Asian Groups Claim Harvard Uses Racial Quotas for Admittance

In a recent Foxnews article, Asian Americans are filing a complaint with the federal government with grievances that Harvard is selecting academic enrollment based upon racial ratios. Although, as the article even points, they've increased their enrollment of this group from 17.6 percent to 21 recently. This group makes up 4.8 percent of the population, yet their enrollment is 20 percent at this school. However, their grievance is the opposite of affirmative-action, it runs counter to this as they feel this law affects how many Asian Americans could potentially be admitted. They are advocating for removal of affirmative-action here as this prevents many of them, whom meet the academic and other rigor, to attend this school among other Ivy League institutions. Counter to a utilitarian approach, I'd have to agree with them. Granted, 50 years ago, affirmative-action was relevant and necessary, and we should all be ashamed of that. But this isn't 50 years ago, and if we continue to set special rights aside for certain minorities, we're only going to hurt them. We're, in essence, saying as a culture that they're not smart enough, or socialized well enough and need special treatment. Is that how you empower people? To me it seems repressive. Again, this group is seeking what all Americans want, a better life. It's being infringed upon by archaic laws created for racial integration and equality. I'd have to side with them here, and furthermore, I'd have to agree that they're being discriminated against as well.

References

Asian groups file federal complaint against Harvard over admission practices. (2015, May 17), from http://www.foxnews.com/us/2015/05/17/asian-groups-filed-federal-complaint-against-harvard-over-admission-practices/

(2013, July 2). Retrieved May 17, 2015, from http://www.cdc.gov/minorityhealth/populations/REMP/asian.html

Paraguay Abortion Law

In a recent CNN.com article, a 10 year old girl has been allegedly raped by her stepfather, and in the process, has become pregnant. The obvious issue here is that the 10 year was raped, because I think in most cultures prepubescence is taboo for sexual intercourse. However, what is less obvious is that the pregnancy she was forced into via the rape cannot be terminated. Paraguay has banned all abortions unless it threatens the mother's life. But I'd argue for a special amendment to this law where if both young girls and women alike are raped, there should be provisions for abortion if the rape ends up in the creation of a pregnancy. I strongly feel any woman whom is raped, regardless of age, shall not be burdened with the progeny of the animal who raped her. Furthermore, I would argue that this law is driven by myopic religious beliefs that are driven by the Catholic Church that dominates this country. Less troubling than the physical implications here that could forever affect the girl's health under the government's hardline stance in upholding this law is the psychological impact this girl will have to endure, especially if she's forced to take care of the child. The child can barely understand what has happened to her, let alone the pregnancy that's been forced upon her and made to continue through the third trimester. I think this is a travesty of justice driven by subscribing to medieval rules that built many of the western religions we know today, even in the face of science! This girl should be the exception and the law should be amended to allow for woman whom find themselves in these circumstances to choose to terminate a pregnancy, if it is created out of rape. I won't begin a dialogue on other circumstances outside of health and rape here though to keep the scope within my ethical viewpoint. In conclusion, special exception should be granted to cases like these in regards to rape that leads to pregnancy, even if they are incongruent with the current society's religious and/or sociological expectations.

Reference:
Hanna, J., Romo, R. (2015, May 10). Paraguay man arrested in rape of girl, 10, who became pregnant. Retrieved May 10, 2015 from www.cnn.com/2015/05/10/americas/paraguay-girl-rape-pregnancy/index.html

