Crow to the "War on Drugs:' While the historical background is helpful to understand the parallelism between what Alexander calls past and present "caste" systems, the centerpiece of her argument is the War on Drugs. Alexander looks at how the War on Drugs transformed how police investigate drug cases. The birth of SWAT teams points to the militarization of the police, which often use paramilitary equipment acquired through the federal governmenf(76). In addition to research that shows that "at least 780 cases of flawed paramilitary raids... reached the app ellate level" between 1989 and 2001 (raids that before the late 1980s were nonexistent), Alexander provides anecdotes that portray the human cost. "On May 16, 2003, a dozen New York City police officers stormed [Alberta Spruill's] apartment building on a no-knock warrant, acting on a tip from a confidential informant who told them a convicted felon was selling drugs on the sixth floor. The informant had actually been in jail at the time he said he'd bought drugs in the apartment, and the target of the raid had been arrested four days before, but the officers didn't check and didn't even interview the building superintendent. The only resident in the building was Alberta, described by friends as a 'devout churchgoer: Before entering, police deployed a flash-ban g grenade, resulting in a blinding, deafening explosion. Alberta went into cardiac arrest and died two hours later. The death was ruled a homicide but no one was indicted" (7 4). After Spruill's death, NYC hearings on SWAT practices found dozens of FRANCE ... Socialist Francois Hollande won the French Presidential election and came in just ahead of incumbent Nicolas Sarkozy on May 6. Sarkozy's second-place finish marked the first time in half a century that an outgoing president has failed to win a first- round vote, making it very difficult for Sarkozy to pick up momentum before the second-round election. The surprise of the night, however, was the unexpected third-place finish of the Front National's Le Pen, a lawyer and twice-divorced mother who has become the face of France's far-right. BUFFET RULE Speaking in Florida, President Obama, accompanied by billionaire investor Warren Buffett, proposed a new tax plan requiring individuals earning more than $I million a year to pay a higher tax rate. However, commentators have argued what the president has proposed as an alternative minimum tax is actually a disguised capital gains tax, which taxes wealth earned through investment. President Obama claimed that his proposed tax plan will reduce the deficit, while the nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office reports that the ((Buffett Rule" will raise only $3.2 billion a year-the amount the federal government borrows every 17 hours. .. TURNS LEFT France's likely leftward shift will have important consequences for Europe's continuing financial crisis. German Chancellor Angela Merkel has encouraged austerity measures to sustain Europe's collapsing economy, but other European Union members have responded negatively, fearing the effects of drastically ~educed spending. Sarkozy was an occasional, if reluctant, ally in Merkel's mission. Hollande will not be. He has proposed a European fiscal pact to promote continent-wide economic growth and a 75 percent tax on incomes over Im. JOBS CareerCast.com recently released its list of the ((Best Jobs of 2012." The site ranked 200 jobs from best to worst based on physical demands, work environment, income, stress, and hiring outlook. At the top: Software engineer, actu~ry, human resources manager, dental hygienist, and financial planner. The worst job of the year? Lumberjack. �working-class victims who "had received no follow-up from the NYPD, even to fix busted doors or other physical damage" (75), though that does not account for the frequent reports of verbal and physical abused suffered during the raids . FOR ALEXANDER, it is crucial that SWAT raids are not ostensibly linked to actual drug crime. The Military Cooperation with Law Enforcement Act, which encouraged the military to provide domestic police agencies with military intelligence and technology, created incentives for state and local police to prioritize drug law enforcement. Local law enforcement demonstrated its commitment to drug enforcement through drug arrests, namely by using SWAT teams to search public housing projects and instituting aggressive stop-and-frisk tactics. These methods were primarily directed towards low-income communities years before the "crack epidemic" was used as justification. Alexander cites a 2001 article from Wisconsin's Capital Times, which reported that every arrest "would net a given city or county about $153 in state and federal funding. Nondrug-related policing brought no federal dollars, even for violent crime. As a result, when Jackson County, Wisconsin, quadrupled its drug arrests between 1999 and 2000, the county's federal subsidy quadrupled too" (77). Financial incentives were driving drug arrests, not drug crime. ALEXANDER DOES not accuse policymakers alone for the explosion of drug arrests; in fact, the most troubling part of Alexander's book is when she argues that fourth amendment protections and the adversarial process have broken down in the face of the War on Drugs. Decisions such as Terry v. Ohio and Florida v. Bostick are emblematic of how federal courts have become more deferential to law enforcement prerogatives. Terry allows officers with "reasonable suspicion" to "stop and frisk" anyone on the street. Bostick goes even further by endorsing the warrantless searches of buses and mobile homes. As Alexander herself points out, effective drug enforcement requires such tactics, but "it is impossible for law enforcement to identify and arrest every drug criminal. Strategic choices must be made about whom to target and what tactics to employ" (101-102) . Drug enforcement tactics provide a license for racial bias. Alexander points to a media that is saturated with images of black criminals, which she links with the aggressive media campaign in the 80s to highlight the crack-cocaine epidemic in black communities. A 1995 study by the Journal of Alcohol and Drug Education found that ninety-five percent of respondents described a typical drug user (and drug dealer) as black even though in 1995 only fifteen percent of drug users were black (and the number has not changed much in the last fifteen years). Alexander doubts that the results would have been different if the respondents were all police officers and prosecutors. Furthermore, most cases rarely go to trial; they can take more than a year and often the charges are trumped up to force the accused to plea bargain. If the accused cannot afford bail, they can be forced to sit in jail until their trial; a record does not necessarily indicate guilt, especially if there is never a trial to test the accusation. The state has the power of bail and a congested legal system as a bargaining chip, and it can be an incredibly powerful one against members of low-income communities. ALTHOUGH ALEXANDER is scathing when she considers the more peripheral matters of her book, such as education and urban planning, her tone assumes a religious fervor when she deals with the failings of the criminal justice system. While the tone is fitting, since Alexander hopes to convert some of her readers to activism in this field, it risks alienating readers who are sympathetic to her cause. Alexander occasionally dabbles in conspiracy theory, particularly when she speculates about the relationship between the Reagan administration and Nicaraguan drug cartels. While the speculation might not be unjustified, it certainly detracts from the strength of her arguments, which othe'rwise utilize extensive research. It is clear that Alexander's primary aim is to argue that African Americans are the victims of the current system; she seeks to sterilize the arguments that try to blame the African American community for the War on Drugs and that try to justify the drug laws passed under Reagan and subsequent presidents. On these counts, it is clear that "The New Jim Crow" is a significant work; nevertheless, the moments where Alexander shifts towards speculation threaten to leave the book vulnerable to attacks that will obscure her central arguments. Alexander is most effective when she deals with facts, especially since her presentation is tightly tethered with well documented research. Even if one is not inclined to accept Alexander's assertion that the American justice system, as a purportedly colorblind institution, is broken, anyone who is concerned about the explosion of mass incarceration will benefit from this book. of the research, if applicable, to help ~hange E.PA labels and add cautionary mformat10n about pollinator risk. Although Dr. Krischik and many others have not yet completed their current studies of the family of neonicotinoids and their effects on Colony Collapse Disorder, it is already very apparent that the pesticides have a decidedly negative effect on both honey ~ees, bumble bees, and many other msects. Many crops depend on bee pollination for a significant percentage of their harvest, with almonds and cauliflower, and most fruits and berries relying on bees for 90% or more of their annual production. With the decrease in bee populations over the past decade, agriculture around the United States and other places in the world has taken a severe hit. According to an annual survey taken by the USDA THE CALL to "save the bees" is not a systemic insecticides, have become new call - we have heard it before. In some of most widely used pesticides. and AIA, beekeepers lost an average of 2006 the term "Colony Collapse Disor- Although developed to be less harmful 30% of their hives during 2010/2011, der" ( CCD) was coined to describe the to humans and other mammals than from all causes, including CCD. This increasing disappearance of the honey other pesticides, it appears that in high number is similar to the 34% loss in bee. Even before 2006, however, be- doses these systemic insecticides are 2009/2010, the 29% loss in 2008/2009 and the 36% loss in 200712008. With ginning in the the early 70's, much of extremely lethal to insects. s~ch significant losses in these preEurope and the United States had been In Dr. Krischik's lab, where I spent reporting significant losses in feral the past summer as a Hodson intern, c10us pollinators, it is lil<ely that the and beekeeper-maintained honey bee we designed and conducted research agricultural economy will suffer losses colonies. Many possible causes have for the beginning of a two-year grant between eight to twelve billion dollars. been posited, from verroa mites (fam- project on the effects of three of the Some even go so far as to predict that ily Verroidea) and nosema, a fungal primary neonicotinoids-imidaclo- there may come a time when certain disease of the honey bee, to malnutri- prid, clothianidin, and thiamethoxan. daily staples will be unavailable entiretion and pesticides. Some researchers The primary questions to be addressed ly, although it has not come to that yet. suggest that CCD may in fact be a con- over the course of the study continue Needless to say, the fate of the bee is glomeration of many problems that to be: what are the effects of neonicoti- in danger, and with it the agricultural have long been known to singly affect noids on the learning ability, behavior, economy and so many of the products we enjoy each day. It is hoped that the the honey bee. health, and memory of honey bees and There is one enemy that looms larg- bumble bees. The desired outcomes of results of studies such as those coner than others in recent studies. The this research ar~ to gain a greater un- ducted by Dr. Krischik and others lab of Dr. Vera Krischik at the Uni- derstanding of honey bees and bumble will lead to a better awareness of th~ versity of Minnesota's Department of bees and their reactions to irriidaclo- negative effect of neonicatioids, and Entomology is just one of the places prid, clothianidin, and thiamethoxan, perhaps a response from crop ownwhere research is underway to dis- to provide information to beekeepers ers, if not the EPA. Meanwhile, there cover the affects of a particular class and growers concerning these effects, are other researchers at work seeking of pesticides known as neonicotinoids. to develop lists of specific native nectar to develop a more genetically resilient Since their introduction in l 990's, ne- plants for natural resources manage- bee, who may be able to withstand the onicotinoids, a class of nicotine-based ment and, ultimately, to use the results pesticides, if the pesticides continue to be so widely used. BUZZKILL 1he declining welfare of bees By Julia Berggren, �. ·~ ---- · ~ ~ =-~;..;:. . .. . .. , ··' ' OPPOR TY COST A man against affirmative action By J. Keenan Trotter' LAST SEPTEMBER, at a scholarly debate hosted by the University of Wisconsin in Madison, a videographer captured a curious exchange, between a middle-aged white man and a young black woman, who were heatedly debating the future of affirmative action. As a lead- in to the video, which was soon posted on YouTube, the videographer included a question, posed by an off-screen male, to Roger Clegg, the President and General Counsel of the Center for Equal Opportunity, a conservative think tank headquartered in Falls Church, Virginia. "How can you escape the notion that getting rid of affirmative action is anything other than white supremacy?" the male asked, occassioning a number of encouraging snaps and hollers. Clegg, who is one of the nation's most vocal opponents of affirmative action, can be seen looldng down at his lectern, as if defeated. The video then fades to his response: 'Tm the person up here who is opposed to racial discrimination:' At which a loud female can be heard laughing, as though Clegg had delivered a punchline. The video then cuts to a black woman, seen in profile, spealdng into a microphone. "Earlier, you disrespected me by saying that you expect less of me;' she begins. "I have been dealing with that all my life" - at which point Clegg begins to speak, in protest, over the woman. At this moment the woman's voice, which is clear and measured, rises, almost breaks, as she extends an arm toward Clegg, her palm raised. Sensing the rising motion of the exchange, the crowd grows louder. A female voice says, "Let her speak! Let her speak!" "I did not say that, I said-" starts Clegg, whom the crowd's noise immediately drowns out. Soon after, the woman, now visibly incensed, lifts her arm again, interrupts: "Listen to me. Listen to me. Respect me:' Someone behind her places an arm on her shoulder. "Well, your first- " Clegg begins again, but again he's interrupted; "This is my ten minutes;' the woman says, her voice echoing throughout the meeting room. "Did I not just tell you to hush up?" Nervous laughter, contained by what seems to be the crowd's wariness to be seen as unreasonable, fills the room. She continues: "Now, like I said, I've been dealing with his all of my life. I'm the only black girl who graduated with honors at my high school. So I need you-you can expect less of me all that you like, but I'll let you know right now: me and all these other women and men in here of different diversities, we will do more . "Now, my question is: as you said earlier, you, Clegg, and Professor Church, said that [... ] diversity is going to increase, and European Americans are going to become the minority. That population's going to decrease. Don't you think that you're going to need affirmative action at some point in time, that you're going to be the minority soon?" The room roars with approval, and the woman shrugs and walks away. Hours before the exchange, which took place after a debate between Clegg and Larry Church, a law professor at the University of Wisconsin, hundreds of college students had marched up Monroe Street, in downtown Madison, toward Union South, the university building where the debate had been relocated, with short notice, from a small room at Madison's law school, after school officials learned that students \ Roger Clegg DRAWING BY SASHA WELM ·- �were planning to protest the event. "First of all;' Clegg began his rebuttal, "let me correct you on the premise of your opening statement:' "Think about your children!" a student shouts. "I did not say that I expected less of you:' "Yes you did! Yes you did!" a handful of students mutedly shout. "No, I did not;' Clegg says, his tone somewhat frustrated. "What I said was that a university that has double standards is implicitly saying that it expects less of you. OK?" Later, he continued: "I would hope that when the day comes that I am in a racial minority, I would hope and ex pect that I would not ask for preferential treatment. "I would ask to be judged according to my abilities and the content of my character:' Clegg's paraphrase of Martin Luther King's 1963 speech, delivered before the Lincoln Memorial at the March on Washington, draws something of a stunned reaction from the crowd. This includes the videographer, who in postproduction superimposed, in white lettering, "What???" over Clegg's right shoulder. And then the video ends. Despite the near-constant debate over affirmative action-which encompasses the various programs, particularly those in college admissions and employment, whereby racial minorities are given preference-Clegg's exchange with the young woman is remarkable for its rarity. How often do the heads of think tanks interact with those they completely disagree with? And how often are those individuals as young as the woman who confronted Clegg? Yet for all of t~e dialogues's passion, shared, in different ways, by the woman, the crowd that cheered her on, and Clegg himself, the content was eerily similar to the bombs thrown between far larger movements. Though Clegg and the woman experienced an unusual friction, not least because the woman called upon her personal experience, the two individuals, like most of the nation, were speaking right past each other. speaking teachers, they reserve most of their might for affirmative action-in particular, those programs which influence which students are admitted to American colleges and universities. Given his experience under Reagan, and the recent attempts to dismantle affirmative action at a federal level, Clegg has become the conservative movement's leading voice of dissent in racial politics. Clegg seems like a unlikely individual for conservatives to embrace as their voice against racial preferences. He is the graduate of two prestigious universities; he is also a white male who was born in pre-civil rights Texas, where, Clegg wrote for the National Review in 2001, he "grew up believing-and still believe-that Robert E. Lee was one of the finest men ever to draw breath, and whenever as a boy I fell asleep halfdreaming about the Civil War, always wore a gray uniform:' As the fracas in Madison demonstrated, his ethnicity and upbringing, along with his education, seem to suggest that his arguments contain, perhaps hiddenly, the impure motives of an earlier era. When you think about it, whatA closer inspection, however, yields besides protection from foreign almost the opposite impression. Though enemies-is more important to he frequ ently publishes in conservative our country's long-term health manuals like The National Review (from than making sure Americans are whose contributor list the magazine's not divided into racial or ethnic editor, Rich Lowry, recently fired two enclaves, but instead share funracists) Clegg's laser-like focus on race damental common values and see provides his writings a nuance that his each other and themselves as, first conservative peers either lack completeand foremost, Americans? ly or choose not to employ. For example, in the same column he The Center opposes "admission, hiring, and contracting policies that dis - admitted to believing that the Confedcriminate, sort, or prefer on the basis of erate commander "was one of the finest race or ethnicity;' "racial gerrymander- men ever to draw breath;' Clegg argued, ing;' and bilingual education, which, over a referendum to remove the Confederate battle flag from Mississippi's the statement argues, state flag, that "flying the Confederate flag is like hitting your silly martinet of a segregates students by national origrade-school teacher in the back of her gin, encourages identity politics, head with a spitball. It is teasing someand fa ils to teach children Engone when you know that the response lish-the single most important will be wildly disproportionate-which skill they can learn and the most is, of course, a big part of the fun." important social glue holding our Clegg's mix of empathy and honesty, country together leavened by his insight into the SouthThough Clegg and the rest of CEO's staff give their energy and rebuke to ger- ern subconscious, feels fresh for the birymandering politicans and Spanish- partisan notes he strikes: TO UNDERSTAND the conservative movement against affirmative action, you have to study Roger Clegg. A graduate of Rice University, in Houston, and Yale Law School, Clegg began his career under President Ronald Reagan, during whose administration Clegg served in the Department of Justice's civilrights division. (He later moved, under George H.W Bush, to the environment and natural resources division.) In a few years, Clegg joined the Center for Equal Opportunity, which was founded, in 1995, by Linda Chavez, who now serves as the think tank's CEO. Chavez, who is also a commentator for FOX News, held several offices in Reagan's administration (including White House Director of Public Liaison) before her appointment to the United Nations Human Rights Commission, which she eventually withdrew from, in 1997. The heart of the Center's prerogative can be found in a rhetorical question included in its mission statement: OBAMACARE The Supreme Court heard five-and-a-half hours of argument over ObamaCare (officially, "The Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act") in late March in one of the most important cases to reach the high court in recent years. Jeffrey Toobin, CNN's legal expert, called the arguments a "train wreck" for U.S. Solicitor General David Verrilli, tasked with defending the law before the nine justices. Because of the leanings of the Court, the decision likely resides with Justice Anthony Kennedy, who has earned a reputation as the crucial swing vote in several 5-4 decisions. Legal analysts say Kennedy seemed unconvinced by Verrilli's argument, aggressively questioning whether there would be any restraint on the federal government's power to issue consumer mandates should the individual mandate requiring all Americans to purchase health insurance-the chief controversy in the ObamaCare debate-be upheld. Moreover, Kennedy and Justice Antonin Scalia both expressed deep misgivings over the law's severability, by which parts of the law could be upheld and others struck down. Because the ObamaCare bill was not passed by typical congressional procedure, no severability clause was added. The Supreme Court's decision will be released this summer. Shortly after the Supreme Court hearings, President Obama warned that the Supreme Court would be engaging in an "unprecedented" act were it to strike down the law, prompting a three-judge panel on the Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals to require Attorney General Eric Holder to explain whether the Obama Administration actually believes the Supreme Court to have the power of judicial review. COLSON Charles "Chuck" Colson died on April 21. Colson was a close advisor to President Richard Nixon-commonly considered Nixon's "hatchet man" - White House special counsel, and a notorious figure in the Watergate scandal. Shortly after his departure from the White House, as news of Watergate broke, Colson began to attend a Bible study. Recognizing that his legal defense was inconsistent with his new Christian beliefs, he pied guilty in 1974 to obstruction of justice and served seven months in prison. When he emerged he became one of America's foremost voices for the forgotten, beginning Prison Fellowship, a nationwide Bible study for prisoners; the Angel Tree program; and an acclaimed weekly radio broadcast. His efforts transformed the United States, bringing attention and the hope of redemption to the condemned. GEORGEW. In a contest run by the United Kingdom's National Army Museum, George Washington was selected the most outstanding military opponent ever to face our transatlantic cousins. Stephen Brumwell, a British author and specialist on 18th-century North America, noted that it was not just Washington's military and administrative genius that defined him, but, "as British officers conceded, he was a worthy opponent:' Behind Washington: Irish leader Michael Collins, French emperor Napoleon Bonaparte, Nazi commander Erwin Rommel, and Mustafa Kemal Ataturk. �Perhaps the South was right in its argument about states' rights, perhaps the Yankees were moneygrubbing and brutal, and surely one can be proud of the gallantry with which Southerners fought. But we have to move on, there's no point in dwelling on past grievances, and certainly one should be an American first and a Son or Daughter of the Confederacy only second. The crux of Clegg's argument, here and elsewhere, is the claim that past injustices are unhealthy, even dangerous, to dwell on. "Yes:' Clegg has said, "slavery was wrong, but that is history now, and we must move forward as one nation, not try to go our separate, balkanized, grievance-group ways:' At the heart of the debate over affirmative action is the question of whether Clegg is right: whether attempting to alleviate the contemporary consequences of past wrongs-especially slaverypulls us backward, rather than pushing us forward. to work and share in society, to develop their abilities-physical, mental and spiritual, and to pursue their individual happiness. To this end equal opportunity is essential, but not enough, not enough. Men and women of all races are born with the same range of abilities. But ability is not just the product of birth. Ability is stretched or stunted by the