The connection between the numerous acts of protest through history can be assigned to different factors. The mutual goals of these protests were always to create changes and attempting to transform one state of life conditions to another, to a better state as intended. Whether it peasant protest, a rebellion, or systemic protest they differ in the methods and mostly coincide in circumstances, they demonstrate what the differences in social conditions may lead to, proving that most of the mentioned protests are led against the hegemony of wealth and power resulted in the extreme difference between the highest and lowest layers of society.
In the book entitled Global Problems and the Culture of Capitalism by Richard Robbins, the different historical backgrounds of human protests are followed and the author gave an objective overview of the most significant events of this category.
Taking examples to compare and to find connections between two of the examples given it is seen that peasant protest in Malaysia and the Rebellion in Kenya are different in the methods, the outcome, and the historical background. The protest against which started against the land rent raises and obviously human greed was the result of the green revolution which provided the building of two dams in Malaysia. The sudden change of the lands value after the peasants started to harvest the fields twice the year, awake the desire to earn more in Malaysian landlords. The raised value of land started the wave of unfair contention from people outside of the village who were willing to pay more and to substitute the human efforts with harvesting machines leaving the peasants without work. Another example is the rebellion in Kenya, which although ended as a political revolution, started similarly as land deprivation by Britains settlers.
The state of overall poverty of Kenyan people along with the prolonged drought, smallpox, and cattle disease, started the rebellion in Kenya which resulted in more than eleven thousand victims in what considered being the first African liberation movement. Analyzing these two historical events, while omitting the political background of the British colonization, the reasons, and motives of both cases are the same. Poverty and taking away what is considered to be yours result in almost every act of protest in history, these motives with the desire for equity which modern capitalism rejects pushes the desires of people to reject and repair the injustice.
In examining the other forms of protest which comparing to the previously mentioned which were more of a result of globalization, the protest, and strikes against the system can identify as the result of capitalism which in bringing new aspects of innovation and development also brought waves of disapproval around the globe. The examples given compare the two revolutions in 1848 and 1968 from the same perspectives, the motives, background, and the results.
The first revolution which started in 1848 in France as a workers protest and rapidly spread throughout Europe, although did not achieve their goals it started two different movements which set the tone for all the subsequent protest that followed in the world. The first movement is the workers movement which fought against the exploitation of the working class in the industrial world. The immediate response for this revolution was not achieved, although it started to set the probability of future negotiation and by 1945 as a result of forming labor unions and in some countries political power the overall improvement was attained.
The second movement that resulted from the 1848 revolution was the national liberation movement which was mostly to gain freedom in colonized countries, started by mid-class layer, and the movement almost stopped by 1968 when all the countries gained their independence.
The second revolution was in 1968 which started as a student protest against the war in Vietnam, although it had a deeper meaning as it was a revolution against the groups which resulted from the movements of the first revolution. It is needed to understand that this concept is generally speaking not about the concrete organization as the period between 1868 and 1968 contained a lot of movements, this article covers the most significant trying to keep the chronological order and the effect-result basis. The protests in 1968 in general though varied in different countries in the pushing factors, they all against the old oppressing regime that being in power did not solve the different social problems that were existed. The movements that resulted and followed after 1968 were different might seem addressing different targets such as capitalism, the blacks, the Jews, world globalization in fact address social problems in the first place.
From the examples mentioned, it becomes obvious that the protestants in all the cases rejecting and fighting for the rights and improving their social statuses were not targeting the system which led to their state. Instead, they fought what represented the system in their opinion, symbolic figures which in some cases had no personal profit from the oppression or the exploitation the protestants were suffering. The problems occurring will still be existed as long as by the end of the new revolution and until the new one, the effects will continuously diminish until the new blood will be poured into the system.
Works Cited
Robins R. Global Problems and the Culture of Capitalism . 4th edition. Pearson Allyn and Bacon. (2004).
It is now over one year since the Syrian protests, which kicked off in Daraa, a small agricultural town in the country, begun. The Syrian police met the small uprising, which brought together a handful of people, with ruthlessness and brutality beyond the expectations of many people, thereby inciting more people to join the course.
Today, barely all towns in the country have experienced violent protests against the long reigning president Bashar Assad and his family. According to the United Nations estimates, approximately 9000 people, most of them soldiers, have died in the violence that has continued to rock most parts of the country[1].
However, human rights groups and journalist put the estimates much higher at 30, 000 people by October 2012. They claim that governments efforts at hiding the real happenings in the country have led to a serious clamp down on any forms of journalistic access, thereby denying the international community any chance of getting up-to-date information on deaths, property destruction, and atrocities against women and the minority.
As a result, the international community has treated Syrian case slightly to the disadvantage of the countrys innocent citizens, especially women and children who are subjected to heinous acts such as rape, torture, and forced labor.
Therefore, Mr. President, if your government is to make any decisions based on the recommendations provided in this letter, I will be glad if you considered the possibility of worse things happening in Syrian beyond the grainy streaming media footages who may have watched, as they do not capture even half of what is happening on the ground.
As a nation founded on sound democratic principles and respect for human life and dignity, we have been drawn into this mess by our desire to give to the people of Syria, a democratic government, and an environment free from abuse, violence, and intimidations. So far, our attempts to institute a democratic government in Syrian and to end the suffering of the people have been futile.
Worst still, the rebels who have been fighting the government are ill-equipped to make any significant process towards toppling the government[2]. Their activities have remained limited to Damascus. This calls for drastic measures. Our ultimate goals in Syria are driven by both morals and concerns for the suffering civilians. We need to defend the civilians against military abuse.
