International justice is a lot like physics when you think about - TopicsExpress



          

International justice is a lot like physics when you think about it. Each and every individual is like a quark or a lepton, something that can’t be split any further without becoming energy in the form of radiation. These quarks have properties such as mass, charge, and even “strangeness” that define them just as we humans have our values and morals to guide us. When combined, these quarks form baryons, protons and neutrons, that then clump into atoms, which them form molecules and onward to organisms and universes (a word that should have no plural). What I’m trying to point out is that the more of these individual indivisible particles you piece together into families and societies, the more interesting and complex are the interactions that take place between them. Once we describe proteins, tissues, and organs, entering the realm of biology, I feel as though we’ve stepped into international law. Here, the complex interactions of all the miniscule corpuscles matters so little in the context of a heartbeat or a neurological thought that it’s hard to remember that they exist. But they do! And their properties are always at work. All the quirks of all the quarks matter just as much to a human body as all the values and morals of all the cultures of the world to developing and enacting international law. They aim to serve one grand purpose, which is reducing entropy. Counteracting the natural process of the universe as given by the second law of thermodynamics (dS = dQ/T) by restraining the constant increase of entropy (randomness) towards eventual heat death, is their intent, just as ours is to keep the growing tension and turmoil throughout the world from decaying into chaos. Thankfully, although an individual particle is almost impossible to describe (quantum mechanics is infamous for a reason), when we consider their interactions within a molecule or something even larger, we can understand them by our classical laws of physics. In a similar matter, international law will be clearly established to help describe how these particles, these human souls, should interact and configure in order to best reduce the entropy around them. To prove that I can apply this whole analogy (not simply swing my words around a metaphorical bush), I would like to speak about a trial that is very important to me, which just so happens to be taking place at this conference. The Muslim population of Yugoslavia, the Croats, and the Serbian population there coexisted as organically as protons, neutrons, and electrons in simple atoms. They formed communities, had traditions and towns together, and built up and were bound in molecules. However, suddenly, the Serbs became too positively charged. Be it the inspiration of nationalist politicians or the three fingered hand gesture that marked their genocide, these protons became suddenly too positively charged. In an atom, the proton is just as positively charged as the orbiting electron is negatively charged, holding the whole system in equilibrium. Even a slight increase in charge of the nucleus could cause the electrons to come spiraling towards the center and shattering the molecules by the atom. By defying this universal law, immense suffering was provoked throughout Yugoslavia including a horrendous amount of rapes. On a brighter note, it was because of this civil war that rape became recognized as a war crime, due to the bravery of a few electrons who testified at The Hague. The laws must evolve to explain and harmonize our actions. America should be leading by example when it comes to the International Criminal Court. Our nation and our justice system should hold the highest standard of truth and jurisprudence that is humanly possible. It seems that, more often than not, American courts attempt to solve things on a case-by-case basis but never truly hit the core of the problem, like a doctor who treats the whooping cough with a bag of cough drops and some Nyquil. This can be seen in the recent outburst of gun-violence, especially cases rooted in racism that are popularized by the news but never truly resolved through justice. Instead, American courts should show the world that are verdicts are rooted in a deep understanding of the cultural values in play and that our justice system not only serves to resolve civil and criminal cases but also aims to resolve and adapt the fundamental laws and rights that we as humans must follow and protect, the basis of international law. POLAND HERE WE COME Shani Harvie
Posted on: Thu, 21 Nov 2013 06:12:08 +0000

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