Marketplace of Ideas: Source #5

I went to Amnesty International’s website and found a human rights report in China from 2008. It talks about the growing number of human rights activists imprisoned, under house arrest, surveillance or being harassed by the government. Minority groups and minority religions are persecuted. Even though the death penalty is being reviewed by the Supreme People’s Court it is still widely used in secrecy. Torture is used and Chinese people don’t have access to a fair justice system. Violence and discrimination is still being experienced by women and girls throughout the country. And internet and media is censored by the government. The article goes into even more detail about each section and it paints a picture of how little human rights the people of China actually have.

It is appalling that in the 21^st century a modern industrialized country can be so far behind in their thinking. Today I heard on the news Donald Trump say how we are falling behind to countries like China and I heard the same thing out of Barak Obama during his State of the Union Address. I think that part of the reason is because they are communist and they scare their citizens into being extremely productive but i don’t think they are a country we should aspire to be. Leaders in our country should not be comparing us to China and talking about how great they are when they treat their citizens with such lack of humanity. America isn’t perfect and there are still countless human rights issues that need to be addressed but we should not compare ourselves to a country that has such disregard for its citizens.

Marketplace of Ideas: Source #4

I read an op-ed in the New York Times. It starts off talking about Ai WeiWei’s genius as an artist and how he has an extraordinary ability to say so much with so little with things that are so beautiful. His sun flower seed piece where he covered the ground of the Turbine Hall in London with 100 million hand painted porcelain sun flower seeds. It was meant for people to walk on but it was soon discovered that the seeds gave off a fine powder when walked on that was harmful to people. The NYTimes writer focuses on the fact that art can be dangerous. Especially in Ai WeiWei’s case this is very true.  He was ranked number 13 in Art Review magazine’s list of the 100 most powerful figures in art. This fame turned out to be a gift for Ai WeiWei but also a curse because with that he was empowered to help so many more people but because of the country he lives in he is constantly persecuted. It has always been basic forms with embarrassing him, harassing him, and spying on him but now they have gone to an extreme and kidnapped him taking computer and papers from his offices and accusing him of crimes that are not true. This isn’t the first time China has done this to someone. This situation reminds people of Liu Xianbin, a Nobel Peace Prize writer who last month was sentenced to 11 years in prison. The article gives many other examples of situations just like the ones of Ai WeiWEi and Lui Xianbin. When artists chose to speak out they are risking everything. No everyone wants to do that but the few that are willing always end up paying the price. Many people think that is it the duty of the free society’s in the world to do something to end the oppression but little seems to have been done. China is one of the greatest threats to freedom of speech and people can’t just sit around and do nothing when the people that are putting their lives on the line are being kidnapped and tortured to gain the basic human rights each person should have.

Marketplace of Ideas: Source #3

The Frontline video I showed in class as my issue was about Ai WeiWei and the oppression from the Chinese government. I think that video did a remarkable job of showing exactly what has happened to him every step of the way. I think that for an artist like Ai WeiWei a video is so much more powerful because not only can you see the work he has done and the magnitude of it but you can see first had the persecution he is being subjected to simply because he is speaking out. In situations like this one the emotional side of the subject is so powerful just seeing him being followed, beaten, and the efforts he went through to support the people of his country without a voice. The video gave a background of his art work and how he helped design the birds nest stadium for the Olympics in Beijing but as soon as he realized the Olympics just seemed to support communism and were a band aid for all the problems their country was experiencing he dropped out. It showed how revolutionary he is in China with his blog, twitter, and other means of reaching and empowering the public. When there was an earth quake in Sichuan where many people died, including a lot of school children, due to poor government construction of buildings it really drew the attention of Ai WeiWei. The government wouldn’t release any of the names of people that died in the accident and were trying to silence what was happening in that part of the country. Ai WeiWei didn’t think that was right and got inspired by it and through his blog he collected almost all the names of people that died creating a piece of art out of that and another with backpacks in honor of the school children. When he was beaten by the police in his hotel room in Shanghai that really spoke to me as such a violation of human rights, the sight was so out of the norm for our society and reminded me that these people truly have no one to turn to that has their best interest in mind. Although Ai WeiWei attempts to be a person that does he is just one person and even he faces the same persecution as everyone else. When his studio was bulldozed by the government it really took me by surprise because although the government is very harsh in China Ai WeiWei is still a public figure who is known worldwide. The government isn’t scared of people knowing just what they are doing and the lengths they are willing to take to silence just one person. China is basically letting the world know they are in violation of the human rights guidelines and they couldn’t care less. It makes me question that although these things are in place there is no one to really enforce the rules that every person should be given simple for being.  Ai WeiWei attempts to always be the voice for people that don’t have one. What spoke to me a lot in the video was when someone said most artists and people with in the spotlight would never give up their lifestyle to speak out against what is right but Ai WeiWei would and that sets him apart and makes him a true proponent of human rights, even if his life is being threatened by the lack of human rights in his country.

