Breakthrough Writer

1A Lesson Plan for Add Cake, Subtract Self-Esteem 217

 

One. Lexicon

 

1. Addiction to starvation 217 first paragraph; addicted to the feeling of safety and in fact this "safety" is a delusion. She is in danger for in fact she is in the process of losing her humanity. "The private kingdom of calm" is a velvet trap, a womb where she regresses and loses her power and humanity. Your comfort zone can become hell. 

2. Obsessive compulsive rituals second paragraph. When life becomes reduced to rituals and compulsions we lose our humanity.

3. Anorexia 217 bottom and 218 top: a woman strips away her "womanness" or femininity to protest being an image to others and herself. I'm not sure I buy this. I see anorexia as a misguided attempt at control and the person being controlled by the need to control. 

4. Silent protest 218 top; anorexia is a passive-aggressive response to cultural pressures to be a beautiful woman, or expression of silent anger 

5. Core cause of anorexia 218 middle and 221 second paragraph and 223 top paragraph and 225 middle paragraph: The sense of controlling or conquering hunger gives the anorexic a sense of mastery and control. Or put it another way: Anorexia stems from an irrational, incessant hatred of fat. 

6. Internalized caveats and rules 218 and 219 top 2 paragraphs and 221 middle paragraph

7. Female math 220 top; she spends her whole life "doing math," which is not living.

8. Dangerous form of hunger 222 top: hunger becomes disconnected from basic instincts and instead becomes part of your neuroses, a complex web of worries. 

9. Cardinal violation of appetite 222 bottom: the more you meddle and obsess with hunger, the more perverted your relationship with food becomes. To meddle with hunger at this obsessive degree requires a lot of "alone time." Anorexics spend too much time alone, which means they live too much inside their heads and they lose contact with reality. 

10. New female aesthetic 223 second and third paragraph; Marilyn Monroe trumped by Kate Moss

11. Backlash against feminine strength 223 bottom and 224 top

12. Visceral knee-jerk hostility to fat women and people in general 224 bottom and 225 top

13. Buffet hostility 225 bottom and 226 top: It represents freedom and choices and abundance. And she conflates these attributes with her enemy--fat. 

14. Buffet as metaphor or microcosm for Knapp's neurosis 230: She fears freedom. 

15. Anorexia reverses the three human instincts--survival, reproduction, curiosity (the hunger for learning, knowledge, creativity, and philosophy which asks, "Why are we here?") By reversing the 3 human instincts, anorexia effectively dehumanizes its victim. 

 

Two. Commentary

 

Whether they are bingeing or purging, irrational eaters are in a most damnable condition--the state of having no self-control and being helpless and fearful in the face of overwhelming appetites. These inflamed irrational passions are so devastating that binge eaters must tiptoe through life fearing that at any moment they will fall into the abyss of their avarice.

 

Most irrational eaters, especially the women described by Knapp, suffer shame for several reasons, including a sense of anxiety over the disparity of their new freedoms but limited power; their internalized "theme of vigilance and self-restraint" that often backfires and is counterbalanced by compulsive appetites that eradicate all the "gains" rendered from the meticulous adherence to eating rules; the state of hunger that "becomes divorced from the body" and becomes "loaded with alternative meanings" that have to do with unfulfilled emotional longings; and their knowledge that violating the slender female aesthetic will cause them to be held in tacit contempt by both men and women alike.  

 

 

This sense of shame and self-loathing becomes exacerbated when obesity is looked at through a religious prism which would have us condemn over-eaters as gluttons, sinners indulging their appetites, reprobates putting their desires before God, miscreants violating our space with their grotesque corpulence. 

 

Scapegoated by society for putting an undue strain on medical costs, despised for taking up our space, an unloved for not inciting the kind of desire that we associate with Kate-Moss slenderness, fat people represent the possibility of human failure and rejection that we fear in ourselves. Thus many of us, overreacting to our fears, develop a myriad of eating disorders so chronic that once ensnared in these irrational eating habits, it is nearly impossible for many of us to free ourselves from them and lead relatively normal lives. 

 

 

Three. Relevant Writing Options

 

Compare the shame of eating as it is analyzed in Knapp’s and Prose’s (197) essays. 5-page outline: Summarize both Knapp's and Prose's essays for a page each. Then write a thesis: Both essays show that the power of shame informs our eating obsessions by ___________________, _____________________, _____________________, and _______________________. Your last 3 pages would flesh out these mapping components.

In the context of Michael Pollan’s essay “Big Organic” (174), analyze the fraud and deception the food industry uses to market foods that are allegedly “organic” and “natural.” 5-page outline: In 2 pages, summarize Pollan's major points. Then write a thesis. As my research and Michael Pollan's essay show, the idea of "organic" is a marketing fraud evidenced by _________________, _____________________, ___________________, and ______________________. Your last 3 pages would flesh out these mapping components.

