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680 lines
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<title>21 June, 2021</title>
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<title>Daily-Dose</title><meta content="width=device-width, initial-scale=1.0" name="viewport"/><link href="styles/simple.css" rel="stylesheet"/><link href="../styles/simple.css" rel="stylesheet"/><style>*{overflow-x:hidden;}</style><link href="https://unpkg.com/aos@2.3.1/dist/aos.css" rel="stylesheet"/><script src="https://unpkg.com/aos@2.3.1/dist/aos.js"></script></head>
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<body>
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<h1 data-aos="fade-down" id="daily-dose">Daily-Dose</h1>
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<h1 data-aos="fade-right" data-aos-anchor-placement="top-bottom" id="contents">Contents</h1>
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<ul>
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<li><a href="#from-new-yorker">From New Yorker</a></li>
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<li><a href="#from-vox">From Vox</a></li>
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<li><a href="#from-the-hindu-sports">From The Hindu: Sports</a></li>
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<li><a href="#from-the-hindu-national-news">From The Hindu: National News</a></li>
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<li><a href="#from-bbc-europe">From BBC: Europe</a></li>
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<li><a href="#from-ars-technica">From Ars Technica</a></li>
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<li><a href="#from-jokes-subreddit">From Jokes Subreddit</a></li>
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</ul>
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<h1 data-aos="fade-right" id="from-new-yorker">From New Yorker</h1>
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<ul>
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<li><p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><strong>Can Biden Reverse Trump’s Damage to the State Department?</strong> - Reeling from the leadership of Rex Tillerson and Mike Pompeo, career officials wonder whether Secretary of State Antony Blinken can revitalize American diplomacy. - <a href="https://www.newyorker.com/books/page-turner/can-biden-reverse-trumps-damage-to-the-state-department">link</a></p></li>
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<li><p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><strong>Iran Moves Toward a One-Party State</strong> - The Supreme Leader is willing to risk the legitimacy of an election to consolidate monolithic hard-line control. - <a href="https://www.newyorker.com/news/our-columnists/iran-moves-toward-a-one-party-state">link</a></p></li>
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<li><p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><strong>The High Cost of Biden’s Meeting with Putin</strong> - To Biden, illusions are a hazard in foreign policy; to Putin, they are its currency. - <a href="https://www.newyorker.com/news/our-columnists/the-high-cost-of-bidens-meeting-with-putin">link</a></p></li>
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<li><p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><strong>Why Do So Many New York Politicians Want Paperboy Prince to Hit Them in the Face with a Pie?</strong> - “Y’all haven’t seen what I do with confetti,” the candidate bent on upstaging the mayor’s race said. - <a href="https://www.newyorker.com/news/our-local-correspondents/why-do-so-many-new-york-politicians-want-paperboy-prince-to-hit-them-in-the-face-with-a-pie">link</a></p></li>
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<li><p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><strong>What Is Going On at Yale Law School?</strong> - The prestigious institution has tied itself in knots over a dispute involving one of its most popular—and controversial—professors, Amy Chua. - <a href="https://www.newyorker.com/news/annals-of-education/what-is-going-on-at-yale-law-school">link</a></p></li>
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</ul>
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<h1 data-aos="fade-right" id="from-vox">From Vox</h1>
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<ul>
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<li><strong>This progressive police reform bill is pretty popular</strong> -
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<figure>
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<img alt="" src="https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/thumbor/V3PT7PqmUk1i_pQd7ORZFMQ9D-o=/0x0:4949x3712/1310x983/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_image/image/69480720/1320049653.0.jpg"/>
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<figcaption>
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Protesters call for change at a Los Angeles rally. | Getty Images
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</figcaption>
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</figure>
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<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom">
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A new Vox poll shows a majority of Americans are open to the Breathe Act’s ambitious reforms.
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</p>
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<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="6R6P1P">
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As lawmakers try to find a bipartisan compromise on police reform, new polling data reveals that a more progressive approach has fairly strong support as well.
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</p>
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<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="m7EK7C">
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<a href="https://www.filesforprogress.org/datasets/2021/6/dfp-vox-police-reform-legislation-toplines.pdf">Per a Vox/Data for Progress survey</a>, <a href="https://www.vox.com/22263084/breathe-act-revolutionize-policing-pressley-tlaib">the Breathe Act</a>, legislation that would implement a more sweeping overhaul of policing that has been championed by activists including the Movement for Black Lives, also has 51 percent likely voter backing. The much less ambitious George Floyd Justice in Policing Act has strong support as well, with an even higher 66 percent in backing.
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</p>
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<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="xpyVFI">
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And yet, neither is likely to make it into law. Both bills are more expansive than what lawmakers are currently negotiating, and face roadblocks when it comes to the Senate. While Democrats made the Justice in Policing Act their starting point in negotiations, it doesn’t have the votes to get through the upper chamber and neither would the Breathe Act.
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</p>
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<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="IrEqpt">
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Because of the Senate’s current 50-50 split, the existence of the legislative filibuster, and Democrats’ own internal divisions on police reform, they will have to compromise with Republicans to advance a bill, suggesting that whatever could pass will be more limited than the Justice in Policing Act.
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</p>
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<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="p1j9nc">
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The differences between the various policing measures are significant.
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</p>
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<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="dB8maL">
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The Breathe Act, the more progressive option, calls for the closure of federal agencies like Immigration and Customs Enforcement and the Drug Enforcement Administration, and divesting federal funds allocated to law enforcement. It also includes an array of other reforms including offering federal grants to local governments to invest in public safety alternatives, and pushing for an end to mandatory minimums.
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</p>
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<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="w0zVEc">
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The Justice in Policing Act would center on curbing qualified immunity protections for police officers, making it easier to prosecute police officers at the federal level and establishing a national registry of police misconduct. Republicans’ Justice Act, meanwhile, would call on individual law enforcement agencies to keep records about misconduct, incentivize state and local agencies to ban chokeholds, and gather data about the use of no-knock warrants.
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</p>
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<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="wG3mIQ">
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Any bipartisan agreement is expected to include a more limited version of qualified immunity reforms, and potential federal bans on chokeholds and no-knock warrants in drug cases.
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</p>
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<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="fecE84">
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Backing for different components of the Breathe Act varies. According to the poll, 56 percent of people favor reducing incarcerations, 43 percent support closures of agencies including ICE and DEA, 51 percent support ending mandatory minimum sentences and 52 percent back additional federal money that incentivizes local governments to invest in public safety alternatives.
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</p>
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<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="CNdakD">
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The poll indicates that activists’ favored approach has stable public backing, though most people still prefer an option that preserves the existing policing system (58 percent), compared to one that significantly shifts funding away from policing to other forms of public safety (30 percent).
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</p>
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<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="Zd6Oc4">
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Overall, though, the survey shows that people would be open to a police and criminal justice reform option that’s broader than one the Senate might take up — if one comes to a vote at all.
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</p>
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<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="5km2be">
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Thus far, the prospects for a bipartisan agreement have been uncertain. While lawmakers have repeatedly said they’ve been making progress, they missed a May 25 deadline they set for a compromise to be reached and have yet to unveil a potential framework.
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</p>
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<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="ll3DvZ">
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The poll was fielded between June 9 to 11 and includes 1,227 voters. It has a sampling margin of error of 3 percentage points.
