Social Cleansing in Colombia by Paul Jeffrey - Essay Example

Social Cleansing in Colombia by Paul Jeffrey A Critical and Personal Opinion Paul Jeffrey starts his article by involving his reader in the tragedy of family whose loss of their loved ones is the reflection of many poor families in Colombia. The tragedy however is that the death of the young man, who was murdered, will never receive any attention. Colombian society and other Latin American societies, according to Jeffrey, are practicing genocide and willingly allowing the deaths of thousands of people considered undesirable.

Social cleansing in Colombia according to Paul Jeffrey (1995) is rampant and getting worse everyday. He points to several key reasons why social cleansing is occurring so fervently and why higher society is ignoring the problem. The first of these is the disposability of certain members of society considered undesirable, like the poor, drug users, prostitutes etc. His interviews with scholars, researchers, and government agencies, confirms that 'social cleansing' occurs more frequently than reported and is allowed to prosper due to the indifference of the influential and wealthy members of society.

The second factor that the author feels is the reason for the higher rates of deaths that are occurring is the apathy of the media and the corruption of the security forces who should be protecting the people, but who in actuality are facilitating the killings. The author clearly feels that the treatment of these members of society is similar to the Nazis' treatment