Street harassment is an issue in society that not only affects women, but it also affects men. When thinking about street harassment, you have to ask yourself questions like what is considerably good or evil, do you think that people are good or evil, and are people returning to their animalistic state. These can help determine what your view is like on the topic of street harassment. Street harassment doesn’t just affect people in the U.S., it affects people all over the world. We mainly hear stories about women getting sexually harassed and not having anyone there to defend them, and if there is a witness, they don’t do anything about it. We don’t normally hear stories about men being sexually harassed, but it is just as relevant a topic that sexual harassment is for women. When this happens, people are being disrespectful to both genders and degrading them. We should keep this in mind and try to answer the question what causes street harassment and how can we stop it?

“Part of the problem lies in how the general public defines sexual harassment in public spaces. At work, there is a government-approved definition: ‘unwelcome sexual advances, requests for sexual favors, and other verbal or physical harassment of a sexual nature.’ There are rules to be followed, departments to hear grievances, and punishments issued to offenders.”, quoted by Emily Smith from CNN. She answers the question of what sexual harassment is and mainly where it can happen. People seem to have this idea that it’s okay to go up to a stranger and treat them in a disrespectful way, just because there is someone to mistreat. It is stereotypically said that men will just go up to women and start treating them in this way, but some women will do the same to men. The question that needs to be asked is why do people think they have the right to walk up to a complete stranger and just undermine them. This can also go into the topic of whether people become animalistic when they sexually harass someone.

“When I was introduced to catcalling, it was like a game, just trying to be funny or look cool. We saw older guys doing it, then started in ourselves around 13, 14. It was as easy as saying hi to your neighbor. If she looked developed, there was a comment for her. If a girl frowned across the street, it amused us. We weren't necessarily looking for a response.”, quoted from an NPR radio piece. This answers the question of why people sexually harass others and catcall. This also relates to the topic of whether there is good or evil in the world and what people consider to be good or evil when “choosing” a side in terms of sexual harassment.

“I think it depends on who you ask and where you are in the country. While there are many, many women who are vocal about how much they hate it, there are still a lot of people who dismiss it as no big deal, or who simply don’t understand how prevalent it is. I know that one of my male co-workers a few years ago didn’t realize how big of a problem it is until we started taking an afternoon walk each day, and he saw how often I got honked at. Even among the men who don’t do it, and who agree it’s shitty, I don’t think most are taking active steps to discourage it.”, quoted by Rachel Miller on Buzzfeed News. “I was on the metro on my way home this evening and a man sat next to me and began to loudly talk about how nice my legs looked. I told him to stop and he wouldn’t and I couldn’t get out of the seat. He continued to encroach on myspace so I turned my head, and could feel everyone looking at me but not doing anything.”, quoted from Hollaback. This asks the question of whether there is good or evil in the world and it also answers that question. The way you decide to answer this question or how you perceive the perspective of this, all depends on what you consider to be good or evil.

My goal for the paper is to make the readers think, think about whether or not violence is something embeded in the human nature, or is it something that is taught by the society. I think my process is fine.

The actual thing:

Is violence, the desire to fight, something that is embedded within the human nature?

Some might argue that violence is something we are born with.It’s something that make us human. Like Thomas Hobbes, an English philosopher, he argued that all men are born evil.

In the earlier days of human history, in the days of hunter gatherer, human had to fight other animals for our own survival. Slowly, it became a part of us. Violence is what lets us survive all these years. If we are not violent, we would not have survived given all these enemies human have in the nature. Violence is what has kept humanity alive until this day.

“Why are we seemingly so hard wired toward violence? Well, it might be evolution. It is possible that aggression is an innate trait in human. And under the right conditions, may be it finds its expression in violence and war. ”

Without violence, we are not complete. We could not consider ourselves human anymore. No matter what, violence is something that is hidden deep inside the human heart. More or less, it’s there, waiting to be triggered, explode, and emit. Once it explodes, it’s hard to collect them, and seal the all back up.

Some might argue that humans are not born with violence or anything of the sort. When we were born, we were like pieces of blank papers, pure and innocent. Society put emotions into us. Emotions of violence, greed, envy, gluttony, anger and much more. Like John Locke, also an English philosopher, who argued that at birth, all minds are blank.

When babies were just born, the babies wouldn’t know anything. The babies wouldn’t hate, or have any negative emotions at all. It’s only when they start growing up, when they start to get in touch with the society, did they start learn to hate.

But no matter what, love, the opposite of hate exists in our heart. It’s the human nature. More or less, there’s love in our heart, everyone has love somewhere in their heart. Love is what motivates us to help others, without love, humanity wouldn’t survive till this day, we would have kill each others already.

