Introduction
Do people have to suffer because of others who have power over them? It is sad that people often have to face the bitter consequences of conflicts between or among different groups or nations. As a result of power, the government often uses its power to manipulate a country’s available resources.
In the quest for new inventions and discoveries, political powers will always go the extra mile to achieve their goals. In return, people are normally the victims of such expeditions, leaving behind shattered recourses. This paper aims to address the impacts that politics and the power of one group over another have on particular places and our experiences of them. This paper will address the story “The Clan of One-Breasted Women” by Terry Tempest William to support this argument. To achieve this, the paper will be divided into three sections. The first section will address the above story, while the second section will address the impact of political power. This shows that the government did not care about its people who were suffering.
One-Breasted Women” by Terry Tempest William
One-Breasted Woman is a story about a family of an author by the name of Terry Tempest. Terry Tempest was from a clan of One-breasted women including her mother, grandmother, and six aunties who were all affected by cancer. Terry comes from a Mormon family and lived in Utah, near the Nevada desert. Their agony began when an Atomic Energy Commission decided to carry out an atomic test in the nearby Nevada desert. There had been several tests that were done before although it was only one which affected Terry and her family. United States government was the organizer of the atomic test which was carried out in the year between 1951 and 1962 (Tempest 362). The atomic test affected Terry and her family as it exposed them to extreme radiation. Terry lost nine members of her family who had mastectomies while seven members died of cancer. Her mother and grandmother were some of the members who had died. For Terry, she had two biopsies for breast cancer together with a small tumor that was removed between her ribs. Thousands of other people had also been affected by the test and they were all blaming the government of the US. To seek compensation, the inhabitants filed cases against the government although only ten plaintiffs were awarded damages (Tempest 366).
14 cases were not compensated because they lacked viable evidence. The Supreme Court even refused to review several appeals which were made because America was protected from suit by the legal doctrine (Tempest 366) Many people were denied justice by the government and had no right to question the authorities. This was unfair because the government was taking advantage of the people who could not protect themselves. The government was the main cause for the various tests which had effects on thousands of people. Here is a case where the authority refuses to take responsibility for its actions just because of its power. The atomic test was carried out during the cold war period when the United States was racing the Soviet Union to develop a hydrogen bomb.
The Commission selected north of Nevada as a testing site because it was virtually uninhabited desert terrain. It was defective planning and poor verdict by the commission because it only led to several deaths while other people got health complications (Fradkin 1). There was no critical thinking by the commission which had organized the atomic test. What was believed to be a test in the uninhabited desert became a hazard to innocent people living in the surrounding. It was a mere assumption that it was safe to carry an atomic test in a desert because there were no inhabitants. As a good strategy, the US government would have conducted intensive planning on how and where to carry out their test. Our environment is very important to us regardless of how ineffective it can be.
Paying much attention to the desert, it was assumed by the government of America as the suitable site for the test because it was uninhabited. They did not consider environmental ethics while conducting their plans. As a fundamental issue, the government would have thought critically before conducting such an explosive test. This is a clear indication that the government was only after its satisfaction at the expense of people’s lives. There are environmental issues that must always be adhered to prevent destruction. Carrying out an explosion in a desert was not a wise thing to do especially in the case of a government. Probably the US government was assuming these critical issues because of the power vested upon it. Terry and her family had to bear the consequences of an irresponsible government. The explosion not only affected Terry’s family, but also the generations that followed which shows how dangerous it was.
Conclusion
Authorities should always appreciate the people they govern and also protect the places where they govern. There are also environmental ethics that should be strictly followed to safeguard the available resources. Ultimately, political powers should always think critically before making decisive decisions that may affect people or places as realized by the clan of One-Breasted Women.
Work Cited
Fradkin, Philip. Fallout: An American Nuclear Tragedy. New York: University of Arizona Press. 2004. Web.
Tempest, Terry. Circle of Women, Anthropology of Contemporary Western Women Writers: The Clan of One-breasted women. University of Oklahoma Press. 2001. Web.