Blog 22 - "Bushwhacked" Scene

Firefly is a television series that takes place in the year 2517. In this new society only two superpowers exist, which is United States and China, they have united to form the central government called the Alliance, which prompted a merging of the two cultures. Joss Whedon focuses this show on a cast of nine characters that each has their own unique story. Mostly looking into the life of Captain Malcolm Reynolds, who was a sergeant that fought against the Alliance in a civil war that resulted in the Alliance defeating the Browncoats, the rebellion, in a bloodbath war. Six years later, Captain Reynolds or Mal, continues his life taking jobs for money on the edges of society.  Mal and his crew discovered an abandoned ship that had people killed by Reavers in it. Mal noticed that the abandoned ship possessed some valuable cargo, Mal decided to take some of the cargo and leave. Later finding out that there remained an only survivor. He then brought the only survivor to the infirmary for medical attention. Serenity was taken in by the Alliance for a government check for any evidence of illegal goods or activities in the vessel. Mal decided to put all the illegal goods in plane sight in order to avoid the Alliance to be suspicious of them carrying the two fugitives, Simon and River. This is because a Firefly-model spaceship was reported in the first episode of stealing goods from an abandoned spaceship (which was actually Serenity). In the meantime, the Alliance has been looking for two fugitives (Simon and River) that could be possibly hiding in Serenity. Instead of the captain turning in the two fugitives to the Alliance as bargaining chips so that the Serenity could escape freely, the captain decided on hiding the sibling fugitives. Simon and River were suited up and hid outside the ship from any Alliance members. The crew was later interrogated about any information about Simon and River but they lied about harboring fugitives because especially Mal knew this was a morally right thing to do.

Blog 21 - Fifth Integrated Quote: “On the Arab Street, Rage Is Contagious.”

Revolutions are often very infectious to surrounding or similar countries. The Tunisian Jasmine Revolution has sparked a series of revolutions throughout the Arab world including Egypt, Bahrain, Libya and other Arab countries. These revolutions all started with a Tunisian street vendor who self-immolated himself, which inspired many people to rebel against political corruptions. This event influenced Egyptians to post on social networking websites such as Facebook and Twitter. People shared stories of their experience with country's political oppression and later, with help with Google Executives, organized peaceful protests against their government corruption. In response the government blocked any access to Facebook and Twitter but it was too late because the outraged protesters were already marching down the streets of Cairo. Different than usual, the police's initial reaction permitted the crowd to go down to the capital and express their wrath. As thousands congregated in Liberation Square, the heart of downtown Cairo, police started becoming anxious and impatient. The police would beat their shields to show they mean business and proceed to move in with their batons. Eventually, tear-gas shells were used and protestors retreated but then was later reinforced by hundreds of protesters pouring into the square from side streets and bridges. The protesters would yell chants and at one moment the Arab protesters threw tear-gas back at police. A young teenager with gas-induced tears going down his face explained that not every protester is afraid of standing up for change. “There were plenty of frightened people in the presidential palaces of the Arab world.” (Hauslohner, Paragraph 14) Rather than protestors being fearful, corrupt governments throughout the Arab world should be scared of this contagious outcry for justice because this revolt is not over yet.

Blog 20 – Forth Integrated Quote: “Un-American Revolutions.”

