Lieux et formes de pouvoir

ANGLAIS LV2 : LIEUX ET FORMES DE POUVOIR 

          I am going to talk about the notion of « forms and places of power ». First, let me define the most two important words which are « places » and « power ». « Places of power » can simply be countries or states that represent a certain form of power or it can also be important buildings or institutions in which we exert power like the White House in America or Buckingam Palace in England. Having power can be a right or what an authority has given or delegated to a person. Having power is having the ability to exercise a certain control over others and influence their behaviour, events or ressources in order to make things happen despite obstacles, resistance or opposition. Power is a might which can be exerted by justice, the media, the authorities or a country. Of course, this can lead to conflicts between people who have power and those who don't. This year we studied different forms of power including the media and gun power, that is why we can ask ourselves the following question: which influence does the power have on people and society ? How have civil rights activists used nonviolent protest to bring about change ? What are the limits to power ? In what ways can power be abused ?  In the first place, we are going to see that men have the power of life and death over somebody and in the second place that power runs society.

          Montesquieu said: « Every man who has power is brought/tempted to abuse of it until he found his limits. » It is the case when we talk about gun culture. Indeed since, the 2nd Amendment of the United States Constitution was adopted on the 15th of December 1791, it guarantees a person the right to carry an arm in the United States of America (U.S.A) but the opinions are mixed. Even though a part of the people buy guns to protect themselves, it includes that there are possibilities of danger. Therefore, there are those who are for carrying guns and those who are against. As a matter o fact, it triggered off petitions, campaigns and even debates which aim at dissuading people from carrying a gun, protesting against the 2nd Amendment or even denouncing the risks it implies. For example in New York, there was a compaign against guns. The compaigners wanted to sensitize people about the issue of guns so they tried to convince them of not buying a gun. That is why they opened a (fake) gun store in NYC. They sold guns with a story to deter people from buying guns. The compaign focused on the fact that weapons are dangerous and have the power of life and death, sometimes by accident, like when a five year old kid found a gun in his parents' bedroom and killed his baby brother of nine.

       These persons protest because according to them the consequences of carrying a weapon are much more tragic than if it was forbidden to bear an arm; the risks are far from negligible. This can be illustrated by mass shooting of the Sandy Hook elementary school where 26 people were killed among whom there were 20 children and the one of Virginia Tech College in which 32 people were killed.

          One of the most famous petitions was the one which was signed by many people of the 50 states and to which President Obama responded in a video. Its purpose was to ask the governement to do something to stop such tragedies from happening. Obama gave answers to some Americans' questions. He said that, first of all, most of the gun owners bought their guns legally and used them safely and many of them want to prevent these mass-shootings from happening. Regarding to concrete solutions, Obama told them that he wanted the Congress to pass common-sense legislation. Afterwards he would ask his vice-president to come up with a set of serious proposals to protect children to make sure that schools were safe places for them. Finally he alluded to banning the sale of millitary assault weapons and of high-capacity communition clips. Obama said to the Americans that he heard about them and that he would do his best. In this document, we can see that the politicians have the power over what happens in the country. So America is a place of power.

          Finally, we can talk about the denunciation of gun culture thaks to some pictures. For example on this picture (voir image) we can see a child who is going to school since his mother told him to have a good day at school. However, we immediately see that his mother is worried about something, here it is about her son's safety. Indeed the child is wearing a soldier's uniform and even a helmet, elements which show that he needs to protect himself but it is not normal, because he is only going to school. And the fact that he still can be in danger demonstrates that mass-shootings are very dangerous, in particular for children, and the terror of gun culture that is what the caracaturist wants to denounce. So we know, that guns control the Americans' lives and terrify a major part of them. This document is connected to the notion since it is a form of power over people. An armed person has the fate of the others at his fingertips, so people who carry guns have the power of life and death over others.

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