Hey y'all!! Krazyy Kit is back for yet another exciting installment of her world-renown blog!.. Or this normal Virginia teenager is back to report on her ethics class :3. Anyway, this journal is going to be a bit different because the most wise Mr. Couillard has assigned that this journal will be one based on two very interesting topics: Science, and Ethics. Woo-hoo! However, before I can delve into the fun of researching ethical issues in today's scientific field, I must answer last weeks question! Last week's question was:
1) In this age of great change, what would YOU do to better the world?
Well, this one is something that really makes you think. I really could do anything that could help in some way, shape, or form. Honestly, I just want to be able to help others in anyway I can. I feel that when I do something nice for others, from opening a door for someone or helping them clean their house, I feel like I have made an impact on their lives, whether great or small. By helping others, you just get this awesome feeling of knowing that you made someone else's life better, even if this impact only lasts for a moment. I know it sounds cheesy, but it's true. You never know when an act of kindness can impact somebody for the rest of their life.
Now, since that little happy feel good moment is done, lets get to the fun part! Lately in class, we've been discussing the ethics of science, and we've been specifically analyzing certain events within a generation that defined that generation. For example, we analyzed the Lost Generation and the impact that the 1918 influenza outbreak had on that generation. Then, we jump forward to the 1950's and we study about the Baby Boomers, and the Navy atomic bomb tests on Bikini Atoll Island. Therefore, this journal assignment is a little different. For this one, we have been assigned to study a particular aspect in science that has been extremely controversial, ethics-wise. Of course, there are just so many topics to choose from, but I have decided to pick a fun one: biological warfare!
It's the end of the world as we know it..
Before I can delve into the ethical issues coupled with this highly controversial topic, I must first address the definition of biological warfare, and what type of weapons fall into this category. Biological warfare, as defined by the all-knowing Wikipedia, is the use of biological toxins or infectious agents such as bacteria, viruses, and fungi with the intent of killing or disabling humans, animals, or plants as an act of war. There are different uses for biological weaponry, but you've probably only heard of it in being used as an act of war. Biological warfare is as old as time, with incidents dating back to the times of the Ancient Greeks leading all the way up to modern day; however, most incidents involving the development and use of biological weaponry occurred during World War 1 and 2. Countries in the Allied Powers such as the U.S., U.K. and U.S.S.R started developing BW's ( biological weapons) in response to claims that the Axis Powers ( primarily the Germans) were developing them. Of course, these weapons were seldom used and in 1972 these nations along with many others signed the Biological Weapons Convention which basically "banned the production, development, and the stockpile of BW's, excluding some that would be kept for protective and peaceful research." Though this treaty worked to prevent further use of biological weapons, it didn't give peace of mind to the millions of people who had been affected by the devastating weaponry. One particularly horrific incident which involved biological warfare involved the Japanese and the Chinese. 
A new age of warfare, and its scary.
The year is 1935, and tensions between Japan and China have finally come to full blown war. These two countries have become immersed in the Second Sino-Japanese War, a war that would eventually merge together with World War 2. This particular war erupted because of Japan's imperialist policies, and their many militaristic attempts to take over China. Well, China put their fists up, and both countries entered the ring. But Japan would be bringing a new aspect to this fight: biological weaponry. Throughout World War 2, Japan would use innocent Chinese civilians as human guinea pigs for them to test their biological weapons on. Basically, one certain part of the Imperial Army of Japan was set aside to conduct biological weapons tests, a particular unit called Unit 731. It was originally set up under the Kempeitai, the military police of the Empire of Japan, but it was then taken over and commanded by General Shiro Ishii, an officer in the Japanese Army. This unit set up shop in the town of Pingfang, and here is where their nefarious experiments were conducted. Throughout the war, Unit 731 would test the plague, cholera, smallpox, botulism, syphilis, anthrax, tularemia, typhoid, dysentery, and tuberculosis. However, the way that these diseases were tested on people varied. Some, like anthrax, were tested by dropping infected supplies in crowded areas and testing the effects. Others, such as cholera and smallpox, were weaponized into bombs. These "prisoners" would be infected with various diseases in some way. Then, after the prisoners were infected with the disease, doctors would perform vivisections on them. A vivisection is basically surgery conducted purely for experimental purposes on a living organism to "observe their internal structures." Basically, while you were still alive, you would be cut open, without anesthesia, and these doctors are going to play operation with your body. The reasoning behind these vivisections was that they believed if the body started to decompose, it would affect the results.
Oh, but the torture doesn't stop there! On top of testing biological weapons on these prisoners, the Japanese tested a lot of other things. For starters, they would use human targets to test grenades in different positions and places. They tested flamethrowers on humans, and the Japanese tied Chinese civilians to stakes and used them as target practice to test germ-releasing bombs, chemical weapons, and explosive bombs. They would expose the prisoners to lethal doses of x-rays, put them in gas chambers and subject them to various chemical weapons, placed them in high-pressure chambers until death, and they conducted so many more unspeakable acts on these innocent people.
The only question that can't entirely be answered is exactly how many people died as a result of these heinous experiments.
Angels of death.
