Is it justice or punishment?

     When watching "White Bear" we see a woman who was put through a simulation. When the actor, Jem, met the main character, Victoria, she explained that certain people were affected by the transmitter and the ones that were not affected became the "hunters and hunted". As they traveled through different sceneries and situations, Victoria wondered why no one would put their phone down to help them, she was so disgusted that she yanked a phone out of a visitor's hand. When they finally arrived at the White Bear Transmitter she began to feel uneasy and this was where it was revealed to her that this was actually a punishment for her. Victoria looks shocked when she found out what she supposedly did, then paraded around so people could video her. She was taken back to the apartment and given electric shocks to her brain that made her forget so the cycle could start over again, day after day.

      The simulation was supposed to be a punishment for the women and make her feel remorseful for just standing and videoing the death of helpless Jemima but was the park used for the pure enjoyment of the visitors of White Bear Park? Victoria seemed to not have any recollection of this horrid crime until she was told what happened, so is this actually a punishment? Her memory had been wiped, so are we punishing the same person?

What's Wrong With Order?

          The topic of class this week was discipline. More specifically, the topic was "Discipline and Punishment." Most of what we discussed were the ideas of Michel Foucault, which I found very reasonable. To me, his ideas all made sense. The thing that I agreed with most was his statement of how, in today's society, power is homogeneously distributed.
          The most relatable example of this distribution of power is the stop sign example. Personally, I stop at every stop sign I encounter; however, it's not necessarily for safety reasons s much as it is out of my own paranoia. I have this strange fear that if I run a stop sign, even if I don't see any other cars coming and it's extremely late at night, a cop will come out of nowhere and pull me over. At first, I didn't really understand the connections that were being made in class until this mentality was brought to my attention. Therefore, I'm not actually being controlled by a certain governmental authority or individual officer, but instead by my own internalized disciplines.
          Though authority does control society in this way, I don't see anything wrong with it overall. I don't think that there's anything wrong with distributing power this way as a means to maintain order. I believe that, in a lot of ways, society NEEDS to be controlled. Too much freedom can lead to chaos, anarchy, and many injustices. Not to say that we don't suffer injustices now, because we most certainly do, but it could be a lot worse if people had the power to individually exercise their own wills.
          At the same time, every power should have its limits whether it be of person or of government. In my opinion, the line of power should be drawn when it begins to impose on the freedom, safety, or equality of others. Also, the line of discipline should be drawn when it begins to jeopardize the life of any person, innocent or guilty.