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You salute to the American flag, train your life away, wear the uniform proudly and travel thousands of miles to do exactly the opposite of what you think you were going to do. You believe the purpose was to fight off terrorism and bring justice back to America, but instead, you end up finding your self killing off innocent people that are only trying to protect their land and families. You find yourself stripping victims front their human rights and you grasp the idea that these humans don’t deserve not one bit of what's being done to them, because at the end of the day they are humans just like yourself. The war in Iraq failed to accomplish the purpose of the war and instead it dehumanized Iraqis. The essential question that we citizens interrogate ourselves with when it comes to the U.S soldiers is can we honor people for their sacrifice and also recognize the evil they did? Even the soldiers themselves don’t know how to grapple with this question. American soldiers have Self regret because the war has turned them evil. In addition, we have to recognize and analyze the evil that has been done, which was the torture of innocent Iraqi civilians. The final blame being the government’s misuse of power.

Iraq veterans are reminded every day for their heroic acts and shown gratitude for their bravery, however not many accept those compliments. These Veterans believe that they do not deserve to be honored for the terrible acts they were forced to perform in Iraq. These soldiers were put in situations where they had to perform actions that they knew were wrong. They were forced to come back to America to live their regulars lifestyle once again, but this time with a guilt twist in their stomachs and an aching heart for the thousands of innocent Iraqi civilians that were murdered for simply protecting themselves. The war, in fact, turned them evil. Philip Zimbardo during his ted talk presents many different experiments that all tie together to represent this larger idea that good people can turn evil with some simple alterations in their lifestyles. He mentions that, “evil is the exercise of power.”(TED, 2008) He justifies his point by giving an example from the Iraq War. He presents a series of pictures from a prison in Iraq that holds Iraqi prisoners and are run by American guards. These guards began to abuse their power, by dehumanizing the prisoners. so that they can weaken them mentally. This tactic was used to retrieve as much information from them as possible.  In fact, these Iraq veterans felt so awful for what was done that they made a union that accumulated over 12 thousand participants. They have performed non-violence protests and have done anything they can do to stop the continuation of the Iraq war.

Iraqi civilians are being labeled the terrorist in our perspective, but in their perspective, the US, in fact, is the terrorists. The US military is invading innocent homes, lighting fire at any sudden reason they believe is threatening. They’re tearing homes apart, and separating each other from their loved ones leaving them stranded or dead. Many of the Iraq veterans that speak today about their traumatizing stories tell the awful destruction that has been done to the Iraqi homes. One veteran, that goes by Grant Collin, tells a story about a call he had to make during the war and how it caused him to break out crying in the scene during the attack he ordered. He ordered missiles to set off this apartment building that contained many Iraqi families. Once he saw the damage that has been done to the families, he couldn’t perform any more tasks. He instead laid up against a wall and cried; the Iraqi woman, who lost her family to the attack, accompanied him. She placed her hand on his face and said “inshallah”, this means “in God's will”, he stated. The veteran continues by stating that “no, it wasn’t God's will, it was my f***ing order! I gave the order to fire those rockets into that building and I killed her family. I thought I had to do that to keep myself and my Marines alive.”(Youtube, Pure Gold, 2010) During this speech the veteran used very short sentences that emphasized the sorrow he felt for what he and his Marines have done to the families. His repetition and stutter before claiming that it was his fault also gave away his anguish for his actions. This story was one of the many stories from the veterans that emphasized that the U.S. didn’t see them as other human beings that deserved to live as his marines did but more of a threat, and he came to realize that all along he was wrong: there was no threat.

The U.S. government has misused its authority and power over the military. The U.S, the government continued to send and risk the lives of thousands of U.S. military soldiers to perform these dehumanizing tasks. The war stretched over 7 years after the reason for the war had been accomplished. On December 4th, 2003, Saddam Hussein, the once and powerful leader of Iraq, had been captured and arrested by the American Soldiers. President Bush announces to the public, "In the history of Iraq, a dark and painful era is over.”(NYT, 2003) However, it wasn't until many years later that the war was finally shut down by Barack Obama in 2010. This shows that even after they have accomplished their mission, the government used their power and risked the thousands of the lives not only speaking on the American troops but the thousands of Iraqi civilians only due to one reason: they felt threatened.

In conclusion, the dehumanizing acts from the U.S. military soldiers towards the Iraqis were uncalled for and should have not been the purpose of the war. These dehumanizing acts have left Iraq veterans with self regret and empathic for the thousands of lives that were terminated for no good reason. The excessive power turning the American Soldiers evil. The touring acts of the innocent victims that were performed from the U.S. military demonstrate the dehumanizing acts that were being done to the legitimate civilians of Iraq. last but not least, the government’s misuse of power over the military and their reasonings. As for the American Citizens, now looking at the different perspectives of how the American Soldiers took upon the war it is possible to recognize them for their sacrifice and the evil they have done.

