The framework of the report is based on voter ID laws in Tennessee, which relates to our conversation from Monday. This video clip is taken from a FICTIONAL television show called "The Newsroom."
While I am sure that a majority of people will be disarmed by the language suggesting that the Tea Party is an equivalent social force to the Taliban, the point being made about extreme political views is sound (and based on facts and true observations, even though this is, again, a fictional news report).
Whether or not you believe that voter ID laws are a mechanism of control devised by the Tea Party, the commentary at the beginning of this clip really illuminates the personal nature of the injustice such laws will inflict in the upcoming elections.
This clip makes me think of Thrasymachus' original argument, which we discussed today in class, that justice is obeying the laws, which are set by the powerful to benefit the powerful. In this case, the laws are set by Republican legislators, and as the laws would likely deter a greater number of Democratic voters (or at least undecided ones) than Republican ones, and because the issue of voter fraud has not really proven itself to be an issue at all (so using voter fraud as a justification of these laws is a weak argument at best), it seems the motivation behind enacting laws such as these is to provide a direct advantage to the leaders who produced it.
In this case, it does seem to me that the powerful are unjustly taking advantage of regular citizens who will follow whatever laws their leaders enact.
This clip makes me think of Thrasymachus' original argument, which we discussed today in class, that justice is obeying the laws, which are set by the powerful to benefit the powerful. In this case, the laws are set by Republican legislators, and as the laws would likely deter a greater number of Democratic voters (or at least undecided ones) than Republican ones, and because the issue of voter fraud has not really proven itself to be an issue at all (so using voter fraud as a justification of these laws is a weak argument at best), it seems the motivation behind enacting laws such as these is to provide a direct advantage to the leaders who produced it.
ReplyDeleteIn this case, it does seem to me that the powerful are unjustly taking advantage of regular citizens who will follow whatever laws their leaders enact.