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User:LGreg/sandbox/Approaches to Knowledge (LG seminar 2020/21)/Seminar 18/Power/Power in Music

Power in music
Music can be seen as a category of arts meant to serve as a medium to express emotions and to share them with an audience, as music is meant to be heard by others. However, music at specific period of time became a much more powerful tool as it gained importance in political matters and socialogical historical event.

Jazz and Rock'n'Roll
Jazz finds it roots in the second half of the 19th century, in the state of New Orleans. It's known as being "founded on the musical traditions of West Africa" and was created by Afro-American slaves. They developed it as a medium to talk about their life and express their nostaligia about their origins. Therefore their stories could be told and heard by others, and the rythmic part of it gave it richness and a major African Identity to it. Nina Simone was a songwriter and civil right activist, an emblematic jazz figure, and with her song 'I wish I knew what it would feel to be free', Silk & Soul album (1965), she clearly expresses her struggles to live as an Afro-Americans in the USA in her period of time, which overcomes the range of only being music. With the arrival of Rock and roll, it appeared that underground frictions took place, as rock and roll was extremely close to the rythm and blues style, a major branch of jazz. However, another name was given to it to ditinguish it from jazz even if it was nourished by [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/African-American_culture#:~:text=African-American%20culture%2C%20also%20known%20as%20Black%20American%20culture%2C,part%20of%20or%20distinct%20from%20mainstream%20American%20culture. Afro-american culture]. One of the major representative figure of this musical current was Elvis Presley which most popular songs were "All Shook Up" (1957) or "Jailhouse Rock" (1957). Rock and roll in the 1960s became a real symbol of rebellion on the part of the youth as it was a music of the teenager while for others it incarnated the spirit of jazz culture. The same galvanized youth movement was for example animated by The Beatles, demonstrating how music could be a powerful tool to drive pacific revolution.

Hippies pacific's rebellion
With the 1960s, came the hippies and the pacific manifestations in regards to the Vietnam War in which the USA were taking part of from which the first videos were being filmed. Fundamentally, this pacific revolution was a revolt against the 60.000 americans soldiers that died during the Vietnam War and occured as people found a clear clash between their perception of life and how society was ran. Music empowered their movement as it gave them a voice. Those who felt rejected by the society's norms wanted to be heard and wanted to interconnect with others believing the same way. Music allowed both. An iconic singer of this movement was John Lennon who through the years became more and more attracted by an Indian philosophy promoting peace through the Hindu yogi Maharishi Mahesh. His song Imagine became a worldwide musical hit who served his purpose of sharing the pacific values of his belief. Music allowed peole to know about certain causes and to join them if they felt particurlary attracted to the lyrics for example, which in the case of the hippies movement greatly help aquiring new believers.

The power of Music for causes
One of music's virtue is to be able to promote certain combat and help joining people together. Micheal Jackson concerned about the well-being of our planet wrote "Earth Songs" who portrayed the dramatic position in which Earth is to unit people under a common objective of protecting it. The same purpose was undertook in Aril, 19 2019 through a charitative song by Lil Dicky a famous rapper with his song "Earth" where through a collaboration with other singers such as Justin Bieber or Ariana Grande, he tried to raise funds for foundations and charities. In the same way, artists such as Stevie Wonder, Micheal Jackson or even Cyndi Lauper gathered together to raise funds for humanitarian aids in Africa with 'We are the World' and collected around $160 millions. This project was one of the biggest artists collaboration and is the eight most sold single in the history of music. Music therefore has contributed spiritually and physicallly to helping populations in dramatic situation and powerfully reunited people around a cause. The Live Aid show of 1985 is yet another example of this powerful combat lead by music as it raised over $120 millions to fight famines in Africa after devastating ones arised in Ethiopia.


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User:LGreg/sandbox/Approaches to Knowledge (LG seminar 2020/21)/Seminar 18/Truth/Truth in music

Definition of Truth
Truth can be defined as a fact or a belief that is accepted as true. The quest for truth is natural for humans. According to St Thomas d 'Acquin, "the truth is the adequacy of the thing and of the intellect". In fact the truth is a link between the real and the thing, so only our judgments are considered true or false. We can consider the truth as being the deliverance from ignorance because ignorance is the fact of not knowing or not having certain knowledge. Truth allowed humans to come out of ignorance and was the engine that led us to know ourselves and the world around us. In some way, the truth leads to freedom because knowing the truth makes making choices possible. The idea of truth in music is not common, and it doesn't feel natural to use that term. But there is much more truth in music than we can imagine. According to Pascal, "we know the truth not only by reason but also by heart."

Is truth relative or absolute?
"Relative truth" and "absolute truth" are questionable and uncertain expressions. Moreover, their meanings vary according to different theories. However, it's possible to expose the views like that: the Absolute theory is that if something is once true, then it's always right, it means that this "true" is a time-independent predicate. Although the relative theory reject the fact that if something is valid once in some circumstances it will always be accurate, so this "true" is a time-dependent predicate. Absolute truth would be something real, independently of anything. A relative truth would be a true perspective from one angle but not from another, while something else is equally true from the other angle. . Therefore I don't believe that there is an answer to this question, I think that truth can be either absolute or relative, but it depends on the subject and on the evidence.

Truth in Music
Unlike scientific truth, which can be objective because it can be confirmed by evidence that are independent of any situation; truth in music depends on opinion and perspective. Through its meaning and rhythm, music transmits one or more emotions to the listener, except that these emotions rely totally on the person who feels them. A melody is objectively (i.e., without the intervention of external elements, opinions, or peripheral situation) the same in all cases because it is always the same notes that are played. Nevertheless, it will always be subjective because it will depend on the person who plays it, the person who listens to it, even the place in which it is played or heard. As each individual is very different, it will be felt very differently by the various people who will play or listen to it. Still the emotions that they will experience will lead to a form of truth in the sense that emotions correspond to an instinctive reaction that doesn't depend on our will meaning that you can’t lie to yourself and so that your emotions are the truth of how and what you feel. Thanks to music, people feel emotions, which will necessarily result in truth from their perspective, meaning that truth in music is undoubtedly relative: there is no absolute truth. Music will not provide a single answer to be interpreted in a unique way because it will touch and challenge people differently. As a result, there is as much truth about music as they are people who listen or play music.

license: Creative Commons - Attribution Share-Alike - https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/


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The Story of Rhodesia/Kingdom of Batua

Introduction
The Kingdom of Butua (also spelled Butwa) was a kingdom in what is today South Western Zimbabwe. It emerged after the collapse of Great Zimbabwe and was governed by the Togwa Dynasty until 1683, when it was conquered by the Rozwi Kingdom. It was first mentioned in Portuguese records as Butua in 1512.

Great Zimbabwe and Khami
Khami was the capital of Butua, and its ruins are located 22 km west of Bulawayo. It is suggested that the Torwa were rebels of the Kingdom of Mutapa. Archeologists pointed out the Khami’s architecture was based on the architecture of Great Zimbabwe. However, there are some notable differences, for example: the type of stone used in Khami was harder to quarry than the type of stone used in Great Zimbabwe and formed shapeless stones, making it impossible to build dry walls, a feature of Great Zimbabwe.

Trade with Portugal
Apart from the architecture, Butua was also notable for its trade, and the 15th century was the age of discovery, and while Khami was being built the Portuguese succeeded in destroying the existing Arab-Swahili trade system and seizing the port of Sofala. Then, they started trading with kingdoms further inland, including Butua. Archeologists found a diverse range of objects in Khami from many different places like China and India.

The fall of Khami
In the 1640s, there was a political dispute among the Torwa rulers that escalated to a Civil War. The Portuguese seized this opportunity and sent an army. This resulted in the fall of Khami; however the Torwa stayed in power until the 1680s in their new capital, 150 km east of Khami.

title: The Story of Rhodesia/Kingdom of Batua


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User talk:PoTayToChips

Welcome, PoTayToChips!

If you have any questions, you can ask in the assistance reading room or possibly contact me personally. 𝟙𝟤𝟯𝟺𝐪𝑤𝒆𝓇𝟷𝟮𝟥𝟜𝓺𝔴𝕖𝖗𝟰 (𝗍𝗮𝘭𝙠) 20:49, 7 November 2020 (UTC)

title: User talk:PoTayToChips


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User:SteRos7/sandbox/Approaches to Knowledge/Seminar 1/Power

Classical influence on Modern Academia
Classics is an interdisciplinary field that studies Ancient Greek and Roman society through their literature. In the middle ages it was a key part of education and became the basis of the Renaissance, a major academic movement in 16th century Europe which sought to recreate the intellectual society of classical antiquity in contemporary Europe.

Classics has been considered the foundation for humanities subjects and was traditionally a core part of education for the elite of the western world. . It has had a major influence on modern academics, with Socrates serving as the foundation for western philosophy and other authors inspiring research in all aspects of the arts and sciences. This is evident in the sciences by the way new terms are derived from Latin or Greek and [https://artofproblemsolving.com/wiki/index.php/Greek_alphabet#:~:text=Because%20European%20mathematics%20is%20very,Greek%20alphabet%20in%20their%20work. Greek letters are often used in scientific notation.] In the arts, literary studies still analyse classical texts or works that they inspired, such as those of Shakespeare.

The classical background of modern academia has been considered problematic for two main reasons. Firstly, it is the product of a small section of the world geographically, and secondly the literature is purely the product of the senatorial class and so are the ideologies present within them. Despite the wide range of perspectives that may be present, this is dangerous because it represents such a small proportion of human society. Other Ancient civilisations had similarly intellectual cultures, for example the philosophical community of Ancient China, but they have not been given the same attention as the Greeks and Romans until recently. Another example is the texts of Ancient India, which were not respected until Sanskrit was found to be closely related to Latin.

European languages descended from Latin, and the Roman Empire spanned across most of Europe meaning the legacy of the culture and artefacts were accessible for Europeans. This explains Europe’s favour of Greco-Roman culture, however not why they disregard knowledge of other cultures. This might partially be due to xenophobic ideologies. The word barbarian comes from the Greek word ‘βάρβαρος’, meaning uncivilised. This term was used to refer to all who could not speak Greek. On top of this, the Greek word ‘logos’ represented ideas of language as well as rational thought, so not being able to speak Greek was easily associated with stupidity. Likewise, the Romans viewed everyone except themselves and the Greeks as Barbarians. This ideology, combined with the influence of Greco-Roman society in Europe, could be responsible for the reluctance to appreciate the knowledge of other cultures.

Power in History
The sentiment “history is written by the victors”, often attributed to Winston Churchill may hold up much significance when it comes to how we understand the knowledge generated in the academic discipline of history and how it can be used to direct a way of thinking. When knowledge is power, victors have the authority to omit, embellish and even rewrite the truth; the truth that ends up in being taught in an academic context. By controlling the frame in which history is told, the interpretation of historical events can be controlled, and therefore the truths found in historical data can be shaped and used accordingly to push one’s agenda as a form of strategy.

It is of common understanding that the Allies were more or less seen as good; liberating millions from Nazi concentration camps and ending the suffering that is the Second World War. However, because of this, the smaller-scale atrocities committed by Ally soldiers are often overlooked and forgotten. And this has made all the difference in the fact that the political world stage accepts that the big five allied countries are the ones with veto power, reflecting how history has legitimised their position to be in power even though France and the UK may have arguably lost some of its political and economic superiority.

Though on the contrary, history is also written by the losers. When looking at the Vietnam War, America most certainly did not win, yet the truth takes into consideration the accounts such as the one by Tom Smith, a US Marine, as well as accounts by Vietnamese citizens on the matter. Hence what we now know as the truth on the war is a construction from a conglomeration of perspectives. The issue then lies with events that lack sufficient historical evidence, leaving room for interpretation, and historians understand the limitations to this. Hence, no historian can be certain that their interpretation is the objective truth. Thus in a way, they have the power to retell events of the past; a past that we look back at to make sense of the present and plan our future.

Power in Filmmaking
Filmmaking is a discipline mixing art and impact. Indeed, this discipline has a great influence on people behaviour and actions. This discipline differs from social media or most news as it has the ability to pull audiences into an immersive experience. Through the films and the stories of real people, the audience can make connections about ideas or issues.

Moreover, filmmakers have the power to convey a message through their work or raise people awareness on several cultural subjects. They have the ability to create cultural moments and open opportunities for people to learn new topics. This discipline opens the space for change to happen in our society. Filmmaking is a powerful discipline as it allows cultural change by making people reflect on big social issues such as marriage equality, civil rights or racism. “Victim” is an example of film that acted as catalysts for change, this film deals with homophobia. “The Thin Blue Line is another example of one of the most impactful film as is it dealing with death penalties fiducial mistakes that reflect a reality in some countries.

Nowadays filmmakers are reaching beyond the offer of traditional distribution and think about impact, outreach and engagement. This discipline can influence people’s opinions and lead them to take actions or even change their habits. As films are accessible by everyone in the world and from every culture, this discipline holds a global influence.

Because it has a huge power on the entire world, it raises lots of discussions and debates. Several films are censored each year, as they are judged inappropriate by the ideas spread. Therefore, this discipline goes far beyond simple storytelling and making up stories but reflect our society and has a profound way of impacting the lives of people.

Power in Educational Institutions: Critical Pedagogy
Critical Pedagogy is an approach to education which seeks to transform relations of power, based on an understanding that educational institutions are embedded within large sociocultural realities of inequality and oppressive power relations. In this way, all education systems are in fact political ; there is no such thing as a neutral education. It is thus asserted that those who claim neutrality within education are also de-facto political, since they refrain from questioning political decisions which are made within educational institutions all the time. Many writers have also focused more on the expansion of managerialism within university structures and the corporatisation of higher education for job-making and profit, along with the culture of competitiveness and individualism. Critical Pedagogy is concerned with exposing how power works through the production and consumption of knowledge through educational practices and how educational institutions act as agents within society through the reproduction of relations and legitimation of ideologies which perpetuate unequal power relations .If 'de-politicised’, it is claimed that the roles of educational institutions are reduced and lack the ability to confront urgent problems within society. Education can be powerfully used to raise students awareness about the big social issues that we are surrounded by. However, this power constitutes an unequal power as not everyone has equal access to education, nor does everyone have the same levels of cultural capital to enable success within education systems.

Critical Pedagogy stems from Critical theory itself, and mostly draws from the work of Paulo Freire, influenced heavily by thinkers from the Frankfurt School. It has also been influenced by Gramsci’s notions of hegemony. In his book ‘Pedagogy of the Oppressed’, Freire distinguished between two models of education, the dominant ‘banking model’ of education, and what he referred to as problem-posing education. The banking model, in which students are seen as passive consumers of facts presented to them by teachers - who hold authority on knowledge - is seen as oppressive in the way that all the power to develop knowledge is held by the teacher. Problem-posing education, in contrast, seeks to cultivate critical consciousness within students through liberatory practices which enable them to develop a critical awareness of their own position within society, to understand how society has been constructed by humans in the interests of those with power, and that humans thus have the power to change it. It is also based on a social constructivist view of language which focuses on the relations between power and discourse, and the understanding that knowledge is never complete.

At the same time, critics have also focused on the need for public spheres, such as the university, to be reclaimed from the demands of the market, to be re-democratised in order to facilitate free spaces for such emancipatory education to occur.

Power in Journalism
Journalists have a great deal of power when it comes to influencing people’s views and perceptions. They provide us with the information to form our own opinions and make decisions on current issues in society. Without journalism, people would be ignorant.

However, journalism can become problematic when news is reported inaccurately. There are various principles and codes that are meant to be practiced by journalists. The Society of Professional Journalists list four principles: seek the truth and report it, minimise harm, act independently, and be accountable and transparent. However, this is not always followed. Tabloid journalism, in particular, often prioritises getting clicks over journalistic objectivity. Media outlets have shown little remorse when making false accusations or misreporting. Take for instance, the accusations against Michael Jackson in which the media labelled him as a paedophile before he was found not guilty on 14 accounts by the jury assigned to his case. However, by then, the damage was done. When Michael Jackson is mentioned in passing, often it will be linked to him being a paedophile. That is the power of media and sensationalist headlines. On social media, 70% of users only read the headline of articles. At the time, all the outlets were rushing to report on these scandals with unconfirmed allegations in order to bring traffic and pump up their numbers. It is not deliberate misreporting in the news most of the time but rather it is due to trying to get the news out faster which leads to inaccuracies.

Another big issue when it comes to reporting is the media bias. There are many forms of bias. In the political landscape, publishers or outlets can often serve the interests of social groups, or corporations. In some countries there is government interference in the distribution of news. Propaganda and censorship can be used to further certain agendas and limit the news people get. The people who have control of the news are able to push agendas that will further their own self-interests. In countries such as the USA there have been steps taken by creating watchdog groups that find facts behind reporting, but these can also be biased themselves.

Finally, traditional journalism in general has been diminishing; news outlets have lost power when it comes to having a monopoly on news. Social media has granted the power to report to anybody who has the means. News is no longer spread through physical copies of newspapers, but online, so people can share the news they choose to if they so desire. This can be said to give more credibility to news sources that report accurately and are self-critical, improving the journalism landscape overall.

Power of the Fourth Estate
The [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fourth_Estate#:~:text=The%20term%20Fourth%20Estate%20or,wields%20significant%20indirect%20social%20influence. fourth estate] refers to the press and the news media. The term “fourth estate” is an acknowledgement of the power and influence of the media on society. The press was coined the fourth estate as power is divided by the three estates in parliament, or in modern democracies three branches of government (legislative, executive, judiciary). However, the press is seen as the unofficial “fourth estate” as they play a key role in indirectly influencing political systems. Edmund Burke reportedly said that “there were three Estates … but in the Reporters Gallery yonder, there sat a fourth Estate more important far than they all.”

In many democracies, a free press has been key in serving as an alternative objective source of information and acting as checks and balances for the government by keeping them accountable. The public did not hear about the My Lai Massacre, a massacre of hundreds of innocent civilians in a village in Vietnam in 1968, until it was reported by the press due to a tip that was acted on. Prior to the news reporting, the US Army downplayed the incident and kept it hidden from the public. The Washington Post was crucial in exposing Richard Nixon’s criminal activities in the Watergate scandal (1972-1974), leading to indictments of 40 administration officials and the eventual resignation of Nixon. In 2013, the press held a key role in revealing the National Security Agency (NSA)’s mass surveillance programs of Americans, which resulted in the USA Freedom Act, the most important surveillance reform bill since 1978, being passed in congress.

This demonstrates the power of the media in our society and its role and influence in society vis-à-vis other traditional powers (the state, corporations etc). The fourth estate has also been essential in calling out large corporates for corruption or malpractice (e.g. 1MDB Scandal), as well as powerful individuals for wrongdoing (e.g. Harvey Weinstein). These often lead to public outcry and reform. In recent times, there have been the rise of the “Fifth Estate”, which refers to citizen journalism in the era of social media. Although there have been benefits to this (e.g. #MeToo movement), which has led to positive social change, there has also been negative side effects such as the prevalence of fake news which has led to the distrust of mainstream media. This has caused a fall in power and influence of the fourth estate.

Power of Law
Classical sociologists, such as Karl Marx and Max Weber, perceived law as closely connected with social reality and power. . In their opinion, law was a fundamental part of social cohesion. Law, power and society are tightly bonded. Similarly, many legal thinkers, such as Plato and Immanuel Kant regarded law as intrinsically linked to social order, justice and the defence of the political community. .

Our daily life is dominated by the power of law. For example, in the United States, traffic law requires drivers to adhere to rules of the yield sign and the solid centre line. . The law is usually complied. The economics explanation for the compliance is that the government is ready to use legal sanctions to enforce such rules against anyone. By the economic logic, the legal sanctions make compliance cheaper than noncompliance and thus change the costs of behaviour. .

The fundamental source of the power of law is its legitimacy. According to Max Weber, a person's actions might be guided by "the belief in the existence of a legitimate order", so that "its violation would be abhorrent to his sense of duty". . Weber claimed that legitimacy is more stable as a source of order. According to him, "the most common form of legitimacy is the belief in legality, the compliance with enactments which are formally correct and which have been made in the accustomed manner." . This view is shared by many legal scholars. It is claimed that people are more likely to obey the law when they think the law is legitimate and fair. .

Law has expressive powers on top of the legal sanctions threatened on violators and the legitimacy the people deem in the authority making and enforcing the law. Firstly, the law possesses expressive power from its coordination function. .For example, the law is preferred by the drivers because they want to avoid collisions, which creates incentives for them to obey the law. .The law also gains expressive power from its information function. . It is usually believed that the governments make certain laws out of a reason. They enact the law for the public good and get advice on the law from the professionals. Therefore, it is reasonable for the public to act according to the law.

The Power of Philosophy in Influencing the Development of Law
Stoic philosophers pioneered the change from an irrational universe, where events where in the hands of Gods, into the rational one, ruled by an absolute rational law. These philosophical ideas had the power to change the early development of law dramatically. In an irrational universe it was men who could communicate with those Gods had power, but when the rational universe rhetoric was accepted the primary aim was how to distribute power fairly unto men who were now all equal under the rational universal law. Western law policies reflect this in their focus on the individual and the victims’ injury as their key aim is to maintain the just power distribution which is unbalanced when someone takes actions that injure others. The basis of contract rights, personal rights and private property rights were formed from Greek natural philosophy.

In modern day, philosophers hold power in The Supreme Court. The Court referenced Plato’s approval of abortion in Roe v Wade, not as authority on the issue, but as a way to legitimise the controversial argument. References to philosophers have increased in the last 20 years and are all used in controversial cases like gender issues. Using the rhetoric of philosophers in these cases provides the Court with a loophole in policy making, who are constitutionally restricted from using their own philosophical pondering.

Modern day philosophers also have power within policy making, for example the decriminalisation of homosexuality in Britain was spurred on dramatically by HLA Hart’s extension of J. S. Mill’s utilitarian philosophy.

Unlike the West, Chinese society didn’t have the purpose of power, but harmony, stemming from the philosophical fields of Taoism and [https://www.nationalgeographic.org/encyclopedia/confucianism/#:~:text=Confucianism%20is%20an%20ancient%20Chinese,Confucian%20philosopher%20after%20Confucius%20himself. Confucianism]. Law to establish and preserve universal harmony was key and can still be seen today in the lack of focus on the individual and their injuries. Actions that unsettled the harmony were against the law and focus on the victim getting justice would unsettle it even more, the victim was expected to change so that the perpetrator would not want to inflict injury anymore. Therefore, private law was almost non-existent in China.

The philosophy of Confucius had the biggest power in influencing Eastern law. The philosophy is based on the five relationships which entail five moral imperatives (based on rituals and conformity to accepted behaviour and morals under Confucius philosophy) through which five Confucian virtues come. He believed that if everyone followed this correct social/moral etiquette then the law would not need to be used. Confucian conducts were codified into the earliest legal code in china, the Tang code, and reemphasised in following codes like the Qing code where Confucian ideals applied through practical applications was emphasised e.g. the chastity of widows as virtuous. It was also included in Korean and Japanese law. This enshrined moral values of a specific philosophy in law so they became internalised into citizens.

The hierarchical relationships due to the five relationships were a big part of how justice was served in Eastern law. Social, political status and hierarchical distinctions in the family e.g. wife subordinate to husband, or son subordinate to father, affected if you were liable for punishment. The five relationships built into law took away individuality, citizens were defined only in relation to each other, this put a strong emphasis on the group, seen in property rights where individual property rights, only family ones existed. The five relationships were also justification for many women’s and children’s rights violations built into law.

Law works upon real life situations with specific facts and individuals, whereas philosophy searches for universal answers and tends to provide abstract concepts. These conflicts in frameworks raises the question of whether philosophy should have so much power within developing the legal system and policy making.