Citations

Amira Gouri

Mr. Block

English 3

Introduction:

My goal is for readers to learn more about women in the military. I focused on the pros and cons of having women in the military. I’m proud of my analysis because I picked really good quotes to support my statement.

Essay:

As of 2017, women make up 16 percent of the active-duty military. During World War I from 1914 to 1918, women didn’t have any role in the military, but they were working in other fields such as munitions factories and farming to replace men who had gone to fight in the war. They had a role in providing soldiers with military equipment including weapons. Women’ role increased as in during World War II, about 350,000 women had the ability to serve in the U.S. Armed Forces, both at home and abroad. Most of these women didn’t serve in combat because they were afraid of public opinion. To this day, the military is still mostly men. This made people wonder how women's roles in the military differ from men? And how women in the military are changing over the course of years.

Women representation in the military is small and it is slowly growing. Many female stories tend to be ignored in favor of legacies left by men who have shaped the statement of service to the country. Despite the disagreement, servicewomen are successfully creating new career paths for themselves and the next generation as they enter jobs that were once only for men.

Being a woman also means facing criticism from the men. According to the New York Times magazine titled, “40 Stories From Women About Life in the Military” an article about women's experience in the military. Here is a quote from the article, “In 2006, a male shipmate got into my barracks room and placed a camera in my bathroom and set it to record. I found it only after getting out of the shower. I took the camera to my male chief, whom I had known for only about a month. He assured me that he would get to the bottom of it. By lunchtime, the strange looks from everyone became obvious. Another shipmate told me that everyone in the company office had passed the camera around and saw the video of me naked, getting into and out of the shower.”. We can see many different views from women, some claim they enjoy their job and they are proud of what they are doing, while some claim to be experiencing hardships such as sexual assault, and discrimination due to being a woman. This quote clearly shows the hardship women experience at a job where there is a majority of men. We can clearly see how some men view women as sex objects to the point where a man had to place a camera into the woman's bathroom. Some women chose to change themselves in order to blend in with the men. They eliminate their feminine characteristics, and cut off their hair, just so they could be respected by the men.

Now not all women were treated as inferior or experienced bad moments such as sexually assaulted. In fact, some women actually enjoy their job because they are following their passion, and they like being a minority, so they could be role models for other women who wish to pursue that career.  According to the same source New York Times magazine titled, “40 Stories From Women About Life in the Military”, there are stories about women who showed pride. A quote states, “I am currently Mrs. Texas Galaxy. When I was a National Guard recruiter, I came across many young women who said they couldn’t join because they were too “girlie.” So I started to compete in beauty pageants again to prove that you can still be and feel beautiful and follow any career path you want.”. This quote is a good example of a woman breaking stereotypes since the military is often considered as a job for masculine men. But in this case, the woman decides to also join a beauty pageant to prove that you can still be too “girlie” but also join the military or any other job that is considered not appropriate for “girlie” girls. She’s proving that a woman can do whatever she wants, and the stereotypes followed by society shouldn’t be a barrier to following your dreams.

This issue matters because it’s followed by stereotypes. Gender stereotypes act as a barrier for girls to follow their certain dreams such as being in the military. Gender stereotypes are one of the root causes of discrimination, abuse, and violence in various areas which can lead to violations of a wide array of women and human rights. Female participants argued that they are treated really different compared to men. For instance, women had to work twice as hard as men to prove themselves. Also, most of the time men did not trust women’ opinions and ideas or value the quality of their work, particularly in male-dominated ratings or specialties. Although it seems hard and it may take time, women have to continue to fight for their rights including the equality of treatment as men to create more freedom, jobs, and opportunities for the next generation.

Sources (MLA format):

Katzenberg, Lauren. “40 Stories From Women About Life in the Military.” The New York Times, The New York Times, 8 Mar. 2019, www.nytimes.com/2019/03/08/magazine/women-military-stories.html.

“How Roles Have Changed for Women in the Military.” Norwich University Online, online.norwich.edu/academic-programs/resources/how-roles-have-changed-for-women-in-the-military.

McKay, Dawn Rosenberg. “Options for Women Who Want to Join the Military.” The Balance Careers, The Balance, 30 Apr. 2019, www.thebalancecareers.com/women-in-the-military-4177666.

“How Gender Stereotyping Affects the Enjoyment of Human Rights.” OHCHR, www.ohchr.org/EN/Issues/Women/WRGS/Pages/WrongfulGenderStereotyping.aspx.

