Victor Martinez Week 5

Victor Martinez
Section A02
Week 5

The readings for this week bring up some very relevant questions about the nature of patriotic attitudes and activism. It’s not surprising how activists are condemned as radicals for speaking up against atrocities committed by the USA in the post 9/11 world. Former president Bush helped create a mindset that the world was black and white and that America could do no wrong. This sort of attitude stands in strict opposition to the ideals on which America is supposedly founded on. America is supposed to be loyal to the people and the people are supposed to have the right to stand against a tyrannical government. We’re even given that right explicitly in the first amendment of the Bill of Rights. We can petition the government and are promised free speech, so it’s especially egregious how public discourse is constantly shut down under threat of violence. America has committed several crimes against other nations, and the citizens should be allowed to voice their critiques about this practice.

Instead patriotism is being used as an excuse to silence opposition, and hide the criminal actions of the US military abroad. The reading about Imperial University really highlights just how the institution of the university once again caves to moneyed interests and attempts to dissuade activists. The obsession with appearing as American as possible is crushing debate, and that goes against the idea of democracy.

Question: How can students reclaim their right to free speech to reveal the hypocrisy of the universities?

References

Chatterjee, P., & Maira, S. (2014). Imperial University: Academic Repression and Scholarly Dissent. 

[Propaganda Questions]. (2017, April 23). Retrieved from https://ajmacdonaldjr.wordpress.com/2010/04/23/propaganda-and-the-people/