Socrates was put to death for “not worshipping the gods of the state” and “corrupting the young.2” The more powerful people of Athens disagreed with, and disapproved of Socrates’ beliefs and handed him a jug of poison. Plato believed that good/morality starts from the powerful government and trickles down to the average person. Women’s and civil rights were both products of the support of more powerful people of these causes. Each new Supreme Court reflects the values of the majority of its members, now liberal, now conservative. The “right” view is the view held by those currently in power1.
The most powerful individuals or groups of individuals determine the rights and truths of a society. This sounds a bit discouraging to the powerless
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Some time ago, I remember there was news of a fifteen-year-old girl gang-raped outside of her homecoming dance. There were some dozen or so onlookers; some took pictures and not a single soul called the police. What makes right here? How much “might” does it take to make a 9-1-1 call?
If a bully were hurting one of the new children in school and no one is acting to defend the new child, is the bully correct? The bully has might, surely, but he/she is never right. This theory justifies and feeds bullying. So, if might does not make right, what does?
If some average person wanted to make a good change in the world, how would he/she do it if everyone went by the motto of “might makes right?” Since, unfortunately, this has become the accepted motto in today’s world, the average person would not dare to think to change anything. He or she just chalks it up to the theory that “might makes right.” He/she assumes that they have no influence and thus they conclude that they cannot possibly change anything. They wave hello to passive citizenship and goodbye to their rights. No one believes in what Gandhi said anymore; dash it, no one even knows. What a man he was! He said, “Be the change you want to see in the world.” The first step is to be the example.
What about the 1942 Japanese-American internment? The only wrong those poor Japanese-Americans have committed is that they made the
While the attack on Pearl Harbor was a devastating time in United States history and the attack being conducted by the Japanese government, it didn’t not justify Japanese Americans being put into internment camps. The fear of a Japanese attack on mainland United States soil prompted the United States government to create these internment camps. Such fear lead to innocent Japanese Americans to live in a way that could be considered inhuman. Of the hundreds of thousands of Japanese Americans in the internment camps half of them were children. The conditions of the camps where no way of life and Japanese Americans were forced to live in an undignified life that
Roger Daniels’ book Prisoners without Trial is another book that describes the internment of Japanese-Americans during World War II. This piece discusses about the background that led up to the internment, the internment itself, and what happened afterwards. The internment and relocation of Japanese-Americans during World War II was an injustice prompted by political and racial motivations. The author’s purpose of this volume is to discuss the story in light of the redress and reparation legislation enacted in 1988. Even though Daniels gives first hand accounts of the internment of Japanese Americans in his book, the author is lacking adequate citations and provocative quotations. It’s
Japanese internment was not and is not justifiable. America is a mixing pot of cultures, religions, and ethnicities. Thus, American citizens do not inherently have a significant relationship to the nations of their heritage. Immigrants to this country actively selected a lifestyle other than that of their homeland, for one reason or another. Those who were born in America, without any first-hand exposure to the home of their parents or grandparents are especially free of potential conflicting ties. This is proven when Grant Hirabayashi admits, “...I was offered what they call…[an appointment as] a military cadet. And, I told the officer...no thanks. I was an American citizen,” (RAP, pg 190). Another point of importance is that an individual can be loyal to their country without wishing to join its military or military
On December 7th, 1941 Japan bombed Pearl Harbour, "a date which will live in infamy"(http://historymatters.gmu.edu/d/5166/), sending America into a widespread panic, and anger. This day is what caused us to do something that no one would of thought we would ever do. We created internment camps here in America after signing executive order 9066, which authorized the relocation of all Japanese here in the US to those dreaded internment camps. The conditions were bad but not as bad as they were in Germany where millions of Jews died. After the war the remaining internees were freed to go rebuild their lives, during their captivity they were many legal cases against the Japanese internment, but fear overcame what was right.
Japanese Internment can not be justified by the United States government. The United States government, in the twentieth century can not justify the Internment of Japanese Americans and their families. Many will argue that in times of war that difficult decisions and choices have to be made on behalf of the nation at war. World War II highlighted the actions of a nation, embracing and expediting the actions and decisions while not seeing the long term consequence of such decisions. People in support of the war and the policies of our government, will argue that they needed to make the war more efficient to shorten the war and spare our nation needless lost of life. Can a society sacrifice moral principles as they blur the lines of its citizens and its enemies?
For over a century, the United States has been one of the most powerful and influential states on the globe. However, every nation has made mistakes in its past. Throughout our country’s history, certain groups have had to endure horrible injustices: the enslavement of African-Americans, the removal of Native Americans, and discrimination against immigrants, women, homosexuals, and every other minority. During World War II, the government crossed the line between defending the nation and violating human rights, when it chose to relocate Japanese residents to internment camps. The actions taken by the U.S. government against Japanese Americans and Japanese living in the
The United States put Japanese people in camps, stealing their rights, and placed them in inhumane facilities that no human being should be forced to withstand.