To me, everyone is born with violence, greed, and negative thoughts, somewhere inside. But they are all hidden away in a box, somewhere in their heart, masked by things such as love and happiness. Love, happiness, warmth, everything seem to be going so well. But when the right moment comes, the seal breaks, the Pandora's box flips open, and it will flood the heart with all kinds of negative thoughts. Violence, greed, envy……, waves of them, will flood the heart. Once the Pandora’s box is open, it will take much more of an effort to close it. And once the Pandora’s box has been open, it will be way easier to open it again and again and again, until the heart have soak up all the evil it can. It is so hard to close the Pandora’s box, most people give up trying really soon, or they didn’t even bother to try at all. But until the heart have been eaten up by negative thoughts, and starts to rot, there will still be love somewhere in the heart, somewhere.

Bibliography:

Crashcourse. "War & Human Nature: Crash Course World History 204." YouTube. YouTube, 31 July 2014. Web. 23 Mar. 2017.

History prompts the question of, when can you justify torture?  Throughout history, people have found ways to make torture more brutal and more complicated. Destroying minds and bodies torture leaves a path of destruction. However, does torture get answers from people that would not have given up secrets otherwise?

A prime example of the ethics of torture is the trolley problem. The trolley problem is a dilemma where there is a trolley moving on a track and will hit and kill five people who are tied up on the track. You have the ability to pull a lever which switches the tracks and the trolley would hit and kill one person. You could do nothing and five people will die or, pull the lever and one person will die. One can argue that you do nothing and you have no blood on your hands. The other argument would be that you have an obligation to pull the lever and save the five lives while killing the one person. Torture can be connected to this situation. The military can torture one person who has information about a possible terrorist attack and prevent it. Or, they could question the person without applying force and get little to no information and many people die in result of that. The answer to this seems straightforward, torture the one person to save the lives of many. However, in war, things are not so simple. There are rules and laws set in place to protect the enemy. In war there is a rule that people are told to follow, “Jus in bello” it “means justice in war, and has traditionally been concerned with the treatment of the enemy.” During war rules and laws get broken and lines get crossed, people make decisions on behalf of others and many people suffer.

Another issue with torture is the person that you are torturing. If the person who is the victim of torture is someone who has committed heinous crimes the morality of torture becomes easier to deal with. However, many times during war when dealing with torture it is innocent civilians who are tortured and who suffer. Red Cross is a protective organization for victims of war, on the red cross website they write “a neutral protective sign for those helping the victims of conflict was adopted; a red cross on a white background, the exact reverse of the Swiss flag.” When a story comes out about a civilian being tortured all arguments for torture goes out the window. There is an uproar of anger and the military is the antagonist.

Torture also happens in the field between a soldier and a civilian. Chris Hedges a pulitzer prize winner and anti-war activist writes “I think for those who are in combat, it very swiftly can become an addiction. War is its own subculture. It can create a landscape of the grotesque that is, perhaps, unlike anything else created by human beings. There is that rush of war.” Soldiers get carried away and forget what they are supposed to do. Civilians become the victims of a gruesome war that they take no part in.

As the world becomes more humanitarian, acts of torture are outlawed. Waterboarding is one of the most known outlawed forms of torture.  It is a devastating act that destroys a human being. So to answer when can you justify torture one has to look at the specific action at hand and decide whether or not torture in that circumstance is justified. To those who wish to outlaw all forms of torture, look at the events where torture prevented terrorist attacks. To those who wish to legalize all forms of torture; look at the lasting effect torture leaves on millions of people all around the world.

Roscini, Marco . "World Wide Warfare-Jus Ad Bellum and the Use of Cyber Force." Max Planck Yearbook of United Nations Law 14 (2010): 86-132.

"War and international humanitarian law." ICRC. October 29, 2010. Accessed March 16, 2017. https://www.icrc.org/eng/war-and-law/overview-war-and-law.htm.

"January 31, 2003 ~ Interview: Chris Hedges." PBS. May 10, 2013. Accessed March 16, 2017. http://www.pbs.org/wnet/religionandethics/2003/01/31/january-31-2003-interview-chris-hedges/13987/.

Emba, Christine. "Opinion | Just War Theory: A primer." The Washington Post. November 30, 2015. Accessed March 16, 2017. https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/in-theory/wp/2015/11/30/just-war-theory-a-primer/?utm_term=.52908b130ad2.

Lacewing, Michael. "Just War Theory." 1-4. Accessed March 23, 2017.

Introduction:

This essay has been one of my best works in terms of talking about how I feel about a certain issue. I honestly had fun writing this, because it allowed me to voice my opinion on a worldwide topic. I focused on taking on certain perspectives on the topic and feel like I have accomplished that goal in this essay. As well as improving on my grammar, I think I did a much better job. Hopefully you enjoy reading this essay as much as I enjoyed writing this.

