Blog Post #6: Antiwar Voices

 I reflected on the role of dissent and how the First Amendment protects it, especially during the Progressive Era which was present during World War I. According to Brittanica, dissent is an unwillingness to cooperate with an established source of authority and is known as a powerful source for developing effective public reasoning. Those with anti-war voices did not want the American government to be involved in the war. As a result, they were persecuted for their views and hundreds of them were thrown into jail. After reading articles published by anti-war writers for the first time on ANTIWAR.com and The American Conservative, it was interesting to see a new perspective on more because most of the mainstream media we see today only includes pro-war perspectives rather than anti-war. 

One of the main reasons why anti-war voices are silenced is because it goes against the American government, many large corporations rely on war as their source of income. However, this doesn't give them the excuse to silence anti-war voices because both sides deserve to be heard. According to an article published by Liberation, almost 84 percent of New York editorial articles regarding the Afghanistan war were in favor of continuing it and over 91 percent of Post articles published also supported the war. 

According to an article published on ANTIWAR.COM, Senator McConnell from Kentucky says that calls to calls to condition military aid to Israel are "ridiculous" as Israel has been killing civilians at a fast rate in Gaza. In some cases, this statement can be seen as valid since the U.S. government has spent billions of dollars, which has caused a rise in inflation. However, there should be a balance between having advocators for world peace be able to voice their opinions in the media and also having those who rely on war for their income be able to share their opinions as well as perspectives on on the pro and anti-war movement.   

https://www.britannica.com/topic/dissent-political

https://news.antiwar.com/2023/11/28/sen-mcconnell-says-calls-to-condition-israel-aid-are-ridiculous/

https://www.theamericanconservative.com/

https://www.liberationnews.org/09-12-11-antiwar-voices-silenced-in-main-html/