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</p>
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<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="wtaaDV">
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</p>
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<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="XwfwXU">
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</p></li>
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<li><strong>The UN has condemned Myanmar’s military coup. Will that matter?</strong> -
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<figure>
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<img alt="MYANMAR-POLITICS-MILITARY" src="https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/thumbor/Q4mnDOkpJ-2HD4nKIrLgcV8uKtU=/334x0:5667x4000/1310x983/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_image/image/69478989/1233422468.0.jpg"/>
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<figcaption>
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Protesters make the three-finger salute as they take part in a demonstration against the military coup in Yangon, Myanmar on June 13, 2021. | STR/AFP via Getty Images
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</figcaption>
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</figure>
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<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom">
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“We cannot live in a world where military coups become a norm,” the UN Secretary-General said.
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</p>
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<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="RJS9RJ">
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More than four months after the military <a href="https://www.vox.com/22260076/myanmar-coup-military-suu-kyi-explain">seized power</a> in Myanmar, the United Nations General Assembly took the rare step on Friday of voting to <a href="https://twitter.com/USEmbassyBurma/status/1406152339409444871?s=20">formally condemn</a> the February 1 coup and called for an end to arms dealing with the country.
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</p>
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<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="M9Vxea">
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The condemnation comes as UN officials express concern that the nation is on the brink of civil war and as humanitarian conditions worsen for civilians. While significant, though, the vote itself revealed complicated geopolitics that may stymie a more forceful international response to the situation.
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</p>
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<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="gD9Hyj">
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The UN approved the <a href="https://undocs.org/en/A/75/L.85/Rev.1">resolution</a> by a vote of 119 to 1, with 36 countries abstaining. In addition to condemning the junta and calling for the return of a democratic government in Myanmar, the resolution also urges “all [UN] Member States to prevent the flow of arms into Myanmar.”
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</p>
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<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="h6h216">
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“The risk of a large-scale civil war is real,” Christine Schraner Burgener, the UN special envoy on Myanmar, said after the vote. “Time is of the essence. The opportunity to reverse the military takeover is narrowing.”
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</p>
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<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="ZKlfAG">
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The resolution was lauded by members of the international community, including deputy head of the European Union delegation Ambassador Silvio Gonzato, who greeted it as “a rare and significant expression of the General Assembly condemnation in the face of a gross violation of fundamental democratic norms and neglecting the clearly expressed wish of a people.”
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</p>
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<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="7N27Z3">
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“The international community does not accept the coup, and it does not recognize any legitimacy to the regime that emerged from it,” Gonzato said Friday in a <a href="https://eeas.europa.eu/delegations/un-new-york/100320/eu-statement-%E2%80%93-united-nations-general-assembly-meeting-myanmar_en">statement</a>.
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</p>
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<div id="EDWRAw">
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<blockquote class="twitter-tweet">
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<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" dir="ltr" lang="en">
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With the support of 119 countries, the UN General Assembly adopted a resolution that calls on Myanmar’s military junta to restore the democratic transition and calls on all member states “to prevent the flow of arms into Myanmar.” The international community has spoken. <a href="https://t.co/DqCPAwPX3R">pic.twitter.com/DqCPAwPX3R</a>
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</p>
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— U.S. Embassy Burma (<span class="citation" data-cites="USEmbassyBurma">@USEmbassyBurma</span>) <a href="https://twitter.com/USEmbassyBurma/status/1406152339409444871?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">June 19, 2021</a>
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</blockquote></div></li>
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</ul>
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<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="9Brqxv">
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The UN has taken a similar step only three times since the end of the Cold War, <a href="https://www.smh.com.au/world/asia/un-general-assembly-condemns-myanmar-coup-calls-for-arms-embargo-20210619-p582ek.html">according to UN International Crisis Group Director Richard Gowan</a>, after military coups in Haiti, Burundi, and Honduras in 1991, 1993, and 2009, respectively. Such a unified response by the General Assembly was not deployed in response to other significant military power grabs in recent years, including <a href="https://www.vox.com/2015/5/14/18093760/thailand-coup-problem">multiple national crises in Thailand</a>.
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</p>
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<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="Q8WYG2">
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However, the resolution, which is nonbinding, is unlikely to make any immediate difference in the crisis currently plaguing Myanmar, and it stops short of imposing an outright arms embargo on the southeast Asian nation, which borders Thailand. And China and Russia — two of Myanmar’s largest suppliers of weapons — were among the countries that abstained from the vote.
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</p>
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<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="q5YsrD">
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On Sunday, Pope Francis <a href="https://www.reuters.com/world/asia-pacific/pope-joins-myanmar-bishops-appeal-humanitarian-corridors-2021-06-20/">called</a> for humanitarian aid to be allowed into the country and for houses of worship to be offered as sanctuary to those fleeing violence. Hundreds of people have been killed since the February coup, and some 175,000 more have been displaced.
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</p>
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<h3 id="sjs3pu">
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The vote revealed messy international politics
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</h3>
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<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="oHBpxf">
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Initially, UN General Assembly President Volkan Bozkir had hoped to adopt Friday’s Myanmar resolution by consensus; in a speech prior to the vote, Bozkir <a href="https://www.un.org/pga/75/2021/06/18/general-assembly-meeting-on-myanmar/">told</a> members of the assembly that “when it comes to Myanmar we must act, as <em>nations, united</em>. I trust that you, as Guardians of the Charter of the United Nations, will join me in this call for peace.”
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</p>
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<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="6cO5xp">
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But Belarus, eventually the sole no vote on the resolution, forced a recorded vote instead, resulting in a significant number of abstentions.
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</p>
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<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="g9VjWP">
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Sometimes known as “Europe’s last dictatorship,” Belarus has previously sold weapons to Myanmar, <a href="https://twitter.com/JusticeMyanmar/status/1406242208244584448?s=20">according to the activist group Justice for Myanmar</a>, and the small eastern European nation has been the target of international scrutiny in its own right after dictator Alexander Lukashenko <a href="https://www.vox.com/2020/8/10/21357805/belarus-election-tikhanovskaya-lukashenko-protest-minsk">held onto power</a> in a sham presidential election last year.
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</p>
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<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="d5QMNP">
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In addition to permanent UN Security Council members China and Russia, several members of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations, or ASEAN, abstained from voting on the resolution. Brunei, Cambodia, Thailand, and Laos — all of which are categorized as “<a href="https://freedomhouse.org/countries/freedom-world/scores">not free</a>” by the international watchdog organization Freedom House — chose to abstain.
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</p>
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<div id="iizlf8">
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<blockquote class="twitter-tweet">
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<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" dir="ltr" lang="en">
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The <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/UNGA?src=hash&ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#UNGA</a> resolution on <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/Myanmar?src=hash&ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#Myanmar</a> calls<br/>- for the “immediate release of all those detained arbitrarily”<br/>- “for safe & unimpeded humanitarian access to all people in need”<br/>- on “all member states to prevent the flow of arms into Myanmar”<br/>FULL TEXT➡️ <a href="https://t.co/GYC9f51Iqc">https://t.co/GYC9f51Iqc</a>
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</p>
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— Nadira Kourt (<span class="citation" data-cites="NadiraKourt">@NadiraKourt</span>) <a href="https://twitter.com/NadiraKourt/status/1405975906007519240?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">June 18, 2021</a>
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</blockquote>
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</div>
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<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="tryhQa">
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Unsurprisingly, Myanmar’s military government has already <a href="https://apnews.com/article/united-nations-general-assembly-united-nations-myanmar-db2fb69321987db34042d1cf1c273395">rejected</a> the resolution and accused the UN of infringing on Myanmar’s sovereignty. Despite that, however, the resolution was supported by Myanmar in the UN, where Myanmar ambassador to the UN <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2021/03/06/world/asia/myanmar-protests-un-ambassador.html">Kyaw Moe Tun</a>, who was appointed under the previous democratic government, has refused to leave his post.