Street harassment has unknowingly been installed into our society and way of life. As street harassment continues to live in our society, women are becoming more accustomed to the harassment but does that means it’s acceptable? Ignoring the ignorant men has been incorporated into some of woman's daily life routine. Most people would say that street harassment is only a problem in the United States but in reality it's a worldwide problem. People across the world no matter what their cultural background, race or ethnicity is, are still being affected by this problem. In a source I read about worldwide harassment, there is a heavy issue with women being harassed in packed/full trains. We could bring this back in history where it all started. Have women been viewed as less from the start?

Although I find it interesting that street harassment is not only a U.S issue. I still ask myself, can women be harassed even if they are not dress in provocative attire? The answer to that is yes. Being in the shoes of a women is something men won't be able to handle. women are strong individuals who are targeted for the wrong reasons. A women’s body image has a great affect on if a man ‘harrases’ her or leaves her alone. This has been the case for all men, but in the generation I was born into. Things that are said to women may have long lasting effects on her mind more than you think. In this generation, there are different things you can do to survive through street harassment.

I find it ridiculous that their is an actual mobile app for street harassment. “That's where Hollaback! comes in. The original app, released in 2010, was basically a mobile extension of the webs”. Not at the fact that there is one but at the fact that it exists and was needed for people in our society. It just disgusts me this issue is really big and we need to have an actual movement to stop this. People just need to control their mouths and censor their words. Also learn to respect personal space, but can we stop that? Is it possible to stop every single person from harassing?

Most of the posts and sources I have read have been about men targeting women. Is there any such thing as men street harassment? Yes, there is such thing as street harassment towards men. Coincidently, I was so called “harassed” two days ago when I was heading to practice. I had a regular outfit on, a black plain t-shirt, ripped jeans and some black heavy boots. I seen a group of girls walking towards the direction I was walking towards so we were bound to pass each other. That's when one of the girls said “My friend want the oop with you”. That slang, is another phrase for “My friend wants you”. I personally believe that the way I reacted and felt after what she said would have determined if that was considered harassment. I responded with a smile, ignored her and kept walking. It did not make me feel bad at all but just boost my confidence in my looks. Now, I haven't been harassed enough times to understand if that feeling would change if I were harassed on a daily basis or more often. This is where the differences between men and women street harassment intervenes. There are a lot of variables to this like age group, aggressiveness, and emotional feelings. In what ways they are different is definitely something that can not have a direct answer but their is a distinctive difference between both women and men street harassment.

“I am by nature warlike. To attack is among my instincts,” Said Friedrich Nietzsche. Combat has been a staple throughout human history in many different forms. From the earliest raids between groups of hunter-gatherers, to modern occupation, conflict, and everything in between. Whether we are playing football with friends, or piloting drones gunning down foreigners, does warlike nature apply only to Nietzsche? Or are we all composed of the same aggressive building blocks?

In ancient hunter-gatherer societies, humans lived in groups or tribes. Communities were very closely knit, prompting a very us-vs.-them mentality to rise through evolution. Those ancient people looked after their own. However, some groups would attack others for resources, as sometimes it was the easier way to find food. These raids were very different from the wars of today: Small groups of warriors would attack when they were unsuspected, killing other communities and taking what they needed. For a long time, this was the primary form of conflict.

However, as time went on, raids grew more elaborate, and tribes, based in raiding began to excel. Some even speculate that agriculture began, in part, due to the dangers of raids. One of the best defenses against a raid is to gather people together in a group. Along with the resource benefits of agricultural settlements, this brought in a new age of living.

Fast forward thousands of years. Politics have evolved with the human race, and oligarchic societies have become the norm. Democratic or otherwise, a small group sets laws to be followed by the populace, and countries gained individual power. This means war. War evolved, becoming increasingly politically driven, and so politics became the second reason for war.

The era of colonialism is a poster child for resource wars. Small countries, such as England and Portugal, who possessed advanced technologies, especially concerning weaponry, began to reach outward, conquering surrounding countries, and draining them of resources. Whether food, materials, or even humans, colonialism was a resource war on a massive scale.

On the other hand, looking at a revolution, such as the American Revolution, which came about primarily due to the idea of ‘taxation without representation,’ it is clear that most revolutions are almost entirely politically driven. As people rise against a political regime, conflict becomes inevitable. Force is inevitable. Politics rose from disagreement, as did conflict. While politics were most likely introduced as an alternative to fighting, they have not only coexisted, but have become intertwined.

Scilla Elworthy, founder of the Oxford Research Group whose goal was to avoid conflict through dialogue in the case of nuclear warfare, did her best to create a conflict-free world. Elworthy realized that at the base of all political warfare is anger. In her words, “Wherever there is injustice, there is anger. But anger is like gasoline, and if you spray it around, and someone lights a match, you’ve got an inferno.” Citizens often find themselves becoming frustrated with an oligarchy. Frustration leads to anger, and all it takes is a match to set ablaze the flame of war.