Soft determinists therefore believe that events to be determined but also believe that free will does exist and still can be applied to our actions. Soft determinists defend compatibilist and say that even though they accept determinist thesis, we still believe in freedom. If we cannot establish that actions are completely determined then soft determinists have to believe in free will. If we knew everything then we might be able to predict a person’s actions but since this cannot be done and is a big if, which is the heart of the determinist thesis, turns out to be unobtainable in practice; this simply means that in theory we are still determinists but we can also believe in free will and hold people responsible for their actions. (Solomon, Higgins, 2010:235) Soft determinism maintains that we possess the freedom required for moral responsibility, and that this is compatible with determinism, even though determinism is true a person can still be deserving of blame if they perform a wrongful act.
Conflict can occur when there is an imbalance of power, causing certain individuals to rise up against this oppression to try and shift the disparity of power. In V for Vendetta, Moore explores this idea through the character of V, who represents individuality and anarchism in a society that is controlled by a fascist, oppressive government. The sombre use of pallet at the beginning of the graphic novel is a reflection of the lack of individuality in this society, as oppression by the government has prevented self-expression and the formation of one’s own opinion. The illustration of a street camera with the sign ‘FOR YOUR PROTECTION’ underneath, as well as the implementation of a curfew and the use of speakers for public propaganda broadcasts, suggests a more sinister motive behind these actions and demonstrates how there can be no freedom of expression in a society where your every move is monitored. There is no ‘talk of freedom…or individual liberty’ in a totalitarian society that rules by force.
“At the moment, there is a myth in circulation, a fable that goes something like this: Radical terrorists will take advantage of our fussy legality, so we may have to suspend it to beat them. Radical terrorists mock our namby-pamby prisons, so we must make them tougher. Radical terrorists are nasty, so to defeat them we have to be nastier.” (Applebaum). This is the story being used for validating of torture. There is no proof that this story has any truth.
“Violence: An American Tradition” In my opinion, I believe violent ‘trends’ are often repeated in American culture because of selfishness, ignorance and fear. I mentioned selfishness as a factor because that is what drives man to show disrespect towards another. Putting yourself as priority, you are left no room for reason or understanding. This in turns leads into the lack of knowledge, which is ignorance. Ignorance and the lack of understanding a person may cause diversion between two people of two different cultures, race or religion.
The terrorist groups, especially the al Qaeda, were dissatisfied with how the United States government ran its affairs. In the case of Al Qaeda, the leaders and members felt that the United States should not protect Israel from the Arab world’s attacks. During the 1960s and 1970s, several groups of individuals as well as individuals voiced their disgust over the government’s handling of its affairs in terms of politics and the handling of international environments. For example, the discouraging loss during the Vietnam War was frequently mentioned as one of the waterloo events (losses) of the United States by the antigovernment rallyists. Within the territorial jurisdiction of the United States and Europe, several factions sought to terrorize those joining the war prerogative.
The long-term unstable society and the cold war made them have the sense of lost. They began to suspect the democracy of their country. Facing this kind of frustration, their choices were not decadence, depression, but resistance. They disbelieved their government, hated the Vietnam War, but they were still patriotic. Although the Counterculture Movement had many negative factors, such as decadent, crackers, vulgar and mysterious, which caused a bad effect on the youth, behind the decadent lifestyle, they had the motivated and raging dreams.
The War in Iraq Isn’t it interesting how the media portraits the war in Iraq? It’s always the negative points and never the good ones. There is so much disbelief and lying about our military and government that it is disgusting! Everyone believes that this war is pointless and stupid, however it needed to be done to make an example! The United States is the strongest government in the world and the media puts it down so very hard.
It is because of the gross misinterpretations of this law that prevents all involved from getting a fair trial as in the Alexander, Giles and Landry cases. It encourages unlawful behavior with a crutch for assailants to lean on just like George Zimmerman and Michael Dunn. It also undermines this country's law enforcement and judicial system. Sadly, it rips justice away from victims' families. While I do not personally feel the Stand Your Ground law should be abolished, I am adamant that the law needs to be revised.
Harry Williamson Response Paper Letter from a Birmingham jail In the article Disagreements About Civil Disobedience Divide America's Anti War Movement we are presented with several views of civil disobedience present in todays society. The sole goal of these organizations is to end the war in Iraq because the members believe what is happening overseas is unjust and immoral. The feud between the organizations is simple; what are the best steps to help end the war? The cultural relativism aspect of this situation is that America (our current day society) wants war with another country, these two organizations are attempting to change that view. On one side you have people like Patrick Reinsborough who is an Organizer of Direct Action Against the War.
Individuals have also made good arguments about the negative outcome that racial profiling might bring to our society. Obviously it has led the dominant race to have superiority to the minorities – racial discrimination. James Zogby, the president of the Arab-American Institute have made a point that he have seen a lot of dark skinned people being searched and treated with humiliation, which is really wrong – Racial Relations. David Harris, a writer and Professor at Toledo College, have already written a couple of books about racial profiling. He states that law enforcers think that they would be more accurate in targeting a suspicious group, but in reality, what happens is the total opposite wherein officials have inaccurate results in targeting the suspect—Race Relations.