Semester Final Write-Up

     Tea has remained one of the world's most popular drinks for many centuries. It originated in China several thousand years ago, though its precise origins are unknown. This uncertainty caused myths to spring up surrounding tea's discovery, such as the idea that Siddhartha Buddha created the plant. Around the 17th century, tea made its way to Europe with the help of explorers. Despite this, Europeans still had no idea how to make it. In an effort to reduce its dependence on China, the East India Company sent Scottish botanist Robert Fortune to steal tea seeds to be planted in India, which the company controlled at the time. Tea has since made itself an established presence as a global commodity, a and is available in all parts of the world. 

Semester Final Presentation

The Right to Deprivation of Liberty, Property, Security, and Resistance to Oppression

     The Enlightenment saw several revolutions dedicated to taking power out of the hands of the privileged few and giving it to the majority. These revolutions, most notably those in France and America, saw the emergence of certain documents guaranteeing certain rights to citizens. In the Declaration of the Rights of Man and Citizen, the National Assembly stated that "The aim of all political association is the preservation of the natural and imprescriptible rights of man. These rights are liberty, property, security, and resistance to oppression." Similar rights of the pursuit of life, liberty, and happiness are outlined by Thomas ajefferson in the Declaration of Independence. These documents were created to provide an alternative to the grossly unjust systems in place in the late 18th century. Yet despite these rights embedded in the history of the United States, there have been some shocking infringements upon them by the U.S. government itself. 

     Recently, reports on the torture techniques of the Central Intelligence Angency were brought to light. People who were incarcerated without due process have been waterboarded, beaten, frozen, and kept wake for days on end. But it is not only the mere brutality of the methods that presents a problem, but also the fact that those being detained have not been have not been granted the legal rights garunteed to them by the constitution. This is a clear violation of liberty, property, and security. While the argument can certainly be made that most other branches of the government were mislead concerning the going-ons at Guantánamo Bay and other such detention facilities, it must be remembered that it is the government's responsibility to maintain proper oversight, transparency, and accountability. Given that the CIA is a government organization and that other branches failed to prevent this unlawful and unconstitutional violation of rights (whether or not this was due to misinformation is irrelevant), the government is directly ignoring the ideals of the Enlightenment which founded it. Yet the inhumane treatment of prisoners by the CIA is not the only way in which the government has failed to acknowledge these rights. The protests against police brutality sparked by the deaths of Mochael Brown and Eric Gardner have been met with, shockingly, police brutality. While some of the protests in which the police used violence were little more than thinly veiled excuses for looting, others were merely demonstrations of citizen's displeasure with the status quo. When demonstrating against police brutality is met with force, the right to resist oppression is no longer taken into account. 

     While the Declaration of the Rights of Man and Citizen may not directly apply to the U.S., these rights should, looking at the issue from an idealistic standpoint rather than a realistic one, be universally maintained. In theory, these problems could be solved through more strict oversight, enforced regulation, and increased transparency and accountability for both the police and the CIA. While these were not necessarily guaranteed in the documents composed by revolutionaries, they were implied. For in order for these rights to be maintained, there must be a certain degree of regulation and accountability. 

Articles: http://www.alternet.org/activism/graphic-content-police-riot-violent-clash-protesters-berkeley-over-racist-police-actions

http://www.bordc.org/issues/military-detention

http://www.thedailybeast.com/articles/2014/12/09/the-most-gruesome-moments-in-the-cia-torture-report.html

 

Thoughts and Reflections on Edmund Burke's Reflections on the French Revolution

     Despite the Declaration of the Rights of Man and Citizens, not all were convinced of the sensibility of the French Revolution. Irish critic Edmund Burke made his displeasure with the revolution known in his famous essay Reflections on the French Revolution. His criticism stemmed partly from his perception of the National Assembly, which he considered deplorable by virtue of being made up of primarily lawyers. Burke did not count lawyers among the wisest of men, instead stating that the assembly should have been comprised of men of the cloth rather than those who had no grasp of the laws of God and nature. He doubted that such men as those who called themselves the National Assembly could ever pursue anything other than their own personal interests. He believed that under the rule of such men, conditions were far worse than under any monarch. Additionally, Burke implies that the inherent rights of men should be guaranteed outside of the government. Due to the esoteric and ever-changing nature of these rights, they cannot be effectively implemented by the government. 

Thoughts and Reflections on The Declaration of the Rights of Man and Citizen

     The ideas put forth during the Enightenment by such thinkers and Locke and Rousseau became prevalent in newly formed constitutions. These ideas, primarily centering around equality and the inherent rights of man, were spelled out in the Declaration of the Rights of Man and Citizens. Apart from the revolutionaries in America, the National Assembly were the first to try to bring the ideas of the Enlightenment into government. Despite the sentiment expressed in this declaration however, the Fench Revolution was plagued by tyranny, wrongful executions, and general iniquities. During th Reign of Terror, Robespierre branded anyone who voiced the slightest anti-revolutionist ideals an enemy of the revolution and had them executed. After several decades of new monarchs and dictators, France eventually achieved the ideals laid down in the National Assembly's document.

Thoughts and Reflections on The Human Story Chapter 13

     Prior to the late 18th century, the idea of granting any political influence to the proletariat was unthinkable. Yet the political paradigm shift brought about by the Age of Enlightenment sparked several revolutions which did just that. In France, the working and rising middle classes were discontent to allow the nobility and clergy to continue squandering the treasury and living lives of luxury. This, coupled with a particularly bad harvest in 1789, led to the bloody French Revolution during which the monarchy was deposed and a constitution was instated to ensure the equality of all men, an ideal which had only been voiced in the recent Enlightenment. The Spanish American revolutions of the same time seem to have been sparked by similar ideals, with peasants being granted land and some revolutionists pushing for equality among whites and Indians. 

Salon Video, Script, and Works Cited

Link to video: http://youtu.be/LII-ovTIV2o

Works Cited: 

     Friend, Celeste. "Internet Encyclopedia of Philosophy." Internet Encyclopedia of Philosophy. Internet Encyclopedia of Philosophy, n.d. Web. 03 Dec. 2014.

     Elahi, Manzoor. "Social Contract Theory by Hobbes, Locke and Rousseau." Academia.edu. Academia.edu, n.d. Web. 2 Dec. 2014. 

Script:

Questions: 

Could you give us an overview of your well known stance concerning the natural state of man?

Answer: all men are equal and free

Follow up question: are you suggesting that there should be no laws at all?

Answer: no, all men held accountable to laws of nature and God

How does the surveillance being conducted by the NSA violate your proposed social contract?

Answer: consent of the people, lack of awareness of the people, lack of transparency. Property, everyone owns themselves, to some degree a violation of personal property, implications of surveillance, etc. 

But wouldn't you agree that in order for a government to function, citizens must give up certain freedoms?

Answer: While there is a trade, it is inordinate. The people must consent to this trade. 

How would you say your social contract theory could be applied to create a better system?

Answer: more transparency from government 

anchorman

Mac (1) welcome back to (Macs Important news station. Today's top story, the NSA leaks on internet surveillance recently brought to light by whistleblower Edward Snowden. 

Mac (3) That's right Mac. Snowden released top secret documents about NSA surveillance which caused  

an uproar from not just America, but most of the world. among the documents that were leaked were some detailing the extensive collection of metadata by the National Security Agency. 

Mac (2) here with us tonight to discuss the issue 

is renowned philosopher and progressive thinker John Locke. Locke is best known for his position on human rights and inherent property of individual. For more on the story we go live to Alex Rodrigue. 

(switch to interview)

Salon Meme