Freedom and equality are a prerogative of all the citizens in democratic states. The rule of law must be upheld and applied impartially to all the people irrespective of their color, race or social status. Oppression and discrimination of any kind must be eliminated to build a society that values freedom and equality of its people.
The use of state powers by the political elite is a source of oppression, authoritarianism and disregard of human rights, freedom and equality of citizens in such states.
States have used powers to oppress their citizens and as quoted by Kolin, the rule of political and economic elites which is oppressive must be abolished and replaced with a mass based democracy (94). He argues that the rise of the authoritarian state in the US, for instance, came as a result of collaboration between the presidency, Congress and federal agencies which worked together to oppress the citizens. Political elites have managed to consolidate their power through legal processes and institutions.
The growth of state power undermines democracy and the will of the people, as argued by Kolin “As state power grew, there developed disconnect between theory and practice of democracy” (94). Authoritarian governments established federal agencies, legal processes and other bureaucratic governmental institutions for consolidating state power resulting in political repression.
Emergence of state powers has led to the rise of authoritarian governments which have perpetrated inequality and infringement of citizens’ rights and freedoms.
According to Kolin, the US government has committed legal, political and social atrocities against its citizens at different times in history (138). Inequality takes different forms and, as explained by Chief Joseph (1) in his speech to the congress, oppressions of his people in his time included forceful eviction of civilians from their land, impartial application of the law and racial discrimination.
Further, according to Liliuokalani of Hawaii (1), his people joined the United States against their will and only consented because they could not match the power of the United States. According to Liliuokalani of Hawaii, the conquest contravened the basic rights and freedoms of the natives and their constitution by undermining the power of their local leaders.
State power has been used to oppress civilians denying them equality and basic freedoms. States should, therefore, embrace democracy and eliminate political elites who lead states to authoritarianism.
World trade center, what science and physics said about it?
Use of state power to cover atrocities perpetrated by the government is wrong and must be discouraged. The American government through various state agencies was directly involved in the process of concealing vital data and information about the 9/11 attack. The report and findings submitted by the commission formed to investigate the incidence are inconsistent with many scientific theories and lack any scientific basis.
The analysis of the information released by the government about the 9/11attack and the collapse of World Trade Center 7 reveals two things: inconsistency with basic laws of physics and deliberate falsification of data to serve the government’s authoritarian plans.
In the video “Science and Ethics”, Steve Jones highlighted several scientific discrepancies in the report submitted by the commission. First, he argues that the nature in which the world trade center 7 building collapsed was inconsistent with the laws of physics. The collapse was fast, straight down and uniform and collapsed forming a pile of rubble despite the many steel columns used to reinforce the walls.
He argues that the “fire from the furniture, jet fuel and other organic sources in the building” was not enough to melt the steel bars reinforcing the walls. Secondly, the collapse of the building was symmetrical and took place seven hours after the collapse of the twin towers. The nature of the fall contradicted the “law of conservation of momentum” or the pancake theory which disagrees with the speed at which the building fell.
Thirdly, the government had insured the building two months before the attack, raising concerns that it might have been aware of the attack before it took place.
The government declared the areas around the attacked buildings safe despite scientific data showing the dust in the area was highly toxic. Heavy metals like asbestos and mercury were found in the soil around the area of attack. These metals are highly carcinogenic although the government declared the area safe ignoring the scientist’s reports.
The government identified Bin Laden as the mastermind of the attacks. He came out a week later and denied the allegations although the government prevented the media from broadcasting his statement.
In conclusion, State power is a powerful shield the government uses to cover its atrocities and failures. Democratic states should set up structures to independently check the operations of the government to avoid excessive use of state power by the political elites.
Wars
Wars have been used by powerful countries to extend their rule and force weak opponents to subjection. America has politicized wars and uses them to acquire political advantage, domination and extend its imperialistic plans across countries in the world.
The use of state power to promote imperialism, abuse of human rights and wars should be discouraged by all modern democratic states. American call for global peace is hypocritical judging from its contribution to such initiatives.
merica in the past has used its power to extend its imperialistic agendas across various countries in the world. According to Atwood (104), “America is the largest world imperial power” having orchestrated two neo colonialist wars in Iraq and Afghanistan. It has established military camps in 140 countries out of 191 countries under the United Nations.
Peace is a fundamental pillar of every democratic state but according to Atwood (133) “America is not a peaceful country that cannot avoid war at all cost” but war is an American tradition and a way of life. America is always ready to fight any nation that undermines its superiority having invested resources in preparation for war.
The double standards applied by the United States in pursuit of world domination are unimaginable. For instance, according to Atwood (159), in the fight against the Soviet domination, the United States armies through the CIA recruited 50,000 Muslim Mujahedeen volunteers, trained and supplied them with weapons to counter Soviet domination calling them freedom fighters. However, America has listed Taliban among the world’s terrorist groups for resisting its Afghan domination.
The political elites in the United States have used the country’s military power to colonize the world. According to canton antiwar speech against global wars condemned the act of the ruling class to exploit the middle class and called for global peace (Debs 1).
United States should use global peace as a tool of spreading democracy and the rule of law globally. Wars and military interventions from the American armies expose the country to risks of external terrorist attacks and internal unrests from disgruntled citizens.
Works Cited
Atwood, Paul. War and Empire, The American way of life. New York: Pluto press, 2010. Print.
Chief Joseph. “Speech to congress”. in W.C. Vanderwerth. Indian Oratory: Famous Speeches by noted Indian Chieftains, Norman, Oklahoma: University of Oklahoma Press, 1971. pp. 292. Print.
Debs, Eugene. “The Canton, Ohio Speech, Antiwar speech”. Ohio, 1918. Print.
Jones, Steve. “Science and Ethics” Youtube. Youtube, 2006. Web.
Kolin, Andrew. State Power and Democracy. New York: Macmillan Palgrave, 2011. Print.
Liliuokalani of Hawaii. “Official Protest to the Treaty of Annexation ” US congress, Washington D.C, 1897. Print.