 

 

 

Caroline Knapp and Francine Prose effectively analyze the causes behind the downward spiral or vicious cycle of eating disorders, which include __________________________________, ________________________________, _________________________________, and __________________________________.

 

Mapping Components might include the following:

 

Shame and self-loathing create compulsive disorders, namely the impulse to escape feelings of decrepitude through the very habits that bring the self-hatred.

 

Ostracism results in isolation, which distorts the mind and makes one rely on food for companionship.

 

Being reduced to a slender object causes many women to silently rebel through bingeing and purging.

 

Anxiety over too much freedom on one hand and a lack of power on the other, overwhelm women who created internalized rules.

 

Hunger divorced from the body and connected to unfulfilled longings.

Research Links

The Hunger

The Hunger Artist

 

1A Lesson Plan for “The Wages of Sin” by Francine Prose (197)

 

Part One. Lexicon:

 

One. The Nanny State, paragraphs 1 and 2: people are dumbed-down troglodytes who are so helpless to fend themselves it is necessary for the government to be a Big Nanny that cares for the infantile, incontinent appetites of the people by imposing stringent laws and regulations.

 

Two. Paternalistic; when someone takes on a parental role. This word often has a negative meaning, for it often suggests someone being presumptuous enough to be an authority over another.

 

Three. Obesity burden; tax payers have to absorb half the medical costs incurred by obesity-related ailments. Is that fair?

 

Four. Fat Tax dilemma. If taxing fat people and putting a “fat tax” on “fatty” items were to be effective, people would live longer and old age increase would put a NEW tax burden on tax payer.

 

Five. Stigma vs. the Nanny State; see page 198: the sense of shame, which is more powerful than any government regulations.

 

Six. Gluttony: the sin of overeating as a form of self-indulgence

 

Seven. The moral case against obesity:  Gluttony shows a disrespect for the body and an excessive pandering to one’s ego.

 

Eight. Latent hostility against obese people: See page 198 at bottom: We claim to be compassionate towards the obese but in reality we are not when obesity inconveniences us. Airplane seats, for example.

 

Nine: The sin of the obese: To impose a burden on others by taking up an unfair amount of space. See 199 top.

 

Ten. Oversimplification: Attributing complex problem to simple cause: to blame obesity on sin or indulgence or ego is absurd. Obesity may be partly these things, but they don’t tell the whole story.

 

Eleven. Ubiquity of cheap, calorie-dense food: Ubiquity means “everywhere.”

 

Twelve. Either/Or Fallacy: to reduce an argument to two possibilities, either/or. For example to address the obesity crisis as either a sin or an illness is absurd. The problem is more complex.

Thirteen. Set Point: The weight your metabolism always seeks no matter how hard you diet or exercise. 

 

Part Two. New Essay Option: Write a research paper that argues that the obesity crisis is neither a sin or an illness, but a complex problem that cannot be explained by a simple diagnosis. Your 6 mapping statements will explore 6 major causes of obesity. No doubt, a 5 or 6-page essay can’t address all 15 causes. That would require a book.

 

Part Three: The Two Best Books about Food I’ve Ever Read That Will Change Your Life:

 

1. Mindless Eating by Brian Wansink
2. In Defense of Food by Michael Pollan

 

Both writers discourage going on a diet. Instead, they encourage eating real foods that we like in moderation. Their information is priceless. Read their books and you will never get “punk-fed” again. Don’t let The Man poison your body or manipulate your eating habits.

 

 

Part Four. The 15 Causes of Obesity:

 

1. There is an abundance of convenient, cheap, calorie-rich food everywhere we go.
2. We move less than we did generations ago. Do we chase the animals we eat? No.
3. Mindless eating; not even knowing the quantity of what we consume every day, much of it done while talking, watching TV, or surfing the Internet, all forms of Mindless Eating. See book of same title by Brian Wansink.
4. Poverty; there is a relationship between poverty and obesity. This is due to a lack of education combined with reliance on cheap fast food.
5. Parents. Children eat what their parents eat. If the parents eat a “fat lifestyle,” so will their children.
6. Friends. We eat and look similar to our friends. We often call this “social eating.”
7. Eating processed foods instead of real foods and not knowing the difference. Please see In Defense of Eating: An Eater’s Manifesto by Michael Pollan. In short, only shop at the far left and right of supermarkets; avoid the middle; or shop at the Farmer’s Market.
8. Super-sized portions are marketed as a “good deal.” See the film Super Size Me and read the book Fast Food Nation by Erich Schlosser
9. Boredom; stay at home with nothing to do and you’ll overeat
10. Emotional eating; eating to feel “love” or “self-esteem” or because you feel lonely.
11. Lack of sleep. The more tired you are, the more you feed your blood sugar to compensate.
12. Education; knowing how to enjoy good healthy food should be very practical but too few people know how to prepare food for themselves that they both crave and that is good for them.
13. Learned helplessness
14. Dieting; it leads to weight gain, splurging, neuroses, and messes up the metabolism which rebels and goes on “shut down.”
15. Fast food is marketed to children in an aggressive way; see Fast Food Nation.