We need to assist in the creation of a democratically elected government that is representative of the peoples wishes. However, the process of instituting a democratic government can never be easy. In most cases, it involves war and sanctions against doctorial regimes. Nevertheless, the Syrian people have spoken boldly of their desire for change, which makes any options available, regardless of the costs involved, worth pursuing.
Additionally, we need to prevent Syrias situation from dragging it into a failed and war-ridden state like Somalia. If this trend continues unchecked, then the nation could end up in a situation like that of Somalia. Finally yet importantly, we should strive to ensure that the countrys chemical weapons do not end up in the hands of extremist Islamic groups who are known for terrorist activities in the world today[3].
The United States of America suffered severely in the hands of terrorists and should not spare any efforts in fighting them.[4] The 9/11 attack has and will remain in the minds of many people who lost their loved ones for many years to come. In that single attack, the U.S lost millions of dollars and thousands of lives.[5]
Given the circumstances surrounding the Syrian case, American intervention is in complete interest of the nation and its citizens. The U.S governments principal interest is to protect its citizens. However, protecting Americans, does not only involve securing the countrys borders, but also toppling all governments that are sympathetic to terrorists and regimes that promote the use of chemicals and illegal atomic weapons.
Bashar Assads government trades in these unfriendly territories and the U.S government should not sit back and watch from the sidelines as it furthers its monstrous activities. The people of Syria have a right to determine their own future since the country is a sovereign state[6].
However, its leadership has ignored the peoples plea for regime change, thereby necessitating external intervention. The U.S is perceived by many states as the international watchdog. Therefore, it should take a center stage in securing a solution for Syrias problems.
However, our intervention in Syria should be wise and well calculated. Considering Bashar Assads close association with the Iran and Russian regimes, any form of military intervention could worsen the bad situation[7]. The most viable option is the involvement of the UN Security Council to give a mandate on the issue. Our direct involvement should be through the provision of troops to secure civilian population from harm.
Even though most Arab Nations are reluctant to join the Syrian debate, the U.S should try to reach out to them to seek their support in rescuing innocent civilians. The rebels fighting Bashar Assads government share many common interests with the United States. As such, the U.S should provide them with logistics to enhance their chances of overthrowing the dictatorial regime. Currently, they are ill equipped and lack experience of fighting; hence, their chances of success are thin.
The decisions we make today define us as a nation. The freedom our citizens enjoy today was earned by both sweet and blood. Therefore, by assisting the people of Syria, we are showing them away to a better life.
By actively championing for a regime change in Syria, we will obviously be attracting more responsibilities to our great nation, but we cannot afford to sit back and watch innocent people die in the hands of merciless and selfish leaders. The minority and the weak always look up to us for help in such times, and we cannot afford to disappoint them.
Our failure to intervene will be viewed as a sign of weakness, which might encourage other regimes to cling onto power against public will. After the invasion of Iraq in March 2003, the U.S. relationship with the Muslim world has not been good[8]. Therefore, many of the Muslim states cannot welcome any form of intervention in Syria. Even though military intervention can absolutely spark wide opposition, many, especially civilians, could view humanitarian aid and provision of logistics as pure and sincere assistance.
Our involvement in Syria should only end when the country has attained democratic leadership. Military personnel deployed to help civilians should however, stay behind for some time to assist in the transition process. Up to now, the atrocities committed against civilians in Syrian are intolerable, but the U.S must trade carefully.
However, if death toll from the uprisings continue to rise and other nations, especially Muslim nations, keep their distance, then, the U.S may be left no other choice but to intervene with a fully-fledge military battalion. This could be more involving and costly, but worth the lives of innocent Syrians used as punching bags by government soldiers and rebels.
Disregard for human lives by the Syrian government will leave us no options, but to pull together our resources, monetary, logistics, and personnel, to rescue the civilians. When it comes to such a level, the Security Councils decisions will be of little effect to the U.S intervention in Syria. The cost of the war in Iraq has been expensive and we must avoid adding further expenses to our already burdened public. However, when it comes to saving lives, our options are limited.
Works Cited
Bowen, Jeremy. BBC News Syria rebels gain foothold in Damascus. BBC Homepage. N.p., 28 Jan. 2012. Web.
Breakingnews.com. Syrian Violence Kills 36; Arab Leaders Back Peace Plan. VOA Voice of America English News VOA News. N.p., 28 Mar. 2012. Web.
Celmer, Marc A.. Terrorism, U.S. strategy, and Reagan policies. New York: Greenwood Press, 1987. Print.
Davies, Nicolas J.S.. Blood on our hands: the American invasion and destruction of Iraq. Version 1.0. ed. Ann Arbor: Nimble Books, LLC, 2010. Print.
Goodarzi, Jubin M.. Syria and Iran: diplomatic alliance and power politics in the Middle East. London: Tauris Academic Studies, 2006. Print.
Madu, Ifeanyi V.. Islamic Extremism and the West: Expounding the Negative Implications of the Clash Between Islamic Extremists and Some Western Nations. London: ProQuest, 2008. Print.
Quigley, John B.. The statehood of Palestine: international law in the Middle East conflict. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2010. Print.
Sidhu, Surinder Singh. 9/11: The Inside Story. Washington, DC: Strategic Book Publishing, 2012. Print.
Footnotes
Breakingnews.com. Syrian Violence Kills 36; Arab Leaders Back Peace Plan. VOA Voice of America English News VOA News. N.p., 28 Mar. 2012. Web.
Bowen, Jeremy. BBC News Syria rebels gain foothold in Damascus. BBC Homepage. N.p., 28 Jan. 2012. Web.
Ifeanyi Madu, Islamic Extremism and the West: Expounding the Negative Implications of the Clash Between Islamic Extremists and Some Western Nations (London: ProQuest, 2008) 105.
