Individuality is the Key to Meaningful Civil Disobedience

Mugshot of Martin Luther King: Leader of the Civil Rights Movement

Martin Luther King wrote his Letter from Birmingham Jail these words from his Jail cell in Birmingham, Alabama in mid-April of 1963. He is one of the most influential figures in modern American history, and a consistently pursues virtue though non-violent motions against injustice. King not only protested for the equality of his black community in Birmingham, he embraced imprisonment for the sole purpose of raising awareness of the injustice behind his communities relentless and meaningless discrimination. Segregation via arbitrary classification infringes on the freedoms to express human personality and demeans the discriminated minority’s right to being treated as human (Owen Fiss, Groups and the Equal Protection Clause). To further the harm, King addresses a majority that recognizes injustice, yet, delays change imposes a “negative peace” rather than promote “positive peace, where all men respect the dignity and worth of human personality”. Ultimately, it is the purpose of Government to uphold this positive peace among all the members of society by ensuring equal protection of human rights. To accomplish this, Martin Luther King defines the need to impose justice with “a code, [where] a majority compels a minority to follow and that it is willing to follow itself”. For King, just was defined as “sameness made legal”. The means of discrimination regarding racial discrimination were unjust because they didn’t apply equally to all people. They promoted legal “difference” rather than “sameness”, forcing Martin Luther King to rightfully disobey and protest the unjust sanctions to raise awareness for necessary change against institutional majorities. He fought for his rights in the face of impending odds, shifting the course of history forever.

King was correct in advocating for equal legal treatment for all races, blacks especially. Racially discriminatory laws, unless attributed the strictest of scrutiny, is arbitrary because it doesn’t apply to the entire population equally. He defined justice as “sameness made legal” to combat the legal segregation of blacks and whites that stood at the time. However, meaningful discrimination is a more powerful method of achieving the beneficial purpose of government as long as criteria for classification is applicable to achieving the purpose of the law.

“Risk something or forever sit with your dreams.”- Herb Brooks

Over the past semester, I attended the showing of the magnificent move Miracle. I also attended the Michigan Sports Business Conference (MSBC was approved by Mika on Piazza).

The Ongoing Argument

One of the most ongoing conversations in college sports today is the discussion of paying student athletes. Though there are several arguments made for each side, this article, explains Ed O’Bannon’s unique argument that involves an athletes personhood. His argument is a certain video game, which create players of identical physical features and play styles. It is identical to what goes on in Madden or any other professional video game except the players in collegiate games lack compensation because what does not exist in the college games is, apparently the only important thing, the name.

Beats by Mill

The National Football League has been engulfed in controversy this season. From the handling of domestic violence amongst their players to the always-interesting debate of what to do about the concussions, the NFL just can’t seem to catch a break. Even when it comes to something as simple as the accessories players are allowed to wear the NFL still managed to stir up some controversy. Not to long ago the NFL struck up a deal with Bose, making Bose headphones the official headphones of the NFL.  In Chris Matyszczyks’s article “NFL Players Thumb Nose at Beats Headphones Ban” he explains that this means NFL players cannot be seen with any other brand of headphones, including the popular Beats headphones, while on TV during an NFL game, this includes pregame warm-ups and postgame interviews. Many NFL players are upset about this and if John Mill had anything to say about the matter he would believe their feelings to be justified.

The NFL’s new deal with Bose has brought with it all sorts of complications.

Cheesing, and Other Annoying Strategies

StarCraft II World Championship, Day 2 in Stockholm, Sweden. Source – Liquipedia

In the New Yorker article we read about e-Sports, Ben McGrath brings up the strategic tactic commonly known in the world of StarCraft II as “cheesing”. It’s when a player in the game uses a sneaky, cheesy attack – hence the name – that is often regarded as a cheap shot. Used strategically and relatively scarcely, cheesing can be useful for players and funny for spectators to watch. However, when used too much, cheesing gives users a bad reputation and spectators get annoyed when a player does it. This concept is one not unknown in the world of physical sports; McGrath compares cheesing to on-side kicks in American football and “baseball’s hidden-ball trick”. In my personal experience, cheesing is very easily comparable to volleyball’s roll shot.