I want to focus on the use of photography and the laws to use cameras for war. Also, I'm interested in how nations used photography and cameras as a weapon. There is a law that we documenting you can not crop, modify or enhance the photo in any way because this act is a modification to what is happening. The idea for police officers to start wearing body cameras. Some people and police officers were against the idea; it shows there is no trust in our authority. When there is no trust in the protection that people need to be safe. There are 3 different ways A camera can be used as; Protection, regulation, and as a weapon.

We see security cameras all the time, Do you know that some of the cameras on the street, in buildings and Nations around the world, use these cameras in a way to protect themselves for example in Russia there is a law where because of the massive size of 6.602 million mi²  and the relaxed country made it hard for enforcing road safety and laws. There's a population of people that try to fake getting hit by cars to risk their lives to get money from the insurance;  the protection from fraud.

In China under the rule of Xi Jinping Has created a new market for security cameras and putting them on the street. The increased amount of the vastly stretched cameras around the nation; lower prices have made it more accessible for stores and residents to use for their own use as protection. The police watch footage from the 4,300 cameras around the nation. This line of work employs more than 3,000 employees in Ecuador, started in early 2011 the idea to bring Chinese footage across the Atlantic to Ecuador where the police “Manually” overwatch the Chinese population.  With great power comes great responsibility, there are some nations that do abuse this as certain censorship called “public opinion guidance” with the misuse of Chinese made a controversial system that started to profile Muslim individuals, the program detected the detected these minorities using facial recognition this isn't the ones in your iphone jib jabs.

What to take away from this small dive into the use of cameras. Theres is also the other uses the cameras in so many more ways that I cant even write because of the word count but  in short there is a good a way and a bad or every way. You might find it creepy or strange. In Chinas case there is a definite sense of invasion of privacy.

Introduction

For my essay, I decided to discuss the bystander effect and its effect on those outside of violent situations. I attempted to discuss multiple factors that allow the bystander effect to remain. Through my sources, I analyzed these factors and created a thesis for my essay.

Acts of anger and violence are hard to miss in United States history. As it appears in American culture, through our entertainment and through our core values, is only enabled to be problematic via the environments it is cultivated in. It is often questioned whether this violence is by nature or nurture. However, because environments which systematically encourage it are entirely responsible, this answer will not have an impact. Looking at the human mind will be rendered insignificant if we fail to pick apart the systems that mind is processed through.

At an initial glance of the many scenarios in which violence occurs, it might be difficult to find a unifying factor between all of the variables at play. One article from Scientific American entitled Understanding Violence goes over some of the reasons violence plays a role in the human experience. Findings from research on our counterparts, monkeys, has explained how other species use violence more practically. “They do not start a fight to alienate themselves from another individual, but rather to renegotiate the terms of an ongoing relationship,” and goes on to say that “peacemaking, an important part of this negotiation, appears to be in part a learned skill.” Looking at how these observations relate to the way monkeys work, it is clear that the learned skill here is not the violence, but what it is used for. Regardless of how their brains impact their actions, the bulk of their decision making comes from their learned routines. Had they grown up around an environment in which violence was used for another purpose, that is the purpose they would use it for as well. In this instance, the violence utilised by individual monkeys is influenced by the culture cultivated by the group, and considering their relation to the human race, it can be inferred that a similar phenomenon might be at play in people.

Observing how monkeys express and deal with issues using violence is not the only way to understand how it relates to the human experience. Philip Zimbardo, an American Psychologist known for his work on the Stanford Prison experiment, often discusses the complexities of violence in the human mind. In a Ted Talk on this subject, he asks the question, “where do people go wrong?” heavily exploring the lines between learned violence and people that are, hypothetically, intrinsically violent. In his conversations regarding violence, Zimbardo outlines some reasons for the violence that comes out in people. More heavily, he blames “blind obedience to authority,” and “conformity to group norms.” Most notably, it is important to point out that this would obviously have an effect on people when their environmental context is that of violence, anger, etc. In his work, Zimbardo discusses the events at Abu Ghraib, in which American soldiers not only torture their prisoners, but documented their horrific endeavours, posing with a smile and thumbs up. These American soldiers were dropped into a world in which violence against the other was acceptable, and so that is the path they took. Along with the fact that these people had previously been functioning, normal members of society, this shows that their behavior was heavily influenced by the environment they were in, both in their peaceful and violence environments.

