The letter at the beginning of the "Natural Laboratories" article is a complete cry for help. This woman has seen and possibly endured things that many of us could not even fathom. As a reader, we can only sympathize with her and feel sorrow for her troubles. But how could those who performed these experiments not feel any remorse or guilt for what they did? The same idea goes for those involved in the Tuskegee experiment. Is a paycheck or status really worth to you than another human's life. I know that many people are socialized into believing that life is all about "the survival of the fittest" but at what point does a person really believe that another human life is not equal to their own.
Thursday, February 14, 2008
Natural Laboratories/Tuskegee Experiment
Hate is a word that we often try to deny exists in our American society. We fight wars with other countries because of their hate for other cultures and/or ethnic groups. We condemn those who kill entire groups based solely upon their ethnicity. However, after reading these two articles I am totally disgusted at how parts of America's belief system is based upon lies and hypocrisy. I am appalled and greatly hurt by how ,in many cases, the government dehumanizes those who are either poor or apart of minority groups. I couldn't imagine inflicting such pain upon another human and can only describe the governments actions as those of pure hatred.
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The US government dehumanizes small populations that do not have a voice that is heard in the government. There has been studies showing that people who perceive themselves to be in a place of power will overpower groups of people who are seen as a lower class. An experiment performed showed how average college students, asked to role-play guards and prisoners- deteriorated into a hate fest. These students developed a mob mentality where their actions were justified because their position (as prison guard) was the respected one in society over that of prisoner. While this does not justify how the US government as acted, it does shed some incite in how groups of people can be dehumanized. It is hard not to judge people based on race, past actions, sexuality, and so forth because society values these traits as the way to weigh the value of the individual. If societal values could change where people would not be judged as groups of people with all the same basic characteristics but as individuals with an over-all character, less abuse would happen.
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