Pursuit of Freedom is a costly human experiment
Isabel P. Ball
April 19, 2007
Two strong magnitude social events occurred literally on the heel of each other has startled America and the world-at-large. On a personal level, they made me retreat into a deep contemplation, with all my mental faculties working to fathom the causes and sensible explanations to such occurrences. A realization is clear though, that in spite of the vigilance of the law enforcements, and the prompt legislations aiming to arrest the situation, alarmingly, we are seeing an increase.
One such shattering event was the Imus fallout. Over an out-of-context, as he claimed it, Imus, has roiled into anger and animosity a hibernating sensitivity of human prejudices among the African-Americans, when he called the Rutgers Women Basketball team as “tattooed nagged ho” a hip-hop language, which is alien to me, but later learned it was basically derogatory racist and sexist labeling. A slipshod he has been in the past with his remarks as a radio host, Imus is thought of as a racist.
Realizing his mistakes, Imus, bent over backwards in his atonement bids, irritatingly repetitive, he appeared wanting to bow for forgiveness from just about anyone. Much more decorous and condescending, Imus was in his meeting before the Rev. Al Sharpton, a revered potentate of the Black community, and no less saintly, according to his critiques. He is, for one, a zealous defender of his Black dominions coming to him as victims of racism and of other injustices.
In America, a fair ground for everyone within to play the success game is guaranteed by the Constitution’s Rights of Equality. Indeed, the society flourished on the hard works of the Americans. Those who did not make it good in the rat race competition, on the fringes, are the unhappy Blacks. Somehow greatly disadvantaged by the lopsided system, our own human mark of imperfection, these Blacks, for the most part, are unable to metamorphose from the cocoons of slavery anguish. Embittered, the sentiments continue to erupt into conflicts, such as manifested in the Imus case, and in other racially inciting incidents where the whites have been caught as making the slurs.
Still segregated, the Blacks, then, created and developed a hip-hop culture within their community, by glorifying incivility of the prison lives, and as a defiant stance against the status quo. The signature, original Africanese music art of rap caught on, and now it is a billion dollar industry, and being copied the world over. In their music, they have invented slang words as lyrics, so lecherous and derogatory, that when slung back at them, as Imus did using the very hip-hop rant, the Blacks uprising resulted to the unplugging of Imus from NBC and ABC syndication. Such is the power gained by the Blacks over the years of fights for human rights. The chase for parity by the Blacks is a visceral pursuit, that countless lives have been sacrificed in incendiary encounters. To this day, hatred as result of racial issues, remain divisively ravaging. Nothing new in it, but a reality that is to be accepted, in order to proceed in life with less friction, that prejudice is in the human DNA.
On a different social issue, we’ve just witnessed a historical school massacre. A Korean Virginia Tech English student shot and killed 33 victims, included himself, and injured 15 students, still hospitalized.
School shooting incidents have been happening intermittently in America, from different school locales. Who would ever think that the heinous Columbine spree would be repeated, and would be surpassed in numbers of victims?
Violent crimes, such as the school shootings, are not abating in America, but on a seeming increase, and markedly, well-planned and committed with more ferocity by the perpetrator/s. Crime, such as this, surprisingly, displays showmanship in the act. The killer, apparently delusional, acts like an actor in some Hollywood movies--is heavily armed--Herculean in physique, invincible and heroic in mindset. To that effect, Cho, the gunman, even made an effort to publicize his evil deed, sending the video footages of himself, ranting, and showing images of his seething anger to NBC. They are glimpses of an evil mind, and sane enough to know and plan for the execution. Like an actor’s profile, he showed himself in various poses strapped with weapons, chilling and surreal. But unlike the Hollywood version, in this real life drama, as with the sociopath young killers of Columbine, this lone Virginia Tech disciple carried the massacre by himself-- are real evils, killing indiscriminately, and victimizing the innocent people. These actors are the new breeds, cold-blooded killers, un-heroic, classically deranged and evil-minded, but cowardly, they eliminate themselves along with the victims at the end of the reality act.