Celmer, Marc, Terrorism, U.S. strategy, and Reagan policies. New York: Greenwood Press, 1987. P. 47 Print.
Surinder Singh Sidhu, 9/11: The Inside Story (Washington, DC: Strategic Book Publishing, 2012) 29.
John B. Quigley, The statehood of Palestine: international law in the Middle East conflict (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2010) 45.
Jubin M. Goodarzi, Syria and Iran: diplomatic alliance and power politics in the Middle East, (London: Tauris Academic Studies, 2006) 11.
Nicolas J.S. Davies, Blood on our hands: the American invasion and destruction of Iraq (Version 1.0. ed. Ann Arbor: Nimble Books, LLC, 2010) 32.
For several years, Syria and Egypt had positioned themselves as a sanctuary of tranquillity in a frequently tumultuous Middle East. Compared to several of their neighbours, even the habitual style had not been substituted by the uprisings and, until some few weeks, it had appeared as if Syrians had acknowledged life under the Baath regime.
The population appreciated some developments in livelihood values that had appeared initially under President Hafez alAsad and afterward his youngster Bashar, who seized power 11 years ago. The son of the former head of state soldiered on with the customs of despotism in Syria while coming up with indistinguishable pledges of change.
This paper aims at comparing the protests in Egypt and Syria. The paper places the protests in the two countries under a theoretical setting. It is established that liberalism and Marxist theories can be utilized in analyzing the protests in the two states.
The Middle East Turbulence
Each minute, the media gives information on the unfolding story in the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) region. In several instances, the political proceedings are comparatively nonviolent, for example in Tunisia and Egypt. For Libya, we witness inclined clashes being battled out between the followers of the government and its adversaries. Currently, the global society is also implicated.
We are engrossed by advances and often do not hold back to reflect on the causes at the back of the confusion, and of the penalties that may perhaps follow. In spite of the developments in machinery and communication, the data available pertaining to the Middle East is abhorrently insufficient. The media has been severely proscribed through suppression or legislative counsel , with infrequent ridiculous circumstances.
On January 26 for instance, following sadistic fight between the law enforcement and demonstrators in Tahrir Square, Al-Ahrams lead front-page narrative was concerning flora being handed to the police force on their state day. In the majority of the MENA states, the governments have not respected the insinuations of the progress in communication and expertise.
They have not recognized that cross-border information streams through the medium and through express means, which expertise now presents. It has been an extremely vital font of constructing consciousness. No longer will citizens be contented merely with the data they access from inside their state. This increases doubts for the management of public affairs.
One of the major causes of the political turn down in the Middle East pertains to leadership. Normally, when a person in charge acquires governmental power in a MENA state, it is with extensive well-liked shore up. In the nonexistence of standard or tolerable means of relocating authority, the privileged go on for decades at the wheel. Several scholars have depicted such individuals as autocrats who shortly lose contacts with the ordinary citizens and associate with rich individuals.
When they desire to surrender power, they select their youngsters or preferred persons. In the precedent years, there have been some victories. Jordans King Abdullah II received governmental power from his father Hussein in 1999 (Hoffman 11). Moroccos King Mohammed VI captured governmental authority from the former head of state Hassan in the same year. Syria was not any exceptional since Hafez al-Assad was clever enough to relocate power to Bashar, his son in 2000.
Since then, not even one despot has been victorious in handing over power to his favorite (Gholz 456). Accusations of fraud related to such long-serving presidents are not rare, and leads to anger among the disadvantaged in the country. This was one of the reasons why the Syrian and Egyptian underprivileged stormed the streets to demand for change and social restructuring.
Furthermore, economic reforms undertaken by the Syrian government is partly to blame for the uprisings unlike the uprisings in Egypt, which were triggered by the societal tribulations. To facilitate rapidity with the development of globalization, the Syrian and Egyptian governments had to accept the financial restructuring (Milner 834).
This upset the established societal and financial organization. Concurrently, it generated a middle-to-rich superior category, rising revenue and capital disparity, which positioned the basis for turbulence. It is fascinating to examine that conflict regularly does not happen until the state realizes middle-income category. In Iran for instance, the revolt took place in 1979, as the state was attaining the middle-income position. The monarch was not liberal enough to guarantee equity and justice.
The youth unemployment largely contributed to the materialization of the uprisings in Syria. In the majority of emerging economies, the citizens who are 25 years and above are always the major stakeholders in the political arena. Youthful males and females emerging from the higher groups, whether financially or politically privileged, are frequently the excellent, learned and are gifted to race for, or if not get the top posts present.
The youth from the inferior parts of the society do not have entrance to the excellent training and are incapable of vying for top positions in the society. This is according to the Marxist scholars. Consequently, the joblessness among the youths from inferior parts is very high, a developed pool from which to provoke an upheaval. Those who are 25 to 35 years are usually perturbed by awful domination, such as fraud, and perceive no opportunity of an improved life for themselves if the existing governments continue clinging on power.
Unlike in Egypt, clannish, cultural or pious dissection interfered with local politics in Syria before the uprisings. In Iraq for instance, Shias consisted of above 60% of the populace. Saddam was in fact ferociously material, and did not permit dissections to emerge. Following his death on the other hand, dissections were supported, and have currently turned out to be a hydra-headed ogre. Furthermore, in Bahrain, the Shias comprise approximately 70% of the populace.
However, the ruling regime is Sunni. The Bahraini Shias have always wished openly to cut links with the Iranian Shias. Saudi Arabia, as regards to media intelligence, is sanctuary to a restless Shia marginal. Information furthermore point out that, in Yemen, the populace is 52% Sunni and about 46% Shia.