In 1968, third grade teacher Jane Elliot designed a social experiment to conduct on her students. She wanted to test how the students would react to dividing them up and assigning stereotypes to separate groups. After seperating the class into blue eyed and brown eyed students, she told the students with blue eyes of their intelligence, and brown eyed students that they had inferior traits. Within the day, she noticed brown eyed students becoming more anxious and less confident, in addition to their grades and comprehension dropping. Additionally, the blue eyed students would begin to bully the brown eyed students for their differences, and take advantage of the privileges they were given because of their blue eyes. The next week, the students were informed that they had been misinformed; those with brown eyes were in fact superior. Almost immediately the roles were reversed. This shows, that regardless of their actual intelligence, students based their actions and beliefs on that of the group; when students felt superior, they bullied those in the other group. This shows that the environment set out for a group of people, either by an authority or higher system, is entirely responsible for the way that they take out anger and violence on those around them.

Knowing the impacts of the environments people are placed in, not only in their development but throughout their life, is significant because it can help us to create a more peaceful environment, confident that it will create a peaceful outcome. Regardless of a person’s baseline mental state, they will end up going with the grain. In the end, realizing the impact of systems and environments as influences will help us shift the responsibility on the bigger picture, and come up with larger scale solutions to problems of violence in the world. This is important because it shows that the changes we make in the world should not be with the soldiers or the students, but in the government systems and in the schools.

Bibliography:

1. https://www.ted.com/talks/philip_zimbardo_on_the_psychology_of_evil?language=en

2. https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/understanding-violence/

3. https://www.pbs.org/video/frontline-class-divided/

War causes violence throughout many parts of the world. This includes Vietnam, Syria, Iraq, the United States, and many other places. The morality of the soldiers fighting in these wars is questioned from the moment they decide they wanted to become a soldier. The U.S launched an attack on Iraq in 2003 of that year. The soldiers went over to Iraq to lift off bombs, raid their houses, and kill people. It’s hard when a soldier is asked to do difficult things, and once they’ve crossed those lines, it’s hard to navigate back. For an infinite amount of veterans, coming home doesn’t end with kisses and hugs. Now there is an increasing awareness, and some say an urgent need for America and Americans to step up and share the pain of our returning veterans and help them reclaim their lives. An important factor in the return of some vets is that much of the country has not shared the pain of the wars they have been fighting. This essay will analyze the psychological effects that soldiers go through and how that changes them for the rest of their lives. The pain people feel after going through war can be just as traumatic as anything else. War conditions create memories and wounds that outlive the wars themselves. In an article for CNN “I’m Prepared to Talk About the Things I Did in Iraq” Samuel Madel says, “Their images and sounds persist in many parts of peoples lives through multiple generations.” Soldiers can remember things that take decades to work through, and it is not definite that their soul can ever recover. Studies show that there are higher rates of physical and mental illness after coming home from war. These memories can create psychological conditions that are often hidden in the way we write history. In textbooks, we only see the facts, not the opinions, but a person’s perspective emphasizes on their opinion. That can stop us from seeing how war can affect soldiers, specifically in Iraq. People hear about the things that these people did when they were in Iraq and have trouble believing that the soldiers they know and love actually did this. Their experience forever changes the mentality that soldiers go through after going to war. They have seen so many traumatic things that mental illness is increasingly likely to happen. Sonya Timson, writer for the New York Times says, “In evaluation of successes and failures, scholars and policymakers have a responsibility to recognize these intricacies, beyond logistics and statistics, and to resist the urge to reduce a people’s wellbeing to the toppling of a regime.” This quote shows that the question that instead needs to be at the forefront of any discussion about the effects of war is what it means for a “liberated” society to live in conditions of constant rupture. To be “liberated” while experiencing enduring loss and grief caused by the death of hundreds of thousands of civilians and soldiers; or to be children growing up in exploded neighborhoods and raided houses, internalizing and suppressing wartime anxieties. Unless a person experiences what these soldiers go through, it is unlikely for them to ever understand. For example, many movies and T.V. series cover topics of the PTSD that is created after experiencing war. In the T.V. show, Grey's Anatomy, one of the surgeons fought for our country against Iraq and had experienced PTSD on the show. In the next season, it was as if that character had never been to war. That proves that even if people do extensive research like famous T.V. shows have to do, it is hard to believe that these soldiers will never be the same. People want to believe that their loved ones mental illness will magically go away, but the exploits that these soldiers go through compare to nothing of an American's regular daily life. In conclusion, soldiers have to go through so much pain that there is a question if they will ever recover from it. We don’t know if they will ever be the same, we don’t know what happened while they were there, and we don’t know their perspective on everything they saw. These soldiers will never be the same to the point where they could now have to deal with mental illnesses. They will forever wonder what is right and wrong and what is black and white. They will never forget what has happened to them and will continue to have flashbacks and dreams of being at war. They could wonder what they could have done differently, but in the end, soldiers know that there is nothing that they can change about their pasts. Us as Americans should try our best to help them cope, and hope that the tiny things we can do can make a change in their lives for the better. If you know someone who is a soldier keep an extra eye on them because not only have they helped you in more ways then you know, but they also could be dealing with something you have no clue about. 

