Unjust Wars and Humanity

Just and Unjust Wars

When can anyone claim that an intervention is just? If there is a war going on that catches the world's attention (for a short period of time), there are efforts being made from several institutions, such as the UN, countries, and people in general, to put an end on the war that is going on. The role of the UN has changed since it first was created. The institution was first created to prevent another world-war from happening. What was not expected was that there would be more civil wars going on then there would be of countries fighting other countries (which I will talk about another time). 

Who would have thought that countries that fought together as brothers and sisters against other countries are now busy fighting each other more? There are many views and opinions to when someone has to intervene, my opinion is that there has to be a limit. 

I think there are no such thing as just wars, but there has to be a just intervention because no one should watch any civilians get killed if we can do something about it. I believe we ALL can do something, one way or another; if it is to boycott the countries products, if it is through demonstrations, or passing on information to open the world's eyes. ANYTHING can contribute to something!

Respect of Sovereignty vs. the Respect of Humanity

What many do not know or tend to forget is that we live in a world that is built upon systems and agreements based on incidents in the past. Alliances have been made and countries are afraid to break them. Think of it this way: Imagine you did your friend a huge favor (favors that are out of the ordinary) and that friend said that they got your back if you ever end up in trouble after that. The time you get in trouble you go to your friend for help, and you know your friend, regardless of the situation, would not or should not break their promise. You somehow made an agreement to help each other out. This is complicated, but my point is that we live in a world based on favors and agreements. Regardless of anything, the respect for humanity should be our first priority, as Martin Luther King said, which I quoted in my first blog: 
“There comes a time when one must take a position that is neither safe, nor politic, nor popular, but he must take it because conscience tells him it is right.”
That time is now! Do we have to wait for another agreement on the respect of humanity to be created for us to start RESPECTING humanity? I will never wait for that, I claim it every day in my life. How dare we ask people to respect us when we cannot respect humanity? Each individual can contribute to that agreement, we should not need any law to do that.

Humanitarian Intervention and Syria

For humanitarian intervention to be just, the basis of intervention has to be clear, which is that the intervention MUST be based on humanitarian principles. Unfortunately, since human beings cannot give a clear link between the moral and legal political arguments, we have a hard time finding any intervention to be just. Through this understanding, a western intervention in Syria for example could be morally justifiable to end the human suffering of civilians. According to what I have said so far, an intervention in Syria, or other countries that are suffering from the same faith, will not necessarily be legal. This is when I go back to Martin Luther King's quote, we have to do what is RIGHT not legal! Remember, human beings are members of ONE family.

Photo Journalism and World Poverty

Kevin Carter 

Have you ever heard the story or seen the award winning Pulitzer Price picture depicting the 1993 famine in Sudan?

The picture depicts a Hooded Vulture that has its attention on a child that is starving and trying to crawl using his last strength. 

I have heard about this story and seen the picture many times. I sometimes questioned what re-posting this picture 20 years later would do to children that are suffering the same faith as this child, today. Since I just started my blog, and I recently came across this on Facebook I felt I finally could share it and write about it because there is a story to be told. 

A picture says more than a thousand words and this award winning photograph was taken in a way that makes people react. All we see is a Vulture and a crawling child. Kevin Carter took the picture while being in Sudan with the United Nations aboard Operation Lifeline. I tried to do some research first behind the story of how the photographer left this child and why he later committed suicide. In the short time Kevin Carter had in the area he wanted to take as many pictures as he could before he and the crew had to leave, he was "at work" taking pictures and was told not to touch anyone because of diseases. While he was taking a picture of the child a Vulture appeared and he managed to capture the "perfect" moment. It showed the world how helpless the child was in the picture and how hopeless the 1993 famine was. What I found out was that many of these children's parents were running towards the UN crew that handed out food, which is why it seemed as if many children were left behind, like this one, but it is hard to tell the story without being there ourselves. Kevin Carter committed suicide a couple of months after he received the Pulitzer price because he was depressed in his life as well as he felt as if he could not do anything to end the suffering of a child like this one. As much as I want to say "how could you?", it is an unfair statement to put on him. Now, 20 years later this picture has been shared and re-posted countless of times and I felt I should do the same.  

"depressed . . . without phone . . . money for rent . . . 

money for child support . . . money for debts . . . money!!! . . . 

I am haunted by the vivid memories of killings & corpses & anger & pain . . . 

of starving or wounded children, of trigger-happy madmen, 

often police, of killer executioners . . . "- Kevin Carter

Carter's message and distributive justice

Do we have to wait for another picture like this one by Kevin Carter to wake up, realize, and be aware of that this is STILL going on? At the same time, I think it is reasonable to ask how we can help unfortunate children when we are so far away from them. Sending some money to relief organizations might help many, but it does not remove the problem of famine or corruption. Even though, I believe we can do a lot more than to watch people suffer from the selfishness of madmen. As human beings we should all have the equal opportunity to benefit from the ability to have distributive justice. People should have the equal opportunities to be able to achieve the same and have food to eat, and if there is a need for help, people should reach out more to the ones that need it more efficiently than what has been done so far. People that are suffering from exploitation from other countries, unjust systems and corruption, where they cannot benefit from the same resources as affluent countries, do not have economic or distributive justice. 

