Hello readers, it’s great to be writing this week! In my ASTU course we have been talking Judith Butler and part of her book Frames of War. Butler questions how we value lives around the world and asks “whose lives are regarded as lives worth saving and defending, and whose are not?” (Butler 38). She expands on this question by asking “how we might rethink the the “we” in global terms in ways that counter the politics of imposition” (Butler 38). I think the questions Butler proposes are quite poignant especially in our world today. Much to my dismay, I think the “we” that Butler mentions is Western society and therefore there is an intense bias as to how we view global traumatic events. For example, just a couple months ago in San Bernardino, California a shooting took place claiming the lives of 14 innocent people. The attackers were soon linked to ISIS, and President Obama declared the tragedy a terrorist attack while politicians throughout the country were outraged. Now I’m not in any way trying to take away from the traumatic event that took place in San Bernardino, as it was truly horrific, however I will say that every single day in Iraq and Syria countless innocent lives are claimed or put in danger by ISIS, yet “we” (the West) for the most part go on living our normal routine lives. But of course if something ever happens on Western soil, our daily lives are completely disrupted. The attacks in Paris that happened this past November were shocking and horrifying to say the least, and again, I’m not trying to downplay the tragedy, but literally the day before in Beirut, Lebanon (non-Western world) a bombing killed 43 civilians and injured more than 200 more. That trauma went virtually uncovered in the media as all eyes were on Paris.

I think Judith Butler would certainly point that out as well. In an ideal world, every innocent life lost in trauma would carry the same value, but the fact is that the Western world will be more concerned with events at home rather than abroad. It seems apparent to me that it is up to us, as global citizens, to break through the frames and respect victims of trauma worldwide.

Thanks for reading this week, feel free to comment!

Ben Ross