Nevertheless, it is not apparent how this dissection may perhaps have chipped in to the current mayhem against Saleh. In Syria, the head of state Bashar is from a marginal Shia ethnic group, and the preponderance Sunnis seems to be demoralized. It can therefore be concluded from the analysis that the instability in Syria is partly influenced by the socio-cultural currents.
Conversely, in Jordan, the clannish devotion is still very sturdy, whereas Palestinians constitute around two-thirds of the populace. In Libya, factions that believed to have been exploited by Gaddafis marginal clan guide the present instability. This shows that formerly, political elites could have used the differences to rule but presently, they face the repercussion.
The influence of spiritual factions was most famous during the Iranian revolt of 1979, which was the same case in the Egyptian uprising (Barston 56). The Syrian government did not permit political hostility but did not agitate spiritual factions either.
This promotes antagonism factions or even material ones to amalgamate under the similar umbrella and utilize the mosques and madras for articulating their political outlooks. The Muslim Brotherhood is an exemplar of such faction. With limitations on political lexis being detached in Syria, the Muslim Brotherhood restructured its functions, which later on became significant in the adjustment of the Syrian politics.
Increasing foodstuff costs have occasionally been the most important contributor to the uprisings in both states. States that rely on importation of energy and foodstuff are mainly susceptible when escalating world products cost injures to the low-income citizens. Such states such as Syria, which relies on other countries for foodstuffs, have financial statement shortages, which do not permit an additional funding at times of economic crisis.
The oil/gas rich states, alternatively, can prevent such prospective bullying by subsidizing groceries costs or by transfer funding, such as Egypt. The Syrian citizens expected the government to behave in the same way but unfortunately, it did not, prompting to street riots.
Civil disobedience in the Syrian state is attributable to the role of expertise. Machinery, the internet, the satellite TV and handsets have permitted citizens to witness what is occurring past their boundaries. Liberalism and globalization can be utilized to explain this situation. This has produced gesticulate of intensifying hope, equally for political liberty, as well as financial prospects.
Handsets, SMS, electronic mail, Face book, blogs and even micro-blogs have been utilized successfully for domestic harmonization among the activists. Prior to such knowledge being accessible, radicals employed their own techniques of data distribution as we could glimpse in the 1986 Philippines uprising. Even though the governments of Syria enforced controls on the use of emails, the demonstrators would certainly congregate in familiar gathering places, for instance in open areas and participate in mass protests.
In the majority of oil-exporting MENA states Syria and Egypt included, the political class manages the countrys oil riches. In other states, the political class has cartels or oligopolistic influence to the economy. In oil-rich states such as Egypt, the expertise and ventures are usually wealth-concentrated, and neither spreads the financial base nor offers appropriate services to the domestic population. Overall, the lease-seeking actions of the privileged class estrange the citizens, as they do not have the chance to carve up in the remuneration.
Oil-rich states have from time to time responded to such positions by currency relocation to the inferior sections. For example, The Economist postulated that, upon coming back from Saudi Arabia during the Egyptian predicament, the Saudi King declared a $36 billion allotment for youthful citizens to get married, own houses and to establish companies.
It is intricate to anticipate a young man with such funding going to the road in support of a rebellion! The Syrian government failed to capitalize on this premise since it had insufficient funds.
The correlation of the MENA states with the Western authorities offers a charming lesson. Partly on the right side in the continuum are states for example Saudi Arabia and Egypt, which were viewed to be stern associates of the West, whilst on the left are states such as Iran and Syria.
When it was appropriate to them, the West even backed tyrannical regimes who steadily misplaced contacts with their own citizens (Kissinger 78). The West later on emerged to be the greatest supporter of the uprisings by recognizing the activities of the radicals and appreciating their efforts. The Western states went to a higher level of funding activists and giving them technical knowledge. Liberalist theory explains this since states cooperate to restore democracy and egalitarianism.
Effects of the Syrian Uprisings
The political turbulence that has flounced through the Middle East has had a depressing outcome to regional currency since the financial systems of the states that have gone through the disorders have begged off stridently. Syria and Egypt are some of the states that have witnessed a turn down in financial activities and consecutively a spiky decline in the worth of its foreign exchange.
The unending mayhem may perhaps diminish the coffers of the state, Reuters accounted. For instance, the Syrian treasury has been declining at a speed of $69 million to $79 million after every five days as the states central reservoir has been introducing overseas exchange into the financial structure to end the turn down of the Syrian pound, according to the intelligence reports.
Political mayhem in the Middle East region have influenced the financial and monetary policies of the world, mainly as it enhances the possibility of stagflation, a deadly combination of sluggish development and sharply increasing prices of commodities worldwide. Certainly, if stagflation emerges, there is a deadly threat of a double-dip downturn for an international financial system that has just surfaced from its nastiest calamity in decades.
Brutal instability in Syria and Egypt has traditionally been a basis of oil-price increases, which consecutively have generated three of the preceding five worldwide downturns. Oil value also played a bigger part in the current finance-driven worldwide downturn.
By 2008, prior to the decline of Lehman Brothers, oil prices had two folded over the 12 months, getting to the climax of $148 a barrel and conveying the takeover de grace to a previously fragile and besieged global market battered by economic distress (Calvocoressi 90). The mayhem may yet be controlled and withdrawn hence reducing the worth of oil. However, there is a severe possibility that the unrests will broaden, weakening Bahrain, Algeria, Oman, Jordan, Yemen, and ultimately even Saudi Arabia.
Prior to the Syrian and Egyptian political distresses, oil values had increased over $79-$89 a barrel, an amplification motivated not only by fuel-dehydration in the emerging economies, but also by non-basic aspects, including a variety of liquidity follow up of resources and merchandise in emerging economies.
