Digital Activism, from the screen & beyond
Reclaiming “Go Back to Your Country”
According to USAfacts.org, since 2018 alone, the U.S has welcomed over 45 million immigrants from all over the world. These families and individuals have left everything behind in order to pursue the “American dream”, as it is advertised. They soon learned that this dream would not be an easy climb due to the oppressive and systemically racist wall that barricades immigrants and people of color from reaching it. After years of being chastised, overworked, and with the promise of the American dream nowhere in sight, immigrants are finally listening.
May The Resources Be With You: Space Security & Asteroid Mining
To assess the future of space security, one must critically analyze the development of emerging technologies and the potential exploitation of space assets alongside policy implications. Moving forward into the next decade, new space actors are entering the space frontier with a growing interest in resource mining on asteroids.
Drivers of Biological Weapons Programmes: The Influence of the Individual on the Japanese Biological Proliferation
Responsible for the death of hundreds of thousands of people between 1932 and 1945 (Li, 2003, p. 289), the Japanese BW programme is still considered unique nowadays, due to the unethical procedures employed and the level of impunity of its perpetrators. Detailed literature exists on the history of the programme and its place in the broader biological warfare history. Scholars extensively explored also the unethical medical research involved, as well as the American cover-ups and limited service of justice (Harris, 2010; Hersh, 1968; Koblentz, 2009; Li, 2003; Nie et all, 2010; Roffey at al., 2002). There seems to be little information, however, on the causal mechanisms that led Japan to embark on this programme in the 1930s.
Female Police Officers in Mexico: The Other Victims of Violence
According to the National Crime Victimization and Perception Survey, in 2019 for every sexual crime committed against men in Mexico, 11 are committed against women. On the other hand, according to the National Survey on Household Relationship Dynamics, 22% of Mexican women have been discriminated at the work sphere throughout their lives.
Learned Helplessness: Why De-funding the Police and Military are Vital for Freedom
The people of the United States are undoubtedly on an incredible precipice of power. In less than 10 days the national guard was unleashed on legal protestors. Over a 100 journalists were attacked by police while covering the protest; and in both Los Angeles and New York police officers drove their vehicles into crowds of people. All of which brings into question the strength of our ‘democracy’ and the public utility of police.
We Take Pride in Our Liberty
“When America sneezes the entire world catches the cold”, or at least that is what most folks have been using as the result of worldwide protests. The United States of America is a superpower. They contribute to several aspects of our lives in a way that is impactful.
The Never-Ending Refugee Crisis: The “ISIS Camp”
In March 2019, ISIS was allegedly defeated, however, history makes us ask ourselves if territorially defeating a terrorist group makes its ideology vanish, recalling that ISIS was created from scattered cells of Al-Qaeda when it was at its lowest point. The organization was dying, but its ideology was not.
Rethinking the Nation-State framework: Why the U.S. Needs a Revolution
In the past decades, we have witnessed war, displacement, economic collapse, drought, and viruses transcend borders, and become regional humanitarian crises. Today, over a billion people live in the America’s. The approaching horrors of climate change will displace millions in the next decade, and millions more in decades to come. The concept of ‘state- citizenship’ is not equipped to address the trajectory of conflict on the international level. Therefore, we must closely examine the utility of the state and its institutions. Who does the state protect? Whose interests does the state safeguard?
Women, Culture & Sexual Harassment
Often, when it comes to celebrities being accused of sexual assault, their fan base starts automatically defending them and thinks it is OK to slut-shame the victims. These comments are disturbing. Sadly, they reflect how everyone reacts when a woman has the courage to speak up when she is attacked, harassed, assaulted. It is always her fault.
Victim Grooming, Sexual Violence, & the Industries Who Profit From it
Grooming is a term in psychology to describe a set of manipulative techniques used by sexual predators to foster a sense of ‘trust’ with a targeted person before inflicting violence. For many victims, abuse happens after trust has been established in a relationship.