After reading Darrel Y. Hamamoto's “Empire of Death and the Plague of Civic Violence” by Darrell Y. Hamamoto, I realize how many people American soldiers have killed. America hasn't been around for all that long; however, it always seems like America is in war with some country. Sitting in my all my history classes, I always come to realization that most of America's history revolves around war, killing, and colonizing, also known as, booting people off their land. It's no wonder so many people outside America hate Americans. We are known as the country that always has been involved in someway or another in a war that took place on the Planet Earth. Hamamoto also mentioned in his article under what circumstances are killings actually reported on the news. For example, a group of a hundred innocent Afghans could be gunned down in the streets of Afghanistan, and the chances of the event being reported on the news is close to zero. However, if an American soldier gets hurt or dies in Afghanistan, it would be breaking news on every news channel. What does this say about the American News system? It almost seems like we are dehumanizing any person who is not American. In addition to this, Hamamoto also mentions how the location of the killing also makes a huge impact. If an American soldier kills people overseas, he or she would not be punished, the soldier may even get a medal or a Purple Heart. However, if this American soldier killed someone in America. News headlines such as "Unstable American Ex-Soldier Suffering from PTSD kills 3 people" show up country wide. This simply makes no sense.
Why do all these factors decide whether or not killing is okay or not okay? Isn't killing, the act of deliberately putting an end to someone's life, just plain wrong no matter what the situation was?
Austin Yu A01
04/28/2013
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