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</p>
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<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="tBHk3J">
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“We need further strongest possible action from the international community to immediately end the military coup, to stop oppressing the innocent people, to return the state power to the people, and to restore the democracy,” Kyaw Moe Tun <a href="https://twitter.com/Reuters/status/1365498137369010176?s=20">said</a> in February.
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</p>
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<div id="61Aa7B">
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<blockquote class="twitter-tweet">
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<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" dir="ltr" lang="en">
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Whoa. It is impossible to overstate the risks that <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/Myanmar?src=hash&ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#Myanmar</a> UN ambassador Kyaw Moe Tun just took in the <a href="https://twitter.com/UN?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw"><span class="citation" data-cites="UN">@UN</span></a> General Assembly when (voice cracking) he just now called on world to oppose the military coup. See photo below of him giving the three-fingered salute of the protestors. <a href="https://t.co/qnmr0RMY0S">https://t.co/qnmr0RMY0S</a>
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</p>
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— Samantha Power (<span class="citation" data-cites="SamanthaJPower">@SamanthaJPower</span>) <a href="https://twitter.com/SamanthaJPower/status/1365328956136820742?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">February 26, 2021</a>
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</blockquote>
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</div>
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<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="N25flm">
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While Friday’s resolution is noteworthy, multiple UN officials — including Schraner Burgener and Special Rapporteur on human rights in Myanmar Tom Andrews — have called for the UN to do more as Myanmar’s humanitarian crisis worsens.
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</p>
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<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="Aslynh">
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“[T]he [United Nations Security Council] should now take action by imposing an arms embargo, sanctions & measures to hold the junta accountable,” Andrews wrote in a <a href="https://twitter.com/RapporteurUn/status/1406310999284588544?s=20">tweet</a> on Saturday.
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</p>
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<div id="sIwvoJ">
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<blockquote class="twitter-tweet">
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<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" dir="ltr" lang="en">
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Yesterday’s UNGA resolution on Myanmar was notable because of how strongly it rebuked the junta, AND because not a single UNSC member voted against it. This means that the UNSC should now take action by imposing an arms embargo, sanctions & measures to hold the junta accountable.
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</p>
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— UN Special Rapporteur Tom Andrews (<span class="citation" data-cites="RapporteurUn">@RapporteurUn</span>) <a href="https://twitter.com/RapporteurUn/status/1406310999284588544?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">June 19, 2021</a>
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</blockquote>
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</div>
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<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="s61oFF">
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However, that could prove difficult. As permanent Security Council members, <a href="https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2021-06-09/china-boosts-support-for-myanmar-army-countering-u-s-sanctions">China</a> and <a href="https://www.axios.com/russia-myanmar-visit-arms-sales-putin-syria-9055117e-7593-4775-ad01-0155517cfd06.html">Russia</a> both have veto power over Security Council proposals, and both have remained friendly with Myanmar since the coup earlier this year.
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</p>
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<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="lWDC8j">
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Chinese companies are among the largest suppliers of weaponry to the Myanmar military, according to a report by <a href="https://www.rfa.org/english/news/china/supplying-02182021091648.html">Justice for Myanmar</a>, a pro-democracy advocacy group, and Russia has also <a href="https://www.rfa.org/english/commentaries/asia-russia-05102021104354.html">sold</a> fighter jets and other matériel to Myanmar.
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</p>
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<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="oS4Qh5">
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Previously, the Security Council <a href="https://news.un.org/en/story/2021/03/1086962">condemned</a> the use of violence against peaceful protesters in Myanmar and backed a democratic transition away from military rule in a March statement, but it’s unclear if more concrete actions against the Myanmar junta, such as an arms embargo, would escape a veto.
|
||
</p>
|
||
<h3 id="GOxAwU">
|
||
A humanitarian crisis
|
||
</h3>
|
||
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="MSuMjG">
|
||
Myanmar’s democratic collapse has also engendered additional humanitarian crises, including a faltering health system and endangered food supplies, Schraner Burgener said on Friday, <a href="https://news.un.org/en/story/2021/06/1094322">according to the UN news agency</a>.
|
||
</p>
|
||
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="KGPMg5">
|
||
Currently, according to the UN, more than 600 people have been killed since the junta took power in February — the regime has repeatedly used <a href="https://www.abc.net.au/news/2021-03-11/myanmar-army-uses-lethal-force-used-on-protesters-amnesty-finds/13237220">live ammunition</a> on <a href="https://www.vox.com/2021/3/13/22329081/myanmar-protests-killed-casualties">peaceful protesters</a> — and thousands have been arrested. Around 175,000 people have been displaced, and more have fled to neighboring countries as refugees. On Sunday, Pope Francis called for military leaders to allow aid to reach those displaced people.
|
||
</p>
|
||
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="goCFGl">
|
||
Some <a href="https://www.reuters.com/world/asia-pacific/myanmar-activists-say-more-than-800-killed-by-security-forces-since-coup-2021-05-18/">reports</a>, however, put the death toll since February at 800 or more — and the true number is likely even worse.
|
||
</p>
|
||
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="GfrUWf">
|
||
In April, Human Rights Watch also <a href="https://www.hrw.org/news/2021/04/02/myanmar-hundreds-forcibly-disappeared">reported</a> that hundreds of people have been forcibly “disappeared” by the junta since February — a crime against humanity under <a href="https://www.un.org/en/genocideprevention/crimes-against-humanity.shtml">international law</a>.
|
||
</p>
|
||
<h3 id="rzV1zs">
|
||
How did Myanmar get here?
|
||
</h3>
|
||
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="15l7xB">
|
||
Myanmar — sometimes <a href="https://apnews.com/article/myanmar-burma-different-names-explained-8af64e33cf89c565b074eec9cbe22b72">known as Burma</a> — has been in crisis since well before Friday’s UN resolution. In early February, the country’s military, which has long been a force in domestic politics, seized power after losing elections in November last year — citing, <a href="https://www.bbc.com/news/world-asia-57144397">without evidence</a>, voter fraud as the reason for their loss.
|
||
</p>
|
||
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="w1BuvD">
|
||
The coup, which ousted popular leader and Nobel Peace Prize winner <a href="https://www.vox.com/world/2017/9/7/16256164/myanmar-rohingya-muslim-flee-bangladesh-genocide-aung-san-suu-kyi">Aung San Suu Kyi</a>, was a return to an earlier era for Myanmar, which had been under military rule for decades until 2011. And it set off a massive, enduring pro-democracy movement, with protests <a href="https://www.reuters.com/world/asia-pacific/myanmar-military-fails-quell-protests-four-months-after-coup-2021-06-01/">continuing this month</a> despite a <a href="https://www.vox.com/2021/3/13/22329081/myanmar-protests-killed-casualties">brutal crackdown</a> and the use of live ammunition by regime forces.
