Frustration and Apathy
Not that I regret what I do, but it can be frustrating sometimes having my critique subordinated to "the way things are done." I think it's just as important to consider how things might be done. Such considerations are really the beginning of changing our systems.
I'm reacting to the Criminal Law class I just left, both the content and the commentary of my classmates. I think this is really the first time since I got here that I was truly incensed by what my colleagues had to say and the apparent lack of consideration from which it was coming. Most of them just seemed to be speaking without ever having considered the assumptions upon which their logic is predicated and were, for that reason, making some incredibly insensitive remarks regarding constructions of society and community that didn't match their own conception of what community and punishment should be about.
Because of the way the course runs, I didn't have a chance to speak-up until the professor was wrapping things up, but by that time the opportunity to engage had passed. I'm frustrated with my classmates because I know that they're not bad people, no matter that some of them do sound like they have no respect for human life or human dignity because they subscribe to a profoundly individualistic point of view. And I'm frustrated with the professor because he's not pushing us to explore the assumptions that underpin the criminal justice system.
I guess I'm just cranky because I'm not getting all the opportunity for respectful, constructive conversation I expect.
I'm reacting to the Criminal Law class I just left, both the content and the commentary of my classmates. I think this is really the first time since I got here that I was truly incensed by what my colleagues had to say and the apparent lack of consideration from which it was coming. Most of them just seemed to be speaking without ever having considered the assumptions upon which their logic is predicated and were, for that reason, making some incredibly insensitive remarks regarding constructions of society and community that didn't match their own conception of what community and punishment should be about.
Because of the way the course runs, I didn't have a chance to speak-up until the professor was wrapping things up, but by that time the opportunity to engage had passed. I'm frustrated with my classmates because I know that they're not bad people, no matter that some of them do sound like they have no respect for human life or human dignity because they subscribe to a profoundly individualistic point of view. And I'm frustrated with the professor because he's not pushing us to explore the assumptions that underpin the criminal justice system.
I guess I'm just cranky because I'm not getting all the opportunity for respectful, constructive conversation I expect.
posted by Master of Disaster @ 1/12/2006 04:02:00 PM
