In an analysis of John M.Thurston’s We Must Act! I feel as if I can immediately tie this to a modern-day issue we unfortunately still find ourselves with. Thurston goes on to explain the issue of the Spanish forcing Cubans into concentration camps in order to draw out the guerrilla forces within the countryside. The Spanish soldier had not been receiving pay and this was a reactionary consequence. This gruesome claim an economy holds on our individuality really is baffling to think about, that we’d kill for profit, though not hard to believe. Today we still find thousands of immigrants, children and adults alike, herded into cages and camp, often only given the bare necessities on occasion. We constantly see news spears of how the incoming peoples seeking refuge are in fact terrible drug dealers or trying to steal U.S jobs when much like the situation of Cubans being stripped of their liberties, these people are given a false persona. They are attached to an image that brings with it fear and heartbreak to many but strikes fire in the eyes of those who are too driven protecting their assets of land and money to experience “the hopeless anguish in their despairing eyes.” (Thurston 63) As every day we live able to fight the system, is another they are deprived of.
I also can find a comparison in the way there is a hesitance at this time of whether or not to commit to U.S intervention and Angela Davis’ proposed philosophy of the feminist dilemma. Davis sees this notion of controversy as to when there are two parties, one with the ability to help the other, but tasked with the responsibility of deciding whether to do so or not. Intervening could help in the immediate stance, though may also lead to future consequences of unintentional imperialism. This is then compared to the other option of not imposing oneself as imperialistic, though having to stand by and watch the dismay of a people when you can knowingly offer the solution. This indecisiveness of the U.S to interview or not, and how so is essentially this same sentiment of whether or not to pass critical judgment on foreign affairs. Thurston offers that “Such a recognition on our part would have enabled the Cuban patriots to have achieved independence for themselves” securing independence of Cuba “without the cost or loss of blood or treasure to the people of the united states” (Thurston 64) I think that many a time we want to immediately act of our first impulsive decision when offering aid, though we must also acknowledge the fact the there can be consequences, not necessarily to us, but the people we extend our hand to when not thinking about cultural relation before we act.