Women as Objects... to fear

The New Statesman has a review on the historical treatment of women http://www.newstatesman.com/books/2009/07/women-god-stangroom-benson

For a long time now, I've wondered where society got the mores around it's treatment of women. The link above makes the case for a historical basis. Most holy books are fairly blunt about their consideration of women as second class citizens which only explains how the misogyny has sustained itself. Islam being one of the most often cited case, it is easy to begin a rational examination of their treatment of women.

Expecting women to cover their bodies is a way for cultures to enforce a collective sense of modesty. What is more surprising is when this is taken to an extreme like not allowing women to drive, talk to unrelated men, or go out in public at all. The justification of these rules are described as being protective of the women themselves, the implication being that they could be attacked or even raped for example if seen in public with exposed hair. Women who flaunt societies rules are made acutely aware that they are in danger and the rules are for their own safety. What is interesting about this is not the admission that women can have a strong affect on men but the abdication of responsibility on the part of those men to control their animal desires. Basically, men can not control themselves so it must be the moral duty of women not to tempt men. This seems so simple but when you start examining some of the extreme punishments meted out, it is easy to conclude that society that codified the rules is actually afraid of women and seek to control them. Readers of this piece are sure to recognize the link between Eve as a symbol of the downfall of Man and Man's desire to prevent that from happening in _our_ neighborhood.

This is a case of a cult-of-morality influencing what society considers right or just based on historical traditions. Shine the light of rationality upon the situation and the adherents quickly shield themselves from culpability with statements like, "That is how we've always done it." or "It's in the Bible". Strict constructionists (or "literalists" if you will) may keep to the high-road using that tactic as long as they are consistent with the rest of their Holy Book but what of the rest? Are they claiming that they should treat women like chattel for no other reason then because their fathers and grandfathers did so? This is no more than a belief of convenience, inculcated through long practice and by wide acceptance. It can be boiled down to "But everyone else does it" which doesn't fly with a father listening to son or daughter who wants to do something foolish with their friends so why should it fly with us now? I'll tell you why, because humans are born with a mechanism which bonds them strongly to the behavior they see in the individuals around them. It's called "The Mirror Neuron" and it what allows us to learn by watching and elevates us above all the other species. The downside of this boon is that we have a physiological drive to accept the behavior we see around us and to mimic that behavior.

One of the principles of The Governance Imperative that has driven mankind from its early days is to bring a measure of control and consistency to our interactions. Tyrants, Kings, and Emperors can all rule effectively but the price is capriciousness and justice as defined by one man. As we sought a way to check the abuse of power, to eliminate rule-by-whimsy, and seek maximum justice for the maximum number of people, we developed institutions, like the independent judiciary or trial by jury, which insulate us from the worst of mankind. For all our modern sense of self-righteousness we can never forget that those behaviors are never banished but always lurking, waiting for a chance to exert control once again. Our duty then is to acknowledge, which does not mean blindly accept, those darker instincts that are a part of what makes us human; using knowledge as a shield against the beasts that dwell in the dark recesses of the human soul, guarding the light of civilization against our own self-destructiveness.

The treatment of women is still a shadow upon the soul of man, a remnant of the times when men sought scapegoats for their own behaviors.

Things are not always as they seem

When I first heard of the Honduran military's disposition of Honduras' President Manuel Zelaya, I assumed it was a typical, Third World-style coup d'etat and that the reaction of President Obama and the OAS calling for immediate reinstatement of President Zelaya was the right and proper response. However, after having researched the chain of events behind the removal of Zelaya, it is obvious that the Honduran governmental institutions and civil society were actually defending the Honduran constitution from the hatchet-work of Zelaya.

Many Americans do not realize that in Latin American countries, the military is the national police force. U.S. law does not allow the military to enforce laws. This is why we have civilian organizations like the Coast Guard and the FBI. Whereas the FBI in the U.S. would arrest officials accused of a crime, the military performs those actions in South America. If it was the military acting under its own initiative in disposing the President, then that is obviously unconstitutional. But the Supreme Court of Honduras and the Congress both approved this action and followed Honduran constitutional procedures in appointing a presidential successor.

The Obama Administration needs to wake up and begin to defend principled positions on the world stage. Dialogue with tin-pot dictators is fine, but actively supporting their positions only serves to degrade our own moral authority. As we have said on this blog in the past in the context of the excesses of the Bush Administration, constitutional fidelity is more than just blindly following your leaders, even if those leaders were duly elected. Extra-constitutional maneuvering can never be allowed to stand, especially on the part of a President, who is charged to faithfully execute the duly-enacted laws.

The Truth Will Set You Free

The current situation in Iran reminds me of how the truth can be feared. Dictators and tyrants crave legitimacy and usually have the power to silence those who contradict the 'official truth'. One of the principles upon which our country was founded is that truth is to be valued even when it is uncomfortable. The 1st amendment can be taken to say that a just government should have no fear of the truth and so has to meet an extremely high standard to be allowed to squelch speech. This leads directly to whether citizens should expect to trust what their government says. A government that lies to it's citizens has ceased to be, in the words of Lincoln, "government of the people, by the people, for the people" and should not be trusted. If the trust of it's people is of so little value, the question becomes what is of value to such a beast; the answer quickly and easily is revealed to be power. This is the same power a monarch wields over his subjects; agree to give me absolute power and I promise to protect you. If I fail to protect you, you either won't know because I got away with it and just lie about it or you end up dead and the point is moot; regardless you have no recourse since you've ceded absolute power in the first place.

