Romeo and Juliet

Romeo and Juliet has been a popular play for hundreds of years, so it is no wonder that many people have ongoing arguments about whether certain acts committed by certain characters in this play meet moral and ethical standards. One example of such an act is that of Friar Lawrence marrying Romeo and Juliet, despite that fact that he could've believed that they weren't sincerely in love. However if you analyze the situation it becomes obvious that Friar Lawrence didn't believe that Romeo was sincerely in love. However, it can't be said that Friar Lawrence's actions were unethical.

One reason why it can be said that Friar Lawrence doubted the verity of Romeo's love for Juliet is because of the fact that he implied that Romeo was only infatuated with Juliet's looks. For he says, "Young men's hearts lie, not truly in their hearts, but in their eyes."Implying that Romeo was largely attracted to Juliet for her looks. He also is shocked at the fact that Romeo gets over his deep love for Rosaline so quickly. So shocked, that he invokes a saint in his suprise at this saying, "Holy Saint Francis, what a change is here! Is Rosaline, that thou didst love so dear, so soon forsaken." The Friar's tone regarding Romeo and Juliet's union is skeptical. Despite this, Friar Lawrence does agree to marry Juliet and Romeo. And many question whether this act was ethical.

The act to marry Romeo and Juliet was ethical, simply because Friar Lawrence didn't have much of a decision regarding whether or not to marry them. Friar Lawrence did act as a mentor to Romeo, even calling him his, "Pupil", and is obviously privy to the more private happenings in Romeo's life. However his duties as a priest overruled his duties as a mentor. If Romeo desired to be married no matter how questionable the union was he still had to marry them as long as they were good Catholics. In this case the Friar was a completely objective character and it would have been more unethical for him to not marry Romeo and Juliet than to marry them because he doubted the verity of their love. Also, if he didn't marry them another could have just have easily done so.

In conclusion, I believe that people read too much into Shakespeare. Although it is interesting to speculate the characters and their motivations, so much speculation gives these plays the status of holy books. This I find annoying. So many of the savants who put so much energy into trying to decipher the morality of a fictional character in a 400 plus year old play, could put that into speculating real world problems. And although analyzing character's actions does help us to create personal ethical codes by which to live by, you can do the same by analyzing current or past real world issues.

Power dynamics are critical to follow. In fact, not doing so can mean the difference between life and death. Many things have an effect on people and the amount of power they hold. These factors include, gender, religion and money. In the book, "A Tree Grows in Brooklyn" by Betty Smith. The story follows the life of Mary Frances Nolan, a young Catholic girl in Williamsburg. Early 20th century Brooklyn is an interesting place with a lot of implicit power dynamics.

One implicit power dynamic is that between Christians and Jews. The Jewish boys are persecuted by. The Christian ones. This is a power dynamic that is constantly changing. In general, this power dynamic is always changing. Depending on the population of Christians or Jews in relation to the other. Whichever is the state religion also has an effect on this. Another very influential factor in power dynamics is money, and we see it's influences in the book.

Not suprisingly, there are a lot of perverts in early Williamsburg. What is surprising however is that many get away with it. One factor in this is education, and success. For example, a music teacher forces girls to play for him without stockings, and he's aloud to do this because of his prestige. However, when there is a serial rapist in the area, he is stopped very quickly, because of the fact that he is not a respected music teacher. This is also a very prevalent power dynamic across the world. 

After reading this book, I've come to the realization that despite differences in culture and ethics across the world, some power dynamics stay the same. This is why being a good politician takes good  instincts and takes socially adept people. You can also be liked by people everywhere, no matter the values, if you appeal to their human nature. This will lead to you being able to do whatever you want. This is also why. Socially awkward people don't rise to power.

Are Drones Doomed?

Salvatore Tetsuo Viviano

I recent years it seems as if drones, what used to be the stuff of science fiction novels, have become ubiquitous. This is definitely a sign of the times. Yeah! Our society is is so technologically advanced. However it may suprise some, that people find these facts disconcerting. Why? Because there are quite a few cons to the use of drones for all purposes. In fact I have just finished an article called, "Invasion of The Drones" by Patricia Smith, that outlines many of these problems. Drone usage stimulates arguments based on ethics and safety. 

While toplessly sunbathing, Mandy Lignard had a picture of her taken by a drone. Later the pictures were blown up and put on a local real estate board. Imagine Lignard's embarassment as her sub-nude body was displayed to all who happened to pass by this billboard. Suprisingly, this is an innocent mishap, in comparison to some people's speculations of how intrusive drones have potential to be. Jay Stanley of the American Civil Liberties Union states that, "Our biggest concern is that they not be used for mass surveillance." This would be a violation of our constitutional right to protection from, "Unreasonable searches and seizures." This issue is so prevalent and controversial that 20 states have passed laws against it. This issue still pales in comparison to the issue of drones causing safety problems. People's concern regarding this matter isn't unmerited. Recently, a 375-pound drone crashed into an elementary school in Harrisburg Pennsylvania. Fortunately, school was not in session at the time. The most alarming thing was that this isn't anomaly. Recently there have been "dozens" of near misses due to technical or weather problems while operating drones. One last concern the article brings to our attention is the problem of drones being used in warfare in place of humans. This raises the issue of whether it's ethical to send humans into warfare. The main concern here is whether drone cheapen human life. By making warfare seem like, "A video game rather than a life or death conflict." 

This article brings in to focus a lot of controversial issues that are brought up by the introduction of drones in to warfare and daily life. Is it really good to have pre-programmed technology play such and important role in society? Technology that is prone to mishaps. That is lacking human stamina, brain and judgement. Will the use of technology make us more feeble-minded? These are all legitimate concerns concerning the use of drones.