|
||
</p>
|
||
<figure class="e-image">
|
||
<img alt="A soldier patrols the street in front of the Central Bank in Yangon, Myanmar" src="https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/thumbor/j19QjtbsiTfUaw1WXv77rggSx3k=/800x0/filters:no_upscale()/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_asset/file/22670175/1231185623.jpg"/> <cite>Aung Kyaw Htet/SOPA Images/LightRocket via Getty Images</cite>
|
||
<figcaption>
|
||
A soldier patrols the street in front of the Central Bank building in Yangon, Myanmar during a pro-democracy demonstration on Feb. 15, 2021.
|
||
</figcaption>
|
||
</figure>
|
||
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="5e8Xjl">
|
||
As Vox’s Alex Ward <a href="https://www.vox.com/22260076/myanmar-coup-military-suu-kyi-explain">explained at the time</a>, the coup was telegraphed well ahead of time by the country’s military, which refused to accept the results of Myanmar’s November 2020 parliamentary elections.
|
||
</p>
|
||
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="XTfJ9F">
|
||
Suu Kyi’s National League for Democracy (NLD) party <a href="https://www.reuters.com/article/us-myanmar-politics-explainer/explainer-crisis-in-myanmar-after-army-alleges-election-fraud-idUSKBN2A113H">won overwhelmingly</a> in November, claiming fully 83 percent of the available seats in parliament.
|
||
</p>
|
||
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="IpvJrB">
|
||
Suu Kyi is a beloved national figure in Myanmar, and spent the better part of two decades under <a href="https://www.bbc.com/news/world-asia-pacific-11751619">house arrest</a> for her pro-democracy activism after the NLD won parliamentary elections in 1990. She was only <a href="https://www.bbc.com/news/world-asia-16546688">released</a> in 2010, shortly before Myanmar’s democratic transition.
|
||
</p>
|
||
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="n511VY">
|
||
However, she has become increasingly controversial in the eyes of the international community for her role in Myanmar’s <a href="https://www.vox.com/the-highlight/2019/9/3/20837372/rohingya-refugee-myanmar-bangladesh-camp-violence">genocide</a> against the Rohingya, a Muslim ethnic minority. Thousands of Rohingya people were killed, and more than 700,000 rounded up and deported, by the same military that is now in power.
|
||
</p>
|
||
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="fb4dFR">
|
||
As Vox’s Jariel Arvin <a href="https://www.vox.com/2021/2/4/22266816/myanmar-coup-biden-military">reported</a> earlier this year, Suu Kyi “not only refused to condemn the military for its actions, but went as far as to defend them in an international court.” That decision has complicated international support for Myanmar’s pro-democracy movement, which still venerates Suu Kyi.
|
||
</p>
|
||
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="pgbZMA">
|
||
In 2020, history repeated itself for Suu Kyi after her NLD party claimed a “landslide” November election victory. <a href="https://www.vox.com/22260076/myanmar-coup-military-suu-kyi-explain">According to Ward</a>:
|
||
</p>
|
||
<blockquote>
|
||
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="HWfG8v">
|
||
… the military and its political arm immediately <a href="https://www.reuters.com/article/us-myanmar-politics-explainer/explainer-crisis-in-myanmar-after-army-alleges-election-fraud-idUSKBN2A113H"><strong>claimed the elections were fraudulent</strong></a>, though <a href="https://www.cartercenter.org/news/pr/2020/myanmar-111020.html"><strong>foreign observers</strong></a> and the nation’s electoral commission declared there had been no significant problems. They went so far as to demand a new, <a href="https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2021/1/30/myanmars-newly-elected-parliament-set-to-meet-amid-coup-threats"><strong>military-supervised election, filed 200 complaints to local election agencies, and took their case to the nation’s Supreme Court</strong></a>.
|
||
</p>
|
||
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="BG2pvw">
|
||
Then … a military spokesperson warned that the armed forces might “<a href="https://www.reuters.com/article/us-myanmar-politics-explainer/explainer-crisis-in-myanmar-after-army-alleges-election-fraud-idUSKBN2A113H"><strong>take action</strong></a>” if their assertions of fraud weren’t taken seriously and notably refused to rule out a coup. Citing a <a href="https://www.reuters.com/article/us-myanmar-politics/aung-san-suu-kyi-and-other-leaders-arrested-party-spokesman-says-idUSKBN2A00VC"><strong>provision in the constitution it drafted</strong></a>, the military said it could launch a coup if the nation’s sovereignty was threatened and declare a national emergency.
|
||
</p>
|
||
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="iAF3GY">
|
||
“Unless this problem is resolved, it will obstruct the path to democracy and it must therefore be resolved according to the law,” a military spokesperson said.
|
||
</p>
|
||
</blockquote>
|
||
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="vXclfk">
|
||
Finally, just before Myanmar’s parliament was set to certify the results of the election, the military, led by Senior Gen. Min Aung Hlaing, seized power. They detained Suu Kyi and other government officials, as well as many activists, halted flights in and out of the country, and declared a state of emergency that would last one year.
|
||
</p>
|
||
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="wcPfez">
|
||
Since then, <a href="https://www.vox.com/2021/2/14/22282818/myanmar-protests-military-coup-arrest-suu-kyi">hundreds of thousands of pro-democracy protesters</a> have continued to push back on the junta, though with little success so far, and often facing <a href="https://www.npr.org/2021/03/27/981894604/at-least-91-people-killed-in-myanmar-as-violence-continues-to-escalate">deadly violence</a>. Suu Kyi is once more under house arrest by the junta on charges of <a href="https://www.france24.com/en/live-news/20210615-myanmar-s-suu-kyi-goes-on-trial-for-sedition-in-junta-court">sedition</a>.
|
||
</p>
|
||
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="iDqXVR">
|
||
In addition to cracking down on civil society and <a href="https://apnews.com/article/joe-biden-world-news-embassies-myanmar-china-142587aef9a789b29a16d2ddce28bbe6">arresting</a> prominent activists and political opponents, the regime has blocked access to social media sites like Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, and WhatsApp, and in April began <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/world/2021/apr/02/myanmar-coup-military-expands-internet-shutdown">shutting down broadband access</a> outright.
|
||
</p>
|
||
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="bYDXYz">
|
||
And military forces continue to unleash arbitrary violence against protesters, reportedly even launching <a href="https://www.pri.org/stories/2021-06-02/souring-peace-marches-myanmar-protesters-seek-weapons">mortar shells</a> into civilian neighborhoods. As Vox’s Jen Kirby <a href="https://www.vox.com/22412118/myanmar-coup-protesters-rohingya">reported</a> in May, “At 8 pm, <a href="https://twitter.com/nslwin/status/1388888700923305990?s=20">when people [in Yangon, Myanmar] still bang pots and pans in protest</a>, security forces will sometimes fire at the sounds — with slingshots, stones, bullets.”
|
||
</p>
|
||
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="7KdeZO">
|
||
In the face of such large-scale human rights violations, Friday’s UN resolution does little to clarify what comes next for Myanmar.
|
||
</p>
|
||
<h3 id="D0NPrl">
|
||
Show trials and a kangaroo court
|
||
</h3>
|
||
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="hDfFnG">
|
||
On Monday, after months of house arrest, Suu Kyi appeared in court to stand trial for a long list of spurious <a href="https://www.bbc.com/news/world-asia-57424594">charges</a>, including corruption, inciting public unrest, and violating Myanmar’s official secrets act.
