Rihanna performs at the Nokia Theatre in New York. (AP Photo/Julia Weeks)
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How the U.S. Embodies the Culture of Peace
By Stephen Fung
It would be difficult to argue that the United States promotes a culture of peace to its citizens, when as a nation we are one of the most violent societies in the world. It is clear in our media and actions that violence is acceptable and in fact promoted by the way we go about our business. According to “CNBC’s Top Ten Video Games of 2009,” six out of the ten video games that were featured were violent in nature. I can attest to this statistic, because all the video games that I own involve guns, war and violence. Although I am not proud to admit it, it is the culture I was raised in and what I was surrounded by when I first started playing video games years ago.
The other day I was watching music videos on television and the majority of today’s popular hip hop songs were that of hustling, pimping, gun usage and violence. One of the songs that I remembered listening to and watching was by Rihanna, a popular hip hop artist, who’s newest song, “Hard,” has been featured on many prominent television channels including ESPN, when they are showing clips and highlights of the day’s sporting events. Sport has been considered by many as a means of promoting peace, fairness, and respect around the world, yet here in the United States sport seems increasingly associated with violent songs and images.
Some may argue that songs and video games are only words and that they do not have any negative effects on real life situations. I disagree. The fact is that our country as a whole embodies a culture of violence whether we want to believe it or not.
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A Guantanamo detainee walks past a cell block at the U.S. Naval Base, in Guantanamo Bay, Cuba. A former State Department lawyer responsible for Guantanamo-related cases said that the Bush administration overreacted after 9/11 and set up a system in which torture occurred. (AP Photo/Brennan Linsley)
Irony of “Bush Doctrine” Discourse
By Ashley Praetorius
During his first statement in response to the September 11th attacks, Bush successfully created in the public mind a type of “binary dualism” between Islamic terrorists on one side and civilized society on the other. Subsequently, U.S. media sources adopted this narrow conception by mirroring the Bush administration’s nationalistic discourse and exaggerated rhetoric. This portrayal created a new-age war fever bolstering support for the government’s agenda. Ironically, this bears a striking resemblance to the discourse employed by the very religious extremists responsible for the September 11th terrorist attacks.