Here is a food for thought that was found in Kevin Carter's Diary:

"Dear God, I promise I will never waste my food no matter how bad it can taste and how full I may be. 

I pray that He will protect this little boy, guide and deliver him away from his misery. 

I pray that we will be more sensitive towards the world around us and not be blinded by our own selfish nature and interests. 

I hope this picture will always serve as a reminder to us that how fortunate we are and that we must never ever take things for granted."

World Poverty and Human Rights

I read an essay by Thomas Pogge called World Poverty and Human Rights, where he gave a good argument to why we (more fortunate human beings in regards to having more economic and distributive justice) should not be happy living in this fortune without going out of our way or contribute in more helpful ways especially for children around the world. It all dates back to the history of colonization, where today's affluent (rich) countries took advantage of today's poor countries, which is a big part of the reason for the present inequality in regards to countries' wealth and the distribution of it to its people. Many would argue that we cannot change history, which is true, but Pogge says that it is irrelevant to raise that argument, and gives a good point to why it is irrelevant. 

“We indeed cannot inherit responsibility for our forefathers' sins. But how then can we plausibly claim the fruits of their sins.”¹ I agree to his statement. The poor should have a much stronger claim to the 1 percent of the global products they would need to meet their basic needs. 

“A morally deeply tarnished history should not be allowed to result in radical inequality.”² 

The unjust institutional orders needs to be changed in order to have a shift in the safety of human beings, and to have more just distributions of economic justice between all people. The shared institutional orders today are shaped by the better-off and imposed on the worse-off. This is why I agree to Pogge's argument which is that people of the affluent countries should bear more responsibility for the global institutional arrangements that have been done by their governments in their names. I think we should take on more responsibility especially if we want to continue to live off of the goods and services that we receive, we have to do something in any way that we can. Who are we to claim ownership of these goods? 

1Ethics & International Affairs P. 308

2Ethics & International Affairs P. 259

Martin Luther King Day

Inspiration

My First Blog

Let me first say that this is the first time I have ever decided to blog. I have never shared my feelings, thoughts or dreams in this way before, and I think we need more people that can blog about things that are important to blog about to better the lives of many. I finally decided to challenge myself to do that so that my message can reach out to others who is trying to do the same, and who are curious about the world we live in. I hope to inspire people to question their surroundings, which is why this blog mainly will cover people and things that can help each and every one of us to contribute positively to this world.

Martin Luther King Day

I believe it is a great time to start blogging on a day where an important man is remembered. MLK was an activist, humanitarian and a leader in the African-American Civil Rights Movement. We should not forget to follow the ideas of people that have impacted our society in such a great way, every day. I believe we are reminded of how we have to act towards other people too few times of the year, and the message does not even reach to all of the worlds population. We should remind ourselves to constantly respect life regardless of its background, color, form, size, beliefs or whatever it may be. Let us remind ourselves that MLK day should be every day. Similar to when Nelson Mandela passed away, an entire world remembered him for the great things that he did for his nation, and for human beings in general, but then we find our selves forgetting to live by the ideas of such great people all the time, in a constant state. We should remember them not only at times when they pass away, or once a year, but do it every day, all the time. How beautiful would the world be if we all was constantly aware of our own actions, which affects us all. The two names  I have mentioned are only a few of many people that have contributed positively to our world in different ways. Injustice is prevalent around us, it is in front of us all the time and it is about time we stop contributing to the unjust systems around us.

“Cowardice asks the question, ‘Is it safe?’ Expediency asks the question, ‘Is it politic?’

 But conscience asks the question, ‘Is it right?’ 

And there comes a time when one must take a position that is neither safe, nor politic, nor popular but because conscience tells one it is right.”- MLK

Not only did MLK go against a system that did not believe in him as a person, but he managed to do so and make a difference. He managed to open the minds of millions, he was able to make many people that were not willing to listen to him listen, he opened the eyes of the blind and ignorant people that did not want to see or realize that injustice was going on in front of them. Why should our generation except any injustice? I at least will not settle for unjust systems or be happy with a poisonous environment that our children will be born into. This is why we should not contribute to the negativity in our society in any way by living our lives with hate towards others. Many mention how the society has a negative affect on us all, but we forget that each individual are key players and contributors to that. We should remember to change the negative that we contribute to all the time and neither should we follow anything that does the same.
Happy MLK-day, every day!