 

Part Five. Sample Thesis Statements (all of these are pretty good and take note they contradict each other as they go back and forth):

 

One: It’s morally wrong to be fat, for even though many are obese because of biological and environmental reasons, the majority of people submit to their fatness because of major character flaws, including __________________________, _______________________, ________________________, and ____________________.

 

Two: To condemn fat people as immoral is an outrageous oversimplification that ignores the many complex causes behind obesity. These so-called “character flaws” are really a reaction to deeper factors, which include ________________________, _______________________, _______________________, and ____________________________.

 

Three: To justify obesity as a “complex issue” is to enable fat people to go on with their immoral lives. In other words, justifying fatness is as immoral as fatness itself.

 

Four: To condemn defenders of the obese by calling these defenders enablers evidences a gross blindness to the deeper root causes of obesity, which these morally unrighteous prigs are determined to ignore. These causes include _______________________, ___________________________, _________________________, and _________________________.

 

Five: Calling me a “prig” for my stance against fat people does not change the fact that the obese population would be well served to embrace my moral prescription, which will not only alleviate their obesity but make them better, happier, responsible citizens. Thus, I am doing fat people a service, sir, while you, taking the role as paternalistic sympathizer, are actually helping to perpetuate their obese, moribund, morally bankrupt condition.  Let us therefore proceed with my salubrious prescription, which entails ________________________, _______________________, __________________________, and ___________________________.

Research Links

Obesity in America

Ten New Obesity Causes

Social Causes of Obesity

New Data Challenges Set Point

 

 

1A Lesson Plan for “Big Organic” by Michael Pollan 174 (updated 1-27-09)

 

 

One. Lexicon

 

1. Edenic Quest: Shoppers want more than food. They want to engage in a narrative in which their buying of certain foods affords them a trip to Eden, or Paradise, in which they can return to a world that is free of corruption, cruelty, and toxins. They seek purity and bliss through “healthy eating.” They seek the tranquility of green pastoral glades and meadows over the stress and anxiety of urban life.
2. Self-Congratulatory Shoppers: They seek to massage ego buy purchasing organic foods.  Their food items have “stories” attached, little pamphlets about how cows are given shiatsu massage before yielding their milk and how chickens jog five miles a day in the crisp outdoors and hydrate themselves with spring water before squeezing out an egg. Buying food that tells these heart-warming stories empowers organic shoppers and makes them feel superior to the troglodytes who shop at Ralph’s and other pedestrian low-brow stores. Self-congratulatory shoppers exit Whole Foods with little halos over their heads.
3. Organic Shopping as Us Vs. Them Therapy: Shoppers buy organic to belong to an exclusive club that differentiates them from those Loser Shoppers Who’ve Given In to the Man, the crude Industrial Food Complex. In contrast, organic shoppers patronize small farmers and good-hearted artisans who raise food, not for profit, but to bring love and bounty to planet Earth.
4. Organic Food Hustle (177): Maintaining an image as a small operation when in fact the organic industry imitates the same business practices of the Evil Industrial Food Machine. It’s the same B.S. but marketed to look pure and superior.
5. Supermarket Pastoral: The fiction, story, or lie—whatever you want to call it—that creates the image of organic food being harvested in a way that is morally superior to the Evil Industrial Food Machine.
6. Brown Food Vs. White Food; brown symbolizes pure, unmolested food while white represents food that is processed, bleached, and contaminated . Eggs, wheat, rice, sugar, bread should all be brown. Hipsters eat brown food. Troglodytes (ignorant cave dwellers) eat white food. See page 181.
7. Causality vs. Correlation: Is organic eating the cause of good health or does it coincide with the fact that people who shop organic are health conscious in general and belong to an economic class that reduces certain health risks, such as obesity? Fact: The richer, the skinnier, and skinny means fewer obesity-related health problems. Fact: People who eat organic are healthier, not because they eat organic, but because they eat real food, vs. processed food.
   
8. Operative word is not "organic"; it's "real" food vs. processed food.
9. Mindless eater: one with limited cooking skills, nonexistent nutrition knowledge. He tends to eat animal protein, animal fats, and processed food. The bulk of his diet is cheeseburgers, pizza, and Doritos. His beverage is soda. The Mindless Eater refers to the majority of Americans.
   
10. Mindful eater: He eats thoughtfully, planning his meals, making his own meals and his very sensitive about being "punk-fed" by "The Man." He eats mostly real food. About 40% of his daily food intake is fruits and vegetables. Another 40% is grains, beans, legumes, and nuts; the remaining 20% is protein, either animal or vegetable. He has a wide range of cooking skills. He rarely eats in front of the computer or television, which creates a "mindless eating situation."
    

 

 

Two. What is Michael Pollan’s thesis? See 177, second paragraph.

 

The organic movement has less in common with its marketing image and more in common with the very industry it attempts to differ from. In other words, “Supermarket Pastoral is more fiction than fact.” See 178 top.

 

Pollan restates his thesis in his conclusion on page 194.

 

Three. What are Pollan’s mapping components?

 

1. The idea of cows on the farm is a myth. See 178.
2. The idea of free-range is a myth. See 178 bottom
3. Organic farming has to imitate industrial methods in order to stay competitive. See 187 and 188 bottom.
4. The superiority of organic food is in many ways negligible and not dramatic for the extra money one spends. See 188 bottom
5. Organic food is no better for the environment than other industrialized foods. See 193.

 

 

 

 

Four. Questions

 

1. How is food connected to meaning and identity? 174 P1; 175 P3
2. How does the marketing of food confuse shoppers? 175 P2
3. How did organic food become a marketing bonanza? 176 P2-4. It communicates a story or narrative that pulls our heartstrings as the narrative has all to do with the pastoral fantasy.
4. How is organic food a good guy vs. bad guy movie? 176 P3: The story of Supermarket Pastoral makes us feel more “authentic.” 177 top.
5. What contradiction must Whole Foods reconcile and how does it fail? 177 P2; 178 top; 178 P3 in which cows “never see a blade of grass.” And “free-range” is a fraud as well on 178 bottom. Also see 187 top paragraph in which organic method more and more resembles the industrial method.
6. What is “countercuisine”? 181 P3.
7. What does the organic food movement, especially the one connected with Whole Foods, have in common with Starbucks?
8. How was food radically compromised and degraded by the “scientific method”? 184 P2 and 3.
9. What is the opposite of “reductionist science”? 186 top. “Imitating whole natural systems.” See the evolution of organic farmer Gene Kahn whose business becomes more and more like the private model he once demonized: 187 P2-end of the page. And see what he says on bottom of 188.
10. Is there definitive proof that organic is superior to non-organic? See 188-190. Consider correlation over causality: People who seek healthy foods are living healthier lives in general. Produce may be healthier. See 192 bottom.
11. Is organic food better for the environment? See 193 and 194. It appears not much if at all.

 

 

 

Five. What are the 6 principles of effectively marketing “organic food”?

 

 

1. Create an easy to follow narrative about the food chain when in fact the food chain is very complex. See 175 bottom and 176 middle.
2. Create a good guy—the organic farmer—and a bad guy—the evil agribusinessman and make customers feel they are on the right side, namely the side of the “counter culture.” See 176.
3. Create a bond between consumer and producer that creates a sense of intimacy, authenticity, bonding, and good will. See 176 bottom and 177 top.
4. Rely on the supermarket pastoral myth. See 175 middle and 177 top. Create the Garden of Eden or Paradise when people and animals lived in harmony.
5. Use certification to create a story, authenticity, and 2-way communication between shopper and farmer: See 176 top.
6. Convince shoppers that by choosing “countercuisine” and chemical-free food (181) they are improving their health and saving themselves from the dangers of the evil food industry.

 

 

 

 

Six. Writing Assignment on Today’s Reading

 

Option 5: In the context of Michael Pollan’s essay “Big Organic” (174), analyze the fraud and deception the food industry uses to market foods that are allegedly “organic” and “natural.” 5-page outline: In 2 pages, summarize Pollan's major points. Then write a thesis. As my research and Michael Pollan's essay show, the idea of "organic" is a marketing fraud evidenced by _________________, _____________________, ___________________, and ______________________. Your last 3 pages would flesh out these mapping components.

  

Contrary Opinion:

 

Let’s not be so quick to dismiss and disparage those who are on an Organic Quest. While the organic food industry is overpriced and often teeming with false promises, those who embrace the organic lifestyle are better off for their efforts. Their superior wellbeing is evidenced by ________________________, __________________________, ___________________________, and ___________________________________.

 

Another Thesis Option:

Answer this question: Do the health benefits from eating organic justify the extra cost of shopping for organic foods?

 

Sample Thesis in favor of organic food:

 

While some claims from the organic food industry are exaggerated and while organic food is no panacea for good health, the research clearly shows that a diet that emphasizes organic foods will result in superior health evidenced by _______________________, _______________________________, __________________________________, and ____________________________________.

 

Contrary Thesis Example:

I concede that shoppers who buy organic are more health conscious than those who don’t, but this does not mean that organic food, per se, is worth the extra cost. In fact, healthy eating is not predicated on buying organic food. Worse, the misguided organic shopper can wreak havoc on himself when he ____________________________, ______________________, ___________________________, and _________________________________.