Americans always support revolutions of any kind, no matter what the circumstances. We are biased because our own country was founded on a revolution. The concept of revolutions is positive but the general notion of supporting all revolutions could have negative results. Americans cheer on revolutions but then become silent when those revolutions start to have negative consequences, such as death tolls of not just our own people but many others as well. In our world’s history, there are plenty of revolutions that have had extremely negative outcomes. As you have seen in television, the most current revolutions are taking place throughout the Middle East and North Africa. So as we watch these revolutions take place in the Arab world we must remember a couple of things about non-American revolutions. First, they can take many years to develop. Secondly, the violence level is very high because the rebellion is attacking the ruling party so in return the existing political order becomes self-motivated and eventually retaliates. Thirdly, surrounding countries usually intervene either because the revolution is threatened by foreigners or because it is accustomed of revolutionaries to blame an external threat for domestic problems such as China get involved in the Korean War. People may question if that was the same for the American Revolution, the answer is not quite. The majority of our revolution occurred within a five-year time span but the level of violence and death toll is nowhere near non-American revolutions. The American Revolution inspired the French Revolution and in the French Revolution twenty times as many Frenchmen were killed than Americans during the American Revolution. "The people who made the American Revolution were, by 18th-century standards, exceptionally well off and well educated." (Ferguson, Paragraph 10) This is a major reason why there is a great chance of a higher protracted violence in today's Arab world than in the 1770s in North America. As the revolutions continue in the Arab world, they could soon become more violent reaching the death toll in tens or hundreds of thousands and then potentially a full-scale war, which could reach in the millions of deaths. If a death toll in the millions is not already disadvantageous, this bloodbath of a war could end with another tyrant surfacing.

Blog 19 – Third Integrated Quote: “Beyond Oppression.”

According to Rauch, the definition for "oppression" has been wrongfully used, that it is a word that defines every political designation used for any minority who feels unequal. In order to declare a population being oppressed we must understand and defined it. Political oppression consists of five main items: direct legal or governmental discrimination, denial of political franchise (right to vote, organize, speak or lobby), systematic denial of education, impoverishment relative to the non-oppressed population and a pattern of human rights violations. "Homosexuals are objects of scorn for teenagers and of sympathy or moral fear or hatred for adults." (Rauch, Paragraph 3) Even though minorities may feel that certain issues are not unfair, they are not living under oppression. We can validate this statement by analyzing the lives of homosexuals to the five criterions. Meeting one or two of these criterions maybe because of reasons other than oppression. First criterion, direct legal or governmental discrimination, homosexuals do in fact experience this criterion. Homosexual relations are illegal in twenty-three state, gay marriage is not legally recognized anywhere and gay people are persecuted by the military. Second criterion, gay people can vote but also their votes really count, Bill Clinton supposedly put his candidacy on the line to win over the gay votes by discussing his view of the military issue during the primary season and has been declare one of the most bravest things a living politician has done. Third criterion, denial of education, is definitely not met. Results from random sample surveys, found out that homosexuals had an average of 15.7 years of education compared to the 12.7 years of education of our country as a whole. The fourth criterion, relative impoverishment, also is not met. In Overlooked Opinions' sample an average gay men household income is 51,624 dollars, lesbians with 42,755 dollars compared with to the national average income of 36,800 dollars. the fifth criterion, human rights violations, is definitely not met. Since 1965 America's homicide rate has doubled and more than tripled for juvenile violet crime arrest rates. People who kill do it for either money objects or just because they can do it, hates crimes against gay people are just a small issue under a bigger picture. In fact gay people are on average sage due to their social class compared to other urban minorities such as blacks. Black males, in Los Angeles or Chicago, have a better chance to be killed than a United States soldier who was in a tour of duty in Vietnam. To say homosexuals are oppressed implies that you suffer if your gay, which makes homosexual pitiable. For that reasons gays should get rid of that notion because it is obviously not true.

Blog 18 – Second Integrated Quote: “Rage, Rap And Revolution”

The Arab youth are driven young protesters who have ignited revolutions throughout the Arab world. They want change and they want it now. These young people are on a journey to get rid of political oppression throughout the Arab world. Despite the lack of campaign for change from their parents, the Arab youth has empowered themselves for a democratic transformation. The young generation has dismissed the idea that they need foreign assistance or outside inspiration with achieving revolutionary change, they are just simply “doing it for themselves”(Ghosh, Paragraph 20). The youth wants democratic modification but they do not have a clear vision of what kind of democracy they exactly want. The biggest fundamental transformation that the youth wants is free Libya to have free and fair elections. “ ‘I don't care who ends up running this country,' says Egyptian student Khaled Kamel, 'as long as I have the ability to change them if I don't like them.' "(Ghosh, Paragraph 10) The youth feels that having the power to kick out a leader every couple years is power in their hands that they can have over the government. With this power, the Libyans can always check the power of the government whenever their government is being unjust. The young Arab people have sparked change in Egypt, Tunisia and Bahrain and have sparked revolutions in Libya with many Arab countries on the way. The Arab youth have accomplished rather greatly over the recent time span but they are certainly not finished yet.