|
||
</p>
|
||
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="aH2Erz">
|
||
All told, <a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/asia_pacific/myanmar-coup-suu-kyi-trial/2021/06/14/cae4f626-c99a-11eb-8708-64991f2acf28_story.html">according to the Washington Post</a>, Suu Kyi faces seven charges and up to 15 years in prison — which could well amount to a life sentence for the leader, who marked her 76th <a href="https://www.reuters.com/world/asia-pacific/flower-protests-myanmar-suu-kyis-76th-birthday-2021-06-19/">birthday</a> in confinement on Saturday.
|
||
</p>
|
||
<figure class="e-image">
|
||
<img alt="TOPSHOT-MYANMAR-POLITICS-MILITARY" src="https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/thumbor/NbirW2G5Dboqj_225hWs-w78dWk=/800x0/filters:no_upscale()/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_asset/file/22670265/1231058962.jpg"/> <cite>SAI AUNG MAIN/AFP via Getty Images</cite>
|
||
<figcaption>
|
||
Protesters stand with a huge banner of detained Myanmar leader Aung San Suu Kyi as they take part in a demonstration against the military coup in Yangon, Myanmar on Feb. 9, 2021.
|
||
</figcaption>
|
||
</figure>
|
||
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="e8n0R9">
|
||
The trial and charges alike are considered by regional experts to be a political exercise rather than a judicial one, and the outcome is all but preordained with Myanmar still under military rule.
|
||
</p>
|
||
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="a54KEZ">
|
||
“With the restrictions on access to her lawyers and the case being heard in front of a court that is wholly beholden to the military junta, there is little likelihood she will receive a fair trial,” Human Rights Watch deputy Asia director Phil Robertson said, according to the <a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/asia_pacific/myanmar-coup-suu-kyi-trial/2021/06/14/cae4f626-c99a-11eb-8708-64991f2acf28_story.html">Washington Post</a>.
|
||
</p>
|
||
<div id="ln0Qjk">
|
||
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet">
|
||
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" dir="ltr" lang="en">
|
||
The trial starting next week vs legitimate <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/Myanmar?src=hash&ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#Myanmar</a> leader Aung San Suu Kyi will be a total joke. <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/Tatmadaw?src=hash&ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#Tatmadaw</a> junta’s charges are politically motivated & bogus & will be heard by kangaroo court fully controlled by the military <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/WhatsHappeningInMyanmar?src=hash&ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#WhatsHappeningInMyanmar</a> <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/Burma?src=hash&ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#Burma</a> <a href="https://t.co/ql5ZWUzN7j">https://t.co/ql5ZWUzN7j</a> <a href="https://t.co/qDKF4KrRVL">pic.twitter.com/qDKF4KrRVL</a>
|
||
</p>
|
||
— Phil Robertson (<span class="citation" data-cites="Reaproy">@Reaproy</span>) <a href="https://twitter.com/Reaproy/status/1402551493387964418?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">June 9, 2021</a>
|
||
</blockquote>
|
||
</div>
|
||
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="RjsNlh">
|
||
Suu Kyi isn’t the only political prisoner facing a show trial in Myanmar: The junta is also holding deposed president <a href="https://www.reuters.com/article/us-myanmar-politics-charges/myanmars-ousted-president-faces-two-new-charges-lawyer-idUSKCN2AV09K">Win Myint</a> on a range of politicized charges, and protesters are being <a href="https://www.myanmar-now.org/en/news/more-than-30-youth-sentenced-in-closed-court-hearing-inside-myeik-prison">arrested</a>, tortured, and sentenced to prison en masse.
|
||
</p>
|
||
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="zDnC8j">
|
||
<a href="https://www.myanmar-now.org/en/news/more-than-30-youth-sentenced-in-closed-court-hearing-inside-myeik-prison">According to Myanmar Now</a>, a local news outlet, 32 protesters were sentenced to prison terms of at least two years earlier this month on charges of incitement and unlawful assembly. And <a href="https://www.cnn.com/2021/06/17/asia/danny-fenster-myanmar-detention-intl/index.html">an American, Danny Fenster</a>, is among dozens of journalists facing charges of inciting fear or spreading “false news;” Fenster was detained three weeks ago en route to visit family in the US.
|
||
</p>
|
||
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="4m0uyP">
|
||
Despite the junta’s best efforts, however, there is still a vibrant opposition movement in Myanmar — one that has <a href="https://www.vox.com/22412118/myanmar-coup-protesters-rohingya">welded together</a> a broad, but potentially fragile, alliance of ethnic groups against a common enemy.
|
||
</p>
|
||
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="bFNb8u">
|
||
As Kirby <a href="https://www.vox.com/22412118/myanmar-coup-protesters-rohingya">explained for Vox</a>, the pro-democracy protests have been “part awakening, part atonement” for some protesters, particularly in regard to the military’s campaign of genocide against the Rohingya:
|
||
</p>
|
||
<blockquote>
|
||
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="GgdIjL">
|
||
[Activist Wai Hnin Pwint Thon]’s experience is an extreme example of the kind of revelation that has happened among many young protesters, especially among the majority Bamar ethnic group. “Some of us were brainwashed,” Wathone, the protester in Yangon, said. “But now everyone understands what the Rohingya feel, what the ethnic groups feel.”
|
||
</p>
|
||
</blockquote>
|
||
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="60NoGx">
|
||
Now, with armed ethnic factions supporting members of the <a href="https://www.voanews.com/east-asia-pacific/how-myanmars-civil-disobedience-movement-pushing-back-against-coup">Civil Disobedience Movement</a>, the conflict in Myanmar could soon enter a new phase. Some protesters Kirby spoke to admitted that “nonviolence is maybe not working. So we need some armed resistance.”
|
||
</p>
|
||
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="1AyekH">
|
||
Already, <a href="https://www.reuters.com/world/asia-pacific/myanmar-military-fails-quell-protests-four-months-after-coup-2021-06-01/">according to Reuters</a>, the junta is fighting on “multiple fronts in border regions” against <a href="https://www.bbc.com/news/world-asia-57506196">local insurgents</a>, and some young pro-democracy protesters are leaving Myanmar’s urban centers to <a href="https://www.pri.org/stories/2021-06-02/souring-peace-marches-myanmar-protesters-seek-weapons">join</a> the anti-regime guerrillas.
|
||
</p>
|
||
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="I56SHf">
|
||
“The brutality of the Burma military is even worse,” civil society activist Naw Wah Ku Shee <a href="https://www.vox.com/22412118/myanmar-coup-protesters-rohingya">told</a> Kirby of the newfound cohesion among ethnic groups. “Our first priority is to end this military dictatorship, which is why we need to work together.”
|
||
</p>
|
||
<ul>
|
||
<li><strong>We admire these do-gooders. We just don’t want to date them.</strong> -
|
||
<figure>
|
||
<img alt="Kristen Bell as Eleanor and and William Jackson Harper as Chidi in “The Good Place” TV show." src="https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/thumbor/NSJo91MF78yv698-WUbPSrJVJfw=/240x0:2907x2000/1310x983/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_image/image/65117270/1079873538.jpg.0.jpg"/>
|
||
<figcaption>
|
||
Eleanor, the protagonist in <em>The Good Place</em>, is initially repulsed by Chidi, who’s always trying to teach her how to be a good person. This is why everyone hates moral philosophy professors. | Colleen Hayes/NBC/NBCU Photo Bank via Getty Images
|
||
</figcaption>
|
||
</figure>
|
||
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom">
|
||
A neuroscientist’s studies show that altruism isn’t always attractive.