Introduction- In this paper I discussed about nonviolence and how that can end many wars going on now. I explained about two activists Martin Luther King Jr. and Mahatma Gandhi. These two powerful men overcame situations in their society nonviolently.

Essay

How often are you scared about your loved ones getting killed every time you step out of your door? America’s trust in nonviolence strategies are nonexistent, even though there were many successful nonviolent movements in our history. There are many ways people can approach a situation nonviolently. If we look into the Afghan war compared to MLK strategies during the civil rights movement, we see how the civil rights movement Nonviolence can solve the problems that war tries to solve, yet constantly fails at. Today, in the United States, we can venerate and follow activists as a role models to end all the violent wars.

Throughout history, many activist leaders approached problems in a nonviolent manner. This brought peace and unity to the nation. An outstanding example is when the Reverend Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. ended segregation, but not by starting war. Instead, he led protests, strikes, drafted and delivered speeches, and much more. MLK is the reason that we are all able to sit in classrooms with people of many different races, ethnicities, religious backgrounds, persuasions. “Nonviolence is a powerful and just weapon, which cuts without wounding and ennobles the man who wields it. It is a sword that heals,” MLK stated. This is a very powerful quote about how nonviolence is metaphorically a type of weapon that could end violence altogether and, as well, engender tranquility, should people allow it to transpire. MLK united his followers and arrived at a variety of nonviolent acts, yet effective, strategies to peacefully end segregation.

In one of the third world countries, India, this nation achieved its own liberation from a powerful country, the United Kingdom, but in a nonviolent approach. Mahatma Gandhi, was the Indian activist who proposed this approach. It certainly was a major achievement for a third world country to over power the United Kingdom in the 1940’s. This alone is a historical event that has been often overlooked. One may inquire, ‘How did Gandhi accomplish this feat?’ nonviolently, of course, although it may seem unbelievable. Gandhi had two main concepts that he followed, ahimsa and satyagraha. Ahimsa is common in Buddhism, Hinduism and Jainism. This concept translated to “not to injure” or “nonviolence.” Gandhi used this concept to overthrow the colonial rule set by U.K, including the racial discrimination and social divisions. Satyagraha translated to “Holding onto truth” or “truth force.” Gandhi developed this concept as a weapon to fight injustice. It is a way of nonviolent resistance that he used to overrule the British. He was a very peaceful, but  powerful man at that time.“Non-violence is not a garment to be put on and off at will. Its seat is in the heart, and it must be an inseparable part of our being.”said Gandhi. As one can see, Gandhi believed even if you react to a situation violently, it does not solve the problem or come to any sort of a resolution. The problem would instead perpetuate, and may even exacerbate. He believes that people need to have the inner faith and change. Gandhi’s morals and speeches were not the only way India became a country; He started a series of hunger strikes, salt marches, and prohibited Britain from their goods. This all brought independence to India without any deaths or casualties.

Next, is the question, “Why does the U.S constantly deploying missiles and bombing innocent homes?” Afghanistan is constantly being attacked now. The U.S has been doing this for years, and continues without any sense of discontinuation. Further, the Iraq war was going on for 15 years and the Afghanistan war has been going on from 2001, with no foreseeable termination. In an article by Kimberly Amadeo, she stated, “In June 2017, President Donald Trump authorized sending 3,000 to 5,000 more troops into Afghanistan to strengthen training efforts there. On January 11, 2018, the Pentagon announced it will send in drones and 1,000 new combat advisers in advance of the spring fighting season. The administration's focus is on attacking terrorists and not nation-building.” This quotes explains that the U.S government is continuously sending troops to Afghanistan till this day. The president sent troops there just to make their training better. This shows that the Afghanistan war has no specific reason why it is still going on. Sadly to say, the U.S government spends so much on these wars for many unknown reasons. Instead of being vicious, the U.S could easily make peace with Afghanistan and put an end to violence altogether.

When the government take action nonviolently is causes more unity among the nation. It is not just about the government, but also society. Many mass shootings are going on in our neighborhoods. We can all end a situation by approaching it in a peaceful manner. Mahatma Gandhi and Martin Luther King Jr. both successfully brought unity among their own countries without causing crucial destruction. Today we can use these two role models to end many wars going on now. Approaching situations in a negligent manner leads a nation to disintegrate. This is all happening in our society now, as in the aforementioned cases of Syria and Afghanistan. The United States retaliates in a violent way, hundreds and thousands are being put to death because of the sudden bombings. The U.S government can end this and bring unity in a non violent manner. There are more leaders that follow a non-violent approach other than MLK and Gandhi. The United States government could use its tactics and bring unity. Many human lives could be saved and the money could be used for more important needs. If Gandhi can gain independence from Britain, I believe these unnecessary wars can all come to an end. These two events I stated show that taking action nonviolently has a positive and peaceful outcome.  