US Meddling in Syria: The Creation of ISIL

In a recent CNN.com article, "Analysis: Syria's al-Assad regime in trouble" it speaks to recent gains by Islamist fighters against the current regime. Like it or not, dictators do add stability to these regions and installing fanatical theocratic leadership is not the answer, in my opinion. Our government's approach, whether covertly or overtly, is not solving a problem with another greater problem, of course they'd have us all believe that, wouldn't they (Iraq, 2003)? This calculus is wrong and will only add further instability to the region. Granted, men like Saddam and al-Assad are terrible human beings, err more akin to animals, but they did provide for regional stability. Although their means from a deontological point of view are warped to the greatest extent. In other words, they used brutality and totalitarian leadership as a means to keep power, or the end. The utilitarian side of me decries their methods as they violate the "harm principle", but the pragmatic side of that argues that you "have to crack a couple of eggs to make an omelet". I mean, yeah, they're terrible, but would we rather trade them in for the savagery we see in this region (Iraq/Syria) now via ISIL? I would say, without a doubt, no. The media, their pundits, talking heads and politicians would have you believe otherwise; however, they all have their agendas and their views are aligned with those, whatever they might be. There'll always be dissent in any system of governance, especially autocratic ones, but we've unleashed an ideology that will have lasting impacts, and terrible atrocities beyond the former dictators at that. I don't think we should further our agenda in this region any longer from this type of policy, it's abundantly clear that all policies of the last administration and the current have created a monstrosity that'll only continue to get worse and plague the poor peoples of those areas. In summation, we really just traded one Ba'athist for another as ISIL's bureaucratic leadership is made up of former high-ranking military officers of Saddam's previous regime. We then coupled that with extreme islamist militant ideology that's sweeping through the region like wildfire. The point is, we're not really doing anything good, especially for the poor souls whom have to suffer under this terrible acronym we've come to know as ISIL. In summary, our policy of meddling in this region should cease to stop as we're creating a war torn area that will eventually see ethnic cleansing when the radical Sunnis turn on the Shias, Christians and Jews of the region; however, the damage is done, but further adding to it will not help this situation out.

Reference

Walsh, N. (2015, May 3). Analysis: Syria's al-Assad regime in trouble - CNN.com. Retrieved May 3, 2015, from http://www.cnn.com/2015/05/03/world/analysis-assad-regime-possible-trouble/index.html

Rosenstand, N. (2013). The Moral of the Story (7th ed.). New York, NY: McGraw-Hill.

Wounded Veterans Disrespected by Florida Fraternities

In a recent CNN.com article, wounded veterans and their service animals were assaulted by members of two fraternities during spring break in Panama City.  Allegations included spitting; pouring beer on them and their service animals; verbal profanity; and lastly, lewd comments made about their spouses.  The two fraternities were alleged to have been from the University of Florida and Emory University, or Zeta Beta Tau fraternity.  The general revelry spring break that takes place nationwide fueled by alcohol and drugs typifies this environment where young people are encouraged to participate in this debauchery.  Again, this is the same environment where a young woman was alleged to have been drugged and gang raped by three men while being recorded as other party goers did nothing, in broad daylight and public!  Panama City tolerates this general type of behavior as they're a tourist town and this brings in money to the local economy, but at what point do we as a society draw the line?  Rape?  Assault of veterans and their service animals?  Please keep in mind that if they have service animals, they are very likely to be legally disabled making this doubly disgusting and abhorrent.  John Stuart Mills advocates that everyone should live to increase happiness and decrease unhappiness, but so long as it doesn't harm anyone.  With that said, I'm in complete concurrence and agreement, and if these members of the fraternity are caught for this type of assault to disabled veterans and their service animals, they shall be prosecuted.  However, a retributive approach will deal with this from a statutory aspect, but how do we instill empathy in these young men who will presumably go on to potentially lead industry in their chosen areas of study?  Perhaps community service post-prosecution with veterans and their service animals would be very appropriate to return the "unequal unequals" back to an equal state.  As an active duty member of the armed services, I don't get wrapped around the axle when I hear of a veteran being treated differently, regardless of how terrible it may be so long as no one is harmed.  I understand that not everyone agrees with my service nor do they agree with what we do; however, if they're being systematically assaulted and targeted specifically because of this, I do absolutely take issue here with their behavior.  If they're prosecuted of any relevant crime related to this, I would like to see them have to do community service with the very people they targeted and tormented in an effort to hopefully change their perspective and redeem what lack of humanity these young people chose to exude during these incidents.

References

Rosenstand, N. (2013). The Moral of the Story (7th ed.). New York, NY: McGraw-Hill.

