The Cost of Freedom

“At the end of the eighteenth century, well over three quarters of all people alive were in bondage of one kind or another, not the captivity of striped prison uniforms, but of various systems of slavery or serfdom,” (Hochschield, 2).

Hearing this fact in class and in reading was shocking to me. As someone who grew up in a free world and who was taught throughout her schooling of the injustices and horrors of slavery, the thought that freedom used to be so rare never crossed my mind. For all of human history slavery has been the norm. The knowledge that it was ever so common has been lost to new generations, because the idea of slavery is considered inhumane and unnecessary in the world today. In a way forgetting this part of our past is a good thing. It shows that human morality has come a long way. Most of us, in the free world, value people and freedom so much that imprisoning an innocent person for our own benefit is unthinkable. On the other hand, I believe teaching new generations about the past normality of slavery and how that was changed so quickly could be beneficial in multiple ways.

Small movements are a huge part of big change in the world today. Whether they are fighting for social justice, environmental well-being, or a combination of the two, progress seems to largely begin with these groups before it ever reaches congress. By studying the success of the abolition movement it inspires current groups to keep moving to greater heights. The greatest social change in world history, the abolition of the slave trade, was initiated by a small group of British commoners. It was a seemingly impossible task, but they achieved it. First it was abolished in Britain and the rest of the world followed. Undoubtedly, this hurt the economy of the world. It cost Britain 1.8% of its national income (Hochschild, 5). The loss was worth the gain of human freedom. A negative impact on economy is a major concern of the environmental movement today. Until we are able to adapt, cutting down oil use will hurt the economy. Is saving our environment worthy of an initial loss to our economy? Was abolition worthy of the damage it did to economy in the past? I believe the answers to these questions are both yes. Answering no to the former and yes to the latter shows how greatly our priorities have changed from those of our ancestors, the ancestors responsible for the freedom we hold up so greatly in our world today.

Hochschild, Adam. Bury the Chains: Prophets and Rebels in the fight to Free an Empire’s Slaves. Boston: Houghton Mifflin Company, 2005.

What if other islands had suffered the same fate as Tasmania?

Next year I have an amazing opportunity to spend a year of my education at the University of Guam. Guam is a tiny, but beautiful pacific island in Micronesia, with some of the kindest people I have ever met. The native Chamorros make it their business to make me and anyone else feel welcome. For instance, knowing that the family I stayed with over winter break had only been in Guam a few months, a coworker invited us over to their home for Christmas dinner. I can’t wait to meet more people and learn about Guam’s culture and history. For this reason Sven Lindqvist’s brutal description of the extermination in Tasmania affected me the most. The same fate could have easily been bestowed on Guam’s native people under different circumstances. This realization made the destructive history of my European ancestors even more horrifying to me.

My ancestors believed that people unlike themselves were inferior and in the 19th century they found false justification in Darwin’s theories of evolution and Spencer’s notion of “survival of the fittest” to wipe out these “inferior” people. They believed it natural for the “superior” races to live on, while the “inferior” would slowly die out. This belief led to the killing of many innocent people, which Europeans passed off as a good deed as they were preventing the “inferior’ from suffering a slow painful death. It was with this mindset that the whole population of native Tasmanians were tortured and slaughtered in less than eighty years, “A man called Carrots became renowned for having murdered a Tasmanian; he then forced the man’s wife to carry her dead husband’s head hanging round her neck,” (Lindqvist, 118). Similar horrors were forced on indigenous people around the world.

The Spanish colonized Guam in the early 17th century. This was around the same time the colonization of the Americas was happening. They suffered much of the same treatment as Native Americans had. Amazingly they were able to come out of it alive and free, with their culture intact.

It is upsetting to me that I did not know anything about the horrors committed under my European ancestors colonization. Even though I am deeply ashamed by how they treated innocent people and it is easy to ignore what happened, I think we owe it to the living decedents of the indigenous peoples to remember. I think it is okay to appreciate our ancestors for the great things they have done, but it is not okay to ignore their faults.

Atrazine, the DDT of the 21st Century

In the 1950s Americans sprayed the toxic pesticide DDT as we spray air freshener today, without question. DDT was intended to exterminate unwanted insects, however it turned out to be damaging to other animals including humans. During Thursday’s discussion, a lot of us found it hard to believe that people could spray poison on themselves without thinking of the health consequences. After all, Americans of the 21st century have enough common sense to consider that a killer of other living things could naturally be harmful to humans as well. I am, however, not convinced of this notion.

I believe that many Americans are still disinclined to question our government’s choices, even when these choices may have a particular negative affect on our health. Although, DDT was discontinued in the U.S. in 1972, a similar chemical herbicide and pesticide is in wide use today, Atrazine. If more Americans do not begin questioning the negative impacts of Atrazine, it will not be banned and its destructive effects will continue.

Atrazine is the most widely used herbicide and a frequently used pesticide in the United States. This is ironic, as the chemical is banned in the entire continent of Europe due to its dangerous affects on animals and humans, “When tadpoles are exposed to the pesticide at 1/30,000th of “safe” levels, 20 percent of them become hermaphroditic and sterile adults,” (Hawken, 33). Several studies also suggest that the chemical is even cancer causing. A study at an Atrazine manufacturing plant showed employees with elevated levels of prostate cancer, (NRDC). Atrazine impacts the entire population, not only farmers and plant workers. It is sprayed on food crops that we commonly eat and leaks into rivers from which our drinking water comes.

Unfortunately, this dangerous chemical is very beneficial to the farming industry and therefore to our economy. It will not be given up easily. The negative impacts of using Atrazine need to mean more to the government than the positive. If the general population believes this then Atrazine will soon be off the market. Americans may have come a long way in the realization that DDT is harmful to our health, but for some reason that realization has not carried over to other pesticides. While our class sat in astonishment contemplating the ignorance of past Americans, we overlooked the fact that a very similar situation is happening today. Now is the time for America to stop poisoning themselves.

Work Cited:
“EPA Won't Restrict Toxic Herbicide Atrazine, Despite Health Threat - White House documents obtained by NRDC reveal that industry influenced the decision.” Natural Resource Defense Council, 2004.

Hawken, Paul. Blessed Unrest – How the Largest Social Movement in History is Restoring Grace, Justice, and Beauty to the World. New York: Penguin Books, 2007.