Power in International Relations: Not Just a Concept
Power, quite intuitively, is central to the study of international relations. Instead of looking at power as simply a concept within international relations, it is interesting to instead look at how the discipline’s own power structures have shaped it. Power within the discipline is a lot more tangible than in many others because theorists of international relations have great influence on the foreign policy decisions of world leaders. The United States, as the global hegemon, must be considered in any discussion of international relations; fittingly, we can observe the rise and fall of different schools of thought in the US corresponding with changes in their foreign policy.

In the post-Cold War period, there was a certain optimism in American thought spurred by their victory against the Soviet Union. Liberalism enjoyed a resurgence in international relations, emphasizing cooperation between states and rejecting the idea that power is the sole thing that drives the actions of states. The democratic peace theory became especially popular, stating that liberal democratic states would not go to war with each other. Some went even further. Francis Fukuyama famously and influentially posited that the world had reached ‘the end of history’ – that Western liberal democracy had proven to be the ‘final form of human government’ and would only continue to spread across the world. The promotion of democracy worldwide thus became an even more important part of the foreign policy of Clinton and Bush, being used to justify actions such as the Iraq War, though some argued that democracy generally took a backseat to more selfish, realist interests.

Liberalism is a school of thought that de-emphasizes the importance of states exercising power in favour of cooperation, but we see that it itself exerts power of a different form. Theorists and strategists who subscribed to the school of thought that was in vogue were able to influence leaders and affect the foreign policy of the entire US. Though not forceful, violent or coercive, this is nonetheless a very real kind of power with far-reaching impacts on fields such as economics, sociology and political science.

Yet as time went on, many foreign policy decisions in the name of democracy began to be widely considered unmitigated disasters. More importantly, the US, lacking a powerful rival for so long, found an upcoming one in China. Realism, a school of thought that emphasizes that states act in self-interest, began to see a resurgence, with similar influence on foreign policy decisions.

We can observe the ebb and flow of different schools of thought in American international relations as corresponding to the presence or lack of credible threats to American hegemony. It is clear that as much as ideas in the study of international relations influence power relations, power relations also influence how academics of the discipline think. Power, in its different forms, is constantly being exercised, especially in disciplines as concerned with power as international relations.

Power in Politics
According to the Cambridge Dictionary, Power is ‘the amount of political control a person or group has in a country’. In Politics, Power is omni-present, and it is related to influence. By gaining influence near politicians and high placed people, you gain relations, and with relations you gain power. The power to have your say and to be respected and listened. For example, Biden built his relations and fame by being Barack Obama’s VP and with all his career as a senator before that. How does one properly gain power in Politics?

Most of the time, one has to start in their local communities, being involved in campaigns for example or joining government committees. But it isn’t sufficient: the individual seeking power has to take a stand for what he believes in, that’s how he/she will get the interest of the Grand public. Then, when one has joined a political party, he/she can run as a candidate for the leadership of the party, and if successful then run for the next election. However, campaigns cost a lot of money and to run for the election, the individual has to have some kind of sponsor, whether it is his own money, the party itself or private investors like the common people. Therefore, Political power is necessary accessible with money, but you need influence and respect or even admiration from the people in order to have votes and be elected. But all of this reflection works for a democratic political situation.

Another way to get power is without any legal mean. A coup can happen, mostly in underdeveloped countries, when an individual uses physical strength to take the power. Dictators base their power on fear and strength of their military force. As we can see with the actual terrorists’ attack in France at the moment, fear makes people vulnerable to false information and sometimes it creates panic. With panic and confusion, it is way easier to get to the power in a country. Dictatorship are usually way more complicated than this, with conspirations and plots, but this is roughly how to get power in Politics.


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AppleScript Programming/Sample Programs

Sample Programs

 * Mail alert
 * Archive selected mail
 * Run QuickTime in full screen
 * Converter for temperatures
 * Letter Replacer
 * Calculator
 * Safari Quit Warning
 * Create new Word doc and insert text and format text
 * Create a unique email address
 * Guess The Character Game

title: AppleScript Programming/Sample Programs


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History of video games/Platforms/Control-Vision

Development
The NEMO / Control-Vision is an unreleased console funded by Hasbro.

The console began development in 1985. Development was difficult because the idea of an interactive movie had not yet been perfected, and the film makers in charge of recording were unable to leverage tricks they could normally use to improve results in linear movies. An early prototype of the console was simply a modified ColecoVision. Hasbro refused to launch the product due to it's high price of $299 vastly overshooting Hasbro's goal of under $100, and pulled funding in 1988 two months before launch.

The console had been originally planned for launch in early 1989.

Legacy
Developer Tom Zito later purchased the rights to Control-Vision titles, then reworked them into games for other platforms like the Sega CD. The release of the game Night Trap in particular is noted for being a factor in the creation of video game ratings boards.

Technology
Using linear VHS tapes played through an external VCR as it's media, the Control-Vision exploited interlacing of video to have two simultaneous videos being run, with only one of the videos being shown. More streams could be added for more choices, at the cost of reducing video frame rate.

Notable games

 * Scene of the Crime
 * Bottom of the Ninth Inning
 * You Might Think
 * Night Trap - Later released on other platforms, causing major controversy.
 * Sewer Shark


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Free Knowledge Culture Calendar/November 30

Today is International Computer Security Day. Go install some Linux systems, make backups and teach someone about password security and software updates!


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Free Knowledge Culture Calendar/October 29

Today in 1969 the first transmission on the ARPANET was made, with the receiving system crashing after two bytes. On the anniversary of this date the International Internet Day is held.


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User talk:TimRJordan/sandbox/Approaches to Knowledge/2020-21/Seminar group 4/Power

Do you think it would be helpful to have a definition of power at the top of the page? --Zvxz (discuss • contribs) 11:07, 8 November 2020 (UTC)
 * I think this is a great idea. It would help the page flow a lot better. Should we do that for every issue? purplerain24 (discuss • contribs) 12:35, 8 November 2020 (UTC)
 * I think adding a definition to all of them is a great idea- I have added in a working definition for power but I think it needs some clarification so please feel free to edit/delete it! --Zvxz (discuss • contribs) 13:04, 8 November 2020 (UTC)
 * That's a good idea, thank you for adding it! Just make sure to reference the definition Vkwzw (discuss • contribs) 10:18, 9 November 2020 (UTC)
 * Don't we mean "intersectionality" as a combination of strategies used in power relations rather than the theoretical framework which the Wikipedia page describes? -- Whygrowup (discuss • contribs) 14:31, 9 November 2020 (UTC)

I think the 'Hitler’s Indoctrinated Society: The Coercive Power of Linguistics' section is really well written and super super interesting! Perhaps adding in some specific quotations from Hitler which demonstrate your points could solidify the discussion?--Zvxz (discuss • contribs) 12:16, 9 November 2020 (UTC)
 * Hi, I have added two different quotations, one from his speech and one from his autobiography for a range of linguistic deliveries. I hope this makes it more succinct and interesting! Thank you for the suggestion.

