ANTIWAR

The arguments about war and dissent in the U.S. are just as relevant today as they were during the Progressive Era. Back then, people who opposed America’s involvement in World War I faced serious consequences, like being thrown in jail for their beliefs. While that level of punishment isn’t something we see today, I’ve noticed that antiwar voices still tend to get pushed aside.

The videos we watched really made me think about how dissenters were treated during World War I. The first video showed that even though the First Amendment is supposed to protect our freedom of speech, it wasn’t really there for people who were against the war. They were imprisoned and silenced. That caught my attention because it demonstrates how easily our rights can be violated when the nation is facing difficulties. It also made me ponder how likely it would be for anything similar to occur again.

In the second video, the focus shifted to the tension between the government and people who oppose its military actions. What’s crazy is that while today’s dissenters aren’t being jailed, their opinions still don’t get much attention in mainstream media. It's frustrating that we don’t hear more antiwar voices in the news, and it’s clear that these perspectives are often overlooked.

When I checked out websites like Antiwar.com and The American Conservative, it became clear that these sites are filled with strong antiwar perspectives, but we rarely see them highlighted in major news outlets. It really got me thinking, why are these views so hard to find unless you go looking for them? It almost feels like mainstream media is more comfortable promoting narratives that align with certain political interests rather than giving a platform to dissenting voices.

This underrepresentation seriously limits our capacity to understand the big picture. By keeping antiwar voices out of the conversation, we are not given a full picture of the problems surrounding US military operations. We are also more likely to accept these interventions without giving them careful thought or without fully weighing any potential long-term effects if that critical attitude is not there.

The easiest approach to undermine opposition is one of the main lessons I learned from this. Our freedom to express ourselves is meant to be safeguarded by the First Amendment, but there are less evident ways in which this protection can be compromised, like when the media silences opponents of war. It doesn't follow that voices aren't being silenced in other ways just because people aren't being imprisoned for speaking up. Furthermore, if we are only hearing arguments from one side of the dispute, we will not fully understand the problems.

We can't just rely on the information provided by the mainstream media but also actively seek out alternative viewpoints. If we don't, we can miss out on significant opinions that could question the status quo and encourage us to consider war and its effects more carefully. Because of this, it's important that we pay attention to who is included and excluded. We might never fully understand warfare or the entire cost of American military interventions if we don't open up to a range of perspectives!