|
||
</p>
|
||
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="FdrXBK">
|
||
Picture this:<strong> </strong>You’ve worked hard all year. You’re burned out. Every atom in your brain and body is crying out for a relaxing vacation. Luckily, you and your partner have managed to save up $3,000. You propose a trip to Hawaii — those blue waves are calling your name!
|
||
</p>
|
||
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="cmrmpz">
|
||
Just one problem: Your partner refuses, arguing that you both should donate the money to charity instead. Think how many malaria-preventing bednets $3,000 could buy for kids in developing countries!
|
||
</p>
|
||
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="AEiMUm">
|
||
You might find yourself thinking: Why does my partner seem to care more about strangers halfway around the world than about me?
|
||
</p>
|
||
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="PXEchO">
|
||
A philosopher would tell you that your partner may be a utilitarian or consequentialist, someone who thinks that an action is moral if it produces good consequences and that everyone equally deserves to benefit from the good, not just those closest to us. By contrast, your response suggests you’re<strong> </strong>a deontologist, someone who thinks an action is moral if it’s fulfilling a duty — and we have special duties toward special people, like our partners, so we should prioritize our partner’s needs over a stranger’s.
|
||
</p>
|
||
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="lSGtgA">
|
||
According to research out of the <a href="http://www.crockettlab.org/">Crockett Lab</a> at Yale University, if you’re put off by the consequentialist’s anti–Hawaiian vacation response, you’re not alone. Neuroscientist Molly Crockett<strong> </strong>has<strong> </strong><a href="https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0022103117308181">conducted several studies</a> to determine how we perceive different types of moral agents. She found that when we’re looking for a spouse or friend, we strongly prefer deontologists, viewing them as more moral and trustworthy than consequentialists.
|
||
</p>
|
||
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="zZXWjR">
|
||
In other words: When we’re looking for someone to date or hang out with, extreme do-gooders of the consequentialist variety need not apply. (It’s worth noting that deontologists can be hardcore do-gooders, too, just in their own very different way.)
|
||
</p>
|
||
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="g31onf">
|
||
Crockett’s studies raise a lot of questions: Why do we distrust consequentialists despite admiring their altruism? Are we right to distrust them, or should we try to override that impulse? And what does this mean for movements like effective altruism, which says we should devote our resources to causes that’ll do the most good for people, wherever in the world they might be?
|
||
</p>
|
||
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="fC1J6M">
|
||
I reached out to Crockett to discuss these issues. A transcript of our conversation, edited for length and clarity, follows.
|
||
</p>
|
||
<h4 id="TqHJLd">
|
||
Sigal Samuel
|
||
</h4>
|
||
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="0aHbfO">
|
||
In the past, it’s typically been philosophers who’ve investigated issues of morality and altruism, and they’ve focused a lot on sacrificial dilemmas.
|
||
</p>
|
||
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="mcili8">
|
||
The most famous one is the <a href="https://www.vox.com/2016/9/1/12752984/trolley-problem-2-year-old">Trolley Problem</a>: Should you make the active choice to divert a runaway trolley so that it kills one person if, by doing so, you can save five people along a different track from getting killed? The consequentialist says yes, because you’re maximizing overall good and outcomes are what matter. The deontologist says no, because you have a duty to not kill anyone as a means to an end, and your duties matter.
|
||
</p>
|
||
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="u7MdFz">
|
||
In your studies, you do examine these types of sacrificial dilemmas, which involve doing harm. But you also examine “impartial beneficence” dilemmas, which involve doing good, and specifically the idea that we shouldn’t prioritize our family and friends when we do good. Why did you decide to study those dilemmas?
|
||
</p>
|
||
<h4 id="6LoLwc">
|
||
Molly Crockett
|
||
</h4>
|
||
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="ROvE7e">
|
||
Studying impartial beneficence is really psychologically juicy, because it gets at the heart of a lot of the conflicts we face in our social relationships as the world becomes global and we think about how our actions are affecting people we’re never going to meet. Being a good global citizen now butts up against our very powerful psychological tendencies to prioritize our families and friends. So we wanted to study the social consequences people might experience as a result of having consequentialist views.
|
||
</p>
|
||
<h4 id="CZ54FQ">
|
||
Sigal Samuel
|
||
</h4>
|
||
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="7PYpN7">
|
||
And what did you find?
|
||
</p>
|
||
<h4 id="lxRbU3">
|
||
Molly Crockett
|
||
</h4>
|
||
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="Yfn9Hw">
|
||
When it comes to sacrificial dilemmas, we find that generally people strongly favor nonconsequentialist social partners. We trust people a lot more if they say it’s not okay to sacrifice one person to save many others.
|
||
</p>
|
||
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="fB8LMx">
|
||
When it comes to impartial beneficence dilemmas, we see the same pattern. The preference is not as strong, which I think makes sense because a helpful action tends to weigh less heavily on us psychologically than a harmful action. But we still see that when it comes to deciding who we’ll be friends or spouses with, we tend to prefer nonconsequentialists.
|
||
</p>
|
||
<h4 id="QSxqUb">
|
||
Sigal Samuel
|
||
</h4>
|
||
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="mHs8sh">
|
||
There was an exception in the impartial beneficence dilemmas, right? It turned out that when we’re looking for a political leader, we actually prefer the consequentialist. To me, it makes a ton of intuitive sense that we’d prefer different types of moral agents in different social roles. Were your results seen as surprising?
|
||
</p>
|
||
<h4 id="qIDXHB">
|
||
Molly Crockett
|
||
</h4>
|
||
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="rnl67W">
|
||
Well, what’s remarkable is that moral psychology up until now has mostly been about hypothetical cases involving strangers. But new research suggests that actually relational context is super important when it comes to judging the morality of others.
|
||
</p>
|
||
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="ebVzlJ">
|
||
I’ve recently started collaborating with <a href="https://clarkrelationshiplab.yale.edu/">Margaret Clark at Yale</a>, who’s an expert in close relationships. We’re testing some predictions that moral obligations are relationship specific.
|
||
</p>
|
||
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="YUEIQ0">
|
||
Here’s a classic example: Consider a woman, Wendy, who could easily provide a meal to a young child but fails to do so. Has Wendy done anything wrong? It depends on who the child is. If she’s failing to provide a meal to her own child, then absolutely she’s done something wrong! But if Wendy is a restaurant owner and the child is not otherwise starving, then they don’t have a relationship that creates special obligations prompting her to feed the child.
|
||
</p>
|
||
<h4 id="9bAj1o">
|
||
Sigal Samuel
|
||
</h4>
|
||
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="658Xtt">
|
||
Totally. Philosophy abhors inconsistency, and applying deontology in some cases and consequentialism in others might come off as inconsistent. But maybe it’s actually the most rational thing to apply different moral philosophies in different relational contexts.
|
||
</p>
|
||
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="Jh52zP">
|
||
In your study, the story you tell about why we prefer to marry or befriend deontologists is that, naturally, if I’m looking for someone to marry I’m going to want someone who’ll give me preferential treatment over a stranger in another country. But just to kick the tires on that story a bit: Is it possible that our preference comes about not because we want someone who’ll prioritize us but because being with radical do-gooders makes us feel crappy about ourselves — because we feel like immoral jerks compared to them?
|
||
</p>
|
||
<h4 id="nQViCO">
|
||
Molly Crockett
|
||
</h4>
|
||
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="RTThtq">
|
||
That’s a fascinating question and something we haven’t tested empirically, but it would be very consistent with the <a href="https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/abs/10.1177/1948550611415695">Stanford psychologist Benoit Monin’s work on “do-gooder derogation.”</a> He essentially showed exactly what you predict, which is that people feel less warm toward people who are extremely moral and altruistic. His studies showed that the extent to which people dislike vegetarians is related to their own feelings of moral conflict around eating animals.
