Assignment #2 Group Project

Police vs. Militiamen (shown is one of the men) in Oregon: Photographed by Jim Urquhart / Reuters

The Power of the People of The United States

The police’s sole job is to prevent and detect crime, and maintain public order in society. However, when police faced the protesters in Oregon, it was very difficult for them to get rid of the protesters, and maintain public order. In Oregon, a group of armed, anti-government militiamen took over a federal building, which is also a wildlife refuge. They claim that government is taking away the people who live in the county, and area’s, constitutional rights. They used their voices to protest against the government, which resulted in them taking control of the federal building, and they kept control for well over a month. The fact that a bunch of men with guns have maintained their dominance over the police, and never surrendered the federal building back to the government, for over a month, is astonishing. In response to the militiamen taking control of the building, the police tried to take back control of the situation with force, by going to the federal building and meeting with them, trying to intimidate them, which is shown in this photograph. In the usual sense, the police are expected to cause the criminals to surrender to them. However in this case, one of the men does not appear to be scared of the police, as shown in the photograph. Rather, he looks confident, because he is standing tall, with his hands in his pockets, staring straight at the police. This situation just goes to prove that it doesn’t take much for people to rebel against the government, and have more power, for a certain amount of time. All it takes is a group of people with the same opinion, a bunch of guns, and their voices. And with many different types of guns being easily accessible to people, it is even harder for the police to stop the acts.

– Hannah Sarraf

The Power of Law Enforcement

It is quite baffling what is happening in this picture. America praises itself for having a great body of  military, army, cops etc. who can execute the laws of the land to protect the freedom and liberties of its constituents and promised to not segregate who it serves. The military, the cops and the army naturally have great powers to take out anyone. This is the same group of people that took down Nazis with tanks and machine guns in Germany and and used the atom bomb to destroyed two cities to end a war for good. So, a bunch of men with glocks and shotguns should not intimidate these people. In this picture, the police is as strong as ever. Nothing is stronger than the police. If they desired, they can destroy the men that took over that federal building. They have a lot of power, but they do not choose to use it against them. There is a tradeoff of power between the men and the cops because the men are still occupying the federal building and the cops are taking no action. However, just because the cops give the men some privileges, doesn’t mean they gave up their power. As a matter of fact, it means the contrary. The cops gave the men the benefit to leave the place in peace when they could have used extensive force. This shows that the cops have the power even when they do not do take any actions. They have the power to destroy the men or not to destroy the men and they have the power to give the men the privilege to not treat them like criminals, to let them evacuate the facility in peace.

– Gaurav

The Power of the Journalist

A picture says a thousand words. This is an old adage, one that is known by many, but what it states is more than just a pat on the back to the arts. To me, it is much more, a picture doesn’t just say a thousand words, it sparks a thousand thoughts, it lights the fire behind a  thousand riots, it changes the world we live in. The power of capturing a moment –just a glimpse of time, free of any allegiance to the truth, is a unique thing. The unknown and unseen individual who took this picture had a tremendous amount of power, and decided to use that power. Would he take a picture of this moment, forever preserving its existence? Would he disclose the picture? To whom? What is the caption that will be sent out to the people? What thousands of things will this picture incite? This is bigger than any party’s ideology, from militant occupiers to law enforcement officials, to anyone else involved, this is the power to recreate what already is, to redefine what the ideologies are. While It’s very clear that the subtle click of a camera’s shutters can have more effect than the thunderous bang of a gun, it is often a forgotten fact, thus brings its true power.

– Max