Sam Li, Period 7, 12/8/23

Thomas Li                                                 

Period 7, 12/08/23                                        

Modern Mythology 2024

Socio-political Consciousness
God-like

    With most deaths (except Hitler and a few others), most would expect mourning and general respect towards the deceased. Death is a dark subject expected in everyone's lives. The passing away of an individual is a moment to mourn and honor the lives that they have led. Very recently, Former United States Secretary of State Henry Kissinger passed away at 100. He was a very influential government member and had been the secretary of state and national security advisor for two presidents. Even after those, he had been influential in US foreign affairs. You would expect respect for the loss of such a leader, yet, the mostly negative reaction was seen towards his passing. The internet and media had cheered for his death, while many high-level authorities and governments had paid respects. This polarizing difference of opinions was shocking to me, how could someone with such a high level of influence be hated enough to be mocked and disrespected this much on his death?

    After further research, I understood that he had influence and was responsible for the deaths of many Latin Americans through his effect in his effort to topple the Chilean regime during the Cold War. Kissinger had allowed many human rights abuses to take place, just to stop a socialist government from rising and taking power. All of this action was excused with the idea of “Realpolitik”, focusing on the best action, not accounting for morals or personal beliefs in his actions. This left a bad distaste in the mouths of the working class and the entirety of Latin America. Despite the immoral actions taking place, it could be argued that Kissinger was successful in his work and did well, which reveals something I had noticed about the correlation between success in U.S. politics and human morals.

    The mindsets of the ruling class and working class are extremely different. There is this general archetype that the rich only care about money and swaying control to be theirs, following their own beliefs without consideration for the people under them. On the other hand, the average worker prioritizes fairness and gives equal control and consideration to everyone, especially the needy. This archetype can be seen in many of the readings and stories we had read in class. The pattern of a god or ruler that had taken immoral actions and unreasonable decisions for their benefit. I feel like this pattern is being portrayed in Kissinger’s scenario. With his decisions that had ignored war crimes, he took on the role of a ruler who had been unable to relate to his commoners, not able to experience the pain of the sufferers. As a person who isn’t a political figure or government official, I was raised with morals that were more in line with the working class. I could never be able to take such heavy guilt or commit such immoral actions as some political figures did.  Morals are an important part of a human’s identity, but removing them can build equal parts good and bad for that person. Being able to separate morals could allow for better decision-making and more objectively beneficial results, but could lose the moral and emotional compassion that most people have and want.

    Another current event that I would like to point out would be the current Israel-Hamas war. The House of Representatives had recently approved a $14.5 billion bill for military aid for Israel. From the perspective of the common folk, this seemed immoral. Of course, this was to benefit the rich. Military technology companies like Lockheed Martin had impressive gains in their stock prices($400 to $436 at closing from October 6 to October 9th for ticker $LMT). This indicated a level of greed and monetary reason for passing such a large and costly bill. The true intentions of this bill seemed to be focused on economics rather than moral alignment with Israel. There is a lack of morals or care for the actual people in war.

    With the death of Henry Kissinger and the ongoing Israel-Hamas war, the morality of actions and objective vs subjective values are being played around like toys. Like a crazy Greek god and their absurd curses thrown at the people on Earth, things are done just for the benefit of the people in power. Regardless of what outcry and war crimes are committed, ignorance was considered bliss for them.


Works Cited
Ackerman, Spencer. “Henry Kissinger, War Criminal, Dead at 100.” Rolling Stone, 30 November 2023, https://www.rollingstone.com/politics/politics-news/henry-kissinger-war-criminal-dead-1234804748/. Accessed 3 December 2023.
“Lockheed Martin Corporation (LMT) Stock Price, News, Quote & History.” Yahoo Finance, https://finance.yahoo.com/quote/LMT/. Accessed 3 December 2023.
MASCARO, LISA. “House approves nearly $14.5 billion in military aid for Israel. Biden vows to veto the GOP approach.” AP News, 2 November 2023, https://apnews.com/article/house-israel-aid-ukraine-republicans-biden-gaza-b7bfe528b12ac5954cfd5c034f11320d. Accessed 3 December 2023.
POLITI, DANIEL, and PATRICIA LUNA. “Kissinger's unwavering support for brutal regimes still haunts Latin America.” AP News, 3 December 2023, https://apnews.com/article/kissinger-legacy-latin-america-chile-argentina-4780b50a4cc7f865b9771c1ab25a7187. Accessed 3 December 2023.