family that you live with, and the neighborhood you live in-by the school you go to and the poverty or the richness of your surroundings. It is the product of a hundred unseen forces playing upon the little infant, the child, and finally the man. In his assessment of America's lack of opportunity for black Americans., Johnson was indisputably correct. What Johnson omits-why black Americans lacked opportunity-was, in 1965, rather obvious, in part because the reason was so unique. TI1e systemic disadvantange of blacks in almost every sector of American life, then and now, possesses a history and is of a scale without peer. The enslavement of Africans, WHAT IS affirmative action for? To who were auctioned off to immigrants ask this is to enter a long-running dis- of Western Europe in order to service agreement over the legal and moral America's booming agricultural econoaspects of racial preference. There my, is where this history begins. While is, thankfully, a fairly calm historical amassing fortunes in tandem with the agreement on what, exactly, AA policies new nation's rapid, slave-driven develare, or were, intended to accomplish. opment, slave-owners issued theories Affirmative action's original author was of white supremacy, under which they Lyndon B. Johnson, who in 1965 gave forced their human property into a perthe commencement address at the his- manent underclass.Following slavery's torically black Howard Uni ersity, in abolition, blacl Americans underwent Washington, D.C., during which he laid nearly a century of segregation, during out what he saw as the new struggle of which time the country's ruling class regarded them, in policy and culture, as a the civil rights movement: lesser form of human being. The racial policies of the Jim Crow This is the next and the more proera, so named after a famous minstrel found stage of the battle for civil show which featured a whiteman wearrights. We seek not just freedom ing blackface, ranged from humiliating but opportunity. We seek not just to devastating. These procedures were legal equity but human ability, not often so subtly implemented that their just equality as a right and a theory worst effects-near-total impoverishbut equality as a fact and equality ment being the most visible-seemed to as a result. come from nowhere. The Columbia proFor the task is to give 20 million fessor Ira Katznelson, in his 2005 book Negroes the same chance as every When Affirmative Action Was White, other American to learn and grow, provides ample evidence that, under Jim Crow, nearly every significant piece of progressive legislation was written in such a way that it excluded black Americans from benefitting, without exactly saying so. The reason that the Fair Labor Standards Act of 1938 excluded farm workers, Katznelson argues, is that farm workers were overwhelming black. ONE ANALOGY both affirmative action proponents (like the American Civil Liberities Union, the civil-rights exponent) and Clegg himself have drawn from is that of sport, where issues of fairness are most legible. Here is how Clegg phrases it: Suppose that there were a game between two football teams, and during the first half one of the teams enjoyed all kinds of unfair advantages-its players were allowed to cheat in various ways, the referees made all kinds of unfair calls, and so forth. As a result, the first team ran up a big lead. Then, after halftime, it was announced that from now on there would be no more cheating and bias-but the score was left unchanged and the opposing team was given no offsetting advantages. Clegg calls such a thought experiment, in which systemic unfairness results from a certain group's propensity to cheat, as flawed. This thinking, Clegg wrote for the National Association of Scholars, a conservative outfit, "reflects the Left's insistence that economics and race relations are zero-sum games. But whites and blacks are not in competition with one another, and the glory of capitalism is that everyone can grow richer." Is this true? For centuries, it seems clear, precisely the opposite was the case. Indeed, in the years between the country's birth pangs in Jamestown and the momentous achievements of the civil-rights move~nent, whites leveraged their own capital to enslave and disenfranchise blacks. This is, more or less, how capitalism functions; if wealth is merely another form of power-in Clegg's example, self-determinationthen -consolidating wealth into a specific race or class grants that race or class the ability to control others. But the aforementioned idea, that capitalism somehow enables racial progress, is not a new one. Speaking at the Atlanta Cotton States and International Exposition, in 1895, Booker T. Washington implored freed slaves to "cast down your bucket where you are" -by which he meant, his autobiography explained, "that political agitation alone would not save the Negro, that back of politics he must have industry, thrift, intelligence and property." Washington's speech prefigured what was soon called the Atlanta compromise, an informal agreement between white politicians and black leaders, whereby blacks agreed to second-class status, in politics and society, in exchange for vocational education paid for by whites. Washington's endeavor is especially relevant because of its most prominent critic, the activist WE.B. DuBois, who was vocal, even vociferous, in his disagreement. DuBois is a conflicted character not only in modern politics, but in the contemporary academy, for he counterpoises Washington's desire for economic enfranchisement with what is, in essence, culture assimilation. DuBois inveighed against Washington's belief that blacks ought to surrender their ambition to study the liberal arts (in order to focus on practicable skills, like woodworking and carpentry), arguing instead that intellectual development, not economic gain, would accelerate the betterment of blacks. 1he prolonged furor over affirmative action demonstrates the degree to which this debate, and the question of DuBois's legacy within it, remains tensely unresolved. Writing for the Georgetown Journal of Law and Public Policy, in 2004, Clegg suggests that DuBois would have criticized affirmative action, "because [DuBois] yearned for 'a morning when men ask of the workman, not 'Is he white?' but 'Can he world' When men ask artists, not 'Are they black?' but 'Do they know?"' "DuBois;' Clegg writes, "identified [that] prejudice limits what blacks can achieve, but black underachievement also reinforces white prejudice:' He gives DuBois what a'ppears to be the final argument on racial preference: Let us give the last word to Du Bois: "I insist that the question of the future is how best to keep these millions [of African Americans] from brooding over the wrongs of the past and the difficulties of the present, so that all their energies may be bent toward a cheerful striving and co-operation with their white neighbors toward a larger, juster, and fuller future." DuBois is model, yes, of Clegg's desire to see all races forgive each other for past wrongdoing. But DuBois asks how best to achieve such interracial amity. And in his disagreement with Washington he cannot be more clear. In his book The Souls of Black Folk, DuBois derides the whole of Washington's proposition, the content of which, as explained by the former, is strikingly familiar. Washington based his compromise' on the notion that the South's treatment of blacks is somehow valid; the argument that "Negro failure" arises from a lack of vocational instruction; and, in DuBois's words, the argument "that [a black man's] future rise depends primarily on his own efforts:' These represent the essence of Washington's apologia quite fairly. The last, in particular, hews closely to Clegg's assertion that races do not compete with each other, and that capitalism enables each individual, of every race, to flourish. "Each of these propositions;' DuBois writes, "is a dangerous half-truth": While it is a great truth that the Negro must strive and strive mightily to help himself, it is equally true that unless his striving be not simply seconded, but rather aroused and encouraged, by the initiative or the richer and wiser environing group, he cannot hope for great success. The Washington doctrine, DuBois ex- plains, allows whites, Northern and Southern, to "shift the burden of the Negro problem to the Negro's shoulders and stand aside as critical and rather pessimistic spectators:' He continues: "The hands of none of us are clean if we bend not our energies to righting these great wrongs:' WERE THOSE in favor of affirmative action-liberal Democrats, with few exceptions-to agree on a party line for racial preference, DuBois would easily provide a rhetorical muscle. But would he furnish a legal defense? Proponents of affirmative action, like the Madison student who sparred with Clegg, tend to speak with unselfconscious passion, which can, with an uncomfortable ease, shade into demagoguery. As Clegg has attested, there exists a remarkable unwillingness, on both sides of the debate, to talk about the legal dimensions of affirmative action. In an article published a few weeks after his appearance in Madison-the same article in which he discusses the football analogy-Clegg casts a harsh light on two curious contradictions that occupy the liberal case for affirmative action. "I have to point out;' he wrote, ... no one really takes seriously the claim that, for example, the "educational benefits" of "diversity" justify racial discrimination in college admissions; and [that] the Supreme Court has rejected .. . America's general history of past discrimination ... for [justification of] racial preferences. So, whatever its undoubted visceral appeal, the analogy is a nonstarter, legally. TI1is is an astute observation, and is easily exampled. In their current position paper, first published in 2000, the American Civil Liberities Union-a non-partisan though energetic champion of racial preference-calls affirmative action "one of the most effective tools for redressing the injustices caused by our nation's historic discrimination against people of color and women, and for leveling what has long been an uneven playing field." �Arguments on behalf of diversity, or cultural inclusiveness, meanwhile, are absent from the paper. The tension Clegg emphasizes here, between the rhetoric with which racial preferences and justified and the legal mechanisms that enable them, arose from Grutter vs. Bollinger, a 2003 Supreme Court case over the race-conscious admissions policies at the University of Michigan Law School. In a 5-4 decision, the Court upheld the permissibility of racial preferences. The decision's swing vote clearly belonged Justice Sandra Day O'Connor, who wrote the court's majority opinion, which concluded, "We expect that 25 years from now, the use of racial preferences will no longer be necessary to further the interest approved todaY:' That interest was not the redress of past discrimination, however. Rather, as O'Connor wrote, "the [Court holds] that the Law School has a compelling interest in attaining a diverse student bodY:' Here is where the contradiction comes to the fore. Compared to righting past injustices, a school's desire for a diverse student body is a profoundly different, and much weaker, defense. Only the latter, according to the Court's opinion, can justify racial preferences. But the practice of affirmative action, affirmed by the court's ruling, remained exactly the same. "''I am glad she is no longer on the Supreme Court;' Clegg told The Chronicle of Higher Education, when O'Connor, in an essay she wrote after retiring from the Court, that "25 years" did not consitute an actual deadline. Hence the issue's strange conversation, in which the ACLU exalts an unlawful justification for racial preference (while ignoring the lawful one) and Roger Clegg spends energy castigating a form of affirmative which no longer exists. IS THERE a way forward? Are we looking, several decades down the line, at the end of affirmative action, as O'Connor suggested, or something else? It's not so clear. "The argument;' the ACLU paper states, "that affirmative action is 'unfair' suggests that without such programs, everyone, including women and people of color, would be treated equallY:' But: Not even the most optimistic - or misguided-observer of our nation's history or contemporary society could make that claim in good faith. This seems right. It's difficult to believe that, behind Justice John Roberts' quotable assertion that "the way to stop discrimination on the basis of race is to stop discriminating on the basis of race;' there stands a noble conservative desire to lock hands with the victims of historical discrimination. In the same breath that conservatives mock liberal sensitivity to race, they ignore the reasons to be, indeed, sensitive to race. Here again DuBois (who, Clegg laments, "succumbed" to Marxism in his elderly years) is illuminating for his skepticism of Washington's plan to compromise. That compromise was, in essence, a promise to relinquish state recognition of black personhood in order to enter, and profit from, America's flourishing economy. But this country's economy, as Ira Katznelson points out, has been rigged against blacks, often in secret, for centuries. This remains, in part, a feature of capitalism, which allows individuals, under the auspice of freedom, to transmit their wealth (with much of its attendant status and opportunity) to their descendants. If, as Clegg and other strenuously argue, the descendants of slave-owners are not responsible for the condition of the descendants of slaves, then they cannot also be entitled to the ancestral wealth accumulated either with the labor of slaves, or in an economy which privileged the white, the wealthy, and the free-an economy, it seems obvious, still in place today. If wealth and status transmit, so do a lack of wealth and status. No one would call this unconstitutional, perhaps. Who, however, would call it fair? The unanswerable question remains this: does an equality of opportunity, does economic enfranchisement, precede, or succeed, progressive racial policy? No one today, after all, would have called LBJ's executive order "regressive:' Indeed, even Clegg, in a Washington Times essay, admitted that he "respected" the idea that an inequality as radical as America's required a policy as radical as affirmative action. But, Clegg wrote, "I respectfully suggest that times have changed:' Times have, indeed, changed. Affirmative action is widely credited with creating the black middle class. It occasioned, by his own admission, the admirable rise of Barack Obama, the nation's first President of color. It ushered minorities into industries previously dominated by wealthy white men. Is the question about when, exactly, we will be satisfied by racial progress? Are we hoping for some ultimate statistic in ad dition to Obama and other symbols of achievement? Perhaps. And, maybe, we will never get as far as we'd like, at least in our lifetimes, in our effort to undo the devastation wrought by America's most famous industry. THE KNOTTIEST question, however, belongs to the prosecution. Their two most effective arguments-that the progress achieved by racial preferences is sufficient, and that racial preferences are ineffective- are quite visibly, and intuitively, opposed to one another. Nearly any statistic about the welfare of minorities in America can be interpreted as a sign of affirmative action's expiration, or its impotence. The prosecution's concern is thus the same as the defense's: how to realize a nation's belief in equality, which is not only our nation's most central value, but its first. Roger Clegg and his cohort have taken an honorable mantle-ending racial discrimination-for which they should be encouraged and recognized. It will be their task, in the court of law and elsewhere, to demonstrate that saying we are equal, both in our most precious documents and in our daily life, really does mean that we are. An expanded version of this article will be published online, at www.epochjournal.org ,, )is C'o/o nn & ·~ c er 170 SHIKSHYA ADHIKARI is a senior from Kathmandu, Nepal. After graduation she will be teaching in Arizona at Great Hearts Academies. JULIA BERGGREN is a senior from Washington Island, Wisconsin. Last summer, she interned at the University of Minnesota's Department of Entology. ERIN SHADOWENS is a senior from East Grand Rapids, Michigan. After graduation she will be teaching in Detroit with Teach for America. IAN TUTTLE is a junior from San Antonio, Texas. This summer he will be an intern at The National Review. J. KEENAN TROTTER is a senior from Milwaukee, Wisconsin. �AT � Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. 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ANNAPOLIS, MD 21404 website WWW.EPOCHJOURNAL.ORG 2 THE EPOCH JOURNAL I n his bestselling prophecy of doom, After America, author Mark Steyn proposes a thought experiment: Consider a man, your average, no-frills American, living in these glorious United States 100 years ago: the Year of Our Lord 1913. As of March, Woodrow Wilson is president. Women do not yet have the vote. Rosa Parks is just being born. And in the category of cutting-edge technology: The zipper is patented. Drop that man, suddenly, in 1963. It's not just a different countryit's a different planet. Set LETTER FROM aside the nation's political THE EDITOR and social convulsions. Just consider the average house: It has a radio, a vacuum cleaner, a television. If he wants to travel, the nation is now connected by a sprawling highway system-or he can hop on a jetliner. Two years earlier the Soviets sent a man into space. Fast-forward another 50 years. Different planet? Not so much. The kitchen, the living room, the neighborhood look generally the same-most things are just smaller, handier. Telephones are cell phones. There is a sleek television not just in the living room but in every room. But there is a strange item on the desk: the personal computer. Fire it up, and inside is the Internet. Here is, probably beyond arguing, the great innovation of the last half-century. "There is no Frigate like a Book I To take us Lands away;' wrote Emily Dickinson. But she never had access to Google. Still, what is the Internet? It's a central knowledge bank, but discriminating between truth and falsehood is not always easy. It is a global message board, connecting opposite corners of the globe-or is it more along the lines of comedian Jon Stewart: "The Internet is just a world passing around notes in a classroom"? It is a crucial resource for terror cells in the Middle East, and home to Buzzfeed "listicles" such as "9 Reasons the Loon Is the Best Bird:' Struggling with the Internet's many tensions is the task of each of this issue's feature articles. Robert George ponders the Internet's predilection to smut, while Robert Malka and Evgenia Olimpieva look at the Internet's potential for bringing democracy to oppressed peoplesand the possibility that the Internet might end up oppressing them further. Our student reports take up these same questions-but from the perspective of the streets: In our case, from the streets of Istanbul, Turkey, where multiple St. John's students joined millions of Turks in this summer's protests against Turkish prime minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan. And rounding out the issue, Chang Liu takes a look at one of the most censored societiesmodern China-and how, for the first time in a long time, government policy is beginning to respond to public opinion. Information and disinformation, inspiration and victimization-you name it, there's a website, or thousands of websites, devoted to it. It's all online, on the Internet-out there, somewhere. The size of the Internet, the scope of its content, the innumerable possibilities for its application make it a technology that stimulates and challenges and frightens. That is a good reason to consider it carefully and cautiously. We hope this inaugural issue of the 2013-2014 Epoch contributes, in some small way, to that task . Like every technology, in the end the Internet ought to be man's servant, not his master. But whether that will be the case remains to be seen. -Ian Tuttle, Editor-in-Chief FALL 2013 3 �THE INTERNET "He Desired to Look" The Internet and Obscenity BY ROBERT GEORGE Timothy Treadwell, who spent 13 summers caught up with a childhood friend living with grizzly bears in the Alaskan this past summer while visiting wilderness until he and his girlfriend were my family. When we were young, eaten alive by one. Treadwell documented this friend was the only Internet-savvy his life with the bears, so their deaths hapkid in my small rural hometown. He was pened to be recorded on tape. In the docusteeped in and privy to a rapidly evolving mentary, Herzog listens to the audio, but Internet culture that I only became aware mutes the track to spare the audience the of years later. What did this mean? It meant experience. However, intrepid audio engithat he knew the best bands, the best movneers have amplified the muted track, and ies, the best websites. In our secluded town, now you can go online and listen to a man we received modern pop culture through and a woman get eaten alive by a bear. him. However, hand-in-hand with this My friend had watched the clip, and he cultural education came an exposure to related to me what he had heard: the sound unusually provocative content. He would the frying pan made as the proudly proclaim that he had watched "Two Girls One Cup" The Internet is bloated woman repeatedly struck the bear as it devoured Treadwell (an infamous viral shock-video with such content. before turning on her; the iniof women defecating and vomEvery type of violent tial terror in their voices, foliting on each other) and that it or sexual pornography lowed by the awful resignation wasn't as bad as everyone had imaginable is accesof their moans. He recounted said. He would watch videos . sible for your conthis to me with ease and comof atrocities and deaths, then relate them to us (not at our sumption at any given fort. These deaths had taken up comfortable residence in bequest). His air indicated that moment. my friend 's mind, and he did he recognized that these vidnot seem disturbed by their eos were extreme and obscene, but still he recounted them casually. These presence there. I could go on. The Internet is bloated videos had become an accepted part of his with such content. Every type of violent cultural life. or sexual pornography imaginable is acI wasn't surprised, then, that, seeing him cessible at any given moment. If you own again this summer, he had a new video to a smartphone, a library of such obscene relate to me. This time, the video was actumaterial is in your pocket at all times. How ally an audio sample taken from the movie do we account for the pervasiveness of this Grizzly Man, directed by Werner Herzog. material? Why is this what we choose to In the film, Herzog documents the life of I FEATURES 4 T H E E PO C H J O UR NAL FA LL 2 01 3 5 �show ourselves, to share with each other? haps, but still easily accessed), and once it What is it about the Internet that allows, is there, we vote on it with our views, clicks, and perhaps encourages, the propagation likes, shares, and tweets. With these votesof such content? online expressions of preference-we deAny ·attempt to answer these questions termine what we expose ourselves to and would be incomplete without acknowledgwhat we think others should be exposed to, ing the Internet's myriad faces and funcas well. Following the sway of these votes, tions. If the Internet were merely a forum equally accessible material is unequally for the type of content I described above, promulgated: Content with the most votes there wouldn't be much to say about it. Peois promoted over that with less. This helps ple who desired smut would go to the Indetermine what shows up in your Google ternet looking for smut. But it is, of course, searches, on the front page of YouTube, in much more than this. The Internet has creyour Facebook feed, and elsewhere. ated a new horizon of social interaction, So how do we decide what to vote on? It connecting people across continents and seems that our inclination to online content ways of life. These connections have made is guided by a personal lack. We are drawn accessible vast, untapped resto material that speaks to deervoirs of information, and sires in us. Our turning to the We are drawn to enabled us to document in a Internet addresses some permaterial that speaks new way the human expericeived deficiency, whether it to desires in us. Our ence. The thoughts and ideas is a lack of information or intiturning to the Interthat inspire us have never been macy, in ourselves or our envinet addresses some available to so many. Because ronment. We flock to political perceived deficiency, of this, our generation looks sites, feminist blogs, fetishist at the Internet with a culmiwhether it is a lack of forums, the Facebook profiles nating pride: 'We gave manof old friends, celebrity Twitinformation or intikind the Internet,' we declare, ter feeds, the imagined reality macy, in ourselves or patting our own backs. Most of online video games, lookour environment. remarkable is that while our ing for materials that satisfy pride is probably premature (it our feelings of deprivation. We remains to be seen what we ultimately do spend our time on the Internet attempting with the Internet), these approximations of to appease deep, multifaceted, complex dethe Internet's importance and relevance are sires: youthful curiosity, the longing for hunot hyperbolic. The Internet has changed man connection amid a lack of community, and will continue to change the way we a noble desire to stay informed, the urge to do commerce and interact, the way we review the obscene .... From our most virtuous member and think. desires to our most depraved, the Internet What has given the Internet such has content tailored to sate them. breadth of content and widespread acPerhaps the foremost desire to which the ceptance? Two things come to mind: the Internet caters is diversion. If you look at Internet's openness as a medium, and