This is the new reality drama show of our times, unscripted, truly a cold reality, that leaves us spectators and victims in shock, in awe, and in fear. Though some red flags are visible before the massacre, but the society is un-equipped, let alone, greatly constrained by its own web of oxymoronic legislations, purporting to quash one problem. Unknowingly, and by hindsight, a human lapse, another problem is created, in the interim. To illustrate, in the discussions emerging about the gunman, the very policy on privacy, where the records about the gunman were held and kept confidentially, it has seemed to open another door for the act to be fulfilled, and paradoxically, fully covered and protected by the law.
As these killers can lurk among us, in our midst, society would continue to be vulnerable. Up to now, the question “why these rampages are occurring” remain unanswered concretely and satisfactory. Suffice to say that answers and theories are few, while humanity continues to grapple on how we may comprehend such a human heinous act.
All along, something has been nagging me for an explanation as to why such acts are more common in America? The staunchest espouse of democracy and civility that are ramparts and fortifications of human civilization, here in America is where the foundations of nothing-but-goodness for humanity was conceived and set in stone in the Constitution of the land. Creeds that would promulgate freedom, liberty, equality, opportunity, prosperity and happiness, were the hallmarks of America, as gifts from the founding fathers. These farsighted and open-minded wizards of human nature, upon their wisdoms were patterned many a world governments constitutions and governance, and the institution of Democracy.
Analytically, the concepts were but set guidelines for humans by which to base their behavior towards achieving civility, aligned with the bible’s golden rules. The dogmas were meant to counteract the ultimate of human nature, characteristically, devious and sinful.
Now come the rhetorical scenarios that America might be failing the world in its leadership to humanize humanity? That what we are seeing proliferation of crimes are cracks in the society, that like a dam, would burst open into a yet more catastrophe? Is civilization but an illusion, unattainable means to reaching the human goal of achieving peace and harmony among themselves? As it is, building a civilization is a staggering ordeal, and propped on a shaky foundation that saddles on our frailty as humans, it is bound to crumble back into incivility? But try and try we must, for we know that backwardness is savagery.
One such shattering event was the Imus fallout. Over an out-of-context, as he claimed it, Imus, has roiled into anger and animosity a hibernating sensitivity of human prejudices among the African-Americans, when he called the Rutgers Women Basketball team as “tattooed nagged ho” a hip-hop language, which is alien to me, but later learned it was basically derogatory racist and sexist labeling. A slipshod he has been in the past with his remarks as a radio host, Imus is thought of as a racist.
Realizing his mistakes, Imus, bent over backwards in his atonement bids, irritatingly repetitive, he appeared wanting to bow for forgiveness from just about anyone. Much more decorous and condescending, Imus was in his meeting before the Rev. Al Sharpton, a revered potentate of the Black community, and no less saintly, according to his critiques. He is, for one, a zealous defender of his Black dominions coming to him as victims of racism and of other injustices.
In America, a fair ground for everyone within to play the success game is guaranteed by the Constitution’s Rights of Equality. Indeed, the society flourished on the hard works of the Americans. Those who did not make it good in the rat race competition, on the fringes, are the unhappy Blacks. Somehow greatly disadvantaged by the lopsided system, our own human mark of imperfection, these Blacks, for the most part, are unable to metamorphose from the cocoons of slavery anguish. Embittered, the sentiments continue to erupt into conflicts, such as manifested in the Imus case, and in other racially inciting incidents where the whites have been caught as making the slurs.