Resources

Naturally Dangerous

Eating Organic Offers No Benefits

Buying Organic Food Can Harm the Planet

Organic Food Not More Nutritional

Organic Food No Healthier

The Great Organic Myths

Organic Milk Is Not Healthier

Is Whole Foods Wholesome? (Dark Secrets Exposed)

 

1A McMahon Commentary: Some Shoppers Who Buy “Organic” Are Engaging in a Fantasy So They Can Feel Good About Themselves

Reading Michael Pollan’s best-selling The Omnivore’s Dilemma may tempt us to divide grocery shoppers into two camps, those who shop for food solely based on the cheapest price available, and those who go out of their way to shop for the more expensive “organic” foods are not only supposed to be healthier but make them feel they are returning to Eden. 

Pollan observes that Whole Foods has branded itself as one of our country’s major entranceways into Eden, a “Supermarket Pastoral.” He writes that “Taken as a whole, the story on offer in Whole Foods is a pastoral narrative in which farm animals live much as they did in the books we read as children, and our fruits and vegetables grow in well-composted soils on small farms . . .”

Alas, the bucolic narrative, Pollan points out, is a myth and the very idea of buying our produce from some pastoral utopia and even the idea of “organic” must be reconsidered when we recognize that the industrialization of the $11-billion organic food movement has, by necessity, modeled itself after the very un-Edenic food industry it was railed against.

Pollan writes: “Of course the trickiest contradiction Whole Foods attempts to reconcile is the one between the industrialization of the organic food industry of which it is a part and the pastoral ideals on which that industry has been built. The organic movement, as it was once called, has come a remarkably long way in the last thirty years, to the point where it now looks considerably less like a movement than a big business.”

As Pollan scrutinizes this contradiction with keen analysis throughout his book, showing that the “organic” industry cuts corners and makes compromises just like any industry, he makes it clear that Supermarket Pastoral is a hollow image, and we can infer that shoppers who subscribe to this Pastoral Myth are putting their critical thinking skills on hold so that they can congratulate themselves for “boycotting” the “evil food industry” when in fact they are giving their business to the very industry they claim to disdain.  

1A Lesson Plan for “Mate de Coca: Never Say No” by Taras Grescoe (235)

 

Part One. Lexicon

1. cultural hubris: imposing rules and regulations when you’re ignorant of other cultures
2. soroche, mountain sickness, which is best assuaged through coca.
3. The economy of Bolivia is built on Mate de coca and it is given to dignitaries, including the Pope. For the US government to be ignorant of this fact is cultural hubris.
4. Mallku, sacred community service of married couples which involves carrying coca with them at all times and administering comfort to ailing people. Ignorant of this practice, the US government wars against coca. This is an example of cultural hubris. See page 237, bottom.
5. arbitrary drug policy: We say no to this and that drug, but yes to many others with no logic behind what’s legal or illegal. The matter is arbitrary or worse determined by money and profit.
6. Mate de coca, sometimes ingested in tea form. See page 236.
7. Media can stigmatize Mate de coca but celebrate coffee. Both have similar effects on nervous systems. See page 236.
8. The US attempt to rid coca from Latin America is like an invading country trying to wipe out all of America’s coffee, tobacco, and Communion wafers. See page 237, top.
9. What is your definition of insanity? Please see page 237, top. This is not only insane; it’s a waste of US tax money.
10. Two espressos are more potent than one serving of mate de coca. See page 238. This underscores how arbitrary the “war on drugs” is.
11. Salubrious herbs and organic foods in the market place described on pages 239 and 240 are a healthy part of life in Bolivia but in the US government these items are called “drugs.” Absurd. In fact, a common saying in La Paz: “La hoja de coca no es droga”—the coco leaf is not a drug.
12. The War on Drugs is in reality The War on Plants (good essay title)
13. The Rush Limbaugh drug comes from poppies. See page 241.
14. Why are plants so powerful? They cannot move so they must survive by altering chemicals inside themselves. They’re stationary chemistry labs. See page 241.
15. A critical thinker knows that the word “drug” does not pertain to substance but quantity or dosage. In unhealthy dosages, they’re even poisons. In smaller dosages they’re medicines. See page 242 top.
16. Sugar in small quantities boosts energy and is a food. In large quantities in can cause your pancreas to shut down and becomes a poison.
17. Plants were once the domain of pagans and priests. Now they’re the domain of pharmacists, chemists, and medical researchers. See page 244.
18. Plants can be addictive. People who quit drinking coffee or even Diet Coke suffer withdrawals, including irritability, lethargy, fatigue, inability to focus or concentrate, and severe headaches.
19. We often have stereotypes of plant use. For example, we have a stereotype of the marijuana user, as a lazy hippy but that’s a narrow perception.
20. The War on Drugs is doomed to futility because it’s really the War on Plants and how sane is it to attempt to eradicate the world’s harvests?

 

Part Two. Writing assignment, in the way of a sample thesis, based on today’s reading:

 

 

Thesis (mapping statements provided):

 

Taras Grescoe’s essay convincingly shows that the “War on Drugs” is doomed to futility because _____________________________, _____________________________, _________________________________, ________________________________, and ___________________________________.

 

McMahon’s Thesis:

 

Taras Grescoe’s essay convincingly shows that the “War on Drugs” is an absurdity wrought with contradictions, hypocrisy, cultural insensitivity, scientific humbug, and arbitrary notions of what constitutes health and pestilence to society.

 

The mapping components would pertain to “contradictions,” “hypocrisy,” “cultural insensitivity,” scientific humbug,” and “arbitrary notions of what constitutes good health to society” on one hand and “pestilence to society” on the other.

 

1A Lesson Plan for “Watching Torture in Prime Time” by Anne-Marie Cusac (109)

 

 

 

 

Part One. Lexicon for Torture Debate

 

 

1. The Hawk Approach to torture: Be aggressive and use traditional methods of pain.
2. The Dove Approach to torture: Be cautious and emphasize psychology and persuasion while avoiding physical abuse.
3. Torture Lite, also called stress interrogation: relies on sleep deprivation, confusion, discomfort, solitary confinement, mind deception games, sensory deprivation, LSD and other drugs.
4.  “Severe” torture: any torture that results in organ failure
5.  Define your terms: are you arguing for or against all-out torture and torture lite?
6. Geneva Convention: terrorists are excluded from war prisoner rights
7. Unlawful combatant
8. Abu Ghraib: the abuses at this torture center are an exercise in stupidity, cruelty, sadism, sexual humiliation; techniques proved to harm US interests around the world; we looked like brutes.
9. Shaking: putting a dirty stinking bag over someone’s head; part of torture lite
10. Efficacy argument: different studies give different results; it all depends on the expertise of the torturer and the person being tortured; no one size fits all rule applies and this is the problem of the torture debate; sometimes it works and sometimes it doesn’t. It appears torture worked against the Algerian Liberation Front but it also appears it was ineffective against the Viet Cong.
11. Duress argument; people under duress will say anything.
12. Reciprocity argument; if we torture captives, our enemy countries will do the same to us.
13. Rendition: outsourcing our prisoners to other countries to be tortured so we can officially say we don’t torture while paying other countries to do so under the radar. This is an argument against torture. Why?
14. Torture as social control in Naomi Klein’s article.
15. Anti-democracy argument; torture can be used to intimidate those who oppose the government policies
16. Lazy argument; there are more efficient ways of getting information than torture
17. Fear argument (from Mark Bowden) fear works more than pain; the torturer must use psychological cunning in addition to physical pain.
18. Language and Deception argument (fake an alliance with prisoner’s friends)
19. Good Cop/Bad Cop
20. Morons and Madmen argument; can we trust people in high power to be moral and competent?
21. Sadism argument; sadistic people are drawn to jobs that may require torture
22. Either/or fallacy to support torture

 

 

 

Part Two. Traditional Arguments Against Torture

 

1. Coercion often results in the suspect appeasing the torturer with made-up information to simply stop the torture.
2. Sadists are often drawn to the job of torturer.
3. An infinitesimal amount of people who go into the torture profession have the skill level and expertise to implement torture effectively and within the guidelines. Most in fact are incompetent butchers.
4. There is no way of knowing that the Intel was helpful or accurate until long after it was extracted, rendering it useless.
5. Governments use torture to intimidate the citizens from having contrary opinions and free speech. This is called the slippery slope argument.
6. Torture may start off with guidelines and controls but soon it becomes an uncontrollable juggernaut. Abuse is inevitable.
7. The government can widen the definition of a “terrorist suspect” to include anyone they want.
8. Torture is state-sponsored terrorism that lowers us to our enemies’ level.
9. Emphasis on torture distracts us from real solution to terrorism, which is prevention. I will use the cancer analogy.
10. Cover-ups are commonplace in torture abuses.
11. Torture is a violation of human rights.
12. There is the retaliation factor: “We torture them; now they torture us.”
13. Torture results in an anti-American sentiment which reduces international cooperation.
14. Non-torture methods are proven to be as or even more effective.
15. Terrorists will choose death over capture (knowing they’ll be tortured) and wreak more havoc—resulting in more death and bloodshed—as they fight to the death.

 

Part Three. Common Arguments That Support Torture

1. The Ticking Bomb Scenario
2. Abuse of X should not result in its elimination. Do we eliminate priests, marriage, and other things when abuses occur?
3. Proven terrorists waive their human rights.
4. “We have the right to save our lives and country by any means necessary.”
5. We accept collateral damage when we drop bombs; the same should be tolerated when we torture.
6. Unlawful combatants don’t have the same rights as do captured prisoners.
7. We have a body of evidence that shows we have gained life-saving Intel from the use of torture.

 

 

 

Part Four. Reading Questions

 

One. What do Jack Bauer and many Bush Administration officials have in common? 109

 

Two. In one word, what is the appeal of the TV show 24? See 110 top.