College vs. Pro aka Conservatism vs. Liberalism

It is without doubt that political systems are evident within college and pro level sports, for if they weren’t this course wouldn’t exist. By instituting these systems and tendencies into American sports, the structure is strengthened and the competition is heightened. Political hierarchies are set in place to ensure dominance and cooperation, where the owner and University can be compared to the elitist bourgeoisie class, and the fans and players as the proletariat, the lowest class with the highest density. There are certain groups who create the laws for the games, and the sense of strategy on the field causes high competition that emulates elections and lawmaking.

This image is included to simply establish the hawks’ elitism to those Wing peasants.

A couple weeks ago, I went to a Michigan basketball exhibition game against Wayne State University. About halfway through the first half, I noticed that all players on the court were dressed  almost identically; each player was wearing a properly tucked jersey, their Adidas shoes, and a pair of black socks. I passed by a store in the concourse, and jerseys with the names ‘Albrecht’ and ‘LeVert’ printed on the backs. A few days later, I traveled to the Motor City to watch the Hawks-Wings matchup (obviously rooting for the Hawks). The players’ physical appearances varied; some donned shields, others didn’t, their sticks varied in brand, and the goalies and back-ups wore helmets with differing paint jobs. The plentiful amount of concourse stores sold player bobble-heads, jerseys, shirts with players’ names, and autographed posters (who’d want to buy any of that Wings shit, though).

Hokey Pokey

You put your right hand in, you put your right hand out… but the song doesn’t call for pulling QB’s in and out.

He put his right foot in, he put his right foot out, he put his right foot in, and shook it all about in his time here as the head coach of the football team but in the end of his Hokey-Pokey, turned himself around and out; and that’s what it was all about his time here at  the University of Michigan.

I’m no hard critic on sports -others are much better at that than I am. But what finally happened Tuesday was the result of a tedious back-and-forth between someone who’s lost face and the people who’ve lost faith in him and his ability to perform his duties. If anything, Machiavelli would shake his head at how things went down -things that went south and could have prevented. 

Let It Go (Conservatism, That Is)

Disney’s Frozen, a cartoon movie intended for a younger audience, tells the captivating tale of Anna and her journey to bring her sister, Queen Elsa, back to her kingdom to unfreeze the town. The story is bursting at the seams with situations, humor, and characters who appeal to children, but are those the only extractions that can be taken from it? Would John Stuart Mill approve of Queen Elsa as a leader and more importantly, her lovely singing voice?

Of course, the answer is yes, or else I wouldn’t ask such a question.

The beloved childhood movie shows signs of Millian themes interwoven within the singing, dancing, and talking snowmen. John Stewart Mill, Utilitarian, feminist, and liberal, argued that uniqueness within a society is key. Individuality must be prevalent and cherished, unless in times when a tradition has been kept for so long that it is natural to follow it. He believes strongly in girl power, and the equality that the female gender deserves. Mills argued that diversity of opinion was necessary, but most importantly that criticism must be taken (if anyone would like to debate over Elsa’s jaw-dropping voice, I guess I am willing to accept other views).

Individuality in Sportscasting

Be yourself

“Who is Andrea Joyce?” I asked myself as I walked into a large make-shift auditorium in the Undergraduate Library on campus. The first thing I noticed was the shockingly large crowd she accumulated for an hour-long, middle of the day interview. She must be famous, but for what? My questions were answered by a news reel style presentation that highlighted the multitude of sporting events, including the Olympics, that she anchored.

The crowds’ thunderous applause carried her small figure onto the stage, but her bombastic personality effortlessly grasped the attention of the hundred or so spectators she gathered. It was no wonder why she became the milestone for progressive improvements throughout the sports industry.

A Theorists Guide at Surviving Holiday Travel

Airports are exhausting and disgusting. If you disagree with me, you either only fly private (in which case hello, I’m trying to hang) or you’re wrong. For those of you who qualify as the later, stop glorifying the experience because you enjoy the magic of being thrust through the air into the clouds like a bird. I’m all for reveling in the wonder that is flight, but you’re living in a state of delusion if you think that you can remain levelheaded and sane during your travels. Many aspects of flying relate to some political theorist in some way, from showing up to check-in, to grabbing your luggage at baggage claim, because after all, flying takes skill/cunning/strategy and sometimes when your plans don’t pan out, it’s because of the way the state of nature of the airport is. I wish it were as simple as tying one theorist to flying but this is real life and there’s no perfect theorist that will get you through the nightmare that is flying. So remember, the ends justify the means unless those means get you in trouble with TSA and you never even reach the end because you’ve landed yourself on the no fly list. So listen to the rants of a disillusioned flyer: