It was about a year ago I found myself backed up against a building staring down the barrel of a forty-five. The barrel glistened in the moonlight and I found myself wondering what I was doing in the ghettos of the Buenos Aires at this late of an hour. The two thugs rummaged through my pockets and stripped me of all my money, electronics, and even made me hand over my jacket. After the robbery I called the police and was told that nothing could be done. In my frustration I talked to a few of the locals and recounted the story to them. The next day we were passing by a park when group of hazardous looking youth approached us. After the events of the previous day, I started sweating up a storm. I noticed the leader of the group had tears in his eyes. He hugged me and told me I was always welcome in this neighborhood. At first I was confused. He then recounted a story about how several weeks earlier I had helped out his grandmother and helped his family pull through a difficult situation. He then told me of what his group had done to our attackers. They found him drunk in the corner late at night. He was still enjoying the drugs and booze that he had bought after selling all my stuff. Our new found friends enacted vengeance upon the poor man. His arms and legs were broken, he was robbed, and then carried bound to the police station where he was thrown to the ground and beaten once more. That night I had a lot of questions. That man had robbed us, but did he really deserve that kind of treatment? I was dressed like a rich American in one of the most dangerous neighborhoods in Argentina. Most of the people in this neighborhood struggled to provide food for their families. Could I blame him for his actions? Was a l... ... middle of paper ... ...ollars, but as I thought about it the community was really safer for what those men did. A dangerous person was removed from the community. Other would be robbers were discouraged from committing crime. Fuerte Apache was a safer place thanks to what these men did. In a neighborhood where security doesn’t really exist, every little bit of protection counts. The people in that neighborhood couldn’t count on the police or anyone else to protect their lives or liberty, so they have to do it themselves. In the preamble to our constitution life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness are named as our most important rights. Whenever these rights are threatened we have the right to protect them. If there is a legal way to defend these rights we should respect the social contract and use it, but when the government has failed to enforce the law vigilantism is justified.
When a citizen abides by the social contract, they initially agree to enter and be a participant of a civil society. The contract essentially binds people into a community that exists for mutual preservation. When a person wants to be a member of civil society, they sacrifice the physical freedom of being able to do whatever they please, but they gain the civil freedom of being able to think and act rationally and morally. Citizens have what is called prima facie obligation to obey the laws of a relatively just state. A prima facie duty is an obligation that we should try to satisfy but that can be overridden on occasion by another, stronger duty. When it comes to prima facie duty, this duty can be outweighed by a higher order obligation or
“Simple Justice” was written by Richard Kluger and reviews the history of Brown v. Board of Education, the Supreme Court decision that outlawed segregation, and African America’s century-long struggle for equality under law. It began with the inequities of slavery to freedom bells to the forcing of integration in schools and the roots of laws with affect on African Americans. This story reveals the hate caused the disparagement of African Americans in America over three hundred years. I learned how African Americans were ultimately acknowledged by their simple justice. The American version of the holocaust was presented in the story. In 1954 the different between how segregation and slavery were not in fashion when compared with dishonesty of how educating African American are separate from Caucasian was justified by the various branches of government.
To begin with the story “The Censors” by Luisa Valenzuela was written to depict an event that was happening in the world at the time. In which was the time when Argentina overthrew the government in 1976. The new government was strict and killed thirteen to fifteen thousand innocent without even giving them the chance because the government feared that the poor would eventually try to overthrow the government. With that in mind, the main character in our story Juan begins with a conflicting that he is facing internally. Juan was worried about whether or not the letter he sent to Marina would make it to her house safely or would they become a victim to the government. So he decides to become one of the working men for the censors so that he would get his letter back
(Common Sense) Then read what Thomas Jefferson wrote in the Declaration of Independence which states “These rights include the right of life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness. When a government fails to protect those rights, it is not only the right but also the duty of the people to overthrow that government.” (Declaration of Independence) In both of these it states that they were doing what was in the best interest for the people.
Another pro about the social contract that a person or people actions can be justified and a clear picture of the bond and relationship between the people having a voice and the government having the ear to listen to our pleas to some justifiable reasons to please the people. Take like how our court system is set up for example and being able to prove one is guilty of the crime with proof of reasonable doubt beyond the actions of the crimes that person is committed against a person without going against that person’s rights within the
Individuals should not have to give up their personal freedoms for the sake of national security. In this case concerning national security, which seems broad, security can be differentiated into two aspects, internal and external. Internal security pertains more to the people because it represents the government. External security involves state laws and codes that help prevent attacks on the United States, terrorism and potential foreign invasion. Civil rights in the United States are the right of U.S. citizens to have privacy, freedom of speech, peaceful protest, fair trial, personal freedom, and equal protection. Thes...
Between the years of 1976 to 1983, the period known as the ‘Dirty War’ was in full force in Argentina. During this period, thousands of people mysteriously went missing, and are referred to now as the ‘Disappeared’. It is believed that many of the disappeared were taken by agents of the Argentine government, and perhaps tortured and killed before their bodies were disposed of in unmarked graves or rural areas. Whenever the female captives were pregnant, their children were stolen away right after giving birth, while they themselves remained detained. It is estimated that 500 young children and infants were given to families with close ties to the military to be raised. Within this essay I would like to touch on the brief history of the Dirty war and why the military felt it was necessary to take and kill thousands of Argentina’s, and also the devastating affects the disappeared, and stolen children are having on living relatives of those taken or killed. It is hard to imagine something like this happening in North America relatively recently. To wakeup and have members of your family missing, with no explanation, or to one day be told your parents are not biologically related is something Argentina’s had to deal with, and are continuing to face even today.
...all want to believe that the crime was truly “foretold”, and that nothing could have been done to change that, each one of the characters share in a part of Santiago Nasar’s death. Gabriel Garcia Marquez writes about the true selfishness and ignorance that people have today. Everyone waits for someone else to step in and take the lead so something dreadful can be prevented or stopped. What people still do not notice is that if everyone was to stand back and wait for others, who is going to be the one who decides to do something? People don’t care who gets hurt, as long as it’s not themselves, like Angela Vicario, while other try to reassure themselves by thinking that they did all that they could, like Colonel Lazaro Aponte and Clotilde Armenta. And finally, some people try to fight for something necessary, but lose track of what they set out for in the first place.
Lorraine Stutzman Amstutz states how schools that claim they are following restorative approaches through their policies in discipline are not necessarily restorative, but have enough flexibility to allow a restorative response.
Martinez’s story is not so much one that pieces together the events of the crash, nor the lives of the three youths, but it is an immigrant’s tale, discovered through the crossings of the various Chavez family members and profiles of Cheranos in Mexico.
From the beginning, the United States Constitution has guaranteed the American people civil liberties. These liberties have given citizens rights to speak, believe, and act freely. The Constitution grants citizens the courage to express their mind about something they believe is immoral or unjust. The question is, how far are citizens willing to extend the meanings of these liberties? Some people believe that American citizens take advantage of their civil liberties, harming those around them. On the contrary, many other people feel that civil liberties are necessary tools to fight for their Constitutional rights.
Justice is part of revenge; as also for revenge is part of justice. “Justice” comes from a Latin word that means “straight, fair, equal”, it’s the quality of being righteous and loyal towards one’s state, although serves the interests of the stronger (Hourani, 1962), while revenge is the act of taking retaliation for injuries or wrongs. What ever the circumstances are being the individual who experiences a unjust act, results in the hunt for one of these two things: Justice or revenge. What are the key differences between the two? Justice can be defined as the concept of moral rightness, which is based on the rules of law, fairness, ethics, and equality among the governed citizens. Revenge, on the other hand, refers to an action taken by an individual as a response to an act of injustice. The principle of revenge is “an eye for an eye”…. Can revenge be justified and be as equally part of justice if they both seek retribution for a wrongdoing?
The nature of brutality is not something to be toyed with, the carnage it causes to individuals, families and institutions cannot be overestimated and Gabriel Garcia Marquez shows us that willfully ignoring it’s entry into our community is tantamount to destruction and when faced with the desecration of anything we place in high regard, we should always question the role of brutality and consider the alternative that emphasizes the importance of human life and due process.
As I lay face toward the ground I knew I messed up. If only I would have listened. It happened so fast, as if it were a flash of light. We started to run. Busting through all the doors and not looking back; however, we knew there was no chance of getting away. I find myself separating from the group, not on purpose, but I realized after the fact it was a smart plan. I came out the back doors into a huge parking lot. The only thing visible was a bright flash of red and blue. I slowly laid down, put my hands on my back, and prayed. I prayed that somehow I would get out of this. I see boots walk up an inch away from my face almost in a disappointed manner. Peer pressure and a yearn for acceptance are the worst possible situations/emotions a person
“The sole end for which mankind are warranted, individually or collectively, in interfering with the liberty of action of any of their number, is self protection. That the only purpose for which power can be rightfully exercised over any member of a civilized community, against his will, is to prevent harm to others”(Culver 258).