|
||
</p>
|
||
<h4 id="MJDJy3">
|
||
Sigal Samuel
|
||
</h4>
|
||
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="kdsLiG">
|
||
Yeah, we don’t tend to love being around people who make us grapple with uncomfortable questions. Especially if they’re very in-your-face or self-righteous about it and you have to be around them all the time, like with a romantic partner.
|
||
</p>
|
||
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="qX3ivk">
|
||
Your study also refers to something called the “partner choice model.” Can you explain that a bit?
|
||
</p>
|
||
<h4 id="vXTXxA">
|
||
Molly Crockett
|
||
</h4>
|
||
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="3X6OmO">
|
||
“Partner choice” is a mechanism through which traits evolve because they promote being chosen as a social partner. There’s a lot of work suggesting that our preferences for cooperation evolved through partner choice mechanisms, because people who were naturally more cooperative were more likely to be chosen as social partners. They reaped the benefits of being chosen, both through social capital and through reproduction, and then they passed those traits to the next generation.
|
||
</p>
|
||
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="KlznXe">
|
||
My idea is that some of our moral intuitions might be explained through the same mechanism. Our deontological intuitions, to the extent that they signal to others that we’re better social partners, make us more likely to be chosen, and therefore they get passed onto the next generation.
|
||
</p>
|
||
<h4 id="VHLbIk">
|
||
Sigal Samuel
|
||
</h4>
|
||
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="R50QEx">
|
||
Wait, unpack this evolutionary explanation a bit. By “through reproduction,” do you mean that parents with deontological views are more likely to rear their kids with deontological views?
|
||
</p>
|
||
<h4 id="aGzRK8">
|
||
Molly Crockett
|
||
</h4>
|
||
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="demJQc">
|
||
Both that, and … This is more speculative, but to the extent that deontological moral intuitions have a genetic component, it could be passed on that way as well. Obviously there’s not going to be a gene for deontological intuitions. There’s not a one-to-one mapping between genetics and complex psychological traits. But to the extent that these traits arise from brain processes (and there’s a lot of evidence that they do), there may be a heritable component.
|
||
</p>
|
||
<h4 id="d85lsO">
|
||
Sigal Samuel
|
||
</h4>
|
||
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="qoTf8p">
|
||
This reminds me of the neurophilosopher Patricia Churchland’s new book, <em>Conscience</em>, about the biological basis of morality. <a href="https://www.vox.com/future-perfect/2019/7/8/20681558/conscience-patricia-churchland-neuroscience-morality-empathy-philosophy">Churchland and I recently talked</a> about how brain differences, which are underwritten by differences in our genes, shape our moral attitudes — and how those can be highly heritable. So genetics isn’t everything, but it is playing some role.
|
||
</p>
|
||
<h4 id="9hq5Aa">
|
||
Molly Crockett
|
||
</h4>
|
||
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="dt2XiF">
|
||
Absolutely. Broadly, my work is quite compatible with Churchland’s views.
|
||
</p>
|
||
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="6Y0b7r">
|
||
I think the argument she makes is consistent with some of our <a href="https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC5462090/">empirical work</a> showing that when people are deciding whether to benefit themselves by harming another person, their brain activity tracks with how blameworthy other people would find the harmful choice. Conscience might manifest as the brain predicting how other people would view our actions.
|
||
</p>
|
||
<h4 id="qXEHh8">
|
||
Sigal Samuel
|
||
</h4>
|
||
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="clDMTn">
|
||
When you write about the implications of your studies, you talk specifically about effective altruism, a movement supported by Peter Singer, who’s probably the most influential utilitarian philosopher alive. You say the studies’ findings suggest that if you’re an effective altruist you’re going to face some stumbling blocks in terms of how people perceive you, which could impact the movement’s ability to grow. What can effective altruists do to mitigate the potential negative perception of them?
|
||
</p>
|
||
<h4 id="vofMWz">
|
||
Molly Crockett
|
||
</h4>
|
||
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="IDDtic">
|
||
I think there are a few possibilities. Here’s one: We’ve shown in <a href="https://psycnet.apa.org/record/2018-59124-001">some other work</a> that when people are judging the praiseworthiness of good deeds, they consider both the benefits that those deeds bring about and also how good it feels to perform those actions. If anything, our data suggests people weight how good it feels more strongly in judging praiseworthiness, such that people might think that a good deed that brings very little benefit but gives you a really warm fuzzy glow is actually more praiseworthy than a good deed that feels detached and emotionless but brings about a lot of benefit.
|
||
</p>
|
||
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="dU2wOb">
|
||
Drawing on this insight, effective altruists might emphasize the personal satisfaction that can arise from donating to effective causes, and talk about their own personal experience with the movement in ways that convey what it means to them.
|
||
</p>
|
||
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="2vDkEH">
|
||
In my lab now, we’re starting to think a lot about <a href="http://www.crockettlab.org/postdoc-2019">narrative</a> — how the stories we tell about our own and others’ behavior give rise to our sense of ourselves as moral beings, and how that can actually change our behavior over the long run. I think the effective altruism movement in some sense misses an opportunity to draw on the very powerful role that narratives play in shaping our psychology.
|
||
</p>
|
||
<h4 id="lBHeHH">
|
||
Sigal Samuel
|
||
</h4>
|
||
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="1BH40M">
|
||
So, if I have a narrative about myself that emphasizes why having a more evidence-backed, cost-effective approach to giving actually makes me feel really good and gives me that glow, conveying that might get people more interested in my approach?
|
||
</p>
|
||
<h4 id="aCyevi">
|
||
Molly Crockett
|
||
</h4>
|
||
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="z4EfX4">
|
||
Potentially. Of course, conveying that may butt up against the “do-gooder derogation” effect. So you’d have to be careful about that.
|
||
</p>
|
||
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="qdOYRv">
|
||
I think this conversation just goes to show how much of a challenge it is to change moral behavior. There are so many different levers you can press to try to change behavior, but often they’re working at odds with one another. So if you press one, that inadvertently presses other levers that counteract its effect. It’s a complex system we’re dealing with.
|
||
</p>
|
||
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="AKmlTG">
|
||
<a href="https://www.vox.com/future-perfect-newsletter"><em><strong>Sign up for the Future Perfect newsletter.</strong></em></a><em> Twice a week, you’ll get a roundup of ideas and solutions for tackling our biggest challenges: improving public health, decreasing human and animal suffering, easing catastrophic risks, and — to put it simply — getting better at doing good.</em>
|
||
</p></li>
|
||
</ul>
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||
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|
||
<h1 data-aos="fade-right" id="from-jokes-subreddit">From Jokes Subreddit</h1>
|
||
<ul>
|
||
<li><strong>A father and son are walking through the dog park when they spot 2 dogs having sex</strong> - <!-- SC_OFF -->
|
||
<div class="md">
|
||
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom">
|
||
The son asks “Daddy what are they doing”? After some thought the father thought it was time for the boy to learn about sex. He says to his son “Son, they are making puppies”. Later that night the boy had questions and walked into his parents room who thought he was asleep and having sex. The next morning the son asks his dad what his dad and mom were doing. Not wanting to lie to his son he replies “Honestly, we were making babies”. After some thought the son replies “Next time flip her over I want a puppy”.