The references for "Hitler’s Indoctrinated Society: The Coercive Power of Linguistics" got mixed up with the references for "Power Inequalities in Surveillance Capitalism" Whygrowup (discuss • contribs) 14:21, 9 November 2020 (UTC)

In the part about Surveillance Capitalism, it seemed that a lot of Wikipedia links were supposed to be added but we couldn't access them. I added them, change/remove them if I made a mistake :) Majb324 (discuss • contribs) 15:40, 9 November 2020 (UTC)
 * I did the same with the remaining links which still couldn't be accessed! Hope it's alright Mouxy73 (discuss • contribs) 16:42, 9 November 2020 (UTC)
 * thank you! I haven't noticed it when I was uploading Hot Steams 417 (discuss • contribs) 20:32, 9 November 2020 (UTC)

I just read the section on 'The White-power music' and it was really insightful. I wonder if music can have such a profound effect on our thoughts, is there a governing body for music? Who decides whether music can be released? I would also be interested to know if there are any research papers which quantify the effect music has on its audience. Jigamaree (discuss • contribs) 22:14, 9 November 2020 (UTC)
 * I agree with this comment. super interesting. Is there a possible link between science and music in terms ofthe tonal differences used or for example, major and minor chords used? What makes one piece of music or lyrical artistry more popular than another? purplerain24 (discuss • contribs) 15:24 10th of November 2020 (UTC)

 * I'm glad you found it interesting! To answer your questions, each country has it own legislation so one song might be considered as inciting to hatred where another country won't. For example in France, anyone can report what he believes is a hate speech and a judicial tribunal will then assess it. The American legislation on another hand, emphasises the importance of freedom of expression so it may be more difficult in the United States to control the release of music. As for research papers which quantify the effect music has on its audience, I referenced one which I found interesting so feel free to check it out! Mouxy73 (discuss • contribs) 12:01, 10 November 2020 (UTC)

In ‘Power in Contemporary International Relations,’ the aspect of power in terms of its ‘hard’ and ‘soft’ forms is an insightful concept. Another aspect of power within IR could be the competing power play between international relations theories. You could potentially touch on the continual reformulation of IR through the rise and fall in the explanatory powers and monopoly of different theories at different times. For example, you could mention the way in which the relevance, therefore power, of positivist theories of IR, such a realism and liberalism, are determined by their context in time and space. In terms of liberalism, for example, the commencing of World War II triggered disillusionment with the previously dominant theory. Another example would be the continual failure of liberal interventionism (such as the 2003 US invasion of Iraq) further undermining liberalism’s ideas, allowing for the over-taking of realism as the dominant theory in IR once again.

Similarly, it could be argued that realism’s dominance within the discipline of IR is eroded when it is deprived of its material legitimacy. Examples of this are the end of the Cold War, or the rising ‘global’ perspective accompanying an increasingly globalised world posing a threat to the realist heavy focus on the nation state and sovereignty.

Constructivist theory, however, minimises such fluctuation in relevance, and therefore power in IR, by adopting a post-positivist approach: one that recognises perpetual change in the international system and is governed by less objective or fixed concepts, prioritising ideational over material structure. Constructivists would, for example, treat sovereignty as a social construct. Thus, the decline of sovereignty does not undermine the explanatory power of constructivist theory, as it is able to explain sovereign decline in terms of transformations in national identity, norms and behaviour. In this way, constructivism allows for explanation of changes in material reality, lending great power to the theory as its relevance is independent of contextual, material factors. Below I have linked some relevant pages if you wish to incorporate some of these ideas into your work. --Banksy2020 (discuss • contribs) 00:39, 10 November 2020 (UTC)

https://www.e-ir.info/pdf/72860 https://www.e-ir.info/pdf/72781 https://www.e-ir.info/pdf/72842 https://www.jstor.org/stable/pdf/1601483.pdf?casa_token=Q11Gee8s364AAAAA:rUyn4XS_FZCWA2bun9gQCEEpZhwWGo5CFmV_aqJFT2bfiLgGeggfejC_Y0HIX7NV2aqOlYl2JFpEcCI5VPx-z4KdxCqadPrwOQ_riEu8RFWfndflSA

That is a really interesting take on it. I will definitely have a look into that and try to add it in if I get the time. When I was writing my section, I did find there was a crossover with each of the theories so this is a good way to link them. Also, feel free to add in your thoughts! Jigamaree (discuss • contribs) 12:07, 10 November 2020 (UTC)

I'd be interested to discuss the links that people see between what is touched on in the 'Power in Athenian Democracy' section and modern democracy. I see a lot of connections between present-day politics and the implementation of persuasive rhetorical linguistic techniques over substance in public speaking, although it is probably less dramatic now. I was just wondering if anyone had any ideas around this, especially in the recent American election.--Zvxz (discuss • contribs) 11:01, 10 November 2020 (UTC)

In regards to the Power in Cartography essay, which is beautifully written and constructed, I believe as a non-geographer myself, I think it would be super helpful to have an example of regular mapping. What is the name of a classic regular map? If every single map that is produced has a specific sense of power, what is the name of the classic map that would be seen as the historical 'norm'?purplerain24 (discuss • contribs) 15:15 10th of November (UTC)
 * The classic regular map is called the Mercator Projection! I thought your suggestion was really good so I've added a section about it - hope that's ok!

It would be very interesting to link the Power in Athenian Democracy and Power distortions in History sections, because the Athenian Democracy is often taught in an over-simplistic way, which ignores possible criticisms and contributes to a simplistic ideological view of democracy, and a prejudice that it is necessarily "the best system" in people's minds.


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User:GCooper316/sandbox/Approaches to Knowledge/2020-21/Seminar group 10/Power

The Power of Fashion on society
Fashion, specifically sartorial fashion, refers to the way of dressing according to the preferred style by a culture at a given time. This preferred style is actually influenced by the fashion industry. Fashion creates a system of so-called common values (common sense of fashion) that people follow automatically if they don’t want to feel excluded and hence, become the targets of this system. It guides people to do certain choices instead of others. Therefore, by interfering in people's decisions and conveying bias concerning people style, power in fashion can be seen as an indirect coercion. Fashion has become a factor of integration and an indicator, not only to show our fashion taste but as an indicator of our social status. It can be used to judge and classify people. Thus, fashion has reinforced social inequalities. Social inequalities can be explained as injustices undergone by a certain group of people due to their social status. They can be expressed in two ways: inequalities of conditions (limited access to certain resources) and inequalities of opportunity (limited access to new occasions). In fashion, power and social inequalities are presented in many forms, taking into account many disciplines, this is why it is a difficult issue to solve.

Economics
Fashion has become a full-fledged business. Even though many countries around the world are involved in the process of making new products, their role and what they earn is not the same. The products are designed in developed countries to be manufactured in emerging countries and finally to be sold in main zone of consumption in Europe, America and Asia mainly. This strategy was implemented because it allows to make more profit. Even though emerging countries generate a lot of money, it is nothing compared to the profits of the home-countries of the brands they work for. There is therefore an obvious wealth inequality. But this economic difference due to the split of activities is also understandable if we look closer to the weight of influence of certain countries especially the renowned fashion capitals: Paris, Milan, London and New York. Their great notoriety gives them a power: the buyers sees them as a reference. This does not only allow them to generate more income, but also makes it almost impossible for new countries to enter the fashion business. Thus, social inequalities in the economic field can be explained as the unequal distribution of wealth and the restricted access to the fashion industry for emerging countries.

Psychology
Studies in psychology show that first impressions are very important. According to psychologists, a person can have an idea of who and how the person in front of them may be just by looking at them for few seconds. Even though facial expressions are important, clothes are also a criterion for judging a person. Some psychologists have done research to measure their impact. Consequently, they were able to show that clothes could give cues about our personality but also of our social status. Indeed, clothes are a good indicator of wealth. To be fashionable, you need to have the means because fashion is always evolving and requires a significant investment for a person to follow it. Clothes can also give an indication about someone's habits - a person who follows trends in fashion may look more youthful and creative. However, first impressions play a very important role in everyday life, as they determine our relationships with others. The importance of clothing then implies that it may difficult sometimes for someone to fit in because they could be rejected on account of the way they dress. This can take place when requesting for a new job (e.g., during interviews). Moreover, people from certain cultural and religious communities may face the same discrimination due to the way they dress. Hence, some groups of people would face inequalities of opportunity while others would be advantaged.

Sociology
In sociology, clothing is seen as a social marker that empowers the upper class. Indeed, according to the sociologist Simmel, they are at the origin of the changes in fashion, which they use in order to be able to continually differentiate themselves from the middle classes who seek to resemble them by adopting their style. However, other sociologists such as Carter argue against this claim writing that the two classes are trying to define his own style while they keep up with the trends. No matter how it can be interpreted, fashion still gives a higher status to the wealthier person because they can afford high quality and trendy objects that allows them to be admired by others. Additionally, as psychologists noted, our clothes have an impact on how others see us. Therefore, they have an impact in our relation and the way we interact with other people by creating a system of bias (power as indirect coercion). Accordingly, people get together with people who have a similar style of dressing. This will lead to fragmentation of society into categories depending on how they dress. People wanting to integrate or be accepted are then constrained to obey the fashion rules. For those who don’t or can’t, they will be sidelined.