Stapleton, A. (2015, April 24). Wounded veterans say fraternity boys disrespected them - CNN.com. Retrieved April 25, 2015, from http://www.cnn.com/2015/04/24/us/frats-and-wounded-vets/index.htm

Murgatroyd, J. (2015, April 16). Panama City rape: 'Spring break as we know it is over' - CNN.com. Retrieved April 25, 2015, from http://www.cnn.com/2015/04/15/us/florida-panama-city-beach-spring-break/

Fourth Amendment Erosion: The Fallacy of the Utilitarian Approach

A current article featured on the front page of CNN.com is "Has Much Changed?" regarding domestic terrorism since the Oklahoma City bombing among other less famous acts of terrorism committed by American citizens on her soil.  The approach I've most notably noticed to systematic depletion of our fourth amendment among others has been that of the utilitarian:  the safety of all is above and more important than the privacy and protection thereof under the fourth amendment.  Now, please consider that without the leak of classified documentation from former Booz-Hamilton employee and fugitive, Edward Snowden, we'd never have publicly known of this.  We've made wide sweeping changes to our legal and law enforcement systems to ensure safety above our amendments and rights as citizens of the United States of America under a utilitarian approach, and there are quite a lot of slippery slopes there to say the least.  Granted, since 2001 there have only been a handful of successful, homegrown terrorist attacks; however, the counter argument will be that classification prevents us, the public, from knowing just how many were prevented.  So, this line of thinking and legislation can easily be argued and favored to further erode your liberties and rights under the conditions of classification without truly providing you and I with tangible results.  And as stated above, without any warrants and without any suspected evidence, you could be held indefinitely and without your birthright amendments under these same laws.  Again, you could be denied habeas corpus as an American citizen due to the utilitarian approach our legislative and executive branches have taken to domestic terrorism based upon safety of her citizens while systematically eroding their rights.  I'd like to add that the propaganda that the media perpetuates seems to lull us into thinking that this is the best and only course of action too, regardless that you're more likely to be killed by someone you know!  Where would this stop at?  Confiscation of your guns?  No longer able to write freely on the internet because it's inciting hate or is treasonous against the state?  Search and seizure without warrants?  In conclusion, I find that the utilitarian approach that our government has taken to protect us from domestic terrorism is a greater threat to us than the terrorists themselves, they (terrorists) are empowering our government to change the way we live and operate by stripping of us of what makes our nation so profound, her freedoms and Bill of Rights.

References

Lauter, D., & Pitcavage, M. (2015, April 19). Oklahoma City bombing, lessons 20 years later (Opinion) - CNN.com. Retrieved April 19, 2015, from http://www.cnn.com/2015/04/17/opinions/lauter-pitcavage-oklahoma-bombing/index.html

Rosenstand, N. (2013). The Moral of the Story (7th ed.). New York, NY: McGraw-Hill.

Erosion of Emotionalism in Police Work

I awoke one morning prior to work like any other this week, but this morning CNN's headline featured video of a man running away from an officer while the officer fired eight shots into the man's back.  Granted, I did not see what happened before the incident, but what I witnessed seemed very clear to me to be murder, regardless of the races involved in the incident.  Generally, police policy would only be to wound or kill a human being in this manner justifiably if the suspect presented immediate and grave danger to society, this was a man whom didn't have insurance on his vehicle and was trying to escape $16,000 in child support, hardly fitting the former definition for justifiable homicide in the line of duty.  Recently, we have seem many officer involved shootings in the news, especially ones that involve white officers and black suspects as this is a very polarizing issue between different segments of American culture.  With the proliferation of cellphones with video cameras, we're seeing more and more videos of citizens recording police officers in the line of work, including the one I've cited above.  We're finding out with these headlines that numbers of officers killed is kept (FBI.gov), but records of suspects being killed by officers is much harder to come by and isn't really recorded as the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) is trying to change that into statutory law.  As I finished chapter 4 of our text yesterday, David Hume's Emotionalism struck an accord with me as it resonated with me that many officers in their daily dealings may lose their ability of compassion and feelings of empathy with the suspects they deal with.  As Hume explains that the good and the bad only lie in our feelings toward the act, not whether it is objectively right or wrong, even murder.  I fear that certain police officers, especially the one involved in this particular shooting in South Carolina, may in the line of their duty, be desensitized and have their emotionalism be eroded into "good" feelings about murder in their daily duties.  I too fear that with the increased militarization of police forces that citizens are being viewed as combatants rather than, well, citizens.  This coupled with the fact that some officers may have a paradigm in the erosion of their compassion and empathy of others and citizens viewed as combatants, we may have a major societal issue as police forces are required to serve the community as a police force, not a military force. In conclusion, with the possible erosion of compassion and empathy of police officers in their line of work, coupled with more militarization and exacerbated by no database to track police officer related shootings, we many continue to see these incidents in the news more often with the proliferation of cellphone cameras.