|
||
</p>
|
||
</div>
|
||
<!-- SC_ON -->
|
||
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"> submitted by <a href="https://www.reddit.com/user/Scoob1978"> /u/Scoob1978 </a> <br/> <span><a href="https://www.reddit.com/r/Jokes/comments/o4jnk4/a_father_and_son_are_walking_through_the_dog_park/">[link]</a></span> <span><a href="https://www.reddit.com/r/Jokes/comments/o4jnk4/a_father_and_son_are_walking_through_the_dog_park/">[comments]</a></span></p></li>
|
||
<li><strong>An old, blind cowboy wanders into an all-girl biker bar by mistake…</strong> - <!-- SC_OFF -->
|
||
<div class="md">
|
||
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom">
|
||
An old, blind cowboy wanders into an all-girl biker bar by mistake…
|
||
</p>
|
||
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom">
|
||
He finds his way to a bar stool and orders a shot of Jack Daniels.
|
||
</p>
|
||
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom">
|
||
After sitting there for a while, he yells to the bartender, ‘Hey, you wanna hear a blonde joke?’
|
||
</p>
|
||
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom">
|
||
The bar immediately falls absolutely silent.
|
||
</p>
|
||
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom">
|
||
In a very deep, husky voice, the woman next to him says, ‘Before you tell that joke, Cowboy, I think it is only fair, given that you are blind, that you should know five things’:
|
||
</p>
|
||
<ol>
|
||
<li data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom">
|
||
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom">
|
||
The bartender is a blonde girl with a baseball bat.
|
||
</p>
|
||
</li>
|
||
<li data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom">
|
||
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom">
|
||
The bouncer is a blonde girl with a ‘Billy-Club’.
|
||
</p>
|
||
</li>
|
||
<li data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom">
|
||
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom">
|
||
I’m a 6-foot tall, 175-pound blonde woman with a black belt in karate.
|
||
</p>
|
||
</li>
|
||
<li data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom">
|
||
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom">
|
||
The woman sitting next to me is blonde and a professional weight lifter.
|
||
</p>
|
||
</li>
|
||
<li data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom">
|
||
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom">
|
||
The lady to your right is blonde and a professional wrestler.
|
||
</p>
|
||
</li>
|
||
</ol>
|
||
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom">
|
||
‘Now, think about it seriously, Cowboy … do you still wanna tell that blonde joke?’
|
||
</p>
|
||
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom">
|
||
The blind cowboy thinks for a second, shakes his head and mutters, ‘No … not if I’m gonna have to explain it five times’…
|
||
</p>
|
||
</div>
|
||
<!-- SC_ON -->
|
||
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"> submitted by <a href="https://www.reddit.com/user/rdvw"> /u/rdvw </a> <br/> <span><a href="https://www.reddit.com/r/Jokes/comments/o4ackf/an_old_blind_cowboy_wanders_into_an_allgirl_biker/">[link]</a></span> <span><a href="https://www.reddit.com/r/Jokes/comments/o4ackf/an_old_blind_cowboy_wanders_into_an_allgirl_biker/">[comments]</a></span></p></li>
|
||
<li><strong>The guy sat next to me on the train pulled out a photo of his wife and said, “She’s beautiful, isn’t she?”</strong> - <!-- SC_OFF -->
|
||
<div class="md">
|
||
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom">
|
||
I said, "If you think she’s beautiful, you should see my wife!
|
||
</p>
|
||
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom">
|
||
He said, "Why? Is she super-hot too?
|
||
</p>
|
||
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom">
|
||
I said, “No, she’s an optometrist!”
|
||
</p>
|
||
</div>
|
||
<!-- SC_ON -->
|
||
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"> submitted by <a href="https://www.reddit.com/user/RealTheAsh"> /u/RealTheAsh </a> <br/> <span><a href="https://www.reddit.com/r/Jokes/comments/o43smv/the_guy_sat_next_to_me_on_the_train_pulled_out_a/">[link]</a></span> <span><a href="https://www.reddit.com/r/Jokes/comments/o43smv/the_guy_sat_next_to_me_on_the_train_pulled_out_a/">[comments]</a></span></p></li>
|
||
<li><strong>A wife asks her husband, “Honey, if I died, would you remarry?”</strong> - <!-- SC_OFF -->
|
||
<div class="md">
|
||
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom">
|
||
“After a considerable period of grieving, I guess I would. We all need companionship.”
|
||
</p>
|
||
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom">
|
||
“If I died and you remarried,” the wife asks, “would she live in this house?”
|
||
</p>
|
||
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom">
|
||
“We’ve spent a lot of money getting this house just the way we want it. I’m not going to get rid of my house. I guess she would.”
|
||
</p>
|
||
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom">
|
||
“If I died and you remarried, and she lived in this house,” the wife asks, “would she sleep in our bed?”
|
||
</p>
|
||
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom">
|
||
“Well, the bed is brand new, and it cost us $2,000. It’s going to last along time, so I guess she would.”
|
||
</p>
|
||
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom">
|
||
“If I died and you remarried, and she lived in this house and slept in our bed, would she use my golf clubs?”
|
||
</p>
|
||
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom">
|
||
“No,” the husband replies. “She’s left-handed.”
|
||
</p>
|
||
</div>
|
||
<!-- SC_ON -->
|
||
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"> submitted by <a href="https://www.reddit.com/user/JesusSaves002"> /u/JesusSaves002 </a> <br/> <span><a href="https://www.reddit.com/r/Jokes/comments/o48291/a_wife_asks_her_husband_honey_if_i_died_would_you/">[link]</a></span> <span><a href="https://www.reddit.com/r/Jokes/comments/o48291/a_wife_asks_her_husband_honey_if_i_died_would_you/">[comments]</a></span></p></li>
|
||
<li><strong>Two parents want to have sex</strong> - <!-- SC_OFF -->
|
||
<div class="md">
|
||
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom">
|
||
Their 7 years old son was in the room, so they tell him to go on the balcony to play with his toys
|
||
</p>
|
||
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom">
|
||
After the boy leaves they start having fun, after about 10 minutes the husband says:
|
||
</p>
|
||
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom">
|
||
-We should talk to him while he’s on the balcony, i don’t want him to feel alone
|
||
</p>
|
||
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom">
|
||
-Yeah, you’re right
|
||
</p>
|
||
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom">
|
||
So the wife says in a louder voice:
|
||
</p>
|
||
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom">
|
||
-Honey, what are our neighbours doing?
|
||
</p>
|
||
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom">
|
||
The son replies:
|
||
</p>
|
||
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom">
|
||
-Well, Ms.Miller is moaning the lawn, Mr.Richard is washing his car and Jason’s parents are having sex
|
||
</p>
|
||
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom">
|
||
-WHAT?! Honey, how do you know that??
|
||
</p>
|
||
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom">
|
||
-Because Jason is sitting on the balcony
|
||
</p>
|
||
</div>
|
||
<!-- SC_ON -->
|
||
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"> submitted by <a href="https://www.reddit.com/user/jokesteller69"> /u/jokesteller69 </a> <br/> <span><a href="https://www.reddit.com/r/Jokes/comments/o4pozr/two_parents_want_to_have_sex/">[link]</a></span> <span><a href="https://www.reddit.com/r/Jokes/comments/o4pozr/two_parents_want_to_have_sex/">[comments]</a></span></p></li>
|
||
</ul>
|
||
|
||
|
||
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