Blog 17 – First Integrated Quote: “Gaddafi’s Last Stand”

Ghosh explains the oppression that Gaddafi has had on the Libyans for many years so that we can understand the state of the Libyan people in order to better understand the circumstance they have been for years and why this sparked this revolution. Some of the hardships that the Libyans face are police brutality and the current economic state of the Libyan people.  This article mentions different actions Muammar Gaddafi has done throughout his dictatorship. Some are being responsible for funding terrorist attacks and oppressing his people. The general theme of the article is that Libyans are through with Gaddafi hence the title “Gaddafi’s Last Stand.” The title also tells us that Gaddafi is not willing to give up power so he will fight to the end. In one of his speeches, Gaddafi said “I am a warrior, I am not going to leave this land, and I will die here as a martyr.” (Ghosh, Paragraph 8)

 

Libya has one of the world’s largest oil deposits but the riches do not circulate throughout the country. Money flow in Libya only takes place among a very small population, which only include the wealthiest people. “Relatively litte was spent on his people: a Gallup poll released last year showed that 29% of young Libyans were unemployed and 93% described their condition as ‘struggling’ or ‘suffering’.” (Ghosh, Paragraph 10).  Due to the lack of money flow, almost one third of Libya’s young were unemployed last year and over ninety percent of them described themselves as in misery.

Massimo Calabresi, et al. "Gaddafi's Last Stand." Time 177.9 (2011): 24-29. Academic Search Complete. EBSCO. Web. 14 Apr. 2011.

Blog 15 - Fifth Source: “Nonviolent Resistance and Violent Response: Dual Conditions Necessary in Overcoming Oppression.”

This article analyzes the effectiveness of nonviolent resistance in order to achieve their goal of getting rid of oppression. This article uses examples such as Mohandas Gandi and Martin Luther King Jr. to illustrate that nonviolence is in fact the most effective way of protesting oppression. The author argues that, literature fails to tell under what conditions will nonviolent resistance be effective. Depending on whether the oppressed group is nonviolent or retributive the group, the ruling group will be either moderate or violent. Yeates explains that only a peaceful agreement between oppressed group and a ruling group is that the oppressed group is nonviolent and the ruling group is moderate.

 

This relates to my paper because my real world connection is the Libyan revolution against Muammar Gaddafi. At first the Libyan people protested with nonviolence but the ruling group, Muammar Gaddafi, decided to respond with violence. Gaddafi ordered fighter jets and tanks to kill his own people. Instead of responding to the nonviolent oppressed group with a moderate way in order to reach a peaceful agreement, he decided to attack his people thinking that he can continue to oppress them. In this condition it seems that nonviolent revolution is not the most effective approach that maybe even a violent retaliation is necessary to end Gaddafi’s dictatorship. In one of my earlier sources (“Gaddafi’s Last Stand.”) Gaddafi even quoted that he will fight to the end and die as a martyr, he wants it his way or no way. This article helps analyzes the situation in Firefly that the ruling group, Alliance, is not open or moderate but more like Gaddafi and not willing to give up power. In result, it might be effective for the people who are against the Alliance to react with violence in the movie Serenity.

 

 

 

Yeates, Owen. "Nonviolent Resistance and Violent Response: Dual Conditions Necessary in Overcoming Oppression." Conference Papers -- American Political Science Association (2003): 1-24. Academic Search Complete. EBSCO. Web. 15 Apr. 2011.