The current rise in oil prices and the interrelated rise in other product prices, particularly foodstuff, signify numerous adverse penalties even leading to the possibility of relentless social turbulence. Inflationary anxiety will grow up in the overheating third world states where fuel and foodstuff costs offer up to two-thirds of the expenditure basket.
Given the feeble supply in slow-growing sophisticated markets, increasing product prices could lead just to a minute first-round consequence on caption rise, with modest second-round effect on major price rises (Wolf 12). Nevertheless, developed states will not walk away unhurt.
Conclusion
In the two states, it is true that people were inspired by the Marxist ideas to storm the streets to demand for their political and economic rights. The governments of the two states had established administrations that were indifferent and unresponsive to the demands and wishes of the majority.
Furthermore, the citizens were inspired by what was taking place in other places. In other words, globalization played a major role. Finally, the west influenced citizens to demand for their rights. The conflicts had stern effects as regards to the world economy. The conflicts were expected to increase the prices of commodities globally.
Works Cited
Barston, Ronald. Modern diplomacy. New York, NY: Pearson Education, 2006. Print
Calvocoressi, Ambrose. World Politics since 1945. 9th ed. New York: Longman, 2008. Print.
Gholz, Eugene. Protecting the Prize: Oil and the U.S. National Interest. Security Studies, 19.3, 2010, 453-485.
Hoffman, Bruce. Inside Terrorism. Columbia: Columbia University Press, 1999. Print.
Kissinger, Henry. Diplomacy. New York: Simon & Schuster, 1995. Print.
Milner, Helen. Globalization, development, and international institutions: Normative and Positive Perspectives. Review Essay, 3.4, 2005, 833-854.
Nowadays, many activists accuse common citizens of indifference towards injustice. The classmates post provides a specific point of view that nobody should be obliged to protest. Indeed, people are vested with power to stand up for themselves and defy unjust laws, but the cost of this fight may be too high. Americans have an obligation to protest we have a right to protest. Although there is no doubt in the fact that Americans have always done their best to protect civil rights, it is cannot be considered a duty.
Admittedly, inequality and social injustice have always been a part of each and every system. Common people are usually viewed as cannon fodder by government officials because there is a chasm between upper class people and those who suffer from poverty. Thoreau writes that the mass of men serve the State thus, not as men mainly, but as machines, with their bodies (Thoreau 2016). It is all about the vicious circle because of which one has to spend much time and money on family and career satisfying financial appetites of the government. When it comes to joining a protest, many people have no resources for it. Probably, it would be a good idea to support young and energetic citizens to fight for the whole nation by stirring discussions about the flaws of the system.
To sum it up, adulthood brings too many responsibilities to take risks too often. Therefore, the best option seems to be encouraging young rebellions to fight. Still, nobody has a duty to support protests and participate at them. The important thing is that all people can do it if they want.
References
Thoreau, H. D. (2016). Resistance to civil government. Revista Filosofía UIS.
Large-scale protests in Puerto Rico in summer 2019 began after the public presentation of the correspondence between Ricardo Rosselló, the head of state, and his team. About 900 pages of messages in Telegram were clarified and made available to people. Since the data leaked, more than 500,000 Puerto Ricans took part in the protest against the governor (Aronoff, 2018). Rosselló and his team not only allowed themselves rude jokes about political opponents, but also discussed situations that could be classified as corruption, criminal offenses, and the abuse of power. However, this leakage was only a trigger of protests, while an economic decrease and tense political situation were its actual reasons.
First, Puerto Ricos economic depression deteriorated gradually since 2006. Mismanagement by both island and federal agencies in the emergency caused by the Hurricane Maria in 2017 led to the further economic decline (Aronoff, 2019). The residents of the territory faced significant challenges with employment, income, and providing their families with basic needs. After that, Puerto Rico, the territory owned by the US (but not part of it), was struggling to recover from Hurricane Maria, trying to restructure part of the $ 70 billion debt (Aronoff, 2019). It should also be stressed that on the territory of the island, there are a great number of Americans, having no full representation in Congress or voting for the president.
Second, the protests were also triggered by plans that drastically cut social benefits, salaries, and pensions. Moreover, these plans were not developed by the governor of the island, who still has not recovered from the devastating Hurricane Maria consequences (Aronoff, 2018). Therefore, it can be claimed that the protests were not only directed against Rosselló, but against a special body overseeing the fiscal system of Puerto Rico based on the Puerto Rico Oversight, Management, and Economic Stability Act (PROMESA). This body, which is called la junta by the local people, was launched by Washington. Having no elected officials in its composition, it dictated the islands tax, budgetary, and financial policies (Aronoff, 2019). The demands of protesters were social and economic support of residents, addressing the health crisis, and providing food ration cards for the poor populations.
Third, the approach of the ex-governor and his team to Puerto Ricans shows the social situation. Rosselló and his colleagues mocked at the victims of Maria. They also ridiculed women politicians and Ricky Martin, while protesters demanded eliminating misogyny and homophobia (Serrano, 2019). Most importantly, these officials flaunted their right to untouchability in numerous cases of corruption. Such a disparaging attitude to people indicates that the entire system is likely to practice discrimination and ignorance. Accordingly, these issues create mistrust to the government, which is complicated by the difficult social conditions.
To conclude, the publication of Rossellós private correspondence from the closed chat of the Telegram channel activated the protests. The reasons for these protests were deeper than the resentment over the correspondence. Namely, they were related to the negative economic and political situation in the country, as well as corruption in the government. It can be stated that the largest recent government crisis in Puerto Rico came to its logical conclusion. Nevertheless, the current situation in this island territory remains complicated since people still lack social and economic support and political rights.
