I had an interesting day about democracy and stuff. In Humanities we're reading about Athenian democracy and the supposed paradox between having a society ruled by the people where one guy has all the power. I said it isn't really a paradox if the leader acts as a voice for the people and ministers to their needs. But then I thought of George Bush saying in the debates how he saw himself as a "good stweard of the land/the lord" or whatever is was. Ug.
I watched this presentation tonight by photojournalist Joel Preston Smith who took these photos of occupied Iraq. they were really compelling and you should all go look at his website. He brought up a lot of nonpartisan and provoking points about what it means to "liberate" someone when you've taken away their safety, their job, their medicine, their food. About how it shouldn't be suprising that things like Abu Graib happen when you send people to another country and tell them its their job, their duty to kill others and that they will be rewarded for it. When that is the case then isnt any act of violence or humiliation justifyable, when you've told someone that the very lofe of another is inconsequential?
One thing he said was that in Iraq someone told him that so many other countries, and American citizens, protested going to war in Iraq, but our leader ignored them and pressed on. But isn't the rule of the people what democracy is supposed to be about? So how can you claim to be able to "liberate" another country when you don't possess that liberty yourself? It sort of brought everything back full circle with me today. We haven't really progressed much from ancient Greece.
Also, i got slammed again with my Hum paper conference, but I guess Hum is always meant to be a humbling experience. But then I ran into my Spanish prof on the way out and she told me how she always appreciates my comments in class and that I was holding my own against the seniors and basically flattered me until I felt a lot better! Got my grades, its like I'm in elementray school again, "Satisfactory" in all classes.
Now that I've launched my diatribe about freedom and democracy and shit, you should all remember to VOTE tomorrow. I did. You should. If you care about things like seeing your guy buds drafted, your girlfriends going to jail for having abortions, and your gay friends discriminated against when they try to get married, you should vote. Dubya hates Suicidegirls, and I'm trying to use my boobs to change the world (small tho they are) so do it for Absinthe and vote.
Think of it as buying me your vote on my wishlist. 
I watched this presentation tonight by photojournalist Joel Preston Smith who took these photos of occupied Iraq. they were really compelling and you should all go look at his website. He brought up a lot of nonpartisan and provoking points about what it means to "liberate" someone when you've taken away their safety, their job, their medicine, their food. About how it shouldn't be suprising that things like Abu Graib happen when you send people to another country and tell them its their job, their duty to kill others and that they will be rewarded for it. When that is the case then isnt any act of violence or humiliation justifyable, when you've told someone that the very lofe of another is inconsequential?
One thing he said was that in Iraq someone told him that so many other countries, and American citizens, protested going to war in Iraq, but our leader ignored them and pressed on. But isn't the rule of the people what democracy is supposed to be about? So how can you claim to be able to "liberate" another country when you don't possess that liberty yourself? It sort of brought everything back full circle with me today. We haven't really progressed much from ancient Greece.
Also, i got slammed again with my Hum paper conference, but I guess Hum is always meant to be a humbling experience. But then I ran into my Spanish prof on the way out and she told me how she always appreciates my comments in class and that I was holding my own against the seniors and basically flattered me until I felt a lot better! Got my grades, its like I'm in elementray school again, "Satisfactory" in all classes.
Now that I've launched my diatribe about freedom and democracy and shit, you should all remember to VOTE tomorrow. I did. You should. If you care about things like seeing your guy buds drafted, your girlfriends going to jail for having abortions, and your gay friends discriminated against when they try to get married, you should vote. Dubya hates Suicidegirls, and I'm trying to use my boobs to change the world (small tho they are) so do it for Absinthe and vote.
Think of it as buying me your vote on my wishlist.
We haven't really progressed much from ancient Greece.
Well, we have ostensibly outlawed slavery, and also ostensibly given everyone, regardless of sex or sexual identity, race, or financial status the right to vote. At the moment we don't execute people for impiety, although depending on today's outcome, that might change.
Also, you have to remember, that the United States technically isn't a democracy; it's a republic (although admittedly a democratic one). We don't, as citizens, make laws and decide on policy. We elect people to do it for us. One of the flaws of our system is that it's possible to elect crooks who don't represent the will of the people. I think the bigger problem, though, and this is a flaw in ANY system, is the converse: that politicans (and their propaganda machines) can convince the people that its will coincides with the politician's policy. That's what W has going on.