Now, who stood to gain from these experiments? Well, the Japanese certainly did because if they could figure out the effects of biological weapons on humans, it could greatly help the Axis powers. Also, if they could figure it out before any of the other countries could, they suddenly gain a huge advantage over everybody else. But there is another stakeholder in this sick game of operation: the United States. It may sound insane, but because of the tests Japan conducted, the U.S. learned so much about biological warfare. They're sort of unintentional stakeholders in this equation. They don't gain anything from the untold number of lives lost, but they gain knowledge, which will help them farther down the road.
The Japanese have everything to gain, and everything to lose from these tests. If these tests were to succeed, the Japanese would be the masters of biological warfare, and they could drastically change the outcome of the war. Just think, if the Japanese had perfected these weapons, we could be bowing down to Emperor Hithero 9 or something. However, they could have everything to lose as well. If Japan couldn't perfect these weapons, they might lose this advantage over the Allied Powers, plus they knew they had gone against an international treaty that they had signed. If word got out that they conducted illegal tests, they would face massive international repercussions. The Japanese had to decide what decision weighed more: conduct illegal tests, and have the remote possibility that you can create functional biological weapons, or not conduct tests and save millions of lives, but run the risk of the Allies winning the war. 
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The Japanese's decision is a very interesting one. They decided to test extremely diabolical diseases on average citizens, plus they performed vivisections without any way of easing their victims pain. It's an extremely cruel and cynical act enacted with brutality close to that of the Holocaust. I can not begin to imagine the feeling those Chinese people felt as they were experimented on, being subjected to having lethal diseases plague their bodies. It's a thought that I wish I could erase from my memory, yet when we become ignorant of our past, it will have harmful effects on our future. To quote the hilarious and outrageous show Workaholics " If we don't learn from History Channel, we're doomed to repeat History Channel." Therefore, we must learn from our mistakes, and work to prevent those same mistakes from occurring again in the future. Looking back on this completely preventable incident in Japan, the world must work to limit the testing abilities of biological weapons, and hold those who go against these guidelines responsible.
Now, let's discuss another equally controversial topic, which involves nuclear weapons testing: the U.S. Navy's nuclear weapons testing on Bikini Atoll in the 1950's. Basically, the U.S. and the Soviets were having a race to see who could make more, and better nuclear weapons first. Therefore, the U.S. being the mule heads we are, tried testing as many nuclear weapons as we could. However, not all these tests were conducted on U.S. soil. Instead, we decided to kick people off their own land and blow it to smithereens. That's what happened at Bikini Atoll. We took a perfect island, moved all its inhabitants off their native soil, and bombed it. Seems fair right? Heck no! But, since we think that the U.S. can do whatever they want, we don't exactly listen to sound logic. So I would like to answer a question which concerns the U.S.'s right to kick the native Bikinians off their native soil for nuclear testing. I think the answer is plain and simple: NO! By us moving these innocent people off of their native land, we go against everything that this country is supposed to stand for! Ever since this country became independent, we have preached and professed our beliefs that every country has their own rights, and that no one is supposed to infringe upon them. Well, America should receive a big ole slap in the face because we did EXACTLY what we shouldn't be doing. But did we care? Nope. We are too selfish to even acknowledge our faults, and the repercussions of our actions. This government disrupted the lives of millions in order to set off 2 bombs, which most ended up calling "lame" and "uneventful." WOW. No wonder other countries hate us so much, we have to mess everything up for everybody else! Typical American behavior, I guess.
America, a.k.a the Grim Reaper.
So, if it wasn't fair to boot off all the native Bikinians, why did we do it? It's because we were consumed with beating out the Soviets in the nuclear arms race. Of course, we would never actually use nuclear weapons on the USSR, we just wanted them handy in case good ole Stalin got an itchy trigger finger. We just wanted to be sure that we could beat the red outta Europe. This basically means that we relocated thousands of peoples, risked millions of sailors lives, for nothing. We could have easily tested the 2 bombs on American soil, but we were too preoccupied with showing off to the Soviets and trying to make ourselves look cool to take into consideration the lives of other peoples. Honestly, do you think that we actually asked the Bikinians " Hey, can y'all leave? Because we have to test some nuclear weapons and destroy the island you've lived on since childhood?" NOPE. We just picked them up, and threw them somewhere else, to be somebody else's problem. Now, the U.S. government has made an effort to provide compensation to the Bikinians after we sort of destroyed their island. We pay them some money, but that's it. No amount of dollars can possibly pay back the irrefutable damage we inflicted on not only the Bikinians, but our own people. We put our own sailors at risk, and nothing we do can make it better.
So, I have a question for you.
1) Is it right for the government to willingly risk the lives of its military personnel?
With this question, I must leave you. This journal is starting to make me not only depressed, very angry. And you don't want to make me angry -.-. Anyways, it has been fun, and I hope you enjoyed reading this somewhat lengthy journal entry. Now, see y'all later! This has been the latest installment of the insane accounts of Krazyy Kit :). - A Wrong Decision is better than Indecision. (n.d.). A Wrong Decision is better than Indecision. Retrieved February 7, 2013, from www.amarelloeventos.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/07/A-Wrong-Decision-Is-Better-Than-Indecision2.jpg
- Anthrax. (2013, February 6). Wikipedia. Retrieved February 6, 2013, from upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/a/a1/Bacillus_anthracis_Gram.jpg/230px-Bacillus_anthracis_Gram.jpg
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