Throughout humanitys history, artists have created their works to express their feelings connected with some events. They were inspired by nature, the beauty of a human being, or some peculiar processes for the period in which they lived. That is why each masterpiece can serve as the reflection of the epoch. With this in mind, it is interesting to suggest some vision of our times artwork, trying to predict its main peculiarities.
Considering great tension in international relations nowadays, it is possible to suggest drawing people who can serve as the reflection of the current state of affairs. Staying in the street and looking tired and exhausted, they symbolize the significant fatigue of society. Moreover, all people in the picture are faceless and indifferent, showing the majority of the Earths population to the falsehood which their governments present them. These people stay in the queue, waiting for the next portion of food, which is distributed far from this place. Those people, who have obtained their part, are even more faceless and blind as they do not have the need for insight because their main desire is satisfied. The whole picture is painted in dark, dull colors. There is no sun; the sky is grey. Moreover, the city, people, and their closes are also grey. The figures of people are painted with the help of broken lines; they are very schematic, abrupt, and have a stern look. The whole painting conveys a very depressive atmosphere for the people, who look at it, to realize how blind they are in their implicit belief in some political powers.
Protesting is defined as a demonstration of disapproval or objection to something. It is our right to be able to protest peacefully and be able to show our opinions through individual or mass demonstrations. Countries where you can not protest usually depict the same story of people in power doing what ever they want in their agenda against the peoples wishes. It is proven that protest can sway and change the publics opinion on certain ideologies. But protest can also be intentionally misrepresented by the media or opposition to satisfy a bias, and in return change a protest’s meaning. The power to protest shows the health of democracy because it gives the people a voice and can shift or change the public opinion without having a platform. Countries where you can not protest usually depict the same story of people in power doing what ever they want in their agenda against the peoples wishes. In 2015, the Spanish government outlawed the freedom of assembly.
The freedom of assembly is the persons right or ability to join forces to express or defend their idea. This led to a law being passed that allowed the police to hand out fines up to $650, 000 to people who protest around transport hubs such as train stations, airports and ferry slips. This did not technically banned protest, but it is obvious that it stops almost all protest due to fear. In October of 2015, Turkey passed a law that allowed the police to search homes of protestors without warrants or grounds for suspicion. People can face years of imprisonment if they hide their faces while protesting or shouting certain words or slogans. (Countries, 2015) These are just two examples of when a government has decided to stop protesting that lead to unfair and unjust laws. This shows democracy regressing because at its core, democracy is a government of the people by the people and for the people. When a democratic government takes away the rights of people, are we in a democratic state? The legitimacy of the government is being questioned and it shows through the actions of its people, through riots and violent protest. This shows how unhealthy a democratic government can be when the power to protest is revoked. It is proven that protest can sway and change the publics opinion on certain ideologies. Secondly, in a healthy democracy there should always be the ability to express two sides of an argument or an idea. Knowing the pros and the cons on a subject is beneficial and critical to make a sound decision. An example of this ability is when Black Lives Matter movement in the U.S., changed the percentage of people about bringing more equal rights to white and black Americans from 49 percent to 59 percent in one year. This poll was done by the Pew Research Centre.
This shows and proves that protest can change the publics opinion on a topic that they already believed that had an answer to. Without protest we can not express our opinions without having a platform. Martin Luther King was apart of countless protests that have changed the laws, showed that protesting can change the opinion of the public and changing America into what it is known as of today, a melting pot. But protest can also be intentionally misrepresented by the media or opposition to satisfy a bias, and in return change a protest’s meaning.
Lastly there is a counter-argument that can be discussed about when talking about protests and that is its ability to be misrepresented by the media or opposition to satisfy a bias and in return change a protest’s meaning. In recent times there are examples of the Trump’s camp trying to undermine the legitimacy of the protest by saying the protest are set up by wealthy individuals from the Democratic Party. When the President of the United States is tweeting these views, don’t we all have to think about and wonder if he is telling us the truth? An experiment was conducted and exposed 266 people to two different news stories about the same protest. The results yielded from the experiments showed that little changes in the news stories led to significant differences in the perceptions of protestors and the police.
Changing the way people live and making everyday life convenient are essentially what technology aims to do. In the era where most everything is automated and digital is ruling several industries, the rest of the world is forced to catch up and find ways to optimize life from the average smartphone.
Mobility and peer-to-peer transportation is a system in society that has not yet been mastered. Public transportation is constant chaos whether you’re in a first or a third world country, and traffic congestion has become next to none as one of the most distraught and abandoned socio-environmental issues that a lot of governments have seemingly given up on.
With the help of technology and modern-day developments, people are able to contribute to the solutions of mobility and public services with transportation networking apps like Lyft, Grab, and Uber all over the globe. Developing a mechanism that allows sustainable practices for both the environment and passengers have become an ongoing priority in smart tech companies like Uber. However, in the past 10 years of its existence, Uber’s growth and development have fluctuated.
It’s been reported last March 25 by Vox that Uber and Lyft drivers in Los Angeles have gone into a one-day bender against the company through a protest. The drivers and mobility partners of the company refused to pick up riders as part of their strike against Uber’s faulty decision to lower pay rates for LA drivers. Hundreds of drivers attended the protest and were found all over the streets of LA, chanting and making their voices heard outside the headquarters of Uber in suburban LA.
The 25-hour strike organized by Rideshare United, a coalition of drivers in Southern California that was established last year brought out hundreds of angry and frustrated drivers from all over the city to express their grief publicly to Uber. The ride-sharing app cut wages of their drivers up to 25% in their per-mile earnings, which translates to a measly 60 cents, according to Gizmodo. What made Uber drivers more infuriated with the company’s decision was that they did not issue a formal notice or explicitly stipulate it in their terms and conditions.