Citations:

Violence is not inevitable. It's used in many different ways and causes several different emotions in people. Some of those emotions are; suffering,pain, danger, and fear. Violence is known to change people. There are many types of violence. We have brutal beatings, murder, stabbings and so forth. People use violence as a resolution to something or a way of power. The big question is How does violence change who we are?.

The definition of violence is strength of emotion or an unpleasant  destructive force. Another meaning is behavior involving physical force intended to hurt, damage, or kill someone or something. When people refer to violence, normally they are referring to the second definition. Violence is also known as cruelty. Most times violence is physical, but we can also suffer mentally from it. There's many ways to tell if a person has changed from violence. You can notice the changes in their body language and how they begin to act. Normally we see violence expressed through anger.    

Everyday on the news you hear that someone has been killed. The source of killing is another form of violence. What's heartbroken is the victims are either families, children, or an innocent individual. Each story behind each victim is about something insufficient. violence is being used in a reckless way; they use cruelty for anything without thinking about the consequences. As a community we have to do something to stop all of this. Instead of witnessing these attacks, let's do something to stop them.  

You never acknowledge how much violence can affect you until you experience it firsthand. In my family, we experienced violence and it cost people their lives. The worst experience of all is my uncle. In 2018 I recieved news people fear getting. I remember this day like it was yesterday,, so here we go. An article the violence around us, said “Children (and even adults) may simply imitate the violence they observe”.  The way we see others behave is the same behavior we imitate. Its normal for humans to start acting like one another. When we see violent behavior then eventually that's our new behavior. Unfortunately violence is something that has been used in one point of our lives.

It was a regular sunny day on may 23, 2018. Everyone had just came home from school and work. My mom came home and needed to rest. A few minutes later my step dad also came home. Me and my siblings were downstairs watching tv. Suddenly, i heard my mom on the phone saying” what, I'm coming auntie. Her voice was in a panic and she rushed downstairs and out the door. When my stepdad came down the steps I asked him “what was wrong” . In a normal calm tone, he said your uncle has been shot. The words echoed and I started feeling anxious and confused. I grabbed my phone to distract myself. When I unlocked it i saw a post made by sister. The post said “ I hate getting worst news.” A few minutes after, there was a follow up post. That post said “ and just like that”. As soon as I saw the post i instantly knew what she meant. So i grabbed my phone and texted my sister. The text said any updates on uncle jeffrey. She responded “no baby he didn't make it”. Tears formed my eyes and I dropped my phone on the floor. My heart was hurt for my mother. That was her brother I knew she would be in pain.

Following this sunday, I had to attend school the next day. During the car ride my mom kept repeating how my uncle was shot 37 times. By the time we reached sla i was on the verge of tears. When I went to class I was quiet and tried to explain why I was late. No words came out everything was silent. My mind was somewhere else. Ms. hull took me in the hallway and I explained what happened. The way I told her was through tears and it just blurted out. I was a total mess and couldn't do anything.

 After losing my uncle I realized how much violence can destroy people's lives. The person who commits these violent acts doesnt think about the consequences. He/she just moves on like its nothing. Violence can make someone angry enough to harm someone. Physically hurting someone is not the solution to anything.  

So many things can trigger what makes someone violent.  What they went through in their childhood. Parents, etc. Violence can be inherited within a person. Phillip Jet once said “I think violent crime has more to do with a combination of maltreatment, circumstance, and emotion”. Angry people tend to take their anger out on other people. The amount of anger is enough to destroy someone. Its not about having power, it's about having an outlet to release.  

As humans we don't how violence psychologically affects us or our families. In children we see fear. In adults we have guilt, low self esteem, and isolation. It's not always obvious how violence affects our people. We just begin to act different. In our society, all you see is one of us attacking the other. So when people see us they instantly have fear. No one knows how far someone is willing to go. In any situation someone who commits violence is the person who has control over everything.  

As a society we should realize what violence does to our community. Yes violence is inevitable but it should never be your first choice. In some cases violence is necessary. One  case is when your in danger and need to protect yourself. There are times when violence can be prevented. Something triggers inside our minds and causes us to commit harm on an individual.  

