Power, Murder and an ASA Student Named Aaron

In response to, “Empire of Death and the Plague of Civic Violence.”

In this article, Dr. Hammamoto gives multiple examples from a variety of different time periods to show how militarism and a given milieu can affect murder and how society reacts to it. As the article progressed, it was evident that more and more of the murders were associated with the guns and war. As interesting as the article was, I couldn’t help but finding myself upset and shocked at how gruesome a few of the examples were. I am not sure if what sickened me was the detail given in each example, or the overall fact of how Dr. Hammamoto was able to tie the killers to those with power. However, I was most shocked when the article gave an example of how Richard Nixon gave orders for the bombing of neutral nations during the Vietnam War. Whatever the outcome he expected, or motive, this example made Dr. Hammamoto’s point of how elite policy intellectuals and government bureaucrats are similar to mass murderers proven to me. Furthermore, these actions are not done without any “blowback” as the article ends by describing recent terrorism and how our nation “reaps what it sows.” When those with power act with similarly to the murderers listed in the article, our nation follows by producing anarchy.

Question: Is the comparison between those with power and mass murderers correct? Do you think certain decisions by those with power truly affect how the entire nation thinks and how each individual acts?

Aaron Handa

Section A02