Don't you just hate euphemisms? They are best friends with
politics and government. Take a look at Russia which is in the midst of its
final preparations for the 2014 Sochi Winter Olympics. One would assume the
focus of the nation to be on a few key things: 1) readying to host the Olympic
Games, 2) tackling with foreign policy (particularly with the dilemma in Syria),
and 3) does anybody know what happened to Edward Snowden? Alas no, the Russian
government is instead begging to ruffle some feathers by imposing a ban on
"propaganda of nontraditional sexual relations" or simply put: a ban on
openly expressing if one is homosexual or expressing that homosexuality is an acceptable
lifestyle. ABCNews reports that "public displays of affection by gays,
including holding hands or displaying symbols like a rainbow flag, are now
banned." The repercussions of going against the ban include fines and
prison time for citizens and so much as deportation for foreigners.
Well, Russia
still appears to be stuck back in 1950s America, where conformism was the way
the world ran. Then again, on the bright side, we know the Russians have given
up communism because this gay ban obviously proves that there is no overarching
equality for all members in the society (this was meant to be sarcastic.... I have
a very dry sense of humor). (While we are on the topic of the rights of the
people, can we address the legitimacy of Vladimir Putin's presidency? "Elected"
for I think four straight terms? His position of power just oozes the word "rigged"
whenever he pops up in the papers in some poor photo that shows him in a
terrible light). Furthermore, the International Olympic Committee refuses to
step in and take action on what is obviously denunciation of a rather basic
right to simply love who you wish to love and to be able to show affection for
him/her.
You may
wonder where the technology link is here? If we want to get technical,
propaganda is typically MULTI-MODAL (WOVEN link!). Thus if you expand
propaganda to written and spoken word along with the internet, then the Russian
government could possibly fine citizens for the beliefs they might express over
the world wide web. Of course Russia isn't known for being the forebearer of
democracy, but (mostly) free speech there does exist, and a ban on expressing
beliefs on homosexuality is infringement of speech. I get the feeling that they
view homosexuality as harmful as we would view someone yelling
"Fire!" in a crowd when there isn't one (yes that is punishable in
the US). I wouldn't put it past them to monitor and censor internet pages because
after all, even one of the world's "leading democracies" does it...
ahem... will the United States step forward please? (Again, can you say Edward
Snowden?). This actually leads me to a topic about privacy issues and
government spying that have accompanied the advent of technological advances. I
am not going to personally define what is too overeaching or not because I am
not educated enough on the facets of either side to make a judgement. On the
one hand, the rationale for "spying" is to protect the general public
from possible threats, but on the other, you have the dilemma of how much
information the government can retrieve about an individual. It's not just
government bodies either. I just came across an article about artists utilizing
internet videos and snapping secret photos of strangers and compiling/displaying
it as art (http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424127887324094704579065123679605360.html).
It is frightening to know that if put in the wrong hands, the amount of
personal information that can be retrieved about you is quite hefty, and the
price that may be paid if such information were to leak out would be even
heftier. Right to privacy probably doesn't rank on the level of, say, right to
freedom of speech, but with the ability to connect to individual's lives with
the click of a few buttons, it is certainly something of high significance for
today's society. Tying it back, right to privacy, I believe, should definitely
apply to individual's personal relationships, regardless of sexual orientation.
http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2013-08-25/no-tolerance-for-russia-s-anti-gay-games.html
http://abcnews.go.com/International/russian-lawmaker-suggests-gay-athletes-prosecuted-2014-winter/story?id=19829868
http://www.reuters.com/article/2013/09/08/us-olympics-sochi-gay-idUSBRE9870HH20130908
http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424127887324094704579065123679605360.html
You hit on a lot of issues here, Golda. And all of them are important. Yegi wrote a post about the Russians' intolerance of people with disabilities, so, yes, we could say that Russia doesn't exactly have the best record with human rights. It is sad to me to see the damage Putin keeps doing to a country with such a rich history and culture. The Russians were once known as the forerunners of equality and experimentation, but they messed up because they adhered too much to communist doctrine and there was no more free thinking or practice allowed. People are not doctrines and doctrines can rule a people. This has always been Russia's mistake. People rule people and as soon as the people part disappears from the equation, anything goes because the definition of human becomes malleable to the idea.
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