Like all issues involving race or war, the question of whether or not it was legal and ethical to make Japanese Americans move to relocation camps in early WWII is a difficult and controversial problem. The internment of around 50,000 Japanese citizens and approximately 70,000 Japanese-American people born in the U.S. living in the American West Coast has become known as a tragedy and mistake. The government even set up numerous projects to apologize to the American citizens who were wronged (Bosworth). Still, at the time that the decision to relocate was made, the actions were constitutionally legal and seen by many as necessary. The actions were not based on racist feelings. It was, however,
Was the Japanese American internment right to create? In some people’s opinion they agreed that the internment camps were justified. “On February 14, 1942, I recommended to the War Department that the military security of the Pacific Coast required the establishment of broad civil control, anti-sabotage and counter-espionage measures, including the evacuation, there from of all persons of Japanese ancestry” (Dewitt 1). Some people may have thought it was the wrong choice, but at the time the president did what had to be done. These camps in a way helped the U.S. The internment for Japanese Americans,during World War 2, is either justified or unjustified.They may have taken the Japanese American’s Farms, businesses and homes, but they did for the reasons of segregating them from their ancestry. To keep the U.S. safe. Also to show that being a citizen of America was hard. If the internment camps were justified then, they were made to keep the U.S. safe, segregate Japanese Americans from Japanese ancestry, and being an American citizen was hard work.
They were called racial-slurs and physically and mentally abused. Their old homes, and businesses. Some were killed because of racial prejudice. It took the United States 40 years to apologize to the Japanese. The Civil Liberties Act was passed on August 10, 1988 and said that $20,000 should be paid to each internment camp survivor. $20,000 is still not enough money to repay what they went through and and what they were forced to experience even after the camps ended.
Imagine being locked up in an internment camp for doing nothing. You and your family are forced to move out of your home and move into an internment camp. That is exactly what happened to Japanese-Americans during World War ll. President Franklin D. Roosevelt signed Executive Order 9066 which gave military authorities the rights to put Japanese-Americans into internment camps. There have been multiple reasons why America put Japanese-Americans into internment camps. To this day people still ask why the U.S. put Japanese-Americans into internment camps and if putting them into internment camps was the right thing to do. Japanese-Americans shouldn’t have been put into internment camps because they were just innocent people. There is no reason for putting these innocent people into internment camps.
The Japanese-American placement in internment camps was wrong and unconstitutional. The Japanese-American people had been living in the United States without question until the uprise of racial prejudice brought on by the bombing of Pearl Harbor. Many Japanese-Americans had been born in America and lived an American life, integrated into American schools, speaking with American accents, and enjoying American culture. But, after the bombing of Pearl Harbor on December 7, 1941, the Japanese were suddenly seen as threats that needed to be controlled. Without any consent, these Japanese-Americans were placed in internment camps with poor conditions and treated as if they were ticking time bombs themselves.
The Japanese-American Internment was a necessary choice, made by President Franklin Delano Roosevelt. It helped to make our nation secure during times of extreme emergency and it also helped the US government to keep their enemy under watch. “The story of how Japanese American soldiers from the war’s most highly decorated US military unit came to be there is just one part of a remarkable saga. It is also a story of one of the darkest periods in American history, one filled with hardship, sacrifice, courage, injustice, and finally, redemption. It began more than a hundred years ago” (Sandler, 2013, p. 6). At the turn of the 21st century began the immigration of the Japanese to America for various reasons, but all with one thing in mind: freedom. “We talked about America; we dreamt about America. We all had one wish – to be in America” (Sandler, 2013, p. 6). The decision by these many people was a grueling and tough decision, but they knew it would benefit them in the long run. “…like their European counterparts, they were willing to risk everything to begin life anew in what was regarded as a golden land of opportunity” (Sandler, 2013, p. 6). When they came to America, they were employed and were able to begin their new lives for the first part of it.
Shortly after the United States entered into war with Japan, the federal government initiated a policy whereby 120,000 people of Japanese ancestry were rounded up and herded into camps, 2/3 of these people were actually United States citizens. They were incarcerated without indictment, trial, or counsel - not because they had committed a crime, but simply because they resembled the enemy. These were similar to concentration camps that the Germans were using for the Jews, though no one was being killed and Japanese Americans were allowed to work within the camps. Not many Americans knew about the camps at that time, and some still don't know today. Like discussed in class, it was an embarrassing moment for this country. The book that was assigned in class, Desert Exile by Yoshiko Uchida, told the story of a family who lived through these horrible times. As we discussed in class
the people are empowered, but the ideals that truly run the society, are empowered. More’s true