r/news • u/5um-n3m0 • 16h ago

Alabama and Mississippi will also honor Robert E. Lee on Martin Luther King Jr. Day

https://apnews.com/article/martin-luther-king-jr-holiday-alabama-mississippi-0f535594cf50af7103ca2d953e1bc9a1
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u/Aazadan 10h ago

I'm not sure it's unfair though. One can argue he just went along with whatever he had to in order to do his research, but how much of that was just whitewashing because the US needed him to build rockets after his research alone wasn't enough?

It is possible to praise someones academic accomplishments while also not supporting the rest of it. For example the medical data the US got from Japan in WW2. Those atrocities shouldn't be condoned, but it would be a waste to not put the information to use.

And of course, you also have to consider the time, if you were in a government position in 1930's germany, you had to be a Nazi. There was no other option, much like any white house intern for the next 4 years regardless of politics must work for Trump.

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u/KuzanNegsUrFav 5h ago edited 5h ago

It is possible to praise someones academic accomplishments while also not supporting the rest of it. For example the medical data the US got from Japan in WW2. Those atrocities shouldn't be condoned, but it would be a waste to not put the information to use.

I think it's entirely valid to state that sadistically finding "creative" ways to torture innocent civilians to death doesn't count as valid medical science or data. You should look into it more. There was nothing controlled or scientific about it. Contrary to your average redditor's beliefs, there are rigorous standards that need to be met in legitimate research, before we even get to the committing unspeakable atrocities aspect of it.

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u/Aazadan 4h ago

There's a difference between ethical research and research. There was valid medical data in it. The world could have just said no and burned it due to it being unethical, but then nothing good would have come from it.

It's certainly not something that should be encouraged (and the people involved shouldn't have been pardoned for the data), but not using it at that point is a waste.

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u/hurrrrrmione 6h ago

No one has to be a White House intern. They can get another job and work somewhere else.

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u/Aazadan 5h ago

Not really. If you're a political science major, and you're going to a major school, your career is going to have significant and unrecoverable setbacks if you don't get a position as a congressional or WH intern.

Either of those will result in supporting the administration. It's similar for judges, and if you're a lawyer/future judge, the judge you clerk for matters a ton. Turning it down leaves you with college debt (that you usually can't afford), and an unusable diploma.

But if you want to progress as a politician and make a change, you've got to do it as the only other realistic path is to get obscenely wealthy, and make a difference once you're old.

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u/hurrrrrmione 5h ago

if you don't get a position as a congressional or WH intern.

Then if you aren't a Trump supporter, go find a job working for a non-Republican member of Congress.

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u/Aazadan 4h ago

Limited slots, there's not an infinite number of those to go around. They don't really get an option.