ASA 02- A01
Week 5
This week's reading, titled Empire of Death and the Plague of Civic Violence really brought insight into how much of the present danger is at home rather than overseas, where most of the military's force is concentrated. It was also a very interesting read into the different profiles of people who are likely to commit atrocities in society. One thing that struck me as surprising is that veterans would resort to killing innocent civilians, as they were initially tasked with protecting them. It really gave me insight on the mental strain soldiers have to endure when out in the field, to the point where people would turn on their own just 'for fun'. Another point that stood out to me in this chapter was the segment when the author compared serial killers to race murder. When put in that perspective, most of the colonial countries would be considered mass murderers. This really spoke to me because my home country, Indonesia, was once colonized by the Dutch. Although many view them as people who brought culture, the local people did fall victim to a lot of senseless murder. This may have led to a lot of cultural divide amongst my own people, as there are those who have benefited from the colonization, and those who suffered under it. I am personally very divided on this issue because it was way before I was born and my grandparents never spoke about it.
My question for this week is: To what extent can the actions of colonial countries be justified? As the Dutch did bring infrastructure to Indonesia, at the cost of other things.
Hamamoto, Y. Darrell. “Empire of Death and the Plague of Civic Violence.” Masters of War: Militarism and Blowback in the Era of American Empire, by Carl Boggs, Routledge, 2003, pp. 277-292.
Dutch East Indies. [Image] (2017, October 21). Retrieved October 22, 2017, from https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dutch_East_Indies
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