History
A history approach shows us where fashion came from and where it originated. The desire of the upper classes to differentiate themselves has been present for many centuries. This is a habit that dates back to the Ancient Regime in Europe. Clothes was one indicator to show his rank and wealth. For this reason, the rich consume many products from remote countries, each of them different in color and fabric to show their status. This kind of fashion was only available to the richest. However, from the 18th century, fashion became less restrictive. This phenomenon was accentuated over time with the industrial revolution: it restructured the social class by reducing the wealth inequality between the rich and the poor, giving the new "middle class" the opportunity the access to more expensive goods. Now, fashion is not as powerful as a demarcation tool. Clothes have become a means of expression where everyone can give their personal touch. However, fashion remained in the hands of the important members of the industry, notably the 4 big fashion cities which play an important role in launching new trends and influencing people's dressing style. Again, power is not shared equitably by letting occidental countries lead since fashion appeared as a global phenomenon. Historically, their authority is founded.

Arts
Even if fashion is not among the “7 arts”, it is a renowned art form. Art is at the basis of the design of new trends and product confections. Fashion has had a great cultural and artistic influence on society. Clothes are something we wear every day. They reflect our values and standards. Clothing fashion has the power to orient society towards a certain way of dressing, therefore, to pronounce a certain universal culture. Those who run it can access power as a direct coercion. Fashion involves many artistic professions, but those who have the most significant role are fashion designers. Most of them are graduates from big fashion schools. These schools are mainly in Europe or the United States. The tuitions fees for these prestigious universities shows that only wealthy people who had a prior education (because the entry is selective) can access to these establishments. The prize and the location of these schools make it advantageous for people in Europe and North America to enter the fashion industry. Fashion, which is represented in all countries, is then mainly influenced by Western standards. They useit as a powerful tool to spread their cultures in other regions and increase their soft power. In addition, most of the big designer fashions are men, which is interesting considering that women are the main targets, known as big consumers. Thus, the arrival of the first female designer at Dior is recent: 2016. However, these facts are surprising because the majority of fashion schools graduate are women, at around 85%. One of the explication behind this is the gender that affect women and make it difficult for them to access management positions.

Conclusion
In conclusion, fashion exercises power as an indirect coercion and sometimes direct coercion on society. The result of this power reinforces the social inequalities between countries and classes due to wealth, gender and race. It is a interdisciplinary issue because it affects the presentation of certain groups in disciplines and is a phenomenon that can only be explained with the collaborative work between the disciplines.

A further exploration: How Power in Fashion has affected the environment
Fashion undoubtedly has a power over people, in the sense that people feel pressured to keep up with latest trends in fashion to feel like they belong. Unsurprisingly, the industry exploits this indirectly coercive power they hold, through the phenomenon of fast fashion. Due to the eagerness of consumers to indulge in fashion, the industry takes this opportunity for higher profit by rapidly mass producing clothes within weeks after of its’ debut on the runway. As mentioned earlier, the practices concerned with mass producing clothing is not necessarily expensive as it is outsourced from emerging countries - these items can be sold inexpensively, which attract even more consumers. The responsiveness of consumers and greed of suppliers create this short-lived fashion cycle, which repeats over and over again giving rise to fast fashion. Fast fashion practices have major environmental impacts - the fashion industry produces 92 million tonnes of waste per year, and consumes 79 trillion litres of water. What’s worse is that the items produced are not used for very long, and usually winds up in a landfill rather than the 1% of used clothing that is recycled. The environmental impacts caused by the misuse of power in the fashion industry could lead to more serious consequences and contribute to climate change, so it is vital that consumers and suppliers of the industry are conscious of their practices and intentions.

Definition of Power
Power refers to the capacity to influence and acquire the things desired in objection to the will of others. Specifically, power in economics takes two main forms. Firstly, power may set the conditions of exchange. Secondly, it may manipulate or put pressure to set heavy costs: unless the other party behaves in a way that gives the advantage to the person with power. These two main forms are the pillars of institutional power.

Institutional Power
Institutional power directs the way of economic interaction by setting the specific rules. It affects the equity of power in economic interactions as well as the efficiency and fairness of the allocation. Since interactions between each party can lead not only to mutual benefits but also conflicts over distribution, institutions provide both the constraints and the incentives to achieve higher collective well-being. There are a number of examples of economic institutions who mainly regulate people’s behaviour by legislating rules and the constituents are bound to be in adherence. If anyone fringes the rule, then there might be a punishment. Political dictatorships in the novel “1984” can be an example of institutional power, where a government controls every aspect of life, both public and private. In the meantime, democratic society can also be a relevant example, taking the form of social consent instead of physical coercion. Thus, institutional power can be construed as direct power as the economic actor sets the rules.

Bargaining Power
The measurement of the capacity of one economic actor to affect another is called bargaining power, which eventually decides feasible allocation. Feasible allocation can indicate the amount of working time compared to the income or the number of products compared to its price. For example, in the mid-nineteenth century, appraisal of bargaining power in human resources was a mix of changes in the supply and demand for workers, and new institutions such as trade unions, and the right to vote for workers gave employees the bargaining power to increase wages substantially and paved way for them to have reduced work hours. Consequently, this power can be referred to as indirect power because the outcome is not intentional.

Economic Interactions within Power
Neither power nor effort is required in order for people to get involved in economic interaction since it always provides them with extra benefits, which is called economic rents. Economic rent is a benefit obtained more than what the economic actor would have gained in his or her next best alternative called reservation option. However, the distribution of its rent in each party depends on “bargaining power”, and the institution decides the degree of bargaining power between parties. In other words, economic interaction depends on bargaining power, which is subjected by institutional power. For example, in the relationship between the landlord and slave where the owner is the only person who decides the working hours and the distribution of the total amount of crop, the owner has all bargaining power. In this case, the economic interaction occurs within the technically feasible set, which operates within the bounds of biological survival constraints and feasible frontier. However, with the legislation of subsistence rations and private property: a form of institutional power, workers also get bargaining power despite its relatively small amount. In this case, the economic interaction will occur in economically feasible allocations or the area limited by the reservation indifference curve and the feasible frontier.

Conclusion
Therefore, institutional power determines the degree of the bargaining power of each party, which in turn decides a feasible allocation and the share of economic rent.

An introduction to eugenics
Eugenics is the scientific discipline concerned with breeding humans with desirable traits, in pursuit of producing a population with improved genetic composition. Eugenics can also be split into positive and negative eugenics: positive eugenics seeks to promote fertility, while in negative eugenics, fertility is suppressed. Undoubtedly, the discipline had more significance in the 20th century. The lack of attention surrounding eugenics today, however, is not a coincidence - the damage caused by the abuse of power and violation of human rights still echoes into the present day, so much so that the field is generally abandoned. Eugenics was globally influential, as there were eugenics movements in the United States, Britain, parts of Latin America and Asia, and so on.

Power as an issue in eugenics
In the early 20th century, eugenics was viewed as an opportunity to improve society, fixing the existing problems that prevailed. It was a widely accepted science - at least by individuals who had traits deemed favourable by eugenics experts. Through many disciplines such as law, politics, family planning, sociology, etcetera, eugenic power came into effect in different forms.

Eugenic power as a direct coercion
To be able to apply eugenic methods onto a population, eugenicists first had to identify the “feebleminded”, or “morons” - people who were considered to be the root of societal issues. In the United States, eugenicists utilised an intelligence test that allowed to them to do this “scientifically”. Yet, the parameters for who would be considered “feeble-minded” and not worthy of further breeding were not well-defined. According to the eugenicist Henry Goddard, “feeblemindedness” was a hereditary trait, and that the the “feebleminded” had an IQ that was below the normal standard. However, the IQ tests and assumptions directly imposed on people were flawed, reflecting the officials’ own classist and racist beliefs, enabling the abuse of power in the guise of diagnosis. Eugenics was then brought into action mainly through the forced institutionalisation of “morons”, while women were sterilised against their will, and birth control was prescribed to those who were discouraged from breeding.

Eugenic power as an indirect/institutionalised coercion
To further integrate eugenics into society, laws and regulations were implemented. This branch of eugenics is known as public eugenics. Though not as successful as the United States, sterilisation laws directed at people with mental and physical disabilities were enacted by Hitler, who was interested in eugenics, during his first year of reign. About 40,000 underwent involuntary sterilisation due to the law. Returning to the movement in the United States, extensive laws were put into place besides sterilisation laws. The Immigration Restriction Act of 1924 limited the entry of people of target nationalities, whereby the basis of the act was eugenic - to prevent Europeans, who then were considered to reproduce at a higher rate than Americans, from mingling with the existing American population. Marriage laws were also enacted: the prohibition of interracial marriages was re-instated in the US during the early 20th century.

The policies implemented as part of the American eugenics movement played a large role in its international influence, persuading countries such as Canada, Japan, and Germany to enact similar laws. Though the policies, at surface-level, seemed purely motivated by eugenics, the biases that instilled deep within failed to remain undiscovered. In Michael D’ Antonio’s book, The State Boys Rebellion, he criticised that “prejudice overwhelmed reason” when it came to the restrictions placed on the entry of Asians immigrants. The ban on interracial marriages mentioned above had also had racially-motivated intentions - It served as an intersection between eugenics and white supremacy, as it would only allow Caucasians to marry and breed amongst themselves instead. Sterilisation laws which disproportionately affected minorities also had classist, ableist, racist, and xenophobic implications, due to the misguided, biased methods of selecting individuals that would be targeted by the laws discussed above.

Conclusion: Interdisciplinary power as a strategy
Demonstrations of eugenic power listed above are non-exhaustive and vary far beyond the mentioned examples of eugenics in the United States and Germany. Furthermore, the interdisciplinary, creative forms of power in eugenics are not mutually exclusive - they synergise with one another and overlap to rise to prominence. Powerful eugenic policies that had institutionalised biases paved the way for more forms of directly coercive powers, for example, laws that allowed the practice of involuntary sterilisation. Taking into account all the efforts deployed, it would be reasonable to say that eugenic purpose has been distorted within these movements to reflect a different strategy instead. A strategy that perpetuated, within the upper class/privileged individuals, discriminative views towards those with physical or mental disabilities, those who were of a minority race, those who were of lower social status, and so on.

An important note to acknowledge is that eugenics is not extinct, or at least the ideas it once upheld, perhaps owing to the immense power of the historical movements. A germline editing tool and recent hot topic, the CRISPR/Cas9 has raised concerns for bioethicists. CRISPR/Cas9 has phenomenal accuracy in gene editing, which is a feature that harnesses eugenic potential - to edit and improve genes deemed undesirable, a concept that has failed to remain neutral and just in the past. Fortunately, there is sound awareness about the consequences of past eugenics movements, which does not go unheard in modern biotechnology.

How does the Electoral College work?
The Electoral College is the unique voting procedure in the United States to indirectly elect the President. It consists of 538 electoral votes which corresponds to the representation of each state in the House of Representative. The number of representatives each state is awarded is based on its population (435 electoral votes), in addition to the two senators. The District of Columbia also receives 3 electoral votes. In essence, on Election Day, each of the 51 states holds its own individual election to determine the allocation of the electoral votes. In order to win the election, a president candidate must earn a majority (at least 270) of the electoral votes, which is not to be confused with the majority of all legal votes, the popular vote.

Power in the Electoral College
The main argument of those in favor of replacing the Electoral College is that it gives disproportionate voting power in favor of smaller, historically "white" states. The largest difference occurs between Wyoming and Texas. The former has a population of 563, 626 (as of 2010 census bureau estimate and thus three electoral votes whereas the latter has a population of 25,145,561 (as of the same 2010 consensus and 32 electoral votes. If one divides the the population by electoral votes, Wyoming has a representative for every 187.875 people while Texas has one for about every 785.801. This difference is shocking it already shows how a vote counted in Wyoming has a significantly larger impact on the outcome of the election. This form of power is referred to as indirect, or institutionalized coercion; the institutional process that operates "systematically and consistently to the benefit of certain persons and groups at the expense of others. Those who benefit are placed in a preferred position to defend and to promote their vested interests." This definition raises the question, 'so which are the groups the the Electoral College benefit'? Staying with the most striking example of Wyoming and Texas, by analyzing their respective populations one can get a better idea of the power dynamics behind the system. 92.5% of Wyoming's population is white alone, merely 1.3% is African American alone, and 3.5% is foreign born persons. The statistics of Texas show different numbers: 78.7% is white alone, 12.9% is African American alone and 17% is foreign born persons. The data presented supports the claim, that the Electoral College *still* magnifies the power of white voters.

Data collected by the Pew Research Center shows that a Hispanic vote is worth 91% of a white vote, while a black vote is worth 95%. The reason for this once again lies in the demographics, the fact that 47% of Hispanic voters live in either Texas or California.

Conclusion and Possible Solution
The institutionalized coercion exercised by the Electoral College through the disproportionate representation becomes particularly problematic when the candidate who did not win the majority (or popular vote) wins. This has happened 6 times in the history of the United States thus far, with the most controversial instance in 2016, when Democratic president-candidate Hillary Clinton ended up with nearly 3 million more votes than her opponent, Donald Trump. A possible — and according to experts a more democratic — solution would be to reform the Electoral College, so that the candidate scoring the most votes becomes elected. This idea would solve the issues over representation, could potentially give rise to more parties and would protect the interests of less populated areas. Although the attempts to reform the Electoral College have all been unsuccessful thus far, according to a 2020 study, 61% of Americans would support having it abolished.

Introduction to immigration issues
Immigration refers to when someone comes to live in a different country. Countries each have their own immigration system, which varies from country to country but generally involves filtering applications to come live in the country, and enforcing violations of immigration law such as illegal immigration. However, while simple on the surface, immigration systems around the world often reflect racial power issues existing in the country. Racial power refers to the ability of certain races or a singular race to fulfill their will within the context of a communal action while other races are unable to do the same, and this entry will break down the existence of different forms of racial power within the immigration system. The United States will be used as a primary example.

Racial power through indirect coercion within immigration systems
Indirect, or institutionalised coercion refers to the mobilisation of bias that is operated upon in a systematic way, to the advantage of some and the expense of others. Applying this definition to immigration systems, we can see that this is often widely present within a racial context, with ethic groups often being placed at a systemic disadvantage.

The US immigration serves as a good example of how racial power exists systemically for immigration. Racism is present both currently and historically. Laws for immigration have historically been based upon the exclusion of specific nationalities, with the Immigration Act of 1924 completely banning immigrants from Asia and only allowing a small number of Southern European and Middle Eastern immigrants. Meanwhile, systemic power was given to predominantly white countries such as Germany and Britain, as immigrants from those countries were able to enter the United States in large numbers. Fast forwarding to today, we can see how this racism still exists, albeit in a more subtle fashion. During his presidency, Donald Trump has signed executive orders with the purpose of restricting immigrants that are from the Middle East, Africa, Central America and Latin America. From America's example, we can see how white races are both currently and historically given systemic power over racial minorities in the US immigration system.

This racial power exists not only in the creation of immigration laws that discriminate against certain races or nationalities but also in the execution of immigration laws. Take the case of immigration officers who raided a poultry transport company, targeting workers solely on the basis of race, particularly Latinos. White employees, on the other hand, were simply asked to redirect officers to their Latino co-workers. This reflects how racial biases and power for white people can heavily influence the execution of immigration laws. Races that are mostly free from such biases face a far smaller chance of being arrested on grounds of violating immigration laws. Additionally, a news report from the Centre of Migration Studies found that within Frederick County, Maryland, a significantly disproportionate number of arrests for immigration and customs enforcement were Hispanics. Overall, from the above, one can see how racial power exists for immigration systems in the form of indirect coercion.

Racial power through strategy and language within immigration systems
In contrast to systemic power, power can also exist as a strategy and in language, where it can influence or even create subjective judgments that fuel the ability of certain groups to influence the ability of other groups. For immigration issues, racial power exists in the form of social beliefs that immigrants of a certain race are more likely to commit crimes. Take the example of Trump, who has called Mexicans “Drug dealers, criminals, rapists” in rallies, skewing the debate over immigration policies to exclude racial minorities. This in turn can translate into furthering both systemic racial profiling, as well as the racial power within immigration laws mentioned previously.

Immigration as an interdisciplinary issue involving law, history, and sociology
Immigration issues hold wide implications for the disciplines of history, sociology, and law for which it is an intersection of the three. As seen from the above, historical racism influences current social attitudes and often contributes to biases within the current legal system, which holds implications for history in its role of shaping our current society from a legal and social perspective. In regards to sociology, one can also see how current social attitudes towards different races can lead to the violation of rights for immigrants on a systemic level, with the racial profiling by immigration officers serving as an example of this. Lastly, in regards to law, one can see how while it is often promoted as the firm baseline for citizens to act, it can be influenced heavily by external social biases and fuel the skewing of power away from minorities.

Introduction to Public Policy
The study of public policy deals with the applications of social scientific disciplines and concepts in dealing with the issues that arise from governmental administration, management, and operations. Through this discipline, we will see how indirect power interacts within it through the analysis of the passing of Indonesia’s Omnibus Bill.

Introduction to the Omnibus Law
The Undang-Undang Cipta Kerja, also known as the Job Creation Bill, are a collection of laws which aim to attract foreign and domestic investment to Indonesia through eliminating the bureaucratic red tape that has plagued opportunities for investment and further economic progress. These laws ranged from reducing the severance pay from a 32 months salary to 19 months, eliminating of environmental impact assessments for business projects, increasing the overtime limit, and reducing the mandatory rest days. The law has been criticized by multiple labor unions and environmental campaigners in Indonesia on the basis of how it has compromised workers’ rights and weakened environmental regulations for the benefit of large corporations. The drafting of the job creation bill not only demonstrated yet again how the enforcement of public policies have been exploited to cater to the interests of the political elite and corporations at the expense of the working class but also serve as a case study of how institutionalized coercion utilized by the government could be exhibited in multiple ways.

Institutionalized Coercion in the Omnibus Law
Institutionalized coercion, according to Bachrach and Baratz, deals with a set of “predominant values, beliefs, rituals and institutional procedures… that operate systematically and consistently to the benefit of certain individuals and groups at the expense of others". Through this form of power, we could observe the ways in which the Indonesian government was able to effectively pass the omnibus bill under the backdrop of protests that spanned months. One could argue that the government used this form of power was through the utilization of propaganda to ensure a sufficient level of complacency when exercising power. One could argue that the rapid drafting of the law during the premise of the ongoing coronavirus pandemic was used as a means to discourage protests and a means to justify their “denying the public a significant role in the decision-making process” which was argued as an “act of disrespect towards democracy”. Moreover, using the fears of infection as a deterrent to protesting, the Indonesian government could not only discourage people from protesting in opposition to the law but also paint those who protested in a negative light as they were ‘reckless and breaking social distancing rules’. This antagonized image of protesters was further bolstered by the burning of a bus station in Bundaran HI during the protests which caused the public to assume that the destruction of public property was done by the protesters to promote anarchy and chaos even after reports refuted claims that the fires were started by the participants of the protests. Since the late 1960s, there has been a rampant stigma against communists and anarchists in the Indonesian public due to the events of the 30 September Movement and as a result, along with the sensationalized and negative portrayal of these protesters through the media, the government was able to take advantage of this institutionalized bias to further villainize those opposing the bill.

Moreover, this was starkly contrasted by the government’s own portrayal as a voice of reason. In response to the criticisms of RUU-Ciptaker, the Coordinating Minister for Political, Legal, and Security Affairs Mahfud MD argues that the law was made in response to “ the people’s complaints” which would also benefit the stagnated economy. Moreover, even president Jokowi had “‘invited the public’ to provide insights for the numerous regulations needed under the jobs law” and dismissed criticisms towards the law as fake news which consequently cast the government in a positive and almost faultless light. By introducing the reckless villain and the voice of reason through the manipulation of the media, the Indonesian government was able to effectively influence the beliefs and behavior of the general public in order to stifle additional protests and ensure complacency in passing the law.

Introduction
«Language is a natural human system of conventionalized symbols that have understood meanings.» With the help of language people are able to express and communicate their own thoughts, opinions and feelings as well as enact different social roles. There are various social tasks which are done with the help of language. They include co-constructing social reality between and between individuals, conducting and organizing social events such as communicating, debating, arguing and telling people what they should or should not do. Language also stands for ethnolinguistic, national, or religious identity public marker so powerful that people and whole nations are ready to fight in a war in order to defense it just as they would defense their national flag. Such functions and identities of language make it a fundamental part of human communication.

Micro And Macro Levels Of Language Power
One of the ways to differentiate power of language is through micro-level and macro-level of power itself. At the micro level, the speaker influences the hearer by revealing speaker’s possessions of social status, money, wealth or any other attractive personal attributes. It makes the peskier automatically more influential and persuasive. At the macro level, language power us about collectiveness and power behind whole communities with common language. It also represents the collective / historical influence of the linguistic group that uses it. On the example of English as a global language, it has gained its superiority and shaped the communicative connection between native and nonnative speakers mostly because of the power of the English- speaking world rather than because of its linguistic superiority These effect was later referred as “linguistic imperialism.” Ironically, the spread of English increased the amount of multilingual non-English speaking nations, resulting in having English implemented in school programs all around the world, yet English-native speakers remained learning one language only. This stresses the whole world by pressuring almost every country to accommodate English-speakers on their native language, making them more privileged and superior.

Another way to differentiate language powers is by dividing them into the powers of language that are aimed at maintaining existing dominance, showing the immense impact on national unity and discord and creating influence through single words:

The power of language to maintain existing dominance
This type of language power can be mostly seen in sexist, racist, ageist and national reasoning that make one group of language more dominant than the others. Based on the research on linguistic sexism it was seen that man-made languages such as English are full of sexist words and Grammar rules that represent historical male supremacy in society. Its neutral usage by both sexes on the daily basis has actually naturalized male dominance and further gender inequalities.

Immense impact of language power on national unity and discord
If language became a part of peoples’ common national identity and led to its vitality, the power of the language would contribute to unification of people. This type of power has often been used by national and political leaders for the unification of their countries. . Under this power, in the postcolonial countries it happened to be two languages: their indigenous language of the land and colonial language which appeared after the colonization. This leads to nationalism take place, when the official status of the indigenous language is restored whilst the colonial language is retained or even relegates to nonofficial status.

However, there can be the other side of the coin: language can also divide a nation. The devision can be caused by tensions of minorities of different language communities in claiming the official-language, which includes protests of maintenance of the minority language, language rights at school, bilingual education and language wars.

Language power to create influence through single words
This type of language power include metaphors, oratories, conversations and narratives in political campaigns and terrorist narratives. Well-known language empowers people to learn the dynamic structure of norms and connections between words and sounds, on the one hand, and the types of things and relationships to which they relate, on the other. Huge researches have been conducted on the studies of metaphors and the power of single words in them, that is established by social-cognitive function mentioned above. This area of researches dives into the researches of inner workings of the brain and breaks any disciplinary boundaries. However, the power of single words can be extended beyond metaphors. It can be seen in misleading words in the key questions,, Reversed expectations from real-world knowledge by concessive connectives , verbs that attribute an implicit causation to either the subject of the verb or the object and abstract words that show power.

Conclusion
Language has the power not only over individuals, but over whole nations and countries. It can lead to national unifications as well as wars for the native language, can be seen as promoting men dominance over women on the one hand, yet promoting equality on the other. Language is the most significant tool in our world, contributing to interdisciplinary approach as much as possible, by connecting different spheres of academia by the power of words.


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