Genocide Studies – Establishing Communication
There are a thousand hacking at the branches of evil to one who is striking at the root.
-Henry David Thoreau
On Tuesday, April 24th I stopped by Keene State University to speak with Henry King, director of the Holocaust and Genocide Studies department. My visit was unannounced – motivated by my interest to share ideas that I thought overlooked by the program curriculum.
Despite the impromptu nature of my drop-in, King invited me to sit and for about ten minutes, we had a conversation. His colleague, department chair C. Paul Vincent, joined us about halfway through. It was a civil discussion but it was clear that we weren’t on the same page about some things – for example while I proffered that individuals have the same rights no matter where they’re born (and pointed-out that with that freedom comes personal responsibility – for more on this, check out the excellent 2-min video Chain of Obedience) King made mention of a “social covenant” that imparted rights as well as obligations.
Such an idea denotes that the individual is subservient to the majority. That doesn’t sync with me. After all groups don’t have rights, individuals have rights. A group of individuals doesn’t generate extra rights nor mitigate the rights of one individual.
Before we parted ways (King and Vincent were heading to lunch) I shared my contact information, we shook hands and said I’d be in touch via email.
