Regarding the Pain of Others - Susan Sontag

Does beauty exist only in the perception of our minds? Is beauty abstract or concrete? Is it wrong to find beauty in the image of another's suffering or demise? The idea that I find some sort of satisfaction in knowing that the image in a wartime photograph is not me disturbs me. Pain and suffering are part of the human experience and have documented in words throughout the history of mankind. Why does the photograph of pain and suffering evoke strong emotions when words don't? It is because the photograph depicts the actual moment and intensity of the pain and suffering. It is as if you are mentally transported to the scene of the crime. Could the images of 9/11 ground zero be considered beautiful. "To acknowledge the beauty of photographs of the World trade Center ruins in the months following the attack seemed frivoulous, sacriligious. The most people dared to say was that the photographs were surreal, a hectic euphemism behind which the disgraced notion of beauty cowered".
Compasssion is at times a luxury that is dangerous to hold to close. One at times feels obligated to be concerned or care and at other times disinterested. All humanity is hinged on the ability to be compassionate and caring. When feelings of compassion arise they should not be discarded but embraced, for without them we wither and die. Photographs can shock and awe. One is drawn to the carnage and can't look away. Feelings of moral ineptness engulf us when we don't look away. We know, we see what man is capable of, and it can shock us. We become fearful of our known capacity to inflict pain on another. Do we accept the fact that we are one of them, or do we cling to the hope that we are different and could never do such a thing. My favorite quote of the book is, "Someone who is perennially surprised that depravity exists, who continues to feel disillusioned (even incredulous) when confronted with evidence of what humans are capable of inflicting in the way of grusome, hands-on cruelities upon other humans, has not reached moral or psychological adulthood. No one after a certain age has the right to this kind of innocence, of superficilaity. to this degree ignorance, or amnesia". Photographs make it impossible to escape the reality of mankinds cruelty. There exists a visual record, it can no longer be ignored. Even as horrible as the images may be, wars will continue to be fought and mankind will inflict pain and suffering on one another.

Midterm Research-Argument Essay Assignment

The topic of my midterm assignment is the antisweatshop movement. The main thesis of my argument is that the antisweatshop movement has in the past and continues to force multinational corporations to impose labor standards and workplace rules that are more compliant with the labor rules that exist in this country. What began as a movement to protest against labor practices in third world countries by multinational corporations has expanded into a global movement against unfair labor practices by corporations arounf the world.
My sources for the paper will primarily be articles written in professional and policy journals from 2001 to the present. These include Development in Pratice, Review of Radical Political Economics, Global Social Policy and Dissent. I will also utilize some mainstream articles from sources such as the Wall Street Journal and news television stations such as CNN.
The intent of this paper will be to persuade the reader that the antisweatshop movement is neccessary to force corporations to institute more humane labor practices and that without the antisweatshop movement corporations have little or no incentive to change. Protest movements have long championed the right of an individual to be treated fairly. Civil rights, abortion, the right to vote, education are just a few of the areas where protest movements have played a significant role and caused positive change. This movement is no different. The paper will also explore the relationships the movement has with goverments, labor unions and non-govermental organizations (NGO's) around the world and why they have crucial for past successes and remain critical for the future. I will also address the fact that in the end it is the consumer that is the ultimate protester and that if consumers would not buy products made in sweatshops, corporations would be forced to change their labor practices.