Everyday Ethics

               For this weeks entry, I will deviate from the normal blog entry of comparing the past events to the present, and instead, look at how ethical dilemmas play a role in peoples lives, as well as my own. On that note, I will be writing about various writing processes I have encountered this quarter, and how ethics shape them. 

Killing and agency demonstrated in the Iliad (Tiepolo, Venice)

             Both early this year, and throughout the quarter, a heavy emphasis has been placed on agency, being the capacity for people to make autonomous decisions based on their own free will. Early on, we learned about how Homer's The Iliad demonstrated the capacity to act with agency, and absolute force, with the possibility of loosing all agency in the action of murder. The connection between agency and ethics is apparent, as autonomous decision must have a basis of action. One cannot act in an impactful manor without a prior understanding of what they are about to do, and that prior understanding is an internal, or externally instilled ethical code.

Theater Poster of Full Metal Jacket

         In addition to The Iliad, another work that focused on agency, and ethical implication, was Stanley Kubrick's Full Metal Jacket. The film centers around the basic training experience of Marines, and throughout there are examples of people becoming objects of force, as well as being so, and the ethics associated with that. In basic training, the men are subjected to intense physical activity, verbal, and mental abuse. The ethics of this are constantly debated by the men, but continue with training. The process itself, which entails standardized uniform, haircut, diet, sleep and wake time, is designed to start every man from a clean slate, and train them into becoming an effective soldier. The violation of these men's being is what really impacted me during this film, both in training and in battle. After these men are deployed, it is apparent that basic training has skewed their ethical compass, so to speak, as some commit acts of murder. Animal Mother, a member of the platoon deployed to Vietnam, shoots indiscriminately at what he believes to be Viet Cong, but are actually innocent rice farmers, in the field.
                Though thee are just two works that have impacted me this quarter, on the subject of ethics and action, a lot can be said about the course material we have covered. From the back and forth action of Coetzee's Waiting for the Barbarians, to information I have learned about Machiavelli, and his recommendations in The Prince, there has always been a place for me to expand my scope of ethics in the world.

Cards on Cards

UCI Special Collections & Gail Hart 1 (Front)

Bringing this entry back to a more traditional style, I would like to get back the original purpose of this blog, being the relation of past events to the present. For this week’s entry, it will be about the relation of wartime gum cards, to actual war based came cards. Take a look at the example photo, if you do not already know that I am talking about.

UCI Special Collections & Gail Hart 2 (Back)

         Being the Humanities Core student that I am, I was quite surprised when professor Gail Heart brought up gum cards. Though I initially thought that the whole idea of giving kids a bunch of cards with lofty writing, for a kid’s reading level, was a poor idea, I realized that the audience stretched so far beyond that. From that, I though about how kids would even think about war, at such a young age, with the way that the scenes are depicted. It was then that I realized that a whole generation of children have been doing exactly that, with Pokémon and Yu Gi Oh cards.

These extremely popular forms of childhood entertainment centered around the use of fictional characters, weather it be Pokémon or Yu Gi Oh, battling until the other ran out of health. In Pokémon, when two or more Pokémon face each other, the scene is even called a battle. Take a look at clip, I have linked to, of a very tame Pokémon battle. Though I understand that it does not correspond directly to actions or images of war, it does draw a very interesting parallel.

Yu Gi Oh

As time has progressed, these card games have turned into a series long running animated shows, movies, and video games. Though there is also a great deal of adventure that centers around both Pokémon and Yu Gi Oh, the main focus remains the battle of one character, versus another, till the very end. Though there is still much done to make the combat more suitable, especially in game play and the animated series, it is still clear that these wildly popular franchises have their roots in war. 

Indian Independence

            Now that we transition into a different part of the academic year, we shift the study of war onto ourselves. Humanities core forces us to challenge our intellectual ability, and with the research project we are taking on, I fully plan to do so. For this project, I will be writing about the India’s struggle for independence.