Marketplace of Ideas: Source #2

I read an article from ABC CLIO database Issues: Understanding Controversy and Society. The Article was titled Human Rights: Overview by Henry Carey. It gave an description of the human rights laws put in place today, where they came from, who makes sure they are protected, and the down falls of them. It said, “The human rights philosophy is simple. It holds that individuals have rights because it is morally right to protect humanity.” The article takes the stand that human rights should be guaranteed to everyone because it is right. These laws are supposed to protect people all over the world from many forms of abuse by forcing countries to follow guidelines. Human rights laws are particularly important in places where there is economic and political development. They make it so that there is a way to hold people accountable for injustices. Since part of human rights is political equality, human rights can steer a country into being more democratic.

          As an issue human rights was brought up by philosophers like John during the 18^th century. It was also an integral part of the Declaration of Independence and the French Declaration of the Rights of Man. These documents brought the idea of human rights into governments and awarded these basic rights to their citizens. Before The Universal Declaration of Human Rights by the United Nations in 1948, human rights were seen as something that was up to each state. Over time, many countries have acknowledged that people deserve certain rights just for being human.

          Basic human rights are seen as; the right to life, to earn a living, and to be free from abuse. But, there can be many forms where human rights are taken away from people with torture, murder, and genocide. There are also other forms human rights can be abused with economic, cultural, legal, political, or social injustices imposed on people by governments, individuals, or groups of people. Some ways that these topics affect current situations are sweatshops and wages, discrimination against women and children, police brutality, slavery, and immigration. Any activity that denies people of their lives, their freedom, or their ability to support themselves can be considered as an abuse of their human rights.

In 1976, the UN established the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights and the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights. Several committees are in charge of making sure these laws are implemented and enforced. Yet, a large amount of information about human rights abuses does not come from governments or the UN. It comes from non-governmental organizations (NGOs) such as Amnesty International and Human Rights Watch (HRW). These organizations along with others get information on alleged human rights violations and draw attention to them in hopes that international public opinion will force offenders to change their behavior.

The biggest challenge today is not creating more laws for human rights but making sure that they are followed by countries and groups of people. There have been many accomplishments in human rights since its ideas were first thought of but there is still a lot more work to be done a more success to be seen.

Marketplace of Ideas: Source #1

I was looking into follow up articles about what is going on with Ai WeiWei currently since I know he was arrested by the Chinese government. One article in particular caught my attention it was titled “China Baffled by Support for Imprisoned Activist Ai Weiwei.” I was very interested to read it because it seemed like it was going to be an article where the government was going to explain their actions.

The article says that the Chinese government is unhappy with all the support worldwide being shown for Ai WeiWei. Many organizations have called on the Chinese government to release him because he is only exercising his right to freedom of expression. But, Hong Lei the spokesman for the Chinese Foreign Ministry says, “Chinese artist Ai Weiwei is a suspected criminal and foreign support for him has confused and angered the Chinese people.” He went on to say, “Chinese people are baffled by the outcry from Washington and other Western governments after Ai's arrest nine days ago. And he questioned why some people in some countries treat a crime suspect as a hero, adding that the Chinese people are unhappy about international support for the outspoken government critic.” This really shocked me that the government does not think they are doing anything wrong at all by silencing the voices in their country that are speaking out. I am surprised that the Chinese government doesn’t think this is a human rights situation. Hong dismissed the U.S. report on human rights that criticized China and said, “United States should address its own human rights record and is urging other countries not to interfere in China's internal affairs.” The Article says that many Chinese leaders believe that the support for Ai WeiWei and other imprisoned Chinese like Novel Peace Prize winner Lui Xiaobo are just a way for America and other Western governments to try and collapse the Communist Party. The article also mentions that Ai WeiWei is diabetic and may not be getting adequate  care since his whereabouts are unknown.