the YouTube's list of most-watched videos, you influence that we as users have over what are not going to find life-affirming exposes, we find there. Internet content is equal but the video blogs of political activists, or othnot equally treated. All material is equal er testimonials of personal achievement. in that it has a place on the Internet (illeYou will find sensational music videos, gal and grossly pornographic content, like Miley Cyrus twerking, adorable cat mashthat described above, is discouraged, perups, spoof trailers, ironic has-beens, sar6 THE EPOCH JOURN AL FALL 2 013 7 �castic up-and-comers, and all other sorts of gratifying time-wasters. The desires for diversion and community intersect in our decadent indulgence of You Tube's greatest hits. Such visual pleasures include us in this growing society of starlets and wanna-bes, a community defined by the ability of its citizens to point and laugh at the same thing at the same time. A speech? And isn't there license in it to do whatever one wants?" And "just like a manycolored cloak decorated in all hues, this regime, decorated with all dispositions, would also look fairest." Surely the Internet allows for the same license to express, and offers a similar rainbow of content. As for the kind of man who lives in such an indulgent city: If he has good luck and his frenzy does not go beyond bounds ... then he lives his life in accord with a certain equality of pleasures he has established. To whichever one happens along, as though it were chosen by the lot, he hands over the rule within himself until it is satisfied; and then again to another, dishonoring none but fostering them all on the basis of equality. ll of this will sound familiar to those who grew up with the Internet. Indeed, far from being the generation that gave the world the Internet, we are more likely to be remembered as the first generation that wasn't given the choice to opt out of it. However, by reflecting on At a certain point, says the mechanics that have beThe I nternefs demoSocrates, permission to satisfy come second nature to us, the cratic character makes any and all pleasures makes Internet reveals itself as a funit and us susceptible to us unable to discriminate bedamentally democratic institution. The classic philosophical the same consequences tween them: tenets of democracy are identicommon to the demo[The democratic man] doesn't cal to those upon which the Incratic community. admit true speech if someone ternet is based, something like says that there are some pleathe following: The highest end sures belonging to fine and good desires and some belonging to bad desires, is personal freedom in the form of freedom and that the ones must be practiced and of expression and freedom from tyranny. honored and the others checked and enThe best way to guarantee these personal slaved. Rather, [the democratic man] shakes freedoms is to give the citizens the responhis head at all this and says that all are alike and must be honored on an equal basis. sibility of self governance. As patrons of the Internet, we've been handed a similar responsibility for the content found there and By acknowledging the democratic naour relationship to it. ture of the Internet, we can begin to understand the pervasiveness of the perverse and But this means that the Internet's demo obscene material we find there. Uncomcratic character makes it, and us, suscep fortable though it might be to admit, this tible to the same consequences common to the democratic community. In Book Eight content corresponds to desires in us. Its presence in a public space reflects which of Plato's Republic, Socrates offers an image of the life of the "democratic man" and his desires we have permitted in our own perregime. Socrates' articulation of democrasons. In his recent Friday Night Lecture, Mr. William Braithwaite provided a forcy's failings can also serve as a critique of a mulation for obscenity (included here with culture gone increasingly online. Socrates' portrait of the democratic city focuses on permission): Obscenity is eros twisted by one who panders to our craving to touch the ugly the pervasive freedom found there: "In the first place, then, aren't [the citizens] free? in order to relieve an itch in the soul. The InAnd isn't the city full of freedom and free ternet is, in part, a record of which 'itches' 8 T H E E PO C H J O UR NAL desire to look upon the ugly. We turn to the we seek to satisfy and the ugliness we use to Internet for connection and for commuscratch them. nity. We accumulate hundreds of "friends" And this content is not viewed without to whom we do not speak, thereby degrad a consequent effect on the viewer. It influing the meaning of friendship. We spend ences what we permit into ourselves. To see more time arguing politics on forums than content treated with such equality teaches taking meaningful political action in our us to treat our own desires with a similar lives. The Internet supplies us with conliberalism. It tells us that any inclination, tent that temporarily comforts our sense any fancy, any desire that arises in us is as of lack, but much of that content is a mere worthy as any other. When my friend was image of what might give us real satisfaca young teenager, he desired a sense of cultion. The companionship of a close friend tural involvement. Since the culture he saw is not replaced by the agglomeration of the on the Internet did not discriminate, what thoughts of every person you could he learn except an unever met in passing. The intidiscriminating acceptance of macy of a loving relationship When will we have whatever site he happened cannot be manufactured from upon? And what could this looked our fill? the voyeurism of Internet porteach him but to not discriminography. A sense of place in nate amongst the desires in a community cannot be authentically rechim associated with this content? reated in a video game. Finding temporary As our eyes grow more accustomed to satisfaction online for what we lack in our what was previously considered obscene, lives only puts off the time when we must what kind of content will we create to satcreate and discover the means to authentic isfy our jaded vision? What will we look fulfillment in reality. • like when we lose the ability to discriminate between what is highest and lowest in the world around us and in ourselves? What will we look like when any attempt at discrimination is overcome by the desire to look at what should not be seen? To this last question, Socrates gives us a possible answer: I once heard something that I trust. Leoni- tus, the son Aglaion, was going up from the Piraeus . ..when he noticed corpses lying by the public executioner. He desired to look, but at the same time he was disgusted and made himself turn away; and for a while he struggled and covered his face. But finally, overpowered by the desire, he opened his eyes wide, ran toward the corpses and said: 'Look, you damned wretches, take your fill of the fair sight.' When will we have looked our fill? W e use the Internet to satisfy all manner of itches, not just the misguided F A LL 20 1 3 9 �THE INTERNET Power to the People? The Internet can drive democracy-but also its destruction. BY ROBERT MALKA Systems, such as 4Chan-but even those can identify you by your IP address. As long as one is plugged into the Internet, there is no escape from prying eyes. Yet when one attempts to reveal what it is governments do, the penalties are stupendous and unprecedented. One need only look at Edward Snowden, Bradley Manning, or Julian Assange to see what sorts of penalties are being meted out to "whistleblowers" (once an admiring, but now a ell, suffice it to say that in terms of pejorative, term). Surely all can agree that altering the fundamental infrastrucif there is no encouragement towards a ture of the Internet so that citizens have the check-and-balance system, then abuse will advantage, or can serve as a check on the flourish. Absolute power-and power of government, the ship isn't power over information has sailed. The structure of the The structure of the the most absolute form of powInternet is such that privacy er?-corrupts absolutely. is a gift of benevolent governInternet is such that So, in order to counter any ments; it exists by their grace. privacy is a gift of bepotential future abuses that The United States in particunevolent governments; come from this sort of free aclar has dedicated a massive it exists by their grace. cess to the world's informaamount of energy to ensurtion, one needs to work within ing that every smartphone is the system-or outside of it. To work within remotely accessible; the NSA can access means lobbying Capitol Hill and influeniPhones, Android devices, and Blackberry tial companies; provoking conversation phones. The servers of a number of major through media; and funding new technolocompanies-Facebook, Microsoft, and Apgies which might lend privacy a chance in ple, among others-allow the NSA access the future. To work outside of the Internet to certain information at any time. It's even would be to abandon it. To most of us, either worse than the average U.S. citizen might option seems impractical, however much guess. Per the New York Times: we care about the cause. And as this issue The [NSA] has circumvented or cracked becomes increasingly important in our daimuch of the encryption, or digital scrambling, ly lives, it becomes clearer that we need to tha gua ds global commerce and banking take action rather than make conversation. systems, protects sensitive data like trade seContact your congressman. Find non-profit crets and medical records, and automatically organizations which fight for your privacy. secures the e-mails, Web searches, Internet chats and phone calls of Americans and othBecause the very thing that allows one to ers around the world, documents show. discover and to create is the last thing that should be suppressed. • And the drive for more information continues . As communications become less and less anonymous, it becomes easier and easier to keep track of everyone's footprints. In fact, virtually no communications are anonymous anymore. One of the last vestiges of anonymity are anonymous Bulletin Board fewer total deaths than the amount of gun violence-related deaths in the United States alone. (Worse, the term 'Terrorism' is increasingly meaningless: Everyone from Tea Partiers to labor union bosses have been labeled "terrorists.") And that's not just dangerous-it's lethal. It's an Orwellian dream not so far from being realized. So what are we supposed to do about it? W I tent is deleted; and even in our own United f you paid attention to the "Arab States, 1.7 billion emails are downloaded Spring," the domino-like sequence onto the National Security Agency's servers of revolutions the Middle East two years ago, you might recall how commentaevery day, and every conversation over any form of media recorded and stored. tors, expert and pundit alike, spoke of social Governments, malignant or benign, take media as a key to regime change. It's no suran active interest in social media, and the prise that we're eager to demonstrate that the Internet is a democratizing force that reason is obvious: Social media sites, such conquers totalitarian regimes: The instituas Facebook and Twitter, have identifying tion of democracy is our modern Manifest information that governments can mine. A Destiny, our way of expanding American key word in a Facebook post or a dashedculture outside of our borders. off Tweet can be cause enough What, then, to make of the for legal action-and that's if The sobering evidence fact that the guide, produced your country has a functional continues: As We The and handed out to willing parlegal system. In other places, it People have gotten ticipants of the Egyptian revocould mean incarceration, tormore advanced with lution by its leaders, said on its ture, or worse. And, of course, the Internet is more than sofirst and last pages: "Do not use our technology, so Facebook and Twitter"? And have our governments. cial media sites, Text messagwhat of the fact that the Jasing can be shut down by governments in the event of an mine Revolution in Iran failed, "emergency." Emails can be freely accessed that the Arab Spring was crushed in Bahat any time by virtually any major governrain, that-beyond the Middle East-China ment (the U.S. is not the only country with quashes discord with an Internet police massive electronic surveillance data minforce? ing programs). A democratizing force, the The sobering evidence continues: As We Internet is, indeed-sometimes. the People have become more advanced with our technology, so have our governBut it seems, too, that the Internet has bements. In China, microblogs dominate the come a way to 'democratize' governments' ability to spy on citizens, whose governvirtual landscape, but the top dissenters get ments tend to justify such abhorrent behavblocked and jailed, and proxies (computer ior by calling their enemies and their acnetwork services which allow for indirect connections to other networks) are monitions "terrorists" and "terror threats." The tored obsessively-and frequently shut suppression of citizens' privacy is rationalized by a blanket term that accounts for down; in India, "depraved or corrupt" con10 THE EPO C H JOURN A L FALL 2 013 11 �BOOKS DREAMS AND DELUSIONS Evgenia Olimpieva D rawing upon memories of the Inskeptic. ternet-organized protests in Rus"Let them tweet and they will tweet their sia in 2012 1and watching similar way to freedom" is one of many popular net events unfold this summer in Turkey and delusions, and the first confronted by MoroBrazil, I set forth to pen an optimistic arzov. He reminds his reader about the events ticle about modern technology-and esin Iran in 2009, when thousands of Iranians pecially about the Internet, and its role in came out on the streets to protest alleged promoting democracy. My initial assump fraud in the nation's presidential election. tion: that freedom of expression and access News about the protests spread quickly to uncensored information are not only the online, owing to the fact that most of the building blocks, but also the instigators, of protesters were young people with smartdemocratic change. The Internet-the inphones. Morozov recounts the reaction of carnation of freedom itself, the megaphone the West: The general impression was that for the silent and oppressed, the supreme a "Twitter Revolution" was happening in facilitator of human communication-just Iran. Authoritarianism is doomed, argued had to also be the right hand of Democracy, optimistic observers, for people around the its handmaiden and herald. globe are now armed with tweets. In the course of verifying my intuitions, Never mind that the protests in Iran were I came across a book called The Net Delupoorly organized, lacked strong leadership, sion by Belarusian writer Evgeny and were opposed by a signifiMorozov- an expert on technolcant number of Iranians who ogy's social and political impli- WORK REVIEWED thought the elections fair. Igcations. A few pages in, The Net nore the fact that, as Morozov The Net Delusion: Delusion had changed my perputs it, "If a tree falls in the forspective entirely, proved my inThe Dark Side of est and everyone tweets about tuitions delusions, and rendered Internet Freedom it, it may not be the tweets that my former ebullient thesis noth- by Evgeny Morozov moved i "-that is, if the social ing more than idealism. unrest is happening in Iran and In the introduction, the aupeople are posting about it on thor recounts how he came to be interested the Internet, it might not be the Internet in the Internet's role in democratization: that caused the unrest, just as Radio Free Morozov, a political activist, once sought to Europe was hardly responsible for the fall promote democracy in Belarus by means of of the Soviet Union. Never mind all this, the "samizdat" of the 21st century: websites, and, instead, like Internet guru Clay Shirky, social networks, and biogs. This processpost on your Twitter account: "This is it. promising in words, but, as he observes, The big one. This is the first revolution that ineffective and even counter-productive has been catapulted onto a global stage and in reality-turned Morozov from idealist transformed by social media." and firm believer in the Internet's ability to This sort of thinking, says Morozov, is change the world into cautious realist and a perfect example of what he calls "cyber12 TH E EPOCH JOURN AL utopianism," "a na·ive belief in the emanthe availability of all kinds of free online entertainment1 from video games to porcipatory nature of online communication nography, to "dedemocratize" and "depothat rests on a stubborn refusal to acknowledge its downside." Apparently, not only liticize" their citizens. What do Chinese and Russian citizens search for when they neophytes of social movements and liberal face the abyss of information lying behind arts undergraduates are susceptible to the disease of cyber-utopianism. According to the search bar of Google and RuTubel? As Morozov notes in the chapter, "Orwell's FaMorozov, the world's top leaders, journalvorite Lolcat", "The most popular Internet ists1 and political scientists are not only susceptible, but among those most responsible searches on Russian search engines are not for 'what is democracy?' or 'how to protect for the spread of such delusional thinking. The Internet does not change the envihuman rights?' but for 'what is love?' and ronment that it is in but, rather, adapts to 'how to lose weight?"' The Internet might it. It is a tool that can be used be too big to censor, but there for both evil and good, de is no need for censorship in soCyber-utopianism: pending on the resources and cieties hypnotized by free en"a nai've belief in the intentions of those who use it. tertainment kindly sponsored emancipatory nature During the Iranian protests, by their government. of online communicafew observed that the Internet Still, The Net Delusion does tion that rests on a facilitated communication not not completely denounce stubborn refusal to just among the protestors but the possibility that the Interamong the authorities looking acknowledge its downnet can spur positive societal to jail those in the streets. The change. It does, though 1 call side." chapter, "Why KGB Wants You for an unbiased and thorough to Join Facebook," discusses how modern approach to the study of the Internet. The technology makes our personal informaauthor wants to draw our attention to the tion vulnerable to misuse and abuse. For complexity of the phenomenon at hand, and to the fact that its nature resists cateexample, videos of protests in Iran posted gorization as either "good" or "bad." "The on YouTube, meant to inspire and promote the democratic spirit, backfired: Faces were premise of the book is thus very simple: To tracked 1 names discovered, phone calls salvage the Internet's promise to aid the traced, and, as a result, thousands prosecutfight against authoritarianism, those of us ed and imprisoned-dreadful consequences in the West who still care about the future due to one video carelessly posted to Youof democracy will need to ditch both cyberutopianism and Internet-centrism," which, Tube. Morozov is adamant: The mere introductogether, add up to The Net Delusion. The future of the Internet depends on tion of the Internet into a non-democratic state is not going to magically transform it our awareness of its complexity and ambiguity. If we are interested in acquiring into a free and prosperous nation. On the contrary, as with any strong tool placed in the power to control, or at least predict, the wrong hands, information technology the consequences brought about by the can just as easily be a means for oppression Internet, then, according to Morozov, it is and general wickedness. The Internet has necessary to have an unbiased and deep a "dark side." Russian Neofascists use the understanding of the phenomenon, which Internet to locate minorities on interactive demands thorough scientific analysis and online maps and organize pogroms, while careful evaluation. • the Chinese and Russian governments use FA LL 2 01 3 13 1. I �THE MIDDLE EAST The Right to the City Yearningfor democracy in Turkey BY CEM TURKOZ S REPORTS 14 T H E E PO C H JOUR NAL ince the 28th of May, Turkey has or proposed in the last decade suggest, to a been witnessing nationwide public significant portion of the population, a moveprotests unprecedented in its his- ment towards an authoritarian, anti-progress tory. The protests, which have escalated into agenda. This has frightened the secular segviolent clashes in some places, reveal the la- ments of the society, especially the Kemalists tent discomfort of a significant portion of the (supporters of the ideology of Mustafa Kemal population with the ruling Justice and Devel- Atati.irk, who founded the Republic of Turkey opment Party (AKP), headed by Recep Tayyip in 1923 and served as its first president). They Erdogan. For the most part, the protests have fear that AKP is corrupting the fundamenfocused on public concerns tal values of the republic, and about a decade-long sequence "Turkey is secular, and that its efforts could result in a of regulations, legal reforms, secular it will remain." change in the nation's political and proposals by the AKP govregime-that is to say, a shift ernment, among them tighter from a democratic, secular restrictions on the sale of alcohol and a ban on state governed by the rule of law and foundall alcohol advertising, the removal of restric- ed on human rights, to an autocratic, Islamic tions on religious schools and Qur'an courses, state governed by the rule of shari'a, or Islamic and increased government intervention in law. A series of peaceful mass rallies against family life, from a campaign to ban abortion to the AKP government and in support of a strict a proposal to ban adultery. Erdogan has rec- state secularism took place across Turkey in ommended that families have at least three 2007 under the slogan: "Turkey is secular, and child en. secular it will remain." Additionally, the AKP government has been Yet neither these rallies nor the secular opprosecuting and imprisoning prominent intel- position in general have succeeded in defeatlectuals and critics of the regime, as well as ing the party. Voters have reelected the party dozens of current and former military person- twice; in each election, AKP's percentage of nel on anti-state charges. Erdogan's criticism the vote has grown. So it was not secularists' of various journalists has caused media out- fear that triggered the current protests in Turlets to fire anti-AKP staff, creating a culture key; the failure of their previous attempts had of self-censorship in the press. The European dulled their assertiveness. Rather, it was the Human Rights Court received nearly 90,000 resistance of a few environmentalists campcomplaints against Turkey for breaching free- ing out in Gezi Park in Istanbul, who refused dom of press and freedom of expression in to let the government demolish the park and 2011. replace it with a shopping mall. That day, May Almost all of the regulations AKP has passed 28, police forces used tear gas to disperse the FA L L 20 1 3 JS �protestors and burned down their tents. The wherein even diametrically opposed ideolomore oppressive the government's tactics, the gies could coexist. It was a place where the more the protests grew. The more the protests young and the old, the secular and the religrew, the more severe the government's tac- gious, the soccer hooligans, the handicapped, tics. environmentalists, liberals, nationalists, hoThe size of the protests increased rapidly, mosexuals, anarchists, and communists slept largely because of online activists' calls for side by side. Before Gezi, these groups had support against the police crackdown. The never found common cause. Now they had an number of sit-in protestors reached 1,000 in opportunity to recognize and acknowledge Istanbul, and within 48 hours the state was one another fully. engulfed by protests in several cities. Riot poThe camp had a hand-drawn map, a public lice turned Istanbul's busiest district, Taksim, toilet facility, a fully operational kitchen, an into a battleground, using water cannons and infirmary, a library, a stage, and even a veteripepper spray against thousands of protes- nary clinic. Although the riot police violently, tors. According to the Interior indeed desperately, endeavMinistry of Turkey, 2.5 million ored to disperse protesters The protests were not people attended Gezi protests who tried to enter the park, it just about a group of across Turkey between May 31 wasn't the police violence that trees. They were about startled me: It was the perfect and June 21. the personal freedom organization of the protesters he protests were not just in the park, their perseverance, of citizens whose about a group of trees. and, especially, their insistence rights had been taken They were about the personon resisting, not reacting. All away, one after anothal freedom of citizens whose protesters were unarmed. And er, over the course of a though they reacted as they rights had been taken away, decade. one after another, over the could by breaking things and course of a decade. People writing on the walls, they neiwho cared little about changes to the consti- ther attacked the police nor provoked them. tution or prohibitions on the sale of alcohol Instead, one can say that the primary weapon suddenly found themselves protesting on the of the protesters was humor. For instance, in streets. Perhaps there was something about response to Erdogan's description of the prothe demolition of a park-an area of land set testers as looters (capulcu) demonstrators took aside for public use-that made tangible the up the name as a symbol of pride, called themwounds that the government had inflicted on selves looters, and identified their peaceful reits people. The freedom to reshape or preserve sistance as chapulling. Penguins were adopted the city was tied to the freedom to reshape the as a symbol to protest the self-censorship of individual, and it was obvious to everyone that the Turkish