            With family that has been affected, during India’s struggle with Brittan, this is a topic that is very close to me, and one that I intend to pursue in detail. This posting will continually be added on to, as my research progresses, with new findings and information that I have gathered, or have found particularly interesting. With that being said, I am excited to begin my research process, and learn more about my home country, while sharing it with my readers. 
           As I expand my knowledge on the practices of Gandhi, with all that he has done for India and frankly the world, I have learned about some rather questionable things that he has said. Though he is a prolific writer and an incredibly respected person in history, he has been quoted as saying if "...a single Jew standing up and refusing to bow to Hitler’s decrees," it might have been enough to "melt Hitler’s heart." In addition to this, he has stated that “India’s salvation consists in unlearning what she has learnt during the past fifty years. The railways, telegraphs, hospitals, lawyers, doctors, and such like have all to go, and the so-called upper classes have to learn to live conscientiously and religiously and deliberately the simple peasant life.” To see a very well done pro and con debate, referencing numerous pro and anti Gandhi Indians, Europeans, and South Africans, check out this source. While I can see where he came from with this statement, it is grossly impractical statement to make, assuming that all will change based on his recommendation. Though I am sure he would like this to happen, so everyone can have the experience, there is no possible way that he thought this was a practical solution.
        All in all, my readings of various Gandhi works, such as Satyagraha, Hind Swaraj, along with very well done adaptations, and the argument of his opposition, have allowed me to better understand the meaning behind the strategic choices he made, allowing the country to gain its independence. Knowing this, I feel like I have an increased respect for everyone that participated in Gandhi's non-violent resistance, and the country, for having to overcome the oppression of the British. This assignment has both furthered my knowledge, and brought me closer to home.

Learning Through Lineage

As has been the theme lately, I would like to take a moment to digress from my normal blogs, talking about past events and relating them to the present, and talk about a project that I am doing that does just that. With the theme of war running throughout our class and literature, I have been tasked with documenting a war story, and its impact. For this, I decided to delve deep into my family’s own past to see what I can uncover.

After talking to my parents, I found that that we have had members of the family receive military awards such as the Mir Var Chackra (from the Indian Armed Forces), along with other branches of service. To learn more, I decided to interview my uncle Ramesh, who was a pilot for the Indian Air Force (IAF). Throughout the interview, I not only asked questions about his own service, but about the families perception on other family members that have served.

While a lot of the stories that I was told contain sensitive information about my family, I can share some thoughts of my uncle, on our family’s involvement militarily, or lack there of. With the way that our family is structured, we have never traditionally in positions of service. As a result, I have never heard, or learned much about military involvement, until I began this project. 
 As I asked more and more family members about the subject, it was becoming clear that there was a deeper reason, for the story not being shared. I decided to do my own investigation of the history of my family, as well as his family line. On the subject of family line, my family does have a tradition of military training. Many of Ramesh's cousins have entered the military, along with his father. This does establish the tradition of military service, but it does not explain why they will not talk about it.
 Even though members of my family does respect and honor those who have served their country, it is apparent that some issues on the matter are better left at rest. Just as we must respect those who have served, we must do the same with those who have fallen. 

Betterment Between Countries

With my return to blogging this quarter, I wanted to deviate from my topic of talking about wars effects on history and the modern day, and instead talk about my families history, through the generation, and the president it has set going forward, while touching on my father’s start in America. Though I was bourn in the United States, Wilmington Delaware specifically, I am of Indian decent, and almost all of my family is from the subcontinent. When moving from one country to another, there is often a story of the previous generation mobilizing the next to do so. With that in mind, I wanted to look at my grandfather’s transition out of extreme poverty, and how that impacted my father.  

First, I would like to talk about my grandfather’s story, and how that has shaped my father’s as well as my own life. Though he passed away while I was young, he left a remarkable legacy for my whole family that I hold very dear. My grandfather came from a very poor family, and grew up on in the slums of India’s largest city, Mumbai. My grandmother has even told me stories of him having to study under the lights of the train station at night, because his house did not have electricity, and was quite literally four walls and a roof. Despite the difficulty of his upbringing, he scored very well in school, and earned a place in the Indian Institute of Technology Bombay (IIT Bombay), one of the most competitive schools to be admitted into in India. It was at the end of his schooling, that he saw the opportunity to make the transition from his previous life, to a better one. With a small circle of friends, he helped found the Bombay Gas Company, supplying power to the city of Mumbai (formerly Bombay). Though he did very well for himself, after his schooling and success of the company, he raised my father with a frugal mind and never let him forget the power of humility. After talking to my grandmother about my father, and his 2 sister’s, upbringing it is clear that my grandfather made every conceivable effort to make every aspect of their lives better than his. As a result, my father excelled academically and also attended IIT Bombay.