 

Three. In what 2 ways is 24 in conflict with reality? See 110 (impending disaster) and 111 (the efficacy of torture)

 

Four. Why does Cusac praise 24? See 110 bottom.

 

Five. What anti-humanistic and pro-humanistic messages hum through the show? 111

 

Six. Is 24 a powerful influence on Americans’ attitudes toward torture and the rules of war in general? Explain. See 112 top. 

 

 

Essay Options:

 

Write a defense or refutation of US policy of torturing terrorist suspects as a way of improving national security. Be sure to show the arguments for both sides, in a about a page or 2, before proceeding with your argument and mapping components. Also be sure to include a minimum of 3 research sources.

A pro-torture thesis with concession clause might look like this:

 

While torture entails many abuses, torture is justified in certain situations, including _________________________, _____________________, ________________________, and _________________________.

An anti-torture thesis might look like this:

While the pro-torture debaters are good at drumming up all sorts of scary scenarios, their arguments for torture collapse under the weight of several fallacies, myths, and misconceptions, which include _____________________, ________________________, ________________________________, ________________________, and _____________________________. 

 

 

A thesis that “rides the middle” might look like this:

 

To embrace a “pro-torture” or “anti-torture” is over simplistic nonsense. The potential for abuse in the realm of torture is huge, to be sure. But sometimes there are in fact extreme conditions that warrant torture. Therefore, torture should be allowed in the most narrow of circumstances and stringent conditions, which include ____________________, ____________________________, _________________________, _____________________________, and __________________________________.

 

 

1A Research Links for the Torture Debate

The Dark Art of Interrogation

Torture: The Slippery Slope

Amnesty International and Counterarguments

Torture As Policy

Balanced Politics

Torture Paper

The Torture Myth

The Argument for Torture

In Defense of Torture

In Defense of Torture from The Atlantic

The Truth About Torture

Nelisha's Thesis That Focuses on Genetics

While Peter Singer's views on euthanasia are abhorrent, his advocacy of genetic engineering is viable and inevitable, regardless of our moral objections, because of ____________________________________, ________________________________________________, _______________________________________________, and ___________________________________________________.

Some mapping ideas:

1. We're already striving for ideas of perfection, misguided or not.
2. We can weed out defects that are passed down to children--bipolar condition, obesity, abuse, addiction.

1A Lesson Plan for “Unspeakable Conversations” (92)

 

Part One. Lexicon of Terms Pertinent to Peter Singer’s Moral Philosophy.

 

One. Utilitarianism, the philosophy that we should sacrifice the individual for the greater good of the collective whole.

From Economy: Definition: Utilitarianism is a moral philosophy, generally operating on the principle that the utility (happiness or satisfaction) of different people can not only be measured but also meaningfully summed over people and that utility comparisons between people are meaningful. That makes it possible to achieve a well-defined societal optimum in allocations, production, and other decisions, and achieve the goal utilitarian British philosopher Jeremy Bentham described as "the greatest good for the greatest number."

 

This form of utilitarianism is thought of as extreme, now, partly because it is widely believed that there exists no generally acceptable way of summing utilities across people and comparing between them.

Two. “quality of life” argument: human life is only valuable if a certain “quality” can be achieved; otherwise life is better off destroyed.

Three. “normal children”: They can achieve a “quality of life” and should take priority over “abnormal children” who should be euthanized.

Four. “infants are replaceable”: we should replace abnormal infants with normal ones for the “greater good.” The moral imperative is that we are reducing suffering and adding more productive citizens to society as opposed to citizens who put a burden on society.

Five. Eugenicist, one who defends the idea that we should select what humans are desirable based on genetics and which ones should be replaced, that is euthanized, for the betterment of society. The eugenicist also develops the criteria for making these choices.

Six. Nebulous definition of “personhood.”

Seven. Intrinsic value of human life, called the sanctity of life vs. conditional value of human life based on “quality of life.”

Eight. Apologist for eugenics. An apologist takes controversial or unpopular ideas and makes them appealing by defending their validity and showing why those views are correct.

Nine. Peter Singer is an advocate for genetic re-engineering.

Ten. Market-driven and peer-pressure-driven forces for genetic re-engineering. The result will be a loss of diversity. Most women will like Salma Hayek and Beyonce while most men will look like Will Smith and Brad Pitt. See the New Eugenics. 

 

Part Two. Peter Singer’s Major Arguments

 

One. Peter Singer’s quality of life argument for infanticide:

His stated reason, rather, is that such children have diminished prospects of eventually enjoying an adequate "quality of life", in his words, and to allow them to live would take away resources from what Singer calls "normal" children. He therefore advocates killing "disabled" infants, if the parents so choose, and replacing them with "normal" ones. The terminology of "replacement" is Singer's own; his philosophy "treats infants as replaceable", in his words (Practical Ethics p. 186).