Introduction:

My goal for this essay is to show how much violence is in our country and how much we see it on a daily basis. I just want people to be aware of this. I'm proud of the work I put in it and shout out to Christina and Tobi for the peer review.

Constant Violence in US

There are a lot of examples of violence being ingrained in our minds in our society. Whether it be subconsciously or consciously we cannot escape because these factors are all around and are influencing us daily. One example is the media. The media always reports shootings, robberies, and other acts of violence on a daily basis and then go on to the next topic: essentially just glossing over it like its nothing new. The second factor is our own president Donald Trump. At his rallies, he has a history of condoning violence.  What both of these examples have in common is that they’re things that people look up too or look at. These are just some of the many things that we see everyday that affect us and ingrain in our brain. If you go on NBC 10 News you’ll see a violent act that was committed and then right next to it is something light-hearted or even silly. In a article on the NBC 10 news website (April 23, 2019) it stated how the body cameras on the policemen were being used incorrectly as there was a police shooting. Then there was a news report about an Easter Bunny using violence to defend a woman who was being assaulted by a man. To be fair this kind of violence (The Easter Bunny) could be justified because he was trying to protect the woman t. The problem in this situation are the bystanders. During the incident they were just watching the woman get beat up. The people on the sidelines were cheering for the Easter Bunny, they said, ” Beat his a** .” multiple times, condoning that this “Easter Bunny fight the man that was fighting the woman. Later that day we come to find out the man in the Easter Bunny suit is a fugitive from New Jersey with a violent past. Here are three pictures of the incident.

In the first picture and second picture, it’s the man in the Easter Bunny suit. In the third picture is him defending the women by beating up the man with excessive force.  

That was just one example of how violence is ingrained in our brains due to the e daily violence shown on media.

Our own president has taken a part of this in many of his rallies and has been known to instigate violence. During Donald Trump’s various rallies he claimed that he didn’t  condone violence. However, that couldn’t be any farther from the truth.

Donald Trump has been contradicting for the longest time.It’s obvious that during this time Donald Trump was trying to gain people’s votes by saying he didn’t condone violence but, it got to the point where he really doesn’t care what he says during his rallies. Donald Trump really has a history of encouraging violence in our country. The crazy part is when he said, “Knock the crap out of them” people were cheering and supporting him with this statement. This shows that if the people in power think it’s ok others will also think its ok that we have violence in our country.   

One last example out of the many examples out there is The Army Experience Center. In the ACE they try to recruit kids in the army by making them play violent video games. They use these games as a means to unlock the violence that’s inside kids without them even realizing it. Here are some statistics from the ACE,” As of October 12, 2009:

• The AEC had registered nearly 13,000 new visitors

• The AEC had contracted a total of 149 recruits -- 134 for active duty and 15 for Reserves

• The AEC had obtained 72 “quality enlistments," referring to recruits who scored in the 50th percentile or above on the Armed Forces Qualification Test

• On average, 80 people visit the AEC per day

• The HMMWV [Humvee] is the AEC’s most popular simulator”

And this is just for 2009. There were 80 People visiting a day being brainwashed by violent video games so they can join the army. Using video games as a means to gather kids to join the army is kind of sick. The kids don’t know better either, they think they’re just there to play some Call of Duty or something when in actuality the people who work at ACE are evaluating how useful they can be in the army.  

There is a way to solve this. We all need to be careful what we look at what we feed our minds because if we feed our minds violence it’s going to want violence. If we feed our minds kind thoughts and kind actions then our minds are going think positively and do positive things. If we keep just following others like Donald Trump it’s just going to strengthen the hold that violence has on our minds but if we don’t allow to take control of us then everything will be fine. This is why we need to be aware that violence is being ingrained in our mins.

These are just three examples of how violence is ingrained in our brains. No matter how hard we try to avoid it there will be violence all around us, it’s just how society is at this day and age. There are even people out there who support violence as seen in example two. In the end, the many examples out here can ingrain violence in our brains but that doesn’t mean everybody is hostile.  

Work sited

https://www.nytimes.com/video/us/100000004269364/trump-and-violence.html?playlistId=1194811622182&module=tv-carousel&action=click&pgType=Multimedia&contentPlacement=0

https://www.pbs.org/wgbh/pages/frontline/digitalnation/waging-war/a-new-generation/

https://www.nbcnews.com

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0H3CsKX01ME

Intro: This paper was challenging to write, I had trouble finding the right flow and balance. After revisions, I finally realised what is needed in this essay. My goals for this essay was to have better flow and stronger vocabulary, hopefully I met my own goals. Overall, this essay was a good challenge. (❁´▽`❁)*✲ﾟ*

The U.S. military has high standards for medicine, the standards in mainstream medicine should be raised. Medicine is the solution, a practice to treatment preventing illnesses or injury. Medicine is not just about doctors, it is about specialties and qualifications. Modern medicine can be overlooked, but it doesn’t always have the solution to everything. Today, training and practices are still improving to treat patients efficiently and correctly. Many trauma centers across America are influenced by military medicine. Military medicine faces a challenging situation that requires intense training. They have limited time and materials on the battlefield, but are driven to treat the patients. On the other hand, trauma centers are able to ‘fluctuate’ the time and they have the materials needed, but why are trauma centers influenced by the military, it should be vice versa.