This idea of giving your children a better life than your own is something that is commonly seen among first generation children, and most parents in general. There is not only the societal pressure for you to succeed, but there is the familial pressure, which is especially true in the case of my father. My grandfather’s struggle, and ability to escape poverty and build a business from the ground up, has made a lasting impression on my family and within the city of Mumbai. With such a high bar set for my father, I believe that the only place or way he could build his own legacy is by coming to the United States. Though he came here for education, I cannot help but thing that the reason he stayed in the America partially for this reason. When looking at how these same standards are projected onto me, it is hard not to be intimidated. I am constantly reminded of all the good that my grandfather did, and I hope to create a legacy as powerful as his.

Media and Misinformation

              After addressing both the recent and distant past in my last 2 posts, I’m bringing the focus back to the modern day with tonight’s entry. Recent events have sparked this entry, as I look into “Paid Patriotism” as an emerging truth in modern America. John Oliver looks into this, as a part of his show, Last Week Tonight, where he talks about various current events are going to affect the public, and you in particular.

As seen in this clip, there is a surprising amount of money spent, by the United States government, to popularize and make the military more favorable to the public. Though I do believe that who serve in the military make a tremendous sacrifice for the greater good, I do not believe in over glorifying them in the fashion that professional sports do. Regardless of my belief on the subject, this video got me thinking about how other pertinent topics are addresses, or made available, to the public through non-traditional means of the consumption.

On that note, I would like to look at how news media and more conventional ways of obtaining the news. Traditional news consumption increases a lot during election seasons. One series of political events always seem to get a rise out of a lot of people, being the political debates for both Democrat and Republican primary candidates. I have talked about torture being popularized, through video games, in recent times, but the talk of torture that was actually implemented, as a means of enhanced interrogation, remains in the media. Let us take a look at some Republican candidate express their opinions on “water boarding.” 

                 Apart from the tactic of dancing over and around the topic at hand, the candidates did manage to state what they believed in. While some people answer questions like Donald Trump, with poorly thought out sentences and understanding on the topic, others answer like Rick Perry, as he briefly mentions his opinion and shifts the focus to how he would be a fantastic and morally sound commander in chief. On the subject of torture and safety, I would look back at that previous posting, where I talked about the increased reference to torture in video games, television, and film.

                 With all these types of media delivering different opinions and sides on issues, I want to compare how shows like John Oliver’s Last Week Tonight, compare to what we are used to seeing. Over the past decade or so, an increasing number of people turn to satirical news shows, like John Stewart’s The Daily Show, and Steven Colbert’s The Colbert Report for learning about current events. While all three of the shows, that I have mentioned here, are have an openly “liberal” stance on issues, they have become very well recognized programs that rival programs on well established news networks on the other end, such as Fox News. 

              In the past, Steven Colbert has even appeared on the conservative news shows The O’Riley Factor. In one particular interview, Colbert mocks O’Riley’s while on his show back in 2007. Since then, Colbert has grown far more popular, hosting The Late Show on CBS. O’Riley has actually come on Colbert’s show to both promote his own book, and “Butt Heads” once again.

 

Colbert and O'Riley from 2007

                                                                                 O'Riley and Colbert in 2016 

                 By watching these excerpts, we can see just how much differences of opinion can have on the presentation of important issues. Whether is be on moral or political grounds, people are heavily influenced by people they watch, particularly those who are meant to provide information. Weather it be through the newspaper or YouTube, it is more important than ever to develop your own, fully formed opinion.

                 

Works Cited

"The Daily Show." IMDb. IMDb.com, n.d. Web. 06 Mar. 2016.