 

Why, then, does Singer argue that infants born with this condition can justly be killed? Because they are "abnormal" and do not have "good prospects" (Rethinking p. 214). This notion of "prospects" runs like a mantra through Singer's discussion of Down syndrome children: "the future prospects of life may be so bleak" (211), "the prospects are clouded" (213), and so forth. But what sort of prospects does he have in mind? On p. 213 of Rethinking he lists several activities which a person with Down syndrome will supposedly never be capable of: "to play the guitar, to develop an appreciation of science fiction, to learn a foreign language, to chat with us about the latest Woody Allen movie, or to be a respectable athlete,  basketballer or tennis player." This list reads like a parody of bourgeois myths of achievement, success, and respectability. To Singer, however, these are legitimate reasons for killing a newborn. After all, if you can't do your own financial planning, why should you be allowed to live?

 

Two. Peter Singer’s utilitarian argument for infanticide:

What counts as a "severe disability" for Singer? He intentionally leaves the term vague to allow for a broad range of parental discretion, but he has discussed a number of specific examples, both hypothetical as well as actual cases. The conditions he has explicitly named as sufficient justification for active infanticide include Down syndrome, spina bifida, and hemophilia. Here is Singer's reasoning on the latter condition, taken from his popular textbook Practical Ethics (P. 186): "Suppose a woman planning to have two children has one normal child, then gives birth to a haemophiliac child. The burden of caring for that child may make it impossible for her to cope with a third child; but if the disabled child were to die, she would have another. . . . When the death of a disabled infant will lead to the birth of another infant with better prospects of a happy life, the total amount of happiness will be greater if the disabled infant is killed. The loss of happy life for the first infant is outweighed by the gain of a happier life for the second. Therefore, if killing the haemophiliac infant has no adverse effect on others, it would, according to the total view, be right to kill him."

 

Three. Peter Singer’s definition of a “person” or someone who is worthy of the label “personhood”:

a conscious being,  a creature who has the capacity to imagine the future. This definition can apply to humans, animals, an creatures. A “person” should not be killed, but a human baby suffering severe retardation or some other handicap is not a “person.”

 

Four. Utilitarian Slippery Slope:

If we agree that we should aim for the greatest good for the greatest amount of people and that handicapped people burden the “greatest good,” at what point do we stop at defining who constitutes a “burden”? Smokers, the obese,  criminals, the handicapped, the autistic? Where do we stop?

 

Five. Peter Singer’s “Worse Off” Argument:

Disability makes a person worse off and therefore that person should be killed. And Peter Singer is comfortable judging who’s “worse off” and who’s not, a very subjective condition. See page 97 and page 106 top.

 

Six. Peter Singer’s Eugenicist Position:

The eugenicist position endorses selection according to desirable and undesirable genetic traits, and favors the elimination of the latter. Singer's argument sorts people into two categories, "normal" and "abnormal", and declares the ostensibly abnormal ones fair game at birth. He doesn't even bother to try to provide "objective" grounds on which to classify some human physical or mental conditions as "defective" (a term he used in earlier editions of Practical Ethics) and contrast them with "healthy" ones. Instead he simply welcomes whatever arbitrary social norms happen to prevail, thus turning his argument into a vehicle for prejudice. But of course there is no perfect, flawless version of the human form against which putatively "inferior" specimens could be measured.

 

Seven. Harriet McBryde Johnson’s quality of life argument:

Studies show that the public underestimates the quality of life for most handicapped people based on stereotypes. See 104 top.

 

Part Three: Essay #3 Option:

Defend or refute Peter Singer’s position that there are moral grounds for infanticide or “mercy killings.”

 

Refutation of Peter Singer: Thesis One:

While Singer’s argument for infanticide is consistent with his utilitarian worldview, his position collapses under the close eye of scrutiny in which detect huge holes or flaws in his reasoning. These flaws include __________________________, ___________________________, ____________________________, and __________________________.

 

Defense of Peter Singer: Thesis Two:

McMahon has treated Peter Singer’s infanticide argument with gross unfairness. While McMahon is correct that Singer needs to tidy up some of his vague definitions, Singer’s general argument can be ethically defended as actually helping the human race when we consider _________________________, _______________________, ___________________________, and _______________________________.

Part Four. Some Salient Titles

Must I Conform to Peter Singer's Definition of Happiness So I Can Live?

Be Happy Singer's Way . . . Or Die

Let Go of the Stale Past and Become New and Improved, Peter Singer Style

We Limit Ourselves By Dismissing Peter Singer So Quickly

 

Research Links for "Unspeakable Conversations" (92)

Since your research paper for this reading focuses on the ethics, or lack thereof, of Peter Singer's eugenics argument, the following links are directed to eugenics and the worthiness of Singer's defense of eugenics. 

Links

Institute for Social Ecology

Club 166

Second Hand Smoke

Happy Nevertheless