news media that aired, instead of the government had just usurped the people's reports on the protests, penguin documentaright to their city at Gezi Park. ries. It was what the BBC called "an explosion As the protests grew, the incident devel- of expression." Protestors rebuked Erdogan: oped a number of unique and eye-opening "You're messing with the generation that characteristics. After police abandoned the beats cops in GTA," a reference to the video area, protestors blocked access roads to Gezi game Grand Theft Auto. Guy Fawkes masks, Park against a possible police raid with barri- dust masks, and swimming goggles were used cades of paving stones, traffic signs, and what- to protect against tear-gas. ever else they could find. Meanwhile, Gezi There were no party flags, no party slogans, had become a kind of utopian dwelling place and no operating party functionaries. The T 16 THE EPOCH JOURNAL FALL 2 01 3 17 �demonstrations had arisen from bottom-up Manifesting that the Turkish citizens had processes, and, in all likelihood, heterogeneity to have a share in the power of decision-makand the absence of a leading figure was exactly ing was the most important achievement of what the protestors wanted. They did not al- the entire struggle. They had to because the low anyone, any organization of any sort, to Gezi Park incident and the following nationlead them, to make decisions for them, even wide protests proved that Turkey is not one to play the mediator between them and the of those Middle Eastern countries in which government. In short, they demonstrated that a democratically elected leader can turn into they did not want to be directed or ruled in a violent autocrat whose word is law. The the truest sense of the word and in the noblest citizens had to because they had a social and sense of human freedom. political awareness that Erdogan had failed Yet the diversity had a frightening aspect, to perceive. They had to because democracy too. To me, the combination of circumstances and its fundamental values were inalienable resembled a war in which young souls from for them. These protests reveal that in just 80 myriad backgrounds, all with years Turkey's shift to democdifferent origins, different beracy has been completed. Not These protests reveal liefs, different ideologies, and just the laws, but, more importhat in just 80 years different dreams, pursued tantly, the people have become Turkey's shift to deone and the same cause. But democratic. mocracy has been what was the cause? Clearly, Nonetheless, the protests completed. Not just it wasn't to deter the governin Tur key have surprised not ment from demolishing the the laws, but, more imonly the prime minister and park anymore. From the slothe AKP government; we, the portantly, the people gans shouted, it sounded like generation scolded as apohave become demoeach group had its own delitical and apathetic, amazed cratic. mands, ranging from the canourselves. Masses of students cellation of some ongoing proved to everyone, but most construction to demands for sexual freedom importantly to themselves, that they can acfor homosexuals, for the legal sale of alcohol, quire and develop an active political character and for an end to Internet restrictions. But all when the circumstances call them to action. of these demands converged at one point: to Over the years, Turkey has faced several frustrate the plans of a deluded leader, to re- military coups. Were they necessary, we might mind him that he is not a supreme ruler, that now wonder? Or was the self-recognition of the land belongs to the people living on it, and an entire nation delayed? Perhaps democracy that the citizens have to have a share in the and its core values were more deeply rooted in decision-making power, especially when it Turkey than many people thought. It may be comes to the fundamental rights that underlie the enduring irony of Erdogan and the AKP's human existence: the right to the self and the increasingly intolerable rule: that its oppresright to the city. These protests demonstrated sion helped Turkey realize a side of itself that it was impossible for man to distinguish many would not have guessed existed. • and detach the city from himself. In this case the city was the site of history, within which men resided as citizens and actualized their being. They exhibited the imperishable interdependence between the citizen and the city. Gezi was not only a park, but a political-now historical-site. 18 THEEPOCHJOURNAL CAMPING IN GEZI: Two I PERSPECTIVES n the last week of May, a small group of environmentalist protestors camped in the public Gezi Park in the center of Istanbul. They were there to protest the "reconstruction" that was supposed to happen in the park: in place of the park, a mall, by the diktat of the prime minister. There are more than 80 shopping malls in Istanbul, over 30 in the construction phase. By contrast, there are only 20 in New York City. It was clear that Istanbul did not need any more shopping malls. On the third morning of this small group's camping protest the police walked into the park, burned protesters' tents, and seized their belongings. It was only after that morning that the entire country became aware of the plans for the destruction of the park, and the brutal actions of the police forces against the environmentalists were all that the country needed to explode. On May 31 of this year, more than a million people took to the streets to protest in cities all over Tur key. Two things were shocking to all: the brutality of police forces and the absence of media coverage. The mainstream media ignored the protests, but people came up with alternative ways to spread information. Social media was used extensively, and soon enough alternative TV channels started showing live streams from the protests. Because of the rough clashes of the protestors with the police, many people were injured and needed medical help. By the night of June 1, thanks to volunteer doctors and donated medical supplies, every big protesting area had a functioning health clinic. Meanwhile, the ambulances were carrying supplies of tear gas to the police forces. But people would not leave Gezi Park despite the police violence. On the contrary, within days the protestors were joined by folks from other cities, protesting in their local parks. Thousands of the protestors were arrested. Hundreds were injured. Many were blinded when police misused gas capsules. The first death happened on the June 4: Abdullah Comert, a 22-year-old activist. Nine others have died since because of police violence. On June 23, Prime Minister Erdogan congratulated and praised the police forces for their heroic action. I was there at Gezi Park at the beginning of June. At that time, the park was turned into a communal living area with discussion forums, art, and food available 24 hours a day. Donations were flowing to the park non-stop from everywhere in Turkey. For the first time in my life I saw a free restaurant and free cafes; I saw health stations unable to accept any more help or donations. Apart from camping at the Gezi park, I joined the marches almost every night, and experienced the energy of people determined to fight for justice in the only way left to them: getting together, making themselves heard, walking every street of Istanbul, and inviting others to join the movement. Many joined every night. Many others prayed for the protesters as they watched us walk through the streets. It was inspiring to me that the whole country seemed to be united in the protest. All through the summer, every night at 9pm hundreds of people would express their indignation with the political situation in the country by loudly banging the saucepans on the balconies and flickering the lights. Five-year-olds and 95-year-olds, cats and dogs-all were out there on the balconies, and this was happening all over the country. Unfortunately, I cannot say that this summer's protest movement has brought about FALL 2013 19 �tangible political changes. However, it showed the citizens of Turkey that opposition exists, that it is strong, and that people can and are willing to gather and express their views. For many supporters of the AKP, the protest was an eye-opening event; it shed light on the true nature and intentions of the ruling political party. The Gezi Protest was a movement created by the Turkish youth. I am proud of my generation for their lack of political complacency and their open protest against the unhealthy political system, which, unfortunately, persists still in Turkey. • - Gurer Gundondu When I set out on my trip to Europe this summer-you know, the one all semi-privileged kids take as a coming-of-age thing-I never expected to find myself in the middle of a violent protest. Alcohol, drugs, promiscuity, kidnapping, prostitution, sure. But tear gas and water tanks and staying in tents, protesting the unjust Turkish prime minister day and night, that is another story. That is my story. Or rather, I am a small part of that story. I arrived in Istanbul at the end of May, just as the unrest was growing. Fresh off the plane from Barcelona, where all I did was party, I was in the mood for something new. I went into the city to meet two of my friends from St. John's College- one Turkish, one Brazilianand when it was suggested that we go to the protests, I jumped at the chance. Just before I had boarded the plane, my dad had warned me over the phone not to go. But my curiosity got the best of me, and so I went, armed with flimsy pharmaceutical masks and swim goggles bought for ten turkish liras. At first it was all good fun, just another notch to add to my bedpost of experiences during my trip. Camping out in Taksim square in a tent, screaming out things that sounded similar to whatever the Turkish people were shouting, reading satirical comics about the 20 THE EPOCH JOURNAL government, blowing my whistle to the beat of the protest chants (incidentally, the rape whistle given to all freshmen at St. John's), dancing to the live music. But slowly, over my first week in Istanbul, I got to know the words and meanings of the protest chants, the number of people that had died for the cause, and how unjust the prime minister, Erdogan, had been to the Turkish people for the past ten years. My friends and I had to run from water tanks, fearing our safety. Fellow protesters told me about how they had been tear gassed multiple times. I saw the pictures-the ages and the occupations of the persons that had been killed in the protests. Suddenly, it wasn't just fun and exhilarating anymore, and when my Turkish friend's aunt asked why I was protesting, I knew exactly why: Human rights were being violated, and I had both a right and a responsibility to at least voice my indignation about it. There were beautiful moments, too. My friends and I tried to offer our services to the makeshift medical tents and the food kitchens at the protests, and our offers were graciously rejected because, according to the people in charge, they had a surplus of help, both of material and labor. When I accidentally cut my foot on a broken beer bottle, the medics patiently calmed me down (in English), and mended my injury, leaving me both grateful and awed at everyone's generosity. As I write this from the safety of my apartment in Annapolis, there is still great political turmoil in Turkey. Western media outlets have long since moved on to more eye-catching news about Syria and Egypt and wherever else. And while I do believe that these countries deserve their spotlights and wish them nothing but peace, I hope that this bit of writing is received as a small contribution for peace and justice in the country I fell in love with. • -JandiKeum CHINA The People's Republic Goes Nuclear BY CHANG LIU 0 ne day after a rare public protest, Chinese authorities said Saturday, July 13, that they were abandoning plans to construct a uranium processing plant in southeastern China, where residents raised concerns about its safety and potential environmental impact. The quick cancellation of the 37-billion-RMB ($6.lB) project is surprising, offering new insights into the influence of public opinion on the Chinese government's nuclear policy. A New York Times article on the protest leaves the impression that the Chinese government was merely reacting to a spontaneous and unanticipated shift in public opinion. It failed to mention the Heshan City government's role in setting up a series of public outreach efforts during the pre-development planning phases as early as October 2012. These included a visit to an existing uranium plant in Sichuan by a delegation of officials. After months of preparation, the government finally contracted with the China National Nuclear Corporation and paid 140-millionRMB ($23M) in compensations to peasants living at the proposed site. The pre-development phase included construction of a weather forecast station for data collection (whether this was the beginning of official construction became a problem later). The government posted news on the construction plan and even a blog post that welcomed comments and suggestions on its website, following up with continuous updates on the subsequent stages of the project. Additionally, face-to-face meetings with netizens were held and posters were made accessible to the public, explaining the clean technology employed in the project. Yet the government's effort to build public support for the project didn't seem to pay off. A majority of people found the notion of "nukes" objectionable and frequently cited the dangers of nuclear technology demonstrated by Chernobyl and Fukushima. Most of them ignored the few but knowledgeable voices in support of the government arguments: increased economic benefits and relief from energy shortages. The concern over nuclear technology escalated, when, on July 4, the National Development and Reform Commission posted online its "social risk assessment," an evaluation of the risks of key government investments to social stability. The local mayor claimed, "The project won't be approved unless agreed by the people." Thanks to the growing sophistication of Chinese social media technologies that have made it harder for the government to censor the Internet, numerous "Wei Bo" tweets (Sina Weibo is a Chinese microblogging service) called for protests. In response to the crisis, the government arranged several media conferences in which experts offered scientific and technical explanations, hoping to alleviate major concerns about the proposed nuclear plant. Those efforts did not stop the mass protest, and the government gave a firm order to cancel the project altogether. FALL 2 013 21 �government risks widening the knowledge gaps, or losing the opportunity for effective communication. The French government, by contrast, had some success in popularizing nuclear energy despite initial protests by framing the issue in ways that were culturally acceptable. The Chinese government could commit more to early public engagement to achieve effective science communication: Perhaps with appropriate frames and dialogues, a collective decision could be reached that wouldn't put experts and the public on a collision course. evertheless, in this case, the Chinese government clearly foresaw the potential objections to its nuclear project, then invited expert opinions and media coverage-all long before posting the social risk assessment, which is part of a structured initiative for systematically determining public opinion toward government decisions and improving government transparency. Unfortunately, this mode of communication still operates on the deficit model. It focuses mostly on disseminating knowledge to diverse, unengaged audiences. For three months between signing the contract and posting the assessment, the expert opinions reached officials, media, and certain interested citizens. Until the public comment period was approaching its end, a majority of the people were either uninterested or unaware. Behind this incident lie growing public concerns about increasing environmental hazards created by the China's rapid economic development. I would call the cancellation a victory for the will of the people, especially the rising middle class who consider themselves capable of influencing policies. In fact, the cancellation of the Heshan uranium plant is not unique: Among the 51,000 key government investments since 2011, over 900 were cancelled because they presented serious "social-stability risks," and 3,100 were modified. "The leadership of China decided a while ago that they would distinguish two kinds of N PHOTO BY NBCNEWS eflecting on the chain of events, it is clear concerns: 1. "I just don't like the prospect of a nuthat the government's constant attempts clear plant here. No matter how much to claim authoritative scientific knowledge you maintain it is safe, Fukushima and were based on the assumption that, because Chernobyl told me: The (disastrous) afthe general public knows little about the reltermath can be too serious." This fear evant scientific matter at stake, education will reflects the frame that nuclear energy naturally will naturally dispose them to agree is a "Pandora's Box," liable to have irrewith any project involving science and techversibly disastrous effects. nology. This assumption (from the famous 2. "Even though the government claims "deficit model," which attributes public skepthat this plant is harmless and 100 perticism or hostility to a lack of scientific undercent safe, we just don't trust them .... standing) is severely challenged in this case, We're already scared to drink the wawhere presenting pure scientific facts failed ter. Maybe it will be okay for this gento convince the public. erations, but what about the next?" Research in science communication has Past government mismanagement of shown that "science literacy plays a limited environmental and food safety issues role in public perceptions and decisions." remain sticking points, making the pubDespite the government's efforts to educate, lic accountability frame very effective. and its sincerity in communicating, fear and distrust in the technology or the government By adhering to the deficit model, instead of (or both) dominated the public consciousness, forming two dominant narratives, or "frames," discerning existing public values and utilizbridging the technology issue and the public ing preferred communication channels, the R 22 THE EPOCH JOURNAL protests," an adjunct professor at the Chinese University of Hong Kong observed. They will crush those perceived as anti-government or anti-Communist Party, while telling local governments to compromise on demands that are environmental or economic in nature, he said. This might explain the fact why the illegal protest was not touched at all. Acknowledging the growing influence of China's civil society, the government has become more accountable and shown increasing sensitivity to public concerns in environmental and technological issues. The important point to note here is that a fuller account of the events leading up to the cancellation portrays an image that is quite different from a stereotypically top-down, authoritarian policy-making system, where no protest would be tolerated (or reported). This cancellation indicates the slowly growing influence of public opinion on China's policymakers and experts- and, what is more, it is a trend to an extent facilitated by the government. • [The above article was origi.nally printed at the blog of the Expert & Citizen Assessment of Science & Technology. It is available at http:// ecastnetwork.wordpress.com/ 2013/ 07/31/ between-beijing-and-the-expert-is-pubic-opinion-changing-china/. It has been modified for publication here.] FALL 2013 23 �. ST. JOHN'S COLLEGE LIBRAR Y th e EP.0 CH . JOURNAL Fall 2013 l~li~i1 rlil lil~f IIIIIllllllll lllll lliiil 1111Iii111 11111 3 1696 01165 4041 VOLUME VII ISSUE 1 DATE DUE _ _ _I i I "HE DESIRED TO LOOI(: The INTERNET and OBSCENITY by Robert George POWER TO THE PEOPLE? by Robert Malka plus DEMOCRACY IN TURI<EY and A REVIEW of EVGENY MOROZOV'S "THE NET DELUSION" � Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource Epoch Journal Creator An entity primarily responsible for making the resource St. John's College Contributor An entity responsible for making contributions to the resource St. John's College Greenfield Library Text A resource consisting primarily of words for reading. Examples include books, letters, dissertations, poems, newspapers, articles, archives of mailing lists. Note that facsimiles or images of texts are still of the genre Text. Page numeration Number of pages in the original item. 24 pages Original Format The type of object, such as painting, sculpture, paper, photo, and additional data paper Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. 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Creator An entity primarily responsible for making the resource Villmow, Grace (Editor-in-Chief) Publisher An entity responsible for making the resource available St. John's College Coverage The spatial or temporal topic of the resource, the spatial applicability of the resource, or the jurisdiction under which the resource is relevant Annapolis, MD Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource 2019-March Rights Information about rights held in and over the resource St. John's College owns the rights to this publication. Type The nature or genre of the resource text Format The file format, physical medium, or dimensions of the resource pdf Language A language of the resource English Identifier An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context Epoch Journal Winter 2019 https://s3.us-east-1.amazonaws.com/sjcdigitalarchives/original/8adb3df25e6ed422f1870eadfd87520b.pdf fb62f109583ced50ce5bd558f91bc119 PDF Text Text EPOCH JOURNAL THE V OLUME I SSUE I Faff 2019 Democracy: a Privilege that Bangladesh Cannot Afford by Nobonita Chowdhury Southern Identity and Independence ... but not the south you're thinking of I 13 by Andrew Hill plus Absalom! by Joseph Richard VOLUME �Letter from the Editor the EPOCHJOURNAL FALL 2019 VOLUME more. xrn, ISSUE 1 © 2019, The E poch Journal disclaimer The E poch Journal IS PRODUCED AND DISTRIBUTED IN ANNAPOLIS, MARYLAND. OPINIONS EXPRESSED IN ARTICLES OR ILLUSTRATIONS ARE NOT NECESSARILY THOSE OF THE EDITORIAL BOARD OR ST. JOHN 'S COLLEGE. advertising PLEASE CONTACT EPOCH@SJC.COM FOR INFORMATION ABOUT ADVERTISEMENTS mailing address ST. JOHN' S COLLEGE 60 COLLEGE AVE. ANNAPOLIS, MD 21404 submissions ARE YOU INTERESTED IN WRITING FOR THE EPOCH JOURNAL? WE ARE CURRENTLY LOOKING FOR EDITORS, COLUMNISTS, AND GENERAL SUBMISSIONS - FOR MORE INFORMATION , CONTACT THE EDITORS AT EPOCH@SJ C.EDU. website WWW.EPOCHJOURNAL.COM THE EPOCH JOURNAL EDITOR-IN - CHIEF Grace Villmow LAYOUT EDITOR Raz Darrow EDITORIAL BOARD Ece Tuglu Gavin Lancaster Joseph Padgett Alberto Valenzuela Avinash Kumar John Monday CONTRIBUTORS Nobonita Chowdhury Andrew Hill Reuben Morris Joseph Padgett Joseph Richard James Rubidge © 2019, The E poch Journal We pay too much attention to leaders. I don't want to hear about leaders any- Let me elaborate. I recieved an email from the school a few weeks prior to writing this, addressed to the "movers and shakers" of the senior class. It was from a well-meaning woman from the alumni association who had gone to everyone she could think of: the dean, career services, Chris Krueger. Everyone except the tutors, I guess. So we were called upon, about twenty-five of us in total, to help the school facilitate our transformation from student to alumni. Most of us were uncomfortable. Those who weren't should have been. I had no friends in that room, I didn't expect to. I don't hang out with movers and shakers, or at least, I don't hang out with these ones. They were the usual suspects, you know who they are. A disproportionate number of sports-ball captains, big-name party club archons, and legacy students compared to the rest of us. And they're great, they really are. We had a good conversation. I wish I could say in good faith that we accurately represented the senior class, but we didn't. We go to one of the last schools in the world that don't treat education as vocational training. Why, then, did they only call upon students who were known particurlarly for non-academics? The people who make this school what it is went unrecognized, and they went unrecognized because we've forgotten what matters. They come alive in the classroom. That's where it matters. They don't treat St. John's as a stepping stone; they treat it as an end in itself because that's exactly what it is. Stop calling them room johnnies like it's a bad thing. Maybe you should spend some time alone. Real leaders, real powerful forces for good don't seek glory, and so they rarely get any. But answer this question: would it have been better if Christ rode into Jerusalem on a valient steed with a flaming sword? No. The donkey means more. You don't need a steed. The things you need are so much greater than you are. Seek to listen. We do good as instruments of God, not of ourselves. That's why politics corrupt. This has been a message from your beaten-down editor. You won; I'm the bad guy. Does that make you good? Sincerely, Grace Villmow (A'20), E ditor-in-Chief VOLUME XII, ISSUE I I WINTE R 2019 �Contents 5. On the Nature of the State and its Relation to the Church Joseph Padgett (A'23) 9. On Factionalism in the Federalist Papers James Rubidge (A'20) 14. Democracy: A Privilege that Bangladesh Cannot Afford Nobonita Chowdhury (A'21) 16. Southern Identity and Independence Andrew Hill (A'21) 23. Absalom! Joseph Richard (A'22) 28. All that Appears is Good Reuben Morris (A'20) THE EPOCH JOURNAL Societies that are or claim to be demo- prescribe laws to establish the state, and prescribe cratic or representative of the desires of their peo- through the state. Some people may have separate ple, seem often to embrace secularism, so as to sets oflaws apply to them, such as feudal lords or be impartial on the subject ofreligion, by which I foreigners with visas, but all have laws applied by am somewhat vexed. I see secularism as a disclu- a specific state to them. This body to whom laws sion of the