"Last Week Tonight with John Oliver." IMDb. IMDb.com, n.d. Web. 06 Mar. 2016.

"The Late Show with Stephen Colbert." IMDb. IMDb.com, n.d. Web. 06 Mar. 2016.

"The O'Reilly Factor." IMDb. IMDb.com, n.d. Web. 05 Mar. 2016.

 

                

Making Torture Accessible: Fun for the Family ~ Op Ed

For today’s blog entry, I will be modifying my normal style, of relating historical events to the present, by talking about a current event and responding to it in op-ed style. The discussion I would like to have today centers around violence, torture in particular, that has become common in society through its use in video games and in media. 

 

GTAV Cover showing elements of the game ~ Getty Images

Rockstar Games, makers of the very popular but controversial Grand Theft Auto series, have always received a lot of criticism about the premise of their games.  In game play of Grand Theft Auto 5 (GTAV), the user must “…electrocute a man, pull out his teeth and use other various torture implements,” for the purposes of gathering information and progress in the game (Tsukayama). To give you a bit more background, the entire Grand Theft Auto series of games began in 1997, and has always centered on crime and violence. You can play as a range of different criminals in order to complete the objective, giving the user a great deal of control over gameplay.

With the background covered, I would like to look at ReadWrite’s article, “Confronting Video Game Torture, After The CIA’S Report,” as well as some points made by The Washington Post’s piece “Here’s what makes torture in video games worse than on TV,” and respond in an op-ed fashion.

        

Torture Scene from Splinter Cell ~ ReadWrite

    In ReadWrite’s article, they center their piece on the late Justice Scalia’s statement about the use of torture, and how it justifies its use in real life, as he uses the show 24, as an example of how torture is acceptable in media. In the show, Jack Bauer is tasked with disarming a bomb that would blow up Los Angeles.  Scalia states that, “Jack Bauer saved Los Angeles…He saved hundreds of thousands of lives… Is any jury going to convict Jack Bauer?” (Grahm). 

I disagree with Scalia’s statement, as it refers to, the often-used justification, of the greater good. One persons suffering, and severe bodily harm, cannot be justified by the outcome. The article tries to further this point, by translating it to videogames. I take issue with this, as there is a distinct difference between the users involvement in game play versus television. It is not fair to correlate the actions of an actor, to user input in a game like Grand Theft Auto with regards to moving a joystick back and forth, to simulate pulling out a tooth. This is not the same as going out, kidnapping someone, and doing that in real life. I think that this is where a strong distinction must be made, because you cannot assume that everyone who plays the game is inclined to act upon what they have done virtually.

The article also argues that this kind of gameplay desensitizes people to violence, but the same could be said about numerous television shows and films that do the same. It is simply not fair to say that videogames promote the use of violence, to obtain new information, as just that is done in critically acclaimed shows such as 24, action films like the Bourne series, and many others.  This argument fixates on the belief that video games are more influential, or make more of an impression on those who play them, than other forms of media, which is simply not the case. With the evident success of the Grand Theft Auto series, there is clearly a demand for this type of gameplay, and simply removing torture from the game will not solve the problem.

            Despite all the opinions surrounding the topic, I believe that there is a sensible way to solve the problem of torture in digital media. Understand the show you are about to watch, or game you are about to buy, and if it happens to include torture, do not buy or watch it. If the market does not like the product, the company will realize, and change it. If not, they risk loosing tremendous amounts of money and relations, as their product fails in the face of the consumers. Though this is a hypothetical, and very simple solution, this kind of feedback is vital in the world we live in. Without the consumer’s response, there would be little innovation or incentive to keep pushing forward.

Works Cited

Grahm, Roy. "Confronting Video Game Torture, After The CIA’S Report." ReadWrite.

N.p., 7 Jan. 2015. Web. 9 Mar. 2016.

"Grand Theft Auto: The Official Site." Grand Theft Auto: The Official Site. Rockstar

Games, n.d. Web. 26 Feb. 2016.

Tsukayama, Hayley. "Here’s What Makes Torture in Video Games Worse than on

TV." Washington Post. The Washington Post, 20 Sept. 2013. Web. 26 Feb. 2016.