Notes of a Brooklyn Sun

**Please take the time to click this link and watch the video. While I do not believe anyone in the video acted ??wrongly??, it goes to show that taking other peoples reactions into regard is sometimes necessary not out of fear, but out of respect (or just plain tactfulness).**

Religious fundamentalism, a right to offend, freedom of the press, boredom, provoking debate, hate, a lack of respect, disregard for others, etc. All are justifications, on both sides of the aisle, for why the publishing of cartoons in the image of the Prophet Muhammad was either highly disgraceful and hurtful, or just the rights of man being exercised.

Knowing that one cannot succeed in removing feelings or emotions from the discussion of which side is correct has to be acknowledged and accepted by all. Every angle one side is coming from is going to involve passion because both arguments are going to be coming from the heart. So any conversation or discussion on the topic that is preceded by the phrase “just calm down” is bound to be a futile one. Oddly enough I’m glad that there are those around that are still as passionate as I am towards that they feel to be wrong. We’ve become such a complacent society that when people actually do rise up our reaction tends not to be only one of surprise but also the call to tell the person to “just calm down.” For any issue regarding people’s beliefs on what’s sacred to them, one must use immense discretion.

The portrait in the Western World of Islam at the moment (according to who you’re speaking to) is of a group of Arabs who you wouldn’t consider dangerous looking but you would not want on your flight. Whether the West would like to acknowledge it or not, “we” are afraid of Islam to an extent because we do not fully understand it. We tend to look at things (through no fault but our own) through our own eyes, through eyes predominately ruled by Christianity. As much as we teach “tolerance” and “acceptance” we have an amazing talent for using it quite selectively.

Lets face it, when we fear what we dont understand we get nowhere. This by no means is a desire to just except things that we dont understand as just “different”, it’s simply a call to realize that there are things sacred to others in this world that are not sacred to you and I. Granted, those who hold certain things sacred are not always in the best position to clearly and reasonably talk things out, I for one am willing to sacrifice some space in the world for things that others hold dear to them, even if it might not be as dear to me. However, we must all realize that in some cultures things are acceptable that wouldn’t otherwise be acceptable to others, while they might offend, a balance must be struck somehow someway.

severe.j

Was it always this difficult to be an American? Dont get me wrong, we’re not suffering nearly as much as well … lets just say we’re doing pretty good for ourselves. But as of late, meaning past the post euphoric time when America was dominating any culture that it came in contact with it. Be it our export of everything from Seinfeld to Big Macs, it’s become extremely popular and easy to hate us. The “they hate us for our freedom” line of thinking may help some feel safe but thats only because its not the truth. Enough of us haven’t acknowledged the truth because it’s not what we want to hear.

For one thing, they actually do hate us for our freedom. Alot of people hate us for our freedoms, not for the fact that we can say damn near anything we are thinking without fear of reprisal, or for the fact that our society actually does strive to ensure that everyones inalienable rights are protected. They hate us because here in America we have the right to speak out, criticize, and force a government that commits wrongs throughout the world to correct itself and we do nothing. There are people who don’t have nearly the freedoms we do. The upward mobility (albeit limited), the ability to reinvent yourself and the privlege to go against the grain without much fear of outright reprisal. We take for granted what others arent close to dream of, these are the excesses of being American. God bless America and no place else right?

Killing Tookie Williams / Nate Mezmer / counterpunch.org / December 12, 2005

…the linked article brought on some thoughts from the death penalty to race in the criminal justice system to what is valuable to us

severe.j

What is prison for? Is it not to A)remove those who are a danger to themselves and others, away from society, B) rehabilitate and reform C) reintroduce into our arms now productive members of society? Somehow, growing up that was always the perception i was fed, aside from the “lock them up and throw away the key” bit. We usually get the impression that basically bad men come out of prison as good ones. The penal system has reformd them to a point where they can now be “properly” functiong members of society. There is an end point here, we believe that these indiviuals can and will be rehabilitatd after eough time. Funny, by the actions that several states take, they run contrary to what the ultimate plan of reform states.

If a man spends all of his time boxed in a cage and only comes out of that cage more ferocious than when he first went in, what the hell does that say to of the logic that says to place him in a cage? It is extremely rare and difficult for a man to leave the confines of the prison system not only a changed man, but a better one. Breaking someones spirit does not insure that he wont repeat the action that brought hime their in the first place, it just guarantees that after a while he will be one thing, extremely desperate. As dreary as this forecast sounds, and it most certainly is a dreary one, change can take place, someone committed to only violence and self advancement can become a changed man.

Stanley “Tookie” Williams entered San Quentin prison facilities more akin to a ball of rage, than to a human being. He was simply another nigger for America, he lived up to the standards set for him. Years of solitary confinement forced a man who never previously questioned himself, to begin to question. And with this we had a startling contribution to society from within the belly of the beast. A boy who on the street terrorized and led others down an unvirtuous path was now redeeming himself as a man. The only way he felt proper to do so was to steer those who had been led astray at an early age like himself, down another path. He used the very respect he garnered from a past life of misdeeds to show many there was another, more righteous path. He was nominated several times for a Noble Peace Prize for both his childrens works and anti-gang campaign, he asked the ultimate of society, to neither forgive or forget, but to understand. The fact that he was “rehabilitated” was totally irrelevant in the end, and Governor Schwarzeneggar contention that there was no admittance of guilt was a cop out. The real determining factor should have been a simple one of Tookie’s worth to us. Is Stanely “Tookie” Williams more valuable to us dead or alive? Anyone who understands the dynamics of what he stood for, both before and after his redemption, would easily proclaim that he was more valuable here on this earth. Knowone can help lead a soul to redemption quite like one that has been there before him.

severe.j
The question is why don’t you? Most of us walk through our lives mostly concerned with the things we believe directly affect us. There comes a point in time when we must come to the realization that damn near everything in this world we live in, will come to directly effect us. Whether it be something we see in front of us or going on behind closed doors, we still feel its effect.

Allowing a worker in BOLIVIA to slave a way in a factory with no bathroom break to make a pricey American garment begets poverty. Purchasing the garment perpetuates the cycle of poverty. It tells the employer that as long as someone is willing to buy this item, i can continue to produce it. It tells the worker that they have to work because as long as the garment is in production jobs will be there, no matter how meager paying. A community full of potential workers, should not be devoid of careers. A child shouldn’t have to to raise another, we just have to remain wary of the actions and conditions which make this a reality. A mans rights who has holdings in a fortune 500 company should not be worth more than a mans who lives paycheck to paycheck in order to feed his family. A workers only recourse to his employer is a threat to withold his services to ensure he is fairly compensated and his future is secured.

Knowone encourages dissent for the sake of dissent, it is an action which is delegated as ones last resort. When one’s livelihood is threatened and their families futures hang in jepoardy, legal ramifications are no longer measured in legalities but only in the relevancy of just and unjust.

“If you don’t like the effects, don’t produce the cause”