church from the state. For what does are prescribed I shall call society. Societies may separation of these entities entail in democracy therefore overlap, but all societies have a state, and representative government? Why is it the na- because they are defined by the laws applied to ture of the state, or perhaps that of a good state, them by the state. The state consists of members of its sothat it be separate from the church? What is the nature of the church that it ought to be separate? ciety, and laws apply both. For even in dictatorIs there not some level of contradiction between ships there are invariably laws that apply to the secularism and democracy in a society with any people, or persons, that is, the people part of the members of a religion? The nature of the state is state. How the law applies may vary in nature, complex, however, though I might divide it into but that it applies, is constant. This is because the two general parts: a state has people and a state mere fact of prescribing any set of rules or rehas laws which are less physical. strictions is law. Even in cases such as the absenA state cannot exist without people. This tee papal fiefs in England, the Italian churchmen is because the purpose of the state lies in its peo- still demanded a regular flow of income to themple, as the purpose writing lies in its readers. That selves. And by including themselves in this law, is, the state exists in relation to people. This rela- the included themselves in that society. In most tionship cannot be defined without law, for it is cases, the people in states more obviously come law that determines both how and to who the state from society, whether by election or nationality or some similar means. In addition, the state, conhas a relation, and what sort of relation that is. Law defines the relationship of the state taining these people, prescribes laws which relate to people. Laws are sayings, orders, imperatives, to society. Therefore, to some extent, the state with the implication of obedience by the people represents society because it influences society under the state. But it is not this simple. The state with law. Here I must here digress, because influsays, but indeed how the state may say such laws is itself prescribed by law, often in the form of a ence may be made in two forms . Society influencconstitution. It is in this way that the state relies es law, and law influences society. It is difficult on people, for ultimately, it is people who must to describe how both influences work together VOLUME XII, ISSUE I I WINTER 2019 �as one, but it is clearer to see how they work together when viewed separately. Such influence on both parts is also on a spectrum and varies by degree in stead of dividing into a dichotomy. Society influences law. This is done when a member of society also becomes a member of the state, where new laws apply to that member governing what the member's relation is to making law. Being still part of society then, the laws that derive from that member are influenced by society. The opposite case is anarchy, where there is no law for society to influence. The spectrum then lies in how much of society has influence over laws, for in some societies only a few people may have direct influence. Law influences society, because society follows law. If there were no society, law would be nothing, for it would apply to no one. When members of society do not follow particular or general laws, the law loses influence over them, because they do not follow it. It might be said then that there is a correlation, that as society (as a whole) has influence over what law is, law has less influence over society. This estrangement can not lead anywhere good for society or the state, as each relies on the other to exist. Members, however, make up society, and they are in no wise homogenous in their thoughts, which complicates the process by which societies relate to laws. A dead law is one that no one follows, and thus living laws are ones that are followed. Likewise in society, a law may be more or less a living law as judged by how much it is followed as a proportion to the number of people in the society. However, in a society, it is possible that some individuals will disagree with the members of the state who determine laws. It is further possible that they would not follow the laws proposed by these members, for reasons profound or trite. Conversely, whether or not a law is prescribed by the state, it may still be observed by society, or a large portion of its individuals and thus be very alive. This sort of law prescribed by society I shall call custom, to distinguish it. Then it is clear that all laws are not dead or alive to the same extent as each other. It is society, it seems, which plays a much more THE EPOCH JOURNAL definitive role in the health of law. For if states do as they often do, they will remove someone who violates a law from society, acknowledging that it is the society that has influencing power. In some ways this weakens the law and in others it strengths it. The removed individuals usually suffer a restriction of action, though sometimes they are simply exploited for revenue through fines. It seems important to now, at least briefly, discuss the concept of enforcement, which both state and society may employ when laws or customs are broken. It seems that enforcement has two manners by which it may be reconciled. The first is through material compensation, whereby an individual gives up possessions to heal the breach between themselves and the law or custom. The other method is to remove the individual from society, presumably until they have understood the nature and gravity of their violation, and maybe reconciled it, though the motive is neither consistent nor clear. When this occurs, society grows smaller, and the law both weaker and stronger. The law appears stronger to those in society, for an individual has been prevented from violating that law, but it may also be considered weaker, if the individual never re-enters society proclaiming their obedience to that law. But if the individual is removed into a separate society within the primary society, usually a prison, then they come under the influence of a new separate set of laws, and indeed under a new and separate state. This seems to me to run counter to any ideas of re-including such individuals in society, especially if such individuals are set against obeying laws prescribed by the state. Here is where the church may debut. I would posit that making the state secular in a society that contains churches is inviting weakness into law, and thus into society and the state. A church is, however, a society of sorts unto itself, or can be, mine is less so, but in some religions the customs are quite temporal, such as dietary restrictions and prayer times. I mean this in that they limit behaviour. Individuals in a church I think are of the mind to favour their church over society in matters of custom and law, favouring divine wisdom to that of society. Thankfully, these can often align in laws, but sometimes they will contradict. This is especially the case in a secularised state, where declining to pass or supporting laws based on religion is decried, and the church, despite being made up of individuals who are also members of society, is driven from the state wholly. I think that is a mistake, at least in a democratic society, one that claims to reflect the wishes of its individuals. A democratic society proclaims as its chief virtue its listening to the will of the people, which is accounted by my depiction of society and its individuals. If these individuals are members of the church, it follows that the church should be included as part of that society, at least partially, for churches tend to span across states, rather than stay with a single state. It seems to me that a separation of church and state would either require a separation of the church's society from the church, which seems difficult to effect, or a separation of the church's society from the society associated with the state, which also seems difficult. Both also seem to potentially violate the wishes of the individuals who have chosen to be a member of both societies. Both indeed seem undemocratic. For the one which separates members from the church would need to declare so by law, that •is, through the state. If this were against the wishes of the members of the church, it would then violate that democratic principle. In the other method, again through state action, the church society could be cut off from the rest of society, but this again might contradict their wishes, and so be undemocratic. It seems then that the democratic state must relate to the church in some other way then, unless it seeks change in its law and society, for changing one would change the other. The art of statecraft is not in rejecting parts of society, but instead in discovering how to reconcile contradictions that might arise, which I suppose I shall now explore. I have encountered in history several ways to resolve differences in individuals that arise through society. I have observed the aforementioned methods, expulsion and forced renunciation, as well as majoritarianism, inde- pendence, and subdivision. Expulsion and forced renunciation seem to me generally distasteful, and are both difficult to effect. For I have previously somewhat ignored custom, but within society, among its individuals, custom forms sub-societies, and the church might be considered one even, and these subsocieties overlap a great deal, such that to rend these sub-societies is to generally rend and tear society, which weakens society and law. Forced conversion pushes the conflict from intra-societies to the individual themselves, which still has a similar effect, if some do not renounce, which is usually likely. Even then, some may continue to hide the customs they renounce, which hurts the law rather than helping it, and scarcely remedies the fractured nature of society, with some living with and others violating certain laws. Majoritarianism is a mistake, for it is simply the use of a majority among members of a state to impose a law upon society which will necessarily, by nature of its majoritarianism comes with a minority, and so majoritarianism is a means by which a state may resort to forced renunciation or expulsion. Independence is an interesting idea, whereby the religion is treated as separate society and given special accommodations to that end, such as reserved places in the government. It instead seems to add separation within the state, which I suppose could be fine. This however may invite more problems, for though churches are easier to delineate, why should they alone of all subsocieties be privileged with independence and special considerations? Thus in measure the idea could work, but in practice, some sub-societies must be excluded, or else the state will be confusing mess, for the whole problem of separation of church and state arises from potential contradiction between different law giving sub-states. For it makes sense, if every society has a state, that every sub-society has a sub-state, which prescribes its laws or customs, the two being similar enough as far as prescription. And while this is partially a question for the individual, to determine their society, it is also a question of how a state should prepare to deal with such interactions. Note well that determining society VOLUME XII, ISSUE I I WINTER 2019 �is a sort of calculation, and that an individual cannot willingly disassociate from others within in its own state without themselves disassociating from their own state. This is also how much of the difficulty arises, for a member of a society is put into great distress when to states they are in issue contradictory laws. This is why I favour the last method, which avoids the problem as much as possible on the states, and minimises discord when such conflicts become unavoidable. For indeed, they can become unavoidable if an individual resolves to simultaneously follow the associate with two states in a state of contradiction. I would propose first two types of societies. Some societies are formed by geographical association, and others by common interest. It is possible that societies may be both, but it is one foremost, in all likelihood. For a geographic society is one in which the members reside and exist in close proximity, such that they either do meet or could meet regularly and often, and indeed should. Societies of interest are closer to sub-societies, being unbound by physical proximity, and instead bound in some way tied with the soul, or the mind. It follows then that there is a special sort of state for each type of society, since societies form states. States in the more political sense tend form around geographical societies, and I would continue that trend, for I con- T H E E P OC H J OU R NAL sider it most conducive for dispute resolution to know and be familiar, as friends , with those who make up the society which one might come in conflict with due to other societies one might be in. I would recommend making political stats as small as possible indeed, or, if they must be large, making the large one weak in making law, which becomes more controversial simply by virtue of being exposed to greater numbers of members of its society. Then, a more true democracy might be achieved. I would also avoid making the state a society unto itself, with so many members that it must provide law prescribing a separate set of actions unto members of the state. For when the members of the state are members of their geographical society, they may more easily perceive the feasibility of the law they prescribe, and how alive it would be. For an ideal law would be universally accepted in its society and outside of it, and it would be most alive. But the essence statecraft is not the ideal law though, but instead, the ideal society. For the law flows from society and lives through it, and a bad but universal law would still be bad. Thus it is better that the society be good, to its members and others, and the members of the state should reflect that, as individuals recommended by society to provide society with law. Photo: Public Domain When I read The Federalist Papers, I found the authors' criticism lackingand overly optimistic. The authors dismiss complaints about the Constitution with a hand-wave instead of a rebuttal. I found this frustrating, as many of these weak arguments were on topics that concern me, as a citizen, primarily regarding the representation of the people and the limits to the powers of government. This discussion will analyze the two problems of factionalism and tyranny, and their solutions, or the lack thereof, as presented in The Federalist Papers. First we will criticise Article 1 Section 2 of the Constitution. It lays out the structure of the House of Representatives, where each state will elect representatives proportional to the population. The proportion specified is one representative for no more than 30,000 citizens. However, the House is in charge of itself-it may alter itself and change the proportion of its own representation. By increasing the proportion, we can prevent the number of Representatives from expanding to an unmanageable size as the population grows. The changing proportion is necessary, for without it the system could become unbalanced. The necessary balance is that the representatives must be raised to a certain number in ' order to guard against the cabals of a few; and that, however large it may be, they must be limited to a certain number, in order to guard against the confusion of a multitude. In other words, the government must be accessi- ble and easy for the citizens to comprehend. From the perspective of the legislature, having so many people to convince to vote one way or another on any issue would be a nightmare. The House is intentionally designed for this inefficiency, compared to the Senate. The Senate 's representation is two per state, which guarantees that this branch will always be smaller and thus more manageable and efficient than the House. It is the Senate's job to represent the States, not the people, which is why the number of representatives is not influenced by the population. There must be an upper limit on the number of Representatives to limit the inefficiency of the House and prevent the confusion of the people. With too many Representatives there would be no incentive to vote based on the needs of the nation as a whole---each Representative's congressional district would be so small that local concerns would override a national perspective. With too few Representatives, the number of citizens each Representative represents would be so great, that the Representatives would have so little attachment to their constituents that they would not consider the possible harms done to their constituents. Thus, there must also be a lower limit to the number of representatives. A balance between these two extremes is necessary to maintain a proper representation of the people. The members of the legislature would always want to be as efficient as possible, to increase their ability to pass legislation. Thus, the House VO L UME X II , I SSUE I I WI NTE R 20 19 �i of Representatives' goal would be to decrease its membership as much as possible. This would lead to a disconnect between the Representatives and the represented. Instead of prioritizing efficiency, the intention of the House should be to keep the most proper proportion possible to the people. Once there is a separation between the Representatives and the represented, the Representatives no longer care for those they represent. There would be no way to convince the House to return to a proper proportion aside from revolt, except perhaps the interference of another governmental branch. If another governmental branch had such a power to interfere this would make the one a proxy of the other. The loss of appropriate proportionality could happen by accident, if the House does not keep up with the changing population. This would be without any intention to harm the system or silence the voice of the people. The Representatives must be self-aware and mindful of their feelings towards those they represent. If they begin to feel a disconnect from either the citizens or from the nation, they must attempt to adjust the proportion of representation. The loss of appropriate proportionality might also be born of malice. In this case, the ability for the House to change its own representation becomes a major threat to the nation. Imagine that the House has been compromised by a faction. A faction is " a number of citizens, whether amounting to a majority or minority of the whole, who are united and actuated by some common impulse of passion, or of interest, adverse to the rights of other citizens, or to the permanent and aggregate interest of the community." Stretching this definition, let's one say that any group of citizens that are united working towards a commongoal could be a faction. The distinction between my definition and James Madison's is that the goal of a faction isn't necessarily evil. For example, these groups may be rival political parties, each working towards the suppression of the other. This is the end goal of any political party, or faction , or any group of like-minded citizens that wish to challenge the status quo: to make the alternative out to be the greatest evil one could THE EPOCH JOURNAL conceive of. Factionalism does not lead to productive discourse among the citizens, nor does it produce leaders with a love of truth and justice. Factionalism only leads to the separation of citizens and the collapse of the system as a whole.Given thatfactions are so dangerous, how should society deal with them? Madison says: "There are two methods of curing the mischiefs of faction: The one, by removing its causes; the other, by controling its effects. [... ] There are again two methods of removing the causes of faction: The one, by destroying the liberty which is essential to its existence; the other, by giving to every citizen the same opinions, the same passions, and the same interests." The first method goes against the principles of liberty. The second method is impossible. Madison also says that the unequal distribution of property among the people is enough to cause factions, for the rich and the poor classes emerge. Madison concludes from this, that, "The inference to which we are brought, is, that the causes of faction cannot be removed; and that relief is only to be sought in the means of controlling its effects." The effects of factions are civil unrest, violence, and the eventual collapse of the state. When the faction is in the minority the only way for it to gain power is to upset the system. When it is in the majority it keeps power by adjusting the system to maintain its status and oppress any new factions. In a small, pure democracy, where each citizen represents himself, there can be "no cure for the mischiefs of faction." The United States is not a democracy. It is a republic, where one sends a representative in his place to make decisions for him. For Madison, this is a solution to factionalism, but in my opinion, this solution only worsens factionalism. Madison believes that a republic will refine the people 's ideas by processing them through a representative. This takes the burden of decision off of the people, so they are less likely to fall into factions. I believe that the republic's structure promotes the development of factions rather than limiting their effects. The people should be divided into many classes, as Madison desires, to lessen the influence of any one faction over another. These factions become political parties, each with their own leaders who speak for them. This may initially prevent parties from gaining power, but it would not be long before the parties realize that they might appeal to a wider range of people. They might do this by compromising or generalizing their views, in the hopes of receiving a larger voice when it comes time to vote. In general, three types of parties would arise: the Progressives pushing to change the status quo, the Conservatives wishing to preserve it, and the Reactionaries attempting to roll back changes that have already been made. Each citizen would filter and prioritize their concerns, so they could decide these three parties best represents their views. For example, a citizen may desire social progress, while also preferring a conservative economic policy. The citizen would decide one is more pressing to decide which party they would side with. But this process of individual compromises to choose a party means that the individual perspectives are considered less and less. The House of Representatives is meant to act as a check to factionalism within the nation. But if the House is taken over by a majority belonging to a faction, that party may pass a bill fixing the proportion of representation to their benefit. This problematic situation assumes, as Madison desired, that all branches of government are able to regulate themselves. While it is necessary that the members of one branch not be able to name the members of another, lest that second branch be no more than an offshoot of the first, the will of each department over itself needs to be, in some way, checked. Without a wide-reaching and strictly enforced system of checks and balances, a single party taking a majority in a single branch might seize the power of the entire government. The main protection against this in The Federalist Papers is to have as many political parties as possible. If no party can gather enough support to become a majority, there is no threat to be found in them. Once even a simple majority is reached, however, all those who are not a member of the majority are at risk of being powerless, with no voice in the government's decisions. With many parties available, the people would find themselves so divided that it would be impossible for a single group to gain full control over the House. This division of the people should be great enough to prevent factionalism, but not so extreme that it would encourage people to desire independence from the United States. This sort of protection against factionalism is the crux of many of the arguments in The Federalist Papers. I feel this argument is weak, because there is no system laid out to ensure that this variety will be present in the system-there is nothing stopping the parties from becoming like the three general parties described above. Concerns like those I present are all too often dismissed in The Federalist Papers by saying that there would be so many people voting and running for office that they should have no issue selecting only the best of the lot. The authors compare the United States to far smaller republics, claiming that because these small republics can avoid voting a corrupt person into power, our larger population and larger number ofrepresentatives would drown out the voices of the corrupt. The Federalists argued that a larger range of people wouldn't bring about more corrupt individuals, it would bring about more security against them by diluting their influence further and further. The only way this could fail would be if even these intelligent voters were somehow tricked into voting for a faction. In contrast, I believe, that the potential for factional deception makes it even more important to have a system to ensure that large po1itical parties are broken into many smaller ones. Without measures to prevent the consolidation of political parties, there is nothing to stop one of the more moderate groups from appealing so generally that it can guarantee itself to hold a majority of the powers of government. There is again nothing to stop this party from guaranteeing its victory by changing the way the House represents the people. There is nothing to stop this party from focusing on its own success rather than the values of the people who elected it into power. The factionalism threatening the government does not have to be against the people from the inception of the party, it may just as well corV O LU ME X II , I SSUE I I WI NTE R 2019 I I I I I I I �I Ii 11 rupt itself over time out of a lust for power. at least, not in proportion to the way they apply to But what kind of solution can exist for the other branches of government. Furthermore, the problem of factions rising out of political par- the abilities of the Congress as laid out in Article ties? John, Jay, and Madison made it clear that I Section 8 of the Constitution are far-reaching there can be no way to prevent the causes of fac- and, in some cases, exactly the same powers that tionalism, but there may be a way of maintain- one should never allow a faction to control. ing or controlling the effects. In doing this, we The job of the Legislative branch is to must maintain the same sort of standards held draft the laws of the nation for the Executive when considering their prevention, that is, our branch to approve and execute. The power of methods cannot encroach on either the liberties the Presidential veto is insufficient should more or freedoms of the people. One solution might be than 2/3 of the Congress be compromised by a to limit how many seats in the House a party can faction. Should this ever happen, one might as hold. But if many people vote for this party, this well consider saying that the powers of governsolution would violate their freedoms. Any solu- ment have been collected within a single branch. tion like this is anti-democratic. The ability to override a veto is more powerful As an alternative solution, the limitations than the veto itself. Its purpose is to pass a bill could instead be placed on the candidates, as this that the President may not approve of. The veto might restrict the ability of one person to influ- is asking the Congress to reconsider or revise its ence too many of their peers. For example, we proposal, the override is Congress forcing what might set rules controlling how candidates can should not progress to progress. Should the abilinteract with other states' Representatives, how ity of the Congress to override a veto be revoked, they canvass, etc. The issue with this solution is a bill may either be delayed until the President is that the eligibility and the election of the candi- out of office or let fail after its first rejection. If dates are controlled by each of the states, not the the President's concern with the bill is something federal government. If the federal government that can be revised without much change, why imposed restrictions on how the states organize not consider it the same as any new bill that might their elections, this would limit the states' auton- come across the President's desk? The Congress omy. Even if the states themselves tried to impose already has the ability to try the President for a this solution on themselves, the question remains, crime or remove him from office, should the situhow can any government limit the ways in which ation ever be so dire; the ability to override the its citizens interact with their candidates without Executive branch is unnecessary, if not tempting encroaching on their liberties? the prospect of tyranny. In summary, there appears to be no way This threat of Legislative usurpation to limit the effects of factions without resorting to may go unnoticed by many, but as Madison says, authoritarianism in one form or another. In a pure "One hundred and seventy-three despots would democracy, limiting a faction would directly limit surely be as oppressive as one." The abilities of the freedoms of the people. In a republic, limiting the House should be either controlled by the other political parties indirectly limit the freedoms of branches or redistributed to a far greater extent. the people, by limiting those who represent them. For example, the Senate might determine how Taking this to be the case, that political parties the House should represent the people, or that the must be present in the system, I want to now con- House's proposed changes to the way it represider what could be done if res ad triarios venitsents the people must be approved by the Senate if a faction has taken the House, what is the last or the Executive branch. These come with their line of defense against the usurpation of the other own worries, in the first case that the Senate may branches of government? The system of checks have already been corrupted, and as a result will and balances does not appear to apply as thor- adjust the House to make it more susceptible to oughly to the Legislative branch as it should, or usurpation. In the second case it may be thought that the Executive branch having a greater influence over the affairs of the House may also open the door to tyranny. There may be no way for the system to exist without being at risk of tyranny. The consolidation of power seems unavoidable, unless the entire population can be of one impossibly perfect mind. The United States is destined to fall into the hands of factionalism, and no amount of inefficiency through increased amounts of representatives can prevent this. Politicians must always belong to one party or another, and every party that exists is already or will become a faction. The nature of our government is a flawed one, and the only remaining question to ask is how effective it could be in this state. The goal of the United States government is to be a system that represents the people, as well as the individual states. An abundance of freedoms must be available to the people, else the system will lead to authoritarianism, such as the monarchy it is trying to break free from. These freedoms, however, will lead to factionalism, since the republics brings them about in the form of political parties. The system put in place, then, must obtain an almost impossible balance between freedom and restriction. Even the Founding Fathers had to admit that there has not yet been a system of government comprehended that is "able to discriminate and define, with sufficient certainty, its three great provinces, the legislative, executive, and judiciary; or even the privileges and powers of the different legislative branches." This is not to say that one should be content with the current system or that one should work to destroy all government. It should encourage us to do as Hamilton says in the ninth paper, to acknowledge our failings as a nation in our times of success and search for ways to improve our government in times of failure. Stagnancy and inflexibility will lead to the usurpation of one branch or another, giving way to tyranny and despotism. Factionalism cannot be defeated in a single motion, but by the changing representation of people it may be kept at bay. The representatives must change in proportion and amount to shadow the people, keeping the one in lockstep with the other, never allowing themselves to become disconnected from their neighbors nor their countrymen. I I THE EPOCH JOURNAL VOLUME XII, ISSUE I I I WINTER 2019 �December 2018 was the first time I went to the polls. I was somewhat aware that my vote wouldn't make much of a difference. But I went anyway. Because deep inside, like every other human being on this planet, I wanted my opinion to matter. Regardless of how corrupt the political sphere was, I wanted to have the same privilege that my parents once had, in choosing the people who ran our country. The concept of unfair elections isn't exactly a new introduction to Bangladesh. As long as I can remember, there has always been a degree of corruption surrounding elections in the country. " Go to the polls early, otherwise your vote might be stolen!" was a warning I often heard adults give each other. Except, the atmosphere surrounding the December 2018 election was completely different. Everyone knew which coalition was going to win, well before the voting even began. There were reports of voting booths shutting down well before the officiated closing time. "Allegations of voting irregularities including polling booths closing for "lunch breaks", voters being turned away, and ballots being counted unrealistically quickly were widespread. In fact, many voters reported that they were turned away directly, upon being told that their votes have already been cast." - The GuardTHE EPOCH JOURNAL ian [ 1] Despite the reported irregularities, news sources that seemed to have highlighted the unreliable election results were mostly international. The ruling coalition (and the current Prime Minister, Sheikh Hasina) won 288 out of the 300 seats in Parliament. "That kind of margin of victory - 96 percent - was a result one might expect in a place like North Korea, not a democratic nation such as Bangladesh, " states an article from The Washington Post. [2] Being compared to North Korea is not where I expected to see Bangladesh in my 20s. Of course, there are other factors to take into consideration. Unlike the former, the latter has a fast growing, free market economy (among the fastest in the world)[3]. It also exercises more freedom of media/press; even though incidents like the arrest of photojournalist Shahidul Alam[4] do somewhat challenge that claim. However, one factor is certain: as far as living standards go, Bangladesh has seen positive changes. Ironically, the autocratic government has actually contributed to a more stable economic environment. The more democratic Bangladesh of the early 2000s was marred by frequent, violent strikes that severely hampered economic activity. In recent years, Bangladesh has not only seen more stability, but also better infrastructure; including an improved public transportation system (with a citywide metrorail based in Dhaka, set to launch in 2020) . Load shedding, i.e, frequent electrical power shutdowns, has reached an all-time low. Both the RMG (ready-made garments) sector, a principal source of the country's foreign exchange earnings; as well the public sector, has seen yearly increases in wages. With this turn towards a more comfortable living environment, it is easy to perceive that perhaps, a democracy is not the ideal governing system for Bangladesh at the moment. In Plato's Laches, Socrates throws out a rhetorical question, asking whether the vote of "one who had been trained and exercised under a skilful master" would be worth more than the votes of all four individuals engaged in the dialogue. He further follows up this claim with the question: "And for this reason, as I imagine, -because a good decision is based on knowledge and not on numbers?" [5] To a certain extent, Socrates' claim in Laches does hold true. For a democracy to function well, the members of the democratic state need to obtain a certain level of political literacy. This is something that appears to have been integrated into the social and academic environment of the United States. In Bangladesh, not so much. In fact, the Bangladeshi social structure (excluding political families) actually discourages individuals from becoming politically involved, particularly due to the violence that accompanies it. On the other end of the spectrum lies a large population living in poverty; members of this demographic cannot possibly afford the privilege of political literacy. Therefore, a stable democracy may be well beyond Bangladesh's reach at the moment. While speaking in favor of China's autocratic government, New York Times columnist Tom Friedman raises a valid claim: "One-party autocracy certainly has its drawbacks. But when it is led by a reasonably enlightened group of people, as China is today, it can also have great advantages. That one party can just impose the politically difficult but critically important policies needed to move a society forward in the 21st century." [6] Another state that has clearly benefited from its autocratic governing system is Singapore. Since being expelled from Malaysia in 1965, it became a global economic miracle, primarily due to the efforts of its first prime minister, Lee Kuan Yew. And while Bangladesh is certainly no Singapore, returning to a more balanced democratic state is likely to hamper its current stability and economic growth. The real risk rises in the long run; when we find out the extent to which the ruling coalition exploits their unchallenged power. [1] Safi, Michael, and Oliver Holmes. "Bangladesh PM Hasina Wins Thumping Victory in Elections Opposition Reject as 'Farcical'." The Guardian, Guardian News and Media, 31 Dec. 2018 [2] Joanna Slater, Azad Majumder. " Analysis Why Bangladesh's Landslide Election Result Is Bad for Its Democracy." The Washington Post, WP Company, 31 Dec. 2018 [3] "Real GDP Growth: Annual Percent Change." imf.org, International Monetary Fund, 3 Oct. 2019 [4] "Shahidul Alam: Bangladesh Is 'an Autocracy by Any Means'." Bangladesh I Al Jazeera, Al Jazeera, 20Apr. 2019 [5] Source: http://classics.mit.edu/Plato/laches. html [6] Friedman, Thomas L. "Our One-Party Democracy." The New York Times, The New York Times, 9 Sept. 2009 VOLUME XII, ISSUE I I WINTER 2019 �THE ORIGINS OF SOUTHERN SOCIALISM Southern Identity and Independence ... But Not the South You're Thinking Of Photo: Public Domain Writing about Yemen forces you to take your disgust with the conflict and channel it into reasonable thoughts, and suggestions about paths forward. It also pits you against an ever-evolving timeline. This essay, which I wrote a few weeks before it was sent to be published, lost the battle against time. Between writing and printing, a Saudi-negotiated cooperative governance agreement between the STC and Hadi Government in the south has been enacted. I am skeptical that it will hold. However, this article provides some interesting information that I hope can help readers understand what's happening in Yemen, or how they should approach studying Yemen. NOTE FROM THE AUTHOR: I'm not sure which south you were thinking of, but I'm thinking of south Yemen. Maybe you know about it, but you most certainly know about northern Yemen, where Saudi bombing campaigns against a Zaydi ethnic rights grouptumed-govemment/militia has elicited strong public outcry. You might even know about the branches of Daesh and al-Qaeda in Yemen, whose scrimmages, and sometimes humorous name-defamation campaigns, against one another, have received ample media attention in the past months. However, the Southern Transitional Council (STC), the organization leading the southern Yemen separatist movement, has not T H E EPOCH J OU RNAL received the same attention by the U.S. (and you will see that this qualifier is important). In the past few weeks, there have been some articles published about them, as their recent uprising in southern Yemen's largest city, Aden, has earned them prominent places in the New York Times, and other leading publications. But this is a great departure from typical Yemen coverage, which lacks any detailed mention of the STC, or the southern cause. There is also little evidence that the U.S. pays any more attention to them, despite their role in southern Yemeni politics, which is deemed pivotal by most scholars of Yemen; their demonstrated capability to organize and perform government functions, military actions, and protests, and their historical significance that is as solid as the Houthis. This failure falls in line with the century-old habit of worldleading countries to not listen to smaller party's needs, and will only continue to degrade stability, and chances for peaceful reunification in Yemen if it is not corrected. Through this article, I hope to describe the southern separatist movement and Southern Transitional Council, and make the case that the STC, along with the countless other factions in Yemen whose voices get out-shouted until they can out-shout, needs to be taken seriously by those relevant in international decision-making on Yemen. On January of 1839, the British Empire conquered Aden, and made it into a major port on the British East India Company's Britain-India shipping route. This, coupled with Ottoman domination over the north, effectively ripped Yemen into two, as nearby tribesmen and villagers from most of the south flocked to Aden to take part in the lucrative new industries, and allowed Britain to expand their control from Aden to the surrounding areas (Gavin, 1975). The economic pull for Yemenis was prominently the availability of seasonal work in Aden. Troves of Yemeni seasonal workers moved to Yemen throughout the colonized period (18391967) to work at the docks, oil refineries, and construction of the new amenities and housing developments needed by the Colony. As the colony grew older, and the opportunities for colonial employees expanded, the availability of work and quality of life available to seasonal Yemeni workers shrank, destroying the livelihood of many Yemenis. Despite this angst against the problems which Yemeni workers faced, a political culture fitting for real opposition did not exist, partly due to the low education rate in Aden. However, the demand for educated workers, which was much higher than the amount they could import, forced the British Government to build schools in Aden. As much as the Colony tried to recruit neutral teachers to Aden, the mere access to truth (even if it was diluted with propaganda) sparked outrage in the newly-formedAdeni intelligentsia. In 1946, students protested against the absence of the Arab Leagues' founding day in the list of public holidays, showing their capability to think and act freely, instead of serving as agents of the Colony, as the Colony intended. Alongside strides in labor rights and union power which were made with the support of these new students, the first Adeni newspaper was published, political power made its way into Yemeni hands, and organizations made in conjunction with the Colonial administration, like unions and legislative councils, swayed toward what I read to be the roots of a socialist government in Aden. In the years following the student protest, two major strikes that led to monumental changes in Aden's domestic worker culture took place. In reaction to the strike of 1946 (a strike by the shipworkers in response to taxes imposed on workers in response to an economic downturn) the Colony established a Labor Office in Aden, and out of necessity, became friendlier to the Unions. In reaction to the strike of 1956, which saw more than 7,000 workers strike over living standards, conditions of employment, and desire for modern labor standards; 47-hour workweeks, vacation time, sick pay, and free medical attention were provided to most workers involved. This strike also increased the demand for union representation among workers, increasing the number of labor unions in Aden from eight to twenty-four within the year. These new unions, who represented a new political movement in Aden, attracted the aforementioned intellectuals, who became union leaders. These unions quickly swelled to power through their political presence: making their way into space previously dominated by organizations loyal to the Colonies; and making alliances with several Adeni revolutionary groups, while hindering the operational ability of Colonial legislative bodies to bolster their power. The consequence of this was the eventual expulsion of the British in southern Yemen by the hands of several liberation groups, and the foundation of a divided Yemen. The two governments that came from this were the Yemen Arab Republic, which is out of the scope of this article being in the north, and occupied the bulk of north-western Yemen; and the People's Democratic Republic of Yemen (PDRY), a Marxist government whose rise came out of the trade unionism which rallied all factions of Yemeni society, who reigned over the southern coast of Yemen, and most of the eastern in-lands. Their territory, which occupies similar territory to what the modem STC seeks to occupy, stretched from Yemen's furthest south-western tip through Aden, al-Mukalla (another important port city), the core of the Hadhramaut territory, and to the borders of Oman, and then up to a vast, arid border with Saudi Arabia. V O LUME XII , I SSUE I I W I NTE R 20 1 9 �I In the context of the Cold War, control over the ports of Aden and al-Mukalla, and their surrounding coastlines were invaluable, and this value was comprehended early by the Soviet forces. Both the Soviets, and China, around this time, were eager to fortify their new Navy's presence in the Suez Canal and Indian Ocean, protect their oil field's Sea Lines of Communications (which ran through the Suez Canal), and increase communication and trade with their Asian allies. Seeing both the creation of the PDRY from the expulsion of the British, and seeing the subsequent domination of the Marxist National Front for the Liberation of South Yemen, the two communist states were able to invest heavily in both Yemen's businesses, infrastructure, military, and agriculture, with an emphasis on those that were near the sea. Further, the two countries accepted military and diplomatic delegations into their countries, and the Soviet Union especially provided military advice through Cuban proxy advisors, working to secure the strategically placed island of Socotra as a quiet naval base (Creekman, 1979). Without going into Yemeni history since the 70s, one can deduce that the Soviet Union, in particular, implanted itself into the fabric of southern Yemeni society, bringing its strain of socialism with it. Through the calm of post-unification in the 90s, the simmering of Zaydi/Sunni relations in the 2000s, and the boil of post-Arab spring Yemen, these socialist and southern-separatist tendencies have remained present. Although socialism is not as strong today as separatism is, socialism's discouragement of religious governance made its way into the center of southernseparatist leader's worldviews, and is behind a lot of separatist's distrust for the current Yemeni government. Further, the longtime physical separation of the country keeps the culture divided between southerners and northerners. Even though the Capital's placement in a central location (Sana'a) outside of traditionally southern land, many southerners see northerners as others. A prominent Yemeni activist describes herself in her Twitter biography as a "southerner fascinated THE EPOCH JOURNAL with the north". Throughout the last two decades, in reaction to the distraction of resources held by the legitimate government, now based in Aden, a need for governance has arisen in the south. Various armed groups, and international aid agencies have tried to fill this role by imitating different parts of government, but none have been able to span the entire non-Houthi occupied territory, nor provide the full array of resources necessary for southern and eastern Yemenis to live appropriately. For similar reasons, tribes are not capable of providing a patch-work government to the south. It is likely these conditions that caused the southern separatist movement to emerge publicly, then form into the STC in response to the dismissal of the Governor of Aden (now-president of the STC, al-Zubaidi). THE STC TODAY The STC of today has proven itself capable of competent military action, organizing a government, and overpowering its main competitor, which is the legitimate government run by Abdrabbuh Mansur Hadi (the Hadi Government). The current leadership is made up of several governors and former-ministers, who seek to use the council's influence, and security forces, to secede from Yemen. Since 2017, their competition with the Hadi Government has been profound, taking over the government seat of Aden from the Hadi Government several times, most recently in August, which forced the Hadi Government to relocate (al-Arifi, 2019). The STC has demonstrated its governing capabilities in various ways. They run council meetings across the country. Their media arm uses social media, TV, and their website to produce decent English-language material that has an international reach. They can organize pro-STC protests in Yemen, and the U .S., alike. They respond to most terrorist attacks, attacks by the Houthis, and UN actions, with a statement, published in both English, and Arabic. Al-Zubaidi visits hospitals, schools, and villages, and congratulates students on getting high test scores on live television. As far as public information shows STC 's arms and funds come from the UAE. The alliance with the UAE comes from their mutual distrust of the Hadi Government, and in particular their domination by the islamist Isiah party, which the UAE/STC suspect have been aspiring with the Houthis to destabilize the country (Kalin & Ghantous, 2019); and the UAE's desires to access Yemen's natural resources, and compete with Saudi Arabia in being a regional leader. This pits them against the Saudi Government, who has the same desires, but supports the Hadi Government. It is worth noting that many of the arms provided to the STC by the UAE are U.S . manufactured, despite the U.S. 