Drivers for Uber are categorically independent contractors for Uber and not just mere employees, which make matters worse since the company is prioritizing the company restructure over their core-operators, which are their drivers.
The spokesperson for Uber told Gizmodo via email, “Drivers told us that they value promotion opportunities, so we’re introducing a new Quest promotion feature, while also changing the per minute, per mile and minimum fare rates.” This restructure is supposedly going to pave the way for new changes that will bring back the earning rates Uber drivers had prior to the cutoffs. “These changes will make rates comparable to where they were in September while giving drivers more control over how they earn by allowing them to build a model that fits their schedule best,” the spokesperson further elaborated.
It’s not just Uber and Lyft drivers that are enraged with the wage cuts, but people all over the internet, as well, including Reddit users, who ran a grassroots campaign in an effort to stand with the protestors. Politician Bernie Sanders also tweeted his support on social media, saying, “I stand with Uber and Lyft drivers striking in LA. One job should be enough to make a decent living in America, especially for those working for multibillion-dollar companies. Drivers must be paid the wages they deserve.
The organizer of the protest, Esterphanie St. Juste countered Uber’s upcoming restructure plans, stating their drivers earn the majority of their money from mileage and not minutes. “In 2015, I was making between $1.15 and $1.20 per mile,” she said. “Today, I’m making fifty percent of that,” she added.
It’s not just the wage cuts that have irritated the drivers, according to LA Magazine. Drivers also complained about the payment process of the company, stating it is deliberately opaque and conceals the real commission rates the company takes from a single ride they complete every day.
The main purpose of the driver strike is to get Uber to notice them as fair and equal partners instead of mere freelancers on the side. Uber drivers in Los Angeles are after getting paid due amounts that they deserve and not just earn the same amount they earned half a year ago. According to Vox, there’s no clear outcome or expected shift in decision making from Uber in the face of the protest, but if New York City was able to pull off demanding Uber and Lyft to pay them with a fixed living wage, then Los Angeles drivers sure aren’t backing down from trying too.
There’s much more to uncover from this issue, and it will definitely require more from Uber’s end, but in the meantime, support your local Uber and Lyft driver by avoiding cancellations and making it to the pickup location on time.
Would you believe me if i told you that we only have 135 months left before our planet passes a point of runaway global warming? Meaning to say we have less than a century to pack up our belongings, find another planet and start popping out the sprogs? Have you seen how long it takes for us to pack for a holiday, for crying out loud?
Students should skip school to protest because no one else seems to be taking proper action towards this crisis. According to the global commission on the economy and climate we will inevitably go extinct after 2030. And you might be thinking if this was really the case then “We wouldn’t be talking about anything else, that soon as you’d turn on the TV, everything would be about that.” This is what Greta Thurnburg was also thinking but she didn’t stop there, she as a reasonable human being couldn’t stop herself but to take action so she began skipping school to protest outside parliament against Sweden’s lack of action on climate change. And that’s how she started a global movement called Schools Strike For Climate change which is also referred to as Fridays For Future. At these protests thousands of people march with only three demands , they demanded no new coal or gas projects, stopping the Adani coal mine in central Queensland, and moving to 100 per cent renewable by 2030. The decisions we make on carbon emissions over coming decades will affect our climate for a long time to come, as emissions will profoundly impact the rate of future climate change, particularly after 2030 and that’s why students are skipping school to protest because they are aware and concerned for the effect of climate change that is why they are striking out of fear. It’s time to take action or reap the consequences forever. At one of these protests Ten-year-old Mimi Vale and her mum travelled for three hours by train to attend the rally because of the horrific things she has witnessed like the impacts of climate change first-hand, ”There’s no grass growing at her family’s beef farm, so Mimi has to help her mother hand feed the cattle. “If we don’t act fast, the world is going to end,” she said. It’s so sad that a 10 year old has to carry this burden of saving the planet when our leaders couldn’t a 10 year old should not be carrying so heavy of a burden she should instead be playing with barbie dolls. We are temporarily sacrificing our educations to save our futures from dangerous climate change. Thunberg’s words to the UN climate change conference in Poland in December: “You are not mature enough to tell it like it is – even that burden you leave to us children.” Any delight, pride or joy we feel in these protests has to be tempered by the realisation of the adult world’s failure. UK “MPs have passed a motion making the UK parliament the first in the world to declare an “environment and climate emergency”. So the students are trying to push Australian leaders to follow, if not their lead but the united kingdom’s lead.
Students should skip school to protest for climate change because they are the ones who who are going to be impacted the most. Not to mention it is their democratic right since, they are not allowed to vote yet.It is better than staying silent also because we know everything about the issue at hand it would be a different story if we did know how to stop it but we are lucky enough to have the resources and information to prevent our earth from dying ,there are no grey areas when it comes to survival. School students are essentially striking because no action has been taken to reduce the global warming issue and on top of that the leaders are not treating this like a crisis instead they are treating stuff like big wall of bricks which The president of United States wants to build, declaring a national emergency to get his way. And in response to all this criticism the politicians have been facing, their response was : “We do not support our schools being turned into parliaments. … What we want is more learning in schools and less activism in schools. That’s what scott morrison said.but their action is only necessary because we have failed to act. As one placard at the Belgian protests told politicians “I’ll do my homework when you do yours.” . Nine-year-old Lachlan said he felt ‘disappointed’ by Mr Morrison and said he would vote the prime minister out if he was of age. ‘I don’t think any student is going to miss out on their career because they missed a few hours of school today,’ he said. But the ministers would not care if students skipped school for horse cup day. There is no planet B. A young generation so easily caricatured as disconnected and self-absorbed, heads tilted permanently downward towards their phones, Instagramming pictures of themselves, are instead taking a moral lead.