References

Rosenstand, N. (2013). Myself or Others? In The Moral to the Story (7th ed., pp. 204-206). New York, New York: McGraw-Hill.

Harshaw, P. (2015, March 5). America needs a reliable death-by-police database. Retrieved April 12, 2015, from http://fusion.net/story/57901/america-needs-a-reliable-death-by-police-database/

FBI Releases 2012 Statistics on Law Enforcement Officers Killed and Assaulted. (2013, October 28). Retrieved April 12, 2015, from http://www.fbi.gov/news/pressrel/press-releases/fbi-releases-2012-statistics-on-law-enforcement-officers-killed-and-assaulted

Fantz, A., & Yan, H. (2015, April 9). South Carolina officer charged with murder - CNN.com. Retrieved April 12, 2015, from http://www.cnn.com/2015/04/08/us/south-carolina-officer-charged-with-murder/ 

Rioting - An Ethical Perspective

With the final four now deduced to two teams for the NCAA championships, supporters and fans of the Kentucky Wildcats took to the streets and "rioted" by burning articles of clothing as an expression of their displeasure for their team's loss.  To say that they were "rioting" is a bit of journalistic sensationalism, which wouldn't be beyond CNN.com, in my opinion.  More importantly, and as we have seen not just in Ferguson, MO, riots have become part of culture and trace back their roots mainly to social injustices.  We know of the Watts riots and the riots that erupted in Los Angeles after police officers were cleared of any crime following what pretty clearly was an outright and malicious assault on Rodney King.  Rioting may be one way to address social injustices, but it certainly isn't right nor ethical as it leads to criminality and destruction of property, typically in the rioter's area that they dwell.  According to sociologist Christian Borsch, riots create irrational behavior rather than rational people driven to rioting by social injustices as has been argued in yesteryear.  This phenomenon seems to be reflective and an outlet specifically among low-income and impoverished cities or neighborhoods in America, and continues to trend towards increasing as the middle-class shrinks and government assistance continues to be harder to obtain as our jobs in these neighborhoods too.  Rioting too forces police to take a militaristic and paramilitary stance to protect citizens and property, thus reinforcing more negative views of the police and resistance to them when they engage in tactics generally reserved for the most violent situations.  This blog doesn't seek to address the social injustices endured, whether perceived or real, but rather that certain segments of our population have no other outlet to release their frustrations at their circumstances that is generally driven by some event as a catalyst for this expression.  To me this is a national security issue as we have a severe fracture and departure of our overall general values as we all make up the social fabric of our great nation, and we must start to look at providing better education to our youth and adults to ensure a better quality of life.  Education and a reemphasis on hard work is the only way we can lift our fellow man (or woman) in these areas.  We must all seek to change the cultural paradigm towards this, otherwise the fabric will continue to rip and we will not stand "indivisible" and together as a people.

References

Silver, J. (2015, April 5). Kentucky Fans Riot After Loss. Retrieved April 5, 2015, from     http://bleacherreport.com/articles/2420624-kentucky-fans-light-fires-in-the-street-after-final-four-loss-to-wisconsin?utm_source=cnn.com&utm_medium=referral&utm_campaign=editorial

 Borsch, C. (2013, April 15). Søg / Search. Retrieved April 5, 2015, from http://news.ku.dk/all_news/2013/2013.4/riots_create_irrational_behaviour/