's efforts to keep our weapons in the hands of those who we sell them to (FOX 43, 2019). The STC also seems to see the importance of winning over public opinion through diplomatic efforts. They are constantly meeting with envoys from states (mainly China and Russia), and NGOs (ranging from UNICEF to local ones), but also frequently send envoys abroad, and have even begun to open make-shift diplomatic missions to other nations. They even have an office in Washington D.C., from which their U.S. advocacy campaigns are operated. The southern separatists have also rekindled a relationship that stretches back to their liberation from the British: their friendship with the Russians. Earlier this year, the STC's website announced that an envoy of their own visited Russia, while the Russian Ambassador to Yemen met with STC leadership in Aden, with the STC President Al-Zubaidi announcing that they "look forward to develop [sic] a strategic relationship with Moscow to ensure meeting the right of the people of the South to resolve their cause and will, as well as for ensuring the regional stability[ ... ]" that "there was a collective agreement on the goal of a credible political solution, including a permanent cease-fire based on the Stockholm Agreement [... ]" and finally, that they "look forward to the day when we can reestablish diplomatic relations between our two countries in our capital Aden." (STC-Aden, 2019) This relation- ship seems to have developed further through Russia's meetings with the STC's patron, the UAE. WHY SHOULD THE U.S. CARE? Where the tension between the STC and Hadi Government; the UAE and Saudi Arabia; and Russian, Chinese, and American interests will lead this conflict is unknown. However, looking at it from the perspective of somebody concerned with supporting U.S. interests, there must be some effort made to ensure the possibility of STC cooperation with the U.S. The first reason, which I will mention but not delve into, as an appropriate discussion of the subject would take more time than I have, is that there is a trend in Yemen's circular history of peace talks, and alliances breaking down due to the omission of important parties. We saw it with the British, when their failure to take the interests of Yemeni workers and leaders into account opened the door for their exit. We saw it in the 70s, when unification talks broke down due to the protest of tribes who were not included in the talks. I would argue that we see it in the popularity of al-Qaeda and IS-Yin Yemen, who feed off of failures to provide human security to villagers and tribes. We don't want to see that happen with the STC. I'm certain that this is partly behind Russia's sudden interest in the south again. If their goal is to build their relationship with Saudia Arabia, support Iran, and regain some nominal control of the Indian Ocean and Mediterranean, or at least keep it friendly, it is necessary to prevent a hostile Arabian Peninsula. The same can be said of China. It is critical that we, as invested players in Yemen's war, do what we can to learn from Yemen's history to not repeat the failures which have repeatedly led to the suffering of the Yemeni people, and instability in the area. The second reason is perhaps more important, especially to parties who have been vocal about the Yemen War: friendliness with the STC can provide us, and our allies, with the opportunity to provide aid and economic development to VOLUME XII, ISSUE I I WINTER 2019 �11 more areas in Yemen. We have seen, through the work of the SMEPS, a Yemeni-run economic and social development program, that meaningful development can happen in secure areas during the war. SMEPS, and the Social Fund for Development in Yemen, have provided emergency healthcare services, supported farmers through micro-grants and best-practice training, and has been received positively by organizations spanning from USAID to UNDP. The Hadi Government has its own development organization, although its results haven't been as stellar. Support of Yemeni-run aid groups, like SMEPS, can help keep some aspect of life stable during war-time, and nominally improve the quality of life for Yemenis in the areas impacted by SMEPS. For example, SMEPS has taken a particular interest in sustaining the Yemeni coffee industry. Coffee has been, for a long time, one of Yemen's staple products, and was responsible for much of Yemen 's economic success in the past. Many would argue that coffee production part of Yemen's identity (Khan, 2018). SMEPS, with the help of USAID and UNDP, was able to "mitigate the impact of the current crisis on local citizens and assist their revival using local systems, capacities, and institutions to gradually resume and scale-up service delivery," and "revive livelihoods and basic services for people, increase their awareness on using new technologies, increase employment and livelihoods opportunities and to address food insecurity and reviving [sic] local agricultural and fish sector through the support of value chains." Through this project, SMEPS was able to engage 500 farmers, across western Yemen, in this project (SMEPS, 2018). Supporting projects like these have myriad benefits for the U.S., and Yemen. These projects keep the local economy engaged, and allows Yemenis to shape their country's economic development themselves, with the advice of USAID and other international organizations. They could theoretically increase inter-regional unity through economic development, supported by the fact the SMEPS has been able to work with farmers in both Houthi, and Hadi Government-run THE E P OCH J OURNAL areas. Finally, since we have seen that al-Qaeda in Yemen recruits youth through appealing to the lack of economic opportunity, and underdevelopment, among other problems, working to alleviate the causes of these woes would undermine al-Qaeda's recruitment capability, and achieve one of our major objectives in the Middle East-defeating terrorist organizations. Utilizing governing structures with deep ties to various communities, who are not notoriously corrupt and proponents of human trafficking, is a great way to expand our development initiatives in Yemen. The STC is qualified by meeting the first criterion, and by meeting the second, which is evident in their focus on human rights, and lack of evidence showing that they profit off of the same illicit trades as the Houthis do. Whether this be through working with the STC to allow the operation of these programs in territories controlled by them, or using partners who are allied with the STC, like the UAE, to set up an STC-run development program, pursuit of this opportunity could allow us to expand our reach in the south and east of Yemen. The third, and final, reason is that we don't know what will happen in Yemen. If the STC is capable of repeatedly taking over Aden, holding congresses throughout the south and southeast, and has such widespread support from Yemenis to foreign nations, it is reasonable to conclude that they could usurp the power of the Hadi Government, and potentially rule southern Yemen. If this occurs, we do not want to be in a position where there is no potential for American engagement in the region. We already have no diplomatic contact with the north, being allied heavily with Iran, I do not think it is wise to risk putting ourselves in that same position in the south. Avoiding this can take two forms: using our diplomatic prowess to mediate some agreement between the Hadi Government and the STC, or using a variety of channels to keep on friendly terms with both the STC and Hadi Government. The former seems more efficient, especially if you subscribe to Clausewitz's doctrine of conflict tending toward the extremes. A power- sharing agreement should be struck, with the goal of allowing each group the ability to accomplish their missions insofar as they do not require the devastation of the other, and create avenues for conflict mediation between the two groups. It will be messy, require a lot of oversight, but at the end of the day, it is necessary. This will also create a stronger front against the Houthis. CONCLUSION This essay, which has discussed the Southern Transitional Council and its colonial roots, demonstrates the necessity of understanding the country's history, various militias, armies, and governments, and ever-evolving dynamics in policymaking and diplomacy. Every decision must be made with all of these factors in mind, and an understanding that no conflict is two-sided, or even three-sided. Within the Houthi-Hadi conflict are layers of internal conflicts ranging from long-standing religious disagreements, to alliances and hatreds between tribes, and residual problems from Colonialism and Nasserism; coupled with a complex string of international dynamics putting that span the world, and find their way into Yemen in the form of proxy wars, and counter-terrorism operations. This essay, although only dealing directly with one organization and its relationship with the Hadi Government, touches on all of these relations. Engaging with the STC is as consequential as not engaging, in light of this, as any decision made involving this player is an action considered separately by every group involved in the country's conflict. I suggest a proactive approach, aimed at taking the policy failures in history into account to try to create some stability between the STC and Hadi, the two biggest Yemeni players south of Sana'a. However, it's also important to keep in mind that there are opinions that differ from mine on the subject of the STC. Helen Lackner, in her book "Yemen in Crisis" Argued "While some want to return to a state within the former borders [of South Yemen], [ ... ] this is unlikely to happen as internal divisions between much smaller enti- ties are at least as strong as the wish to leave the broader Republic of Yemen," especially those of the large Hadhramaut region, who she argues are "unlikely to be willing to stay in a state alongside the people from the western mountainous tribes whom they regard as petty warlords," and southern Yemeni intellectuals who "are wont to assert that ' our Southern tribes are different, they were civilised by the British for over a century." (Lackner, 2017) I cannot comment on the accuracy of her statements, since I am not fully versed in all of the interregional dynamics of the south, but I do agree that a full-on southern state would be difficult to achieve partly due to tensions like these. It is precisely for that reason that policymakers must thoroughly investigate interregional dynamics, and the ethos and missions of each group before making decisions that could change power dynamics in the country. Anecdotally, I have heard from some policymakers that the STC is not powerful, or organized enough to be consequential in any way. This might have been true a few years ago, but with the capacity that they have shown to be an effective governing and fighting organization, I think discounting them is a great error. Regardless, this conflict deserves more attention and care than it is currently receiving, even if it has become more mainstream over the past year. It warrants attention, but it also warrants studies of its cause, and calculated proactivity by those with the means to improve the situation. I hope that this all comes, but that it also is done correctly, with a historical perspective in mind. Bibliography al-Arifi, M. (2019, 09 16). Yemeni gov't designates Ataq city new interim capital. Retrieved from https://www.aa.com.tr/en/middle-east/ yemeni-govt-designates-ataq-city-new-interimcapital/1595049 Creekman, J. C. (1979). Sino-Soviet Competition in the Yemens. Naval War College Review, 7682. VOLUME X II , I SSUE I I W I NTER 2019 �FOX 43. (2019, 09 19). American weapons ended up in the wrong hands in Yemen. Now they're being turned on the US-backed government. Retrieved from FOX 43: https://fox43. com/2019/10/ 19/american-weapons-ended-upin-the-wrong-hands-in-yemen-now-theyre-being-tumed-on-the-us-backed-govemment/ Gavin, R. (1975). Aden Under British Rule 18391967. Barnes & Noble Books. International Crisis Group. (2019). Preventing a Civil War within a Civil War in Yemen. International Crisis Group. Kalin, S., & Ghantous, G. (2019, 08 2019). Explainer; Separatist takeover of Yemen's Aden leaves Saudi Arabia in a bind. Retrieved from Reuters: https://www.reuters.com/article/usyemen-security-explainer/explainer-separatisttakeover-of-yem ens-aden-1 eaves-saudi-arabi ain-a-bind-idUSKCN 1VI 0A6 Khan, A. (2018, Jul 7). Yemen's epic coffee revival: From war to hipster New York cafes. Retrieved from al-Jazeera: https://www.aljazeera. com/indepth/features/yemen-epic-coffee-revival-war-hipster-york-cafes-180706224 701165 . html Lackner, H. (2017). Yemen in Crisis. London: Saqi Books. SMEPS. (2018). Emergency Resilient Grant USAID. Retrieved from https://smeps.org.ye/smepsweb/emergency-resilient-grant-usaid/ STC-Aden. (2019). Southern Transitional Council high-profile visit to Moscow intensifies international focus on the "Southern issue" . Retrieved from STC-Aden: https://en.stcaden.corn/ news/8578 THE EPOCH JOURNAL Photo: Felix Vallotton " ... þÿ¬»»'þÿ¬¼·Ç¬½É½þÿ-Á±Â." -SOPHOCLES "But I will keep on knocking, even though I don't know where God is." L EV SHESTOV I've never been able to tell the difference between the father in the story of the prodigal son and Bromios in the Bacchae. Good king Pentheus was lost, then was found, did die, then did live, and Pentheus, like the Prodigal, was forgiven that cancer of the soul that is gravitas. Why must we always assume that the Serpent's being honest? And so, given to that primeval respect for the most cunning creature in Eden, the mob refuses to see in Bacchus' affirmation of Pentheus' transformation anything more than a taunt-the mob, perhaps not, I take it back, but certainly the philosophers. The philosophers know well that to be like God is to know good and evil, but never to dance, never to crossdress, never to create. The truth, of course (known by us fools and madmen), is that Dionysius approaches the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob most in this moment, most when he recognizes that man's political (and thus philosophical, economical, and theological) vocation is eminently mislogic. Mad king Pentheus woke from the swoon of freedom and crushed the serpent under heel when he saw that around him wasn't a cave wall, beneath him stone, but Pascal's bedside abyss. What are the political implications ofPentheus' divine insanity, of divine insanity in general? What accord have þÿ¬Ä· and þÿÀÌ»¹Â?The answer is, of course, everything. In the groundlessness of insanity, all the idols of absolute morality, all the spectres of boundedness disintegrate. In insanity man offers himself up as a whole-burnt offering to the Lord before the place where once stood a flaming sword barring us from the one tree we've always longed for; statist impositions on man's spirit cry halt before a deafening, narcissistic cry of self-affirmation in self-revelation. The Lord regards the madman and his offering but shirks the serious man and his (who is Cain but Hegel's forebear?). Man is made again man when he becomes again the feeling man (and not counting, or reasoning, or measuring man), when he shouts at the sun and dances with gods, when he gets decapitated and paraded in the palace. When man is freed from the truths that bind, personal and social, physical and metaphysical, man brought nearest to the God for whom all things are possible. Man is able to be most man with other men when he wields his humanity like an axe in a mad struggle against Ananke's ghost. Man is most man when he starts dancing. And so let God bless Pentheus the prophet, Pentheus the light of revelation to the gentiles! Let God bless all the VOLUME XII, ISSUE I I WINTER 2019 �II 1, Kierkegaard's sighing, all mere breath--they were wicked men, every one, and their struggle to fight against that necessity that forces that which has come into being from oneness to return again to a common burial was but an expression of an origiI - T HE OTHER E TERNITY nal criminality. In brief, we are to smile, we are to grin, Philosophers are quite like lobotomists; Lucretius and Walter Freeman, they're all the we are to bow our heads like submissive temple same. They want to close curtain on man's unique prostitutes before that great praetorian Necessity. with them!) tragedy. All of them want to sedate, all want to We can 't (it's always Ismene's þÿ'ÇÁ®' pacify man. David met a greater enemy than Go- do anything else. The particular dare not stand liath in Epictetus. The little ticker on the gauge of up for his rights against the general. The genour air-tank gets e'er closer to empty as we near eral, which is unpersuadable, which is uncaring, Titus Carns' abyss, but 'necessity does not allow unloving, is to be offered all the sacrifices and itself to be persuaded', and we are to smile serene whole-burnt offerings men once gave to Baal. as we suffocate (not drown, reader, would that Shestov is right when he warns us that the philosthey have us drown!) in the deep. That coquette ophers do not want us to accept the reality of our smile, that faux servility, that corruption of the suffering (just recompense for the sin of being!), oh no, they long, like Rebekkah with her boy, to erotic (alogos!), that's the key. have us bless it. Let's show whose image we're made in and spit on the lot ofthem--a pox on that II - STOCKHOLM SYNDROME first philosopher in the Garden! Anaximander's credo, 'whence things III - PRIMUM PHJLOSOPHARJ have their origin, there they must also pass away according to necessity; for they must pay penalty It's a commonplace of Marxist rhetoric and be judged for their injustice, according to the ordinance of time', is the mantra of all specula- that the philosophers have only interpreted the tive philosophy. Man, in daring to come out his world, but that it is the vocation of the proletariat mother's womb, is doomed to die. The biblical to change it--this, too, is mere breath. Marxism narrative of the Fall is foreign to this paradigmat- proves itself an exercise in radical Lucretianism. ic Greek account, to this speculative account, for The Marxist tells us that he will free us from the it begins in necessity and punishment, where the incantations of sophists, from book-worship, from biblical account begins in the free blessing of par- religion, but the Marxist, like Lucretius, breaks ticularity by the Creator. This is where the God our chains only to offer us padded restraints. The of Abraham and the God of Anaximander differ. person, the concrete person (there is no form of The original sin of Hellenic Adam isn't tasting flesh and blood and hair and shit, lest we forget) , the fruit of the tree of the knowledge of good and is always secondary, and the longing for someevil, is not even the milquetoast 'disobedience' of thing more than Socratic dialogue becomes yet some of the Church Fathers, but freedom itself. another philosophy dead-set on subjecting man to The individual unrepeatable gives the phantasms. God of the Greeks palpitations, then; the parBut mustn't we ask where this will to ticular is repugnant to the general, and so the submit comes from, why man ever feels the need particular should (and shall, like it or not--get to subject his fellow to something yet higher than in line!) march back on to the general to take a him after he's finished the long, daring work of whipping (we can almost hear Plato whispering breaking chains of so similar a metal? Marxists in our ear, 'it is better to suffer injustice than to don't imagine their philosophy yokes the humete it out!'). Solon's weeping, Job 's shrieking, man spirit, and Lucretius' tantum religio says the deranged who found Him in the dazzling darkness, all who left without knowing where they were going! God bless them, every one! 1, THE EPOCH JOURNAL same; all the paragons of philosophical liberation really did imagine themselves voices crying out in the wilderness. Lucretius, Plato, Marx, they all of them felt themselves little saviors--and they were! But their daring seems to have stopped short of a will to dare truly everything, seems to have stopped short of a will for Antigone's impossible things. Where did they go wrong? Why does Ananke rear her ugly head even among Bolsheviks? they have his hand flitting over the free market. This is the charitable contribution of the Christian evangel, for before the Lord came one could denounce Zeus and all his works, but now they have dressed up their Zeus as the Lord of armies þÿ(–µÅ þÿ½È¯´Äµ), and we are too timid to cast Him down. Capitalism is nothing more than Aaron's last shout before Moses comes down the mountain, a golden calf greater and grander than all the works of old Israel. It, too, submits to the necessity that does not feel anything and does not allow IV - Q UIXOTE B ETWEEN NOMOS AND PHYSIS itself to be persuaded. If the Marxist breaks your chains so he I should like to be a fool for Christ. I might give you others he thinks better (at least should like to be Don Quixote. I should like to be he's a human being!), then the Capitalist tightthe sort of person who sees reality for what it is ens the restraints, ties your legs, slices off your yet spits on it 'till it gives way, for this is imitatio tongue, shaves your head, and gives you someChristi. thing to bite down on. This is speculative philosoThe fools for Christ, as any read Ortho- phy let loose in the world like a tomcat; the gendox believer will tell you, were eminently sane eral, the dynamic forces of history and state and lunatics who threw stones at priests and ran na- society and market and supply and demand, conked through the streets of strange cities. The fools quer the particular. The particular's only recourse for Christ, as the Quixote (for the Quixote is their is to control the things he can. The particular is high priest), knew that to follow in the footsteps Epictetus ' victim; he dare not demand more--he of the Lord who became man is to follow the God has control over this, he has control over that, but for whom all things are possible, to follow the all the rest is external, necessary, and thus neutral. God for whom all custom as nature is as mere What good would it do to raise a shout? What breath, and to follow David in weeping for his good would it do, asks our dear Shestov, to anson Absalom. swer logic with claps of thunder? The fools for Christ would be more palatable to the man of our august twenty-first century VI - KIERKEGAARD 'S C REDO if the fools for Christ were just iconoclasts. We delight in iconoclasm, reader. We've transcended I will not sacrifice a single man for Roman bloodsport and thrill instead in crushing the good of all mankind. Belinsky's little letter custom--and this, my dear, is not a bad thing. The guides me where his idealism drives me mad--the issue lies in the daring of the doer. The fools for destiny of one person is more mysterious than the Christ scandalize the modem precisely because destiny of mankind in general. I will follow the they don't stop at custom. These fools are on a Lord for whom all things are possible, and I will crusade against the self-evident--St. Symeon save the one at the expense of the ninety-nine, of Emesa in his vita is described as a man who and I will cry out for my son Absalom, if it is the ' acted against both nature and custom' --even af- last thing I do. ter they ' ve followed Lucretius and 'dared to trust their senses'! VII - PHAEDRUS BY THE S EA V - N EOPAGANISM Once men had Zeus on Olympus, now Is there anything political in þÿ¬Ä·? Aristotle, the philosophus, says no. For the philosophers þÿ¬Ä· is the root of all ill--for bound up with VOLUME XII , I SSUE I I WI NTE R 2019 �I ate is change, is spontaneity, is a revolt against who took old Adam out of the Garden. the general and a crying out against all hope and in defiance of all reason. Here Anaximander's XI - THE C AMELS OF Uz theme comes back into our line of sight; insanJob began a god and ended a beast, provity, divine insanity, misologism, these defy the boundaries set for us on our long penal march ing Aristotle's point in nuce. Job, the man who back to the One. There is nothing political in in- would debate God, who would reprove God, ulsanity because the political must be an expression timately loses the tenacity that brought the Lord of the logical, because our lives together must_ be down from the tempest. Should we forget that bound because the particular dare not question God demanded Job keep on, that he gird himself the general What is Aristotle's nous, what is his like a man? Should we forget that Job and his practical reason, what is his moderation but an children are still rotting? Let Leviathan croak, let the forests melt like wax before a flame, let realexpression of a sort of pagan Catholic guilt? ity shimmer, shake, stumble, but let Job have his VIII - have TO TRUST y OUR S ENSES murdered children! The moral of Job is primum detestari, I don 't have the tenacity to lead you back deinde lugere, tandem ridere, sed numquam into Eden. I don't have the strength to take you to telligere (first to detest, then to abhor, at last to the land promised to Abraham. I will, though I laugh, but never to understand), not non ridere, keep for the last words silence, tell you what with non lugere, neque detestari, sed intelligere (not I tell you you. to laugh, not to abhor, nor to detest, but to undo know of the horrors erotic things. Socrates that I know the erotic things, as do you. derstand). Will Ananke allow us to speak m such You know that the horrors oflife in the world gag terms? you, that the truths which constrain hold you in vice that the 'facta' of life--blessed and sanctiXII -AT THE END OF TRAGEDY fied hortall etemity--toss you into the pit. If I am to exhort you to any course, any scheme, then let 'Remember,' says Epictetus, 'that you it be this one: fight the self-evident, the logical, are an actor in a play decided by the Author.' the formulaic, and embrace the erotic. It is only These words are a thunder-clap greater than the de profundis God could make it so that the gadfly one that set Job's to naught. We're actors, you and I. We're poor players. The tragedy of life shows had never tasted hemlock. itself, in Epictetus, to be nothing more than a sort IX - SUB SPECIE AETERNITATlS of sick performance we 're all to go along with for the benefit of some captive audience beyond the Is Oceania's twice two makes five not the flaming walls of the world. All the victims of histwice two makes four of our world? Is a com- tory, each and every one, were but actors, playing pletely external, necessary truth that does not a role taking up air, filling the stage. bend no matter how hard we might shift it any a I have a question for Epictetus, mind-different from a totalitarian imposition? Where we're players, yes? We've been pressed into thedo the fascists and þÿ¿¯ þÿƹ»Ìÿƿ¹ differ, is not ater like sailors into the Royal Navy; we' re forced into this tragedy, this drama, this play. Why Ananke the great dictator? should we go along with it, then? Why shouldn't X - THE H ATERS OF REASON we dismember the playwright? Epictetus tells us that those after improv are, in point of fact, the Socrates warns us that the worst fate to greatest slaves of all, but one would do well to befall a man is to become a mislogos, but the remember that Stoicism begins in a kowtow to heart warns us that it was ho philologos megistos Necessity. T H E E P OC H J OU R AL XIII - P EOPLE OF TRAGEDY Orpheus and Job have more in common than it seems at first blush. Orpheus, Job, they represent the same enigmatic type, 'the man of tragedy' . This man is not the hero, is not the god, is not even what any one of us would call a 'good ' man--he is something more. He is a man who wields the law of non-contradiction like an axe and demands it yield, who will accept nothing less than the capitulation of the whole cosmos for the sake of a single banality. It's only possible for all to be possible when there 's no solid ground beneath our feet. Only when we realize that the world lacks a sure foundation, only when we realize that we are falling can we begin to fly--here the words of the Psalmist, so loved by Shestov and Unamuno, fly well beyond the flaming walls of the world and ram themselves into our minds: out of the depths, o Lord, have I cried unto thee! It is in these depths that we find God, in these depths that our prayers are answered. It is de profundis Shestov can get back his son, Kierkegaard his Regina, Nietzsche his good health. When we tum a drama into a comedy, when we go off-script, we find ourselves inching ever closer to the gates of Eden. This is the supreme intuition of the private thinker, of Nietzsche, Shestov, Kierkegaard, Pascal. It is the intuition of one sunk deep in human suffering who nevertheless refuses to bow to it. It is the intuition of one who truly dares to trust their senses. This is not a call to action; there aren't words for everyone. This is a martyrdom of self to self, a sacrifice of the soul to the flaming sword at the gate of Eden. The political implications of this madness--is it madness?