‘There are no careers in becoming a climate change protester, Mr Latham, One Nation’s New South Wales leader – told Daily Mail Australia. But the real problem is that there essentially will not be any schools or education if global warming keeps on going the way it is. Australian temperatures are expected to rise by approximately half a degree or more by 2030 relative to 1990, bringing more hot days and nights. Time is running out it’s time to take action and gen Z has the most to lose from the negative effects of climate change, “Until you start focusing on what needs to be done rather than what is politically possible, there is no hope. We cannot solve a crisis without treating it as a crisis,” she added. Gen Z has the most to lose from the negative effects of climate change, George Monbiot said “My generation trashed the planet. So I salute the children striking back. My generation and the generations that went before have failed you. We failed to grasp the basic premise of intergenerational justice: that you cannot apply discount rates to human life. In other words, the life of someone who has not been born will be of no less value than the life of someone who already exists. We have lived as if your lives had no importance, as if any resource we encountered was ours and ours alone to use as we wished, regardless of the impact on future generations. In doing so, we created a cannibal economy: we ate your future to satisfy our greed.” Between their denial and their despair, there was not one moment at which they said, “It is real, so we must act.” Their despair was another form of denial; another way of persuading themselves that they could carry on as before. If there was no point in acting, they had no need to challenge their deepest beliefs. Because of the denial, the selfishness, the short-termism of my generation, this is now the last chance we have. Just last week it emerged that the Antarctic ice is melting much faster than previously feared and global atmospheric CO2 emissions reached a record level of 415ppm.
You might be asking what’s the direct connection between climate change and schools.will,Extreme heat, drought, or flooding during a child’s early years can reduce the number of years of school they eventually complete, according to an analysis published yesterday in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences. The changes to weather and ecosystems will also affect people more directly. As tropical temperature zones expand, the reach of some infectious diseases, such as malaria, will change. More intense rains and hurricanes and rising sea levels will lead to more severe flooding and potential loss of property and life.Hotter summers and more frequent fires will lead to more cases of heat stroke and deaths, and to higher levels of near-surface ozone and smoke, which would cause more ‘code red’ air quality days. Intense droughts can lead to an increase in malnutrition. On a longer time scale, fresh water will become scarcer, especially during the summer, as mountain glaciers disappear, particularly in Asia and parts of North America.
The thing with today’s society is that when people listen to a song, they don’t think twice about what the song really means. For decades there have been different social issues going on in the United States, one example of a social issue is from ‘21 Guns’. Unfortunately, the USA has not been thinking outside the box of using peace during a war instead of just sending an army. The song ’21 Guns’ by Green Day was released on May 25, 2009, through Reprise Records. It was number 22 on Billboard Hot 100 and it sold over 2,151,000 copies.
The song ‘21 Guns’ is about people protesting for having to apply the anti-war efforts to stop all the violence around the world After all the fighting that has happened in the past. I believe that the song ‘21 Guns’ relates to the past fighting and mostly the shooting in battles or even fights in society since the song is called ‘21 Guns’. The song ‘21 Guns’ relates to the war protests that happened years after the Vietnam War ended. The song symbolizes the call for peace between the United States of America and North and South Vietnam. One example is from the lyrics, “Do you know what’s worth fighting for, when it’s not worth dying for?”, which means doubting whether the military cause to fight in war is worth the struggle or the action to fight. The song came out in 2009, and that is when the United States of America was at war with Iraq. The war between the United States and Iraq is related to this song. Since the USA has been engaged with a war against Iraq the artists Green Day made a song about world peace and nonviolent actions and protests. The song ‘21 Guns’ mainly relates to anti-war protests, but specifically what the soldiers had to go through in the war. An example from the song: “One, twenty-one guns lay down your arms give up the fight”, which symbolizes the 21-gun salute, which the soldiers shot 21 times into the air as a specific honorable salute to an important person who is either a fellow cadet, fallen general, or an important soldier who died with noble. It is an important salute still used to this day. Another example is: “Give up the fight, one 21 guns”, which means laying down guns and surrendering, which has an effect on the individual soldiers in the military and an effect of war on the terrors that happens between conflicts.
The social issue of preventing war has been happening to this day after years of preventing conflicts between nations. Such as citizens in the USA are trying not to be in war with South Korea. After all the protests there are still no laws that have been passed by the government to prevent such actions. As The Washington Post reported, “There is a rising tide of activism; a burgeoning national anti-war movement that is gaining momentum by the day… They talk of protesting by people who have never protested before”, which means that there have been so many people in the United States who want there to be laws, but the situation is that the government doesn’t want to start any peace because the heads of the government all have the militaristic mindset. Another way that the protests of anti-war efforts are significant is because of all the unnecessary deaths that occur during war that affects the society. “In the use of free fire zones, harassment interdiction fire, search and destroy missions, the bombings, the torture of prisoners, all accepted policy by many units in South Vietnam. That is what we are trying to say. It is part and parcel of everything”. This proves that war was very disturbing with so much violence, explosions. and killing without any laws to prevent it. Another example from the song is: “When you burned down the house and home? Did you stand too close to the fire?”, which means that during war and chaos the United States of America has not been giving peace a chance in the middle of any conflicts they have been engaged in.
In summary, the song ‘21 Guns’ is about people protesting to make an anti-war effort to stop all the violence around the world after all the fighting that happened in the past. I believe the song refers to past combat and mostly shooting in combat or even fighting in society. I do not think music is an effective choice to protest for preventing wars around the world with the United States. Songs do not bring a lot of awareness during any conflict since there is so much going on with other situations around the world.