Iran has many laws which restrict the rights of women, supposedly to protect them, so the hypocrisy is revealed when the authorities take to beating women who are trying to help those in need.

The voters want to know that their vote was heard even if their candidate lost. How the truth can be the enemy of some is covered in a previous article.

Minimalism in the current Supreme Court

This is an excellent analysis on the role a judicial doctrine of minimalism can play in decisions of the Roberts' Court. This is a viable, constitutional alternative to strict-constructionism without going to the constitutionally-suspect extremes of judicial activism.

Our Brothers' Keepers

Once, during a discussion about abortion, I made the argument that if we allow the government to tell citizens that they can not abort a pregnancy, philosophically it was similar to allowing the government the power to tell citizens that they must abort a pregnancy. Needless to say, that discussion did not resolve the issue; we'll probably eradicate world hunger or achieve world peace first.

In reexamining this argument, I wondered how easy it would be to reword a given prohibition to reverse the wording while keeping the dictate intact. For instance if we passed a law stating "No citizen shall be allowed to abort a pregnancy"; assume for the sake of argument that we've already agreed on the definition of the term abortion. The exact procedures are moot because we want to focus on the wording of the prohibition and not on the technicalities of the definitions or shades of grey. Picking abortion is done solely to start with an issue that is easily construed in terms of black and white.

If the law says, "You shall not abort" it could just as easily have been written as "You shall carry to term regardless". So even though the wording only states an action which can not be taken, it implicitly mandates the opposite action.

China already condones abortion through euphemistically named "One Child" policy. While China does not officially force abortions, there continue to be reports nonetheless. "You shall have up to one child" turns into "You shall not have more than one child".

Using another example, capital punishment, we could conceive of a law which says, "Thou Shall Not Kill" it implicitly demands "Thou Shall Protect Life". A capital punishment law which allows the State to kill someone could state "Causing the death of a person (through means described as "In the first degree") is punishable by death" is effectively saying, "The State shall kill those who commit first degree murder." If we really believe in the principle of "Thou shall not kill" then capital punishment must by necessity claim an exception in the definition of what the term 'kill' means. Killing usually means ending a living persons life. Allowing the State the power to define exceptions makes the commandment not to kill into a morally relative value "Thou shall not kill... unless the State says it's ok" which could include self-defense, war, defense of others, or the state ordering the killing of a citizen which it feels is deserving of the ultimate punishment. One counter argument has been "they don't deserve to live" or "they lost their right to life when they took another's". If I don't deserve to live, then I deserve to die. If a State uses it's sovereign power to execute someone unjustly, upon whose soul does the responsibility for a wrongful death rest? Since a State does not have a soul in and of itself, then evil done by the State must then be shared by the people of that State, unless it can be determined to have a singular responsible ruler, a 'Unitary Executive' if you will. If the State can not be held responsible for it's own moral failings, then that leaves the people who actually carry out the misdeeds. The hooded executioner,for example, who either cares not about such metaphysical questions or uses their faith in the infallibility of their leaders judgement as a shield against the possibility of personal guilt.


"Thou shall not covet" (stealing is illegal) becomes "Thou shall be content with what you have and your opportunities to change what you have." (No short-cuts to wealth, only follow the culturally acceptable avenues." Of course I'm paraphrasing here but I'm wandering through examples, trying them on for size to see whether there is an example which disproves the idea.

Summary: You must do X is equivalent to You shall not do non-X, or You must not do X becomes You must do non-X.

In programming-speak, (X == true) is the same as (X != false) .

Questions for Sotomayor

Now that President Obama has nominated Appeals Court judge Sonia Sotomayar to replace retiring Justice Souter on the High Court, what should the Senate focus on in its confirmation process to give Sotomayor a fair hearing while respecting her obligation to not prejudge specific cases that will undoubtedly come before the Supreme Court during her tenure (assuming confirmation)? This article by Neomi Rao asks some good questions that senators should ask Sotomayor to get to the root of her judicial philosophy:

• Do you believe that judges should use "empathy" to decide cases?


• Do you believe that interpretations of the Constitution should evolve to keep up with the times?


• Should Supreme Court justices be bound by precedent?


• What is the court's role when interpreting ambiguous laws?


• What matters most, the law or the result?

If Sotomayor's answers reveal a role for identity politics and policy-making in judging the facts of cases or the constitutinality of laws, then her nomination should be voted down.

Voices from the Past

Extremism in the defense of liberty is no vice. And moderation in the pursuit of justice is no virtue.

- Barry Goldwater


Remember, ignoring torture for the sake of security is not a defense of liberty. And ignoring crimes committed by the previous administration, for the sake of not rocking a political boat, is not justice.