--are personal, existential, conditioned, hostile to the general. Each of us has his own truth, and where Plato gives you the Truth common to all, this man gives you his own knowing well that the rest of you--the mob, the crowd, but bless you, all of you, each and every one!--have flocks and flocks of truths floating high and above the imaginary suns of Greeks and Germans. I ' V OL UME X II , I SSUE I I W I N T E R 20 1 9 �POLITICAL PHILOSOPHY All That Appears Is Good BY REUBEN MORRIS Photo: Today Testing Guy Debord, active in the middle of the twentieth century, was a french marxist and a founding member of the situationist international. His contributions to this realm of political thought are important, within that sphere, and worthy of consideration. I do not set out to write of him in this way. I wish to take a work of his, the Society of the Spectacle, and describe it so that it seems like it was written about our own time and place rather than France of the 1960's. Thinking about Debord in this way, as someone who was aware of the strangeness of our times in a very general way, has helped me in forming my beliefs about the present condition. Debord identifies the spectacle as something like the focal point of all activity. It demands your gaze and is very difficult to look away from. I contend that you have already experienced it and know about as much about it as Debord can tell you. Even while trying to talk about this book without reference to its historical or political context, there is one piece of background information that should not be dispensed with. The Society of the Spectacle is a Detournement, or a Hijacking. What this means is that the content of the book is nearly all lifted from other texts, with key terms changed to fit the form of what Debord is describing. To understand this let me give as an example the first sentence of Debord's text, THE EPOCH J OU R NAL 1. The life of societies in which modern conditions ofproduction prevail presents itself as an immense accumulation of spectacles " Now, compare this with the opening sentence of Marx's Capital: " The wealth of societies in which the capitalist mode ofproduction prevails presents itself as an immense accumulation of commodities. " Aside from the idiosyncrasies of translation, these two sentences differ only in the substitution of certain nouns. Wealth in the Marx becomes Life in Debord, and Commodities become spectacles. Now is not the time to dwell on the content of this substitution, but only the fact that Debord's book is largely composed by such replacements. His writing style is to take the words of other people. Substitute some of his terminology in, and then place these thoughts in a new order. Sometimes he adds an entirely new sentence in when clarification is necessary. The whole work takes the shape of a numbered series of claims, divided into nine chapters. My writing will focus on the first three. I attempt something of my own Detournement of Debord, taking his words out of their original context and placing them in our own. One more thing before I begin. Debord himself says that the spectacle is difficult to describe. One of the reasons for this is because of how pervasive the spectacle is in our lives. If our culture has in fact been steeped in spectacle it would be hard to describe it without on some level praising it or at least using the language that was developed for the service of the spectacular. What I am saying here is essentially a warning that appears near the beginning of the book. a person, is responsible for the communications that occur between the two of you. The presence of a mediator implies separation between the two people. Otherwise they could interact directly. In this light, here is another quote. "11. To describe the spectacle, its formation, its functions and the forces which tend to dissolve it, one must artificially distinguish certain inseparable elements. When analyzing the spectacle one speaks, to some extent, the language of the spectacular itself .. " Leaving aside for now the question of what this "spectacular language" would be, let this quote serve as a guide for trying to interpret the spectacle. It is easy to fall into traps when describing this thing because we are completely surrounded by it. One mistake would to become excessively focused on a single part of the spectacle, and equate this part with the spectacular whole. Another error, more insidious, would be to attempt to describe the spectacle in a way that allows it to be understood and criticized, but end up instead with a description that is itself just another spectacle. We live in an age of the spectacle and it is difficult to speak in a way that does not appeal to this. It is important to try and get an image of what this spectacle is and how it is apprehended, even if at first this image will probably appear as just another spectacle. If I cannot describe the entire spectacle, I should start with some element that shows an important aspect of the spectacle. Debord tells us, "29... The spectacle is simply the common language of this separation. Spectators are linked solely by their one-way relationship to the very center that keeps them isolated from each other. The spectacle thus reunites the separated, but it reunites them only in their separateness" What is this spectacle, this thing that unites people who are seperate, while even in this reunion, keeps people trapped in their separation. I am reminded of Billy Joel. These people Share a drink they call loneliness. Debord would contend that this is no better than drinking alone. We all form a part of the lonely crowd, a phenomenon that is demonstrated by the loneliness people report feeling in cities. People have been forced apart by the spectacle and gaze into its center in order to interact with one another.As individuals, it is difficult to escape the edge of the spectacle, because it has forced its way into the center. In this way and in others, Spectacle has the character of centripetal force. It makes room for itself at the center of our attention while pushing all other things to the edges of our awareness. Spectacle makes room for itself and nothing else, hijacking our personal relationships and controlling our lives. Now I veer too quickly into a polemic against the spectacle. I must focus "4. The spectacle is not a collection of on its description. For this task I will bring speak images; it is a social relation between people that of something familiar and then explain it in terms is mediated by images. " of what has already been said about the spectacle. The term "Social Media" is suspiciously Here we get the spectacle as something that is related by images, and at times exempli- resonant with the phrase " a social relation befied by certain images. All the same, it is not tween people that is mediated by images. " Mein itself an image. What is the meaning of this diation, which sounds academic and uptight, besecond sentence, that the spectacle is a social re- comes media, familiar and easy to watch. Social lation mediated by images? Mediation is a rela- relations become socialization. Socializing can tion between two things that occurs by way of occur on social media. How does social media the third. To have a mediated relation to someone mediate our social life? On instagram we look means that a third person, or something that is not at many pictures of our friends, of celebrities. VO L UME X II , I SSUE I I W I NTE R 2019 �We can like these pictures and even write our responses to them. The collection of images on a site such as lnstagram is always growing, with more added constantly. No person will see more than a tiny fraction of these images. Yet each person who uses the platform will experience a distinct form of interaction with other people. Although the images are distinct for each user, the way these images present themselves as a vertical stream offering itself up for your approval or dismissal, this is a spectacle. This is just one website out of many, and surely our world is composed of much more than websites. Yet is the basic outline of what I describe applicable to more than just this site? To ask for more instances of the spectacle, first a better understanding much be reached of its character and origins. Is there anything that preceded the spectacle? Elsewhere Debord claims that the spectacle "dominates all aspects of modern life". How could this be so, especially ifwe are people who do not feel that we are being dominated. "16. The spectacle is able to subject human beings to itself because the economy has already totally subjugated them ... " This is the answer Debord gives as to the origin of the spectacle, along with an early instance of his claim that our interaction with the spectacle is one that involves our subjugation. Preceding this subjugation, there is already the dominance of people's lives by economic relationships. I do not wish for this to become a paper on Marxist economics. Yet it is impossible to speak of the spectacle without acknowledging that we are situated in a world of Capital. People work to earn a living and spend their earnings on commodities. Marx would say that because we produce things not for our own sake but so that we can earn enough money to survive, we are alienated or estranged from our work and ourselves. It is not enough just to be a person, one must also have enough to live on, you must have the means to prop yourself up in the economy. Debord calls this the transition from "being" into "having" (pp. 17). This is the underlying condiTHE EPOCH JOURNAL II tion for the spectacle to come about. To begin speaking of a spectacle we must already live in a world that is melded into the shape of an economy. People are subjected to this economy insofar as they are forced to participate in it in order to earn what they need to live. A similar process is carried out in the development of the widespread economy into the spectacle. "17. ... The present stage, in which social life has become completely dominated by the accumulated productions of the economy, is bringing about a general shift from having to appearing - all "having " must now derive its immediate prestige and its ultimate purpose from appearances This is a process that mirrors the change from "being" into "having". The key of this second transition is that the economic life takes over all functions of the social life. A complaint I have heard frequently is that there are not many places like libraries. A library is a rare example of a public place, a social place, that is not an economic place. Nearly all living activities involve money. The presence of money tints all of our actions. It is a truism to say that how much money one as largely determines your opportunities. The growth of the spectacle involves the union of money and appearances. An excellent illustration of this union is advertising. We see advertising everywhere. Returning to the example of instagram, a feature which was introduced soon after the launch of the site was the introduction of advertisements into the feed. Presented alongside the images posted by friends and celebrities are images sponsored by a corporation, hawking some product or service. Often it is difficult to distinguish these advertisements from the nonsponsored content. Advertisements as a part of life are not a particularly recent development, and they themselves are not necessarily representative of the spectacle. However, as life becomes increasingly consumed by a procession of appearances, advertisement becomes more prevalent because there are advertisements mixed into all these ap- pearances. Because the spectacle grew from the videos. I exaggerate this by saying that watching dominance of the economy, it retains the money- these videos is something like the condition of generating function of the economy. Someone, being farmed. For every video I watched, a few usually the rich and powerful, is always profit- cents of advertising revenue is generated. My ating from the mediation of social relationships tention is being harvested for a cheap price. between people. Advertising is a useful way of tracing the spectacle through life. Advertising re"24.. . The concentration of "communilies on the supposition that an advertisement will cation " is thus an accumulation, in the hands of be seen. They crop up anywhere where the gaze the existing systems administration, ofthe means of people accumulates. Debord might say that ad- which allow it to carry on this particular adminvertising is not a collection of images, although istration. " advertising uses all sorts of images to accomplish The decline of Net Neutrality was a demonstraits task. Rather, it is a social relationship through tion of the growth of the spectacle. While the inimages. Particularly, it is the relationship of ternet in its early days appeared as a space that spending money. This is a relationship that guar- would be free from the corporate control that antees separation even when people are together. had come to dominate so much of the physical To share the drink of loneliness you must have world, this illusion was soon crushed. Insofar as the money for your bar tab. the internet is a vast improvement over prior sysI am finding the task of a proper De- tems of communication, it had to be co-opted by tournement of Debord's spectacle into our times the forces most ready to wild it. Administrators challenging. Here is something anecdotal which of corporate and governmental breeds soon took might help some of what I am trying to say about complete power over this new means of comthe spectacle. I find it very difficult to focus on munication. The core of the internet is now overone thing for any length of time. There are such whelmingly corporate. Ongoing struggle against a great number of things to see. Setting out on the growth of the spectacle must occur at the vanthe work of writing is hard and distraction is very ishing periphery where the spectacle does not yet easy. In truth, I have had some desire to write have a total grasp of opinions. a paper on Debord for many months now. Al- Continuing to reference my copious consumption .ways when I sat down with half a mind to write of youtube videos, here is another quote from it, it seemed something impinged on me. Writer's Debord. block is nothing new, but if you do your writing on a computer you are subject to the spectacle in "12. The spectacle presents itself as a way that people in other times may not have something enormously positive, indisputable and been. The internet is the great generator and inaccessible. It says nothing more than "that perpetuator of spectacle. Here is a place where which appears is good, that which is good apall appearances are shown, where all things are pears. The attitude which it demands in principle shown. It was sold as something that would fos- is passive acceptance which in fact it already obter communication between people all over the tained by its manner of appearing without reply, world. I doubt that this description accurately by its monopoly of appearance. " shows what had become of the internet. It has Usually when someone is trying to sell you a fallen to the control of a few corporate masters, product they assume a cheerful tone. Consider much in the same way that media in prior decades the great privilege you have in being offered this did. Moreover, the most widely used websites all wonderful product! The statement goes someshare a similar model. Like instagram, they pres- thing like this: We are so fortunate to live in this ent an endless feed of information and images. I time of unparalleled abundance. Never before have often found myself in a loop of consumption have people had so much choice in the things as youtube continues to provide me with more they buy, and never before has the quality of life VOLUME XII, ISSUE I I WINTER 2019 I I ! �been so high! Even better, we have a full complement of pleasant images to enjoy. Wherever you tum some version of this promise manifests. For better or worse, the example of this that immediately comes to mind for me is Zizek's comments on Coca-Cola's motto, Enjoy Coke. We are commanded to enjoy coke, and this is disturbing because the corporation which gives this command is powerful enough that it may wield coercive power. There may be a threat of violence when we are told to Enjoy Coke. Everywhere there are versions of this advertisement. A common form of it is an ad that tells you to "treat yourself'. The message is to take advantage of the beautiful world of commodities in which all is well. There are parts of life that are irreconcilable with the spectacular claim that everything "which appears is good, that which is good appears". The recommended action when bad things appear is to just focus on the positive. It is suspiciously often that this focusing on the positive takes the form of some therapeutic. transaction. Continuing down the same path of how the spectacle is something which allows people to ignore the unpleasant or even exploitative things in their lives, here is yet another quote from Debord. In this section, Debord is talking about the seemingly contradictory status of a person when they are at work versus when they are in relaxation. "43. .. This worker, suddenly redeemed from the total contempt which is clearly shown him by all the varieties of organization and supervision of production, finds himself every day, outside of production and in the guise of a consumer, seemingly treated as an adult, with zealous politeness. " Shortly after, Debord likens the growth of the spectacle to an "Opium war" in the sense that the spectacle serves to silence dissent by showing people how good they have it, the sedative power of the spectacle constantly growing and expanding. The life of the consumer is an example of the movement from "having" to "appearing" which I introduced earlier. Marx speaks of the worker as someone who is uniformly downtrodden come THE EPOCH JOURNAL night or day. Debord updates this concept for his time and ours by telling of the products and sights that are now offered to the worker. During the day the worker is subject to the demands and vicissitudes of working life. When not at work, this same person can now feast on the products of accumulated labor. To say that this is a numbing force, something which prevents 'real change' and degrades a person further, would doubtless be a controversial claim. At the very least it is a delightfully bleak picture of modem life, one which is often presented. People work because they have to, so they can live. This life can be turned back into work even when someone is not working when they become a consumer. A striking feature of Debord's writing is how often he seems to repeat himself, or say things about the spectacle that hardly differ from his previous claims. The picture he creates comes together like transparent slides of images stacked on top of one another. The images vary only slightly, and over time a new image emerges. I take this to be one of the ways in which by speaking of the spectacle, it is hard not to reproduce it. Reproduction is essential to understanding the spectacle. "14. In the spectacle, which is the image of the ruling economy, the goal is nothing, development everything. The spectacle aims at nothing other than itself. " If I had to choose one of Debord's aphorisms which I thought best encapsulated what the spectacle is it would be this one. Development is the key term for. What is meant when we say 'Developed' or 'Developing' country, aside from these terms being contemptible euphemisms for wealth and poverty? More broadly put, what is it what we suppose society is developing into? The spectacle develops itself and has no goal besides this. It seeks to create not a better version of the world, but a more totalizing version of itself. Disillusionment is a process whereby people come to believe that nothing really changes. The modem cynic says its not worth voting, the parties are both the same and they will probably throw out your vote anyway. The news is printed fresh each day but draws from a completely predictable set of catastrophes, insults and banalities. All throughout this trudging process a torrential downpour of new media and sights comes down on us, more and more choices and happy distractions to take our attention from the work of the administrators, to keep us focused on an expanding spectacle. In all its expanse, in all its technological development, this spectacular thing does not change. I will close for the time being with another disturbing aspect of the spectacle, one which follows from its production of itself and nothing else. One argument that may be raised against Debord is that he fails to take into account opposition movements. Yes, we may grant to him that there are opiates for the masses, and perhaps some people partake, but how can someone say that society is unified in a common act of idol worship when we are so cracked and divided? Is the spectacle really something so strong and whole that it can survive the violence of politics and changing climates? flict takes on the character of a spectacle when the interests of the two sides essentially align. I admit that I am confused by this characterization of the spectacle. Is it not something that can be resisted? I am skeptical of claims that all people are deceived or fall victim to a single prevailing ideology. I do not believe that the spectacle is as expansive as Debord claims. One instance of the claim that the spectacle includes all conflicts is that the Soviet Union became in America something of a spectacle. At some point it no longer posed any threat, except as an appearance. The spectacle continues to expand, and may come to include all feuding sides. There may still be a few places where the spectacle has not yet reached. Consider the recent story of an American missionary who went to the Andaman islands, a place where people live who have successfully resisted all forms of European settler colonialism. When this missionary arrived attempting to spread his religion and bring back images, he was told to leave. When he refused, he was killed. This may be the only recent instance of the spectacle being stopped in its tracks. "54. The spectacle, like modern society I have fallen short of the task of describing the itself, is at once united and divided. The unity of spectacle, but I am happy that I have began. I each is based on violent divisions. But when this would like to encourage you to continue trying contradiction emerges in the spectacle, it is itself to understand the spectacle, and identify its influcontradicted by a reversal of its meaning: the ence in your life. I find this exercise helpful. The division it presents is unitary, while the unity it frivolous images we are surrounded by may be presents is divided. " more sinister than they seem. Beware all salesThe spectacle being 'united and divided' men and hucksters. Try and find unmediated sosuggests that it will be difficult to connect vary- cial contact. I hope this does not sound too much ing instances of the spectacle. I must be careful to like an empty appeal to 'get off your phone'. avoid the trap warned of by the very beginning, There is something growing all around us, and I namely the belief that the spectacle is a collection fear that it will not stop. It threatens to suffocate of images. In searching for the spectacle one must all good things. It presents itself as the only good always be mindful of the social relations that sur- left in a world of drudgery and stochastic disaster. round these images. Sometimes these social rela- I want to be more cautious of it. tions will present themselves as conflicts. Con- VOLUME XII, ISSUE I I WINTER 2019 �THE EPOCH JOURNAL VOLUME XII, ISSUE I I WINTER 2019 �� Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource Epoch Journal Creator An entity primarily responsible for making the resource St. John's College Contributor An entity responsible for making contributions to the resource St. John's College Greenfield Library Text A resource consisting primarily of words for reading. Examples include books, letters, dissertations, poems, newspapers, articles, archives of mailing lists. Note that facsimiles or images of texts are still of the genre Text. Original Format The type of object, such as painting, sculpture, paper, photo, and additional data paper Page numeration Number of pages in the original item. 19 pages Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource The Epoch, Volume 13 Issue 1 Description An account of the resource Volume 13, Issue 1 of The Epoch Journal. Published in Fall 2019. Misnumbered as volume 12. 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