The training and the budget for modern medicine are not always as reliable. Modern medicine training do not have the same pressure to adapt to the situation. A fundamental value is funding; it is funding dedicated to military training and it is an advantage. The money towards training creates this foundation, it forces them to use all resources to do what they can save. With that convenience, would modern medicine be influenced by other specialties? Or have created this innovation at first hand?

Mainly, trauma centers are influenced by military medicine training and practices, according to U.S. Medicine, “‘Historically, many improvements in trauma care have been observed during war and innovations made on the battlefield due to the large and concentrated number of severely-injured patients,”... “Historically, improvements in operative trauma care have been driven by war and innovations on the battlefield.” (2016) Clearly stated, trauma centers use innovation used on the battlefield, and it has improved care. We can gain these alterations into civilian life. The first thought that comes into mind about the battlefield, we tend to think about death. We should turn that thought around and acknowledge that it’s not just about trauma.

Gaining innovations like damage-control resuscitation (DCR), which is what the military doctor use, is now something that many trauma centers practice. According to the U.S. Medicine, Wars’ biggest damage to a soldier is blood loss from weapons, bullets, grenades, missiles, etc. Several techniques are used to slow down the flow of blood, a rope is tied around the wounded limb, but as simple as that it wasn’t in the favor of the wounded soldier or doctor. The method of choice on the battlefield now is to cauterize the wound, burning the flesh to create a temporary close. Compared to modern medicine, this method is used for emergency surgery to stop bleeding. That innovation changed the game for modern medicine.

Small innovation on the battlefield can create a large impact; simply observing a wound can lead to a medical breakthrough. A fresh wound on a soldier may illuminate or glow. The ‘glow’ that appears on the wound may predict a higher survival rate than those who do not have the ‘glow’. What is the reason behind the glow? The glow came from Photorhabdus-luminescens, which is a bacterium carried by nematodes. The soldier crawling through mud attracted insects which had the bacterium. The bacteria is found to fight off insects, but also competing for microbes. Photorhabdus-luminescens is now used to treat antibiotic infections. Now, other researchers found a way to treat HIV and other diseases. These situations of battlefield innovations prove that it creates a large impact on mainstream medicine. How can modern medicine create the same innovations?

Having the same high standards for modern medicine might be the solution. Creating the mentality that military doctors have, these innovations can be created. If trauma centers had the same mentality would the survival rate increase? Just a simple observation can create an impact. Brought to Life Exploring the History of Medicine states, “War is often associated with new discoveries in medicine. Some of these discoveries have been relatively small, but others have had a significant impact on our understanding of the body and the impact of the trauma of war on the mind and body.” To keep in mind, the situations that a soldier goes through may not be seen in a trauma center, the environments are different. The situation may not ‘simulate’ the same during war. Comparing these two different, but related topics may not be a straightforward comparison. War’s pressure and environment might also be an element to these advancements.

Medicine is a battlefield itself, finding any way to fight off infections and injuries. The techniques and methods used in war are now used in modern medicine, it’s efficient and less invasive. Plato said, Necessity is the mother of invention when needed something, it must be forced or find a way to achieve it. That is the mindset that the military doctors have to have strict training, meanwhile, modern medicine doctors should follow along and it might change their own results. With the training and pressure given to the military, many innovations were achieved. Creating reliability may be the answers to more innovations, but also finding the right balance. Training, mentality, and environment all play a role in mainstream medicine, thus, benefiting our society. We can gain these advantages that military medicine goes through, we shouldn’t have to look back at the advancements made on the battlefield. Starting now, creating our own environment to create our own innovations.   

Citations:

Usmedicine.com. “Major Military Advancement in Trauma Care Now Adopted by Civilian Medicine.” U.S. Medicine, 8 Apr. 2016, www.usmedicine.com/agencies/department-of-defense-dod/major-military-advancement-in-trauma-care-now-adopted-by-civilian-medicine/.

“Science Museum. Brought to Life: Exploring the History of Medicine.” Medical Innovations and War, http://broughttolife.sciencemuseum.org.uk/broughttolife/themes/war/innovations