Still segregated, the Blacks, then, created and developed a hip-hop culture within their community, by glorifying incivility of the prison lives, and as a defiant stance against the status quo. The signature, original Africanese music art of rap caught on, and now it is a billion dollar industry, and being copied the world over. In their music, they have invented slang words as lyrics, so lecherous and derogatory, that when slung back at them, as Imus did using the very hip-hop rant, the Blacks uprising resulted to the unplugging of Imus from NBC and ABC syndication. Such is the power gained by the Blacks over the years of fights for human rights. The chase for parity by the Blacks is a visceral pursuit, that countless lives have been sacrificed in incendiary encounters. To this day, hatred as result of racial issues, remain divisively ravaging. Nothing new in it, but a reality that is to be accepted, in order to proceed in life with less friction, that prejudice is in the human DNA.
On a different social issue, we’ve just witnessed a historical school massacre. A Korean Virginia Tech English student shot and killed 33 victims, included himself, and injured 15 students, still hospitalized.
School shooting incidents have been happening intermittently in America, from different school locales. Who would ever think that the heinous Columbine spree would be repeated, and would be surpassed in numbers of victims?
Violent crimes, such as the school shootings, are not abating in America, but on a seeming increase, and markedly, well-planned and committed with more ferocity by the perpetrator/s. Crime, such as this, surprisingly, displays showmanship in the act. The killer, apparently delusional, acts like an actor in some Hollywood movies--is heavily armed--Herculean in physique, invincible and heroic in mindset. To that effect, Cho, the gunman, even made an effort to publicize his evil deed, sending the video footages of himself, ranting, and showing images of his seething anger to NBC. They are glimpses of an evil mind, and sane enough to know and plan for the execution. Like an actor’s profile, he showed himself in various poses strapped with weapons, chilling and surreal. But unlike the Hollywood version, in this real life drama, as with the sociopath young killers of Columbine, this lone Virginia Tech disciple carried the massacre by himself-- are real evils, killing indiscriminately, and victimizing the innocent people. These actors are the new breeds, cold-blooded killers, un-heroic, classically deranged and evil-minded, but cowardly, they eliminate themselves along with the victims at the end of the reality act.
This is the new reality drama show of our times, unscripted, truly a cold reality, that leaves us spectators and victims in shock, in awe, and in fear. Though some red flags are visible before the massacre, but the society is un-equipped, let alone, greatly constrained by its own web of oxymoronic legislations, purporting to quash one problem. Unknowingly, and by hindsight, a human lapse, another problem is created, in the interim. To illustrate, in the discussions emerging about the gunman, the very policy on privacy, where the records about the gunman were held and kept confidentially, it has seemed to open another door for the act to be fulfilled, and paradoxically, fully covered and protected by the law.
As these killers can lurk among us, in our midst, society would continue to be vulnerable. Up to now, the question “why these rampages are occurring” remain unanswered concretely and satisfactory. Suffice to say that answers and theories are few, while humanity continues to grapple on how we may comprehend such a human heinous act.
All along, something has been nagging me for an explanation as to why such acts are more common in America? The staunchest espouse of democracy and civility that are ramparts and fortifications of human civilization, here in America is where the foundations of nothing-but-goodness for humanity was conceived and set in stone in the Constitution of the land. Creeds that would promulgate freedom, liberty, equality, opportunity, prosperity and happiness, were the hallmarks of America, as gifts from the founding fathers. These farsighted and open-minded wizards of human nature, upon their wisdoms were patterned many a world governments constitutions and governance, and the institution of Democracy.
Analytically, the concepts were but set guidelines for humans by which to base their behavior towards achieving civility, aligned with the bible’s golden rules. The dogmas were meant to counteract the ultimate of human nature, characteristically, devious and sinful.
Now come the rhetorical scenarios that America might be failing the world in its leadership to humanize humanity? That what we are seeing proliferation of crimes are cracks in the society, that like a dam, would burst open into a yet more catastrophe? Is civilization but an illusion, unattainable means to reaching the human goal of achieving peace and harmony among themselves? As it is, building a civilization is a staggering ordeal, and propped on a shaky foundation that saddles on our frailty as humans, it is bound to crumble back into incivility? But try and try we must, for we know that backwardness is savagery.
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