Caged children photo and the polarisation of thought

[David Sutton]

I haven't seen the photo in question but I imagine it is distressing and prompts feelings of outrage. Quite rightly.
I don't think that should prevent us from raising the question of what is the agenda behind its publication.
By this I mean that, without denying the affront we may feel to seeing children in this situation in the US, there are many more children in a far worse predicament in Iraq, Syria, Palestine, Yemen, French detainment camps and elsewhere. All as a result of western governments "liberating" them.
I am uneasy about being told by news media when to be outraged, especially given their silence when worse events have happened in recent times. Perhaps critical thought and profit are incompatible. At any rate, I think every news story needs to be examined for its agenda now.
So we have the spectacle of public figures, who have remained silent in the time of previous governments' dirty doings, decrying this treatment of children. They have every right to do so, and it is right and proper that they should, but on the other hand they have no moral authority in the matter. It is okay, IMHO, to point his out.
Let me be clear that I am not talking about any government in particular and certainly not talking about members of this forum.
Here for me is the nub of the matter. In the US in particular people now seem to live in echo chambers, what Wikipedia calls cultural tribalism. In any other country I would say this is a sign of advanced social collapse, but the US has apparently been through this in the past and kept going.
There are things Trump has done that warrant praise, and things he has done that should be criticised. But many of us now feel completely unable to do this publicly given the current toxic atmosphere. Who wants to get in a pointless shouting match?
I blame the unholy alliance between the left and what Dwight D. Eisenhower called the military industrial complex for this. Then again, I live quietly on the other side of the world and am a bit out of touch.
I'd appreciate your thoughts. If we start shouting we can always close the thread and no harm done.
David

[Frans Waterlander]

I haven't seen the photo in question but ...

Let me comment anyway! Way to go David!

[digitaldog]

Who wants to get in a pointless shouting match?

http://forum.luminous-landscape.com/index.php?topic=125414.msg1051051#msg1051051

The heat:light ratio of this thread is too large.

Jeremy

[jeremyrh]

I blame [...] the left

Trump cages children and you blame the left. Of course. Makes perfect sense.

[Slobodan Blagojevic]

Trump cages children and you blame the left. Of course. Makes perfect sense.

Most of the pictures of "caged" children actually are from Obama's era:

[Alan Klein]

It doesn't count when Obama did it.  Stop confusing us.

[jeremyrh]

Obama's the president? Who knew?

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Whataboutism

[OmerV]

Most of the pictures of "caged" children actually are from Obama's era:

Two wrongs make a right. The American way!

[digitaldog]

It doesn't count when Obama did it.  Stop confusing us.

Of course it counts.
HOW many kids did Obama separate from their families over the course of 8 years?
Answer_____ Seems that data isn't available but:

https://www.factcheck.org/2018/06/did-the-obama-administration-separate-families/
“Previous administrations used family detention facilities, allowing the whole family to stay together while awaiting their deportation case in immigration court, or alternatives to detention, which required families to be tracked but released from custody to await their court date,” Brown and her co-author, Tim O’Shea, wrote in an explainer piece for the Bipartisan Policy Center’s website.

How many kids did Trump separate from their families in less than two months? Over 2300. Seems DHS is tracking this, why it's different from previous administrations is an interesting question.

Two wrongs don't make a right but not all wrongs are equal.
Note: Previous administrations!

[digitaldog]

https://obamawhitehouse.archives.gov/the-press-office/2014/11/20/fact-sheet-immigration-accountability-executive-action

Reducing family separation for those waiting to obtain LPR status. Due to barriers in our system, U.S. citizens and LPRs are often separated for years from their immediate relatives, while they wait to obtain their LPR status. To reduce the time these individuals are separated, DHS will expand an existing program that allows certain individuals to apply for a provisional waiver for certain violations before departing the United States to attend visa interviews.

As for some of the photo's provided here, seems like fake news :
https://www.snopes.com/fact-check/are-these-children-separated-by-obama/
An image from 2014 shows undocumented children separated from their parents by the Obama administration.
Rating: miscaptioned
Although the photograph is real, it does not show children separated from their parents by the Obama administration.

Shots of children absolutely does not mean those children where SEPARATED by policy by, FROM their parents. Many crossed the boarder without parents.
Context people, context.
Going out of your way to separate children from their parents by policy, and detaining (taking care) of kids who came without parents isn't the same thing.

[Peter McLennan]

Going out of your way to separate children from their parents by policy, and detaining (taking care) of kids who came without parents isn't the same thing.

And especially announcing it in the media as a deterrent policy, as did Sessions.

[Bart_van_der_Wolf]

As for some of the photo's provided here, seems like fake news :
https://www.snopes.com/fact-check/are-these-children-separated-by-obama/
An image from 2014 shows undocumented children separated from their parents by the Obama administration.
Rating: miscaptioned
Although the photograph is real, it does not show children separated from their parents by the Obama administration.

Shots of children absolutely does not mean those children where SEPARATED by policy by, FROM their parents. Many crossed the boarder without parents.

Correct, some of the images describe a crisis situation with hundreds of unaccompanied children crossing the borders each day in 2014. I didn't care to search all of them once I found the first one I tried, actually described something else than suggested.

"JUN 26, 2014  12:52 PM"
https://www.businessinsider.com.au/photos-child-immigration-problem-2014-6

 

Context people, context.
Going out of your way to separate children from their parents by policy, and detaining (taking care) of kids who came without parents isn't the same thing.

Indeed.

Cheers,
Bart

[digitaldog]

And especially announcing it in the media as a deterrent policy, as did Sessions.

Yes and a silly concept of deterrent.
Option 1: stay where you are, risk being killed.
Option 2: try as so many other's in the past have done successfully, flee to our fine country and risk being separated from your kids.

[bgberlin01]

I get more than enough of this negative energy in all other arenas.  That is why this is the first and only time I will enter this section. Trump IS destroying this country, everything is is a distraction. Be well...see you in the photo topics.

[Jeremy Roussak]

This thread appears not to differ in any appreciable fashion from the one I closed earlier today; in fact, I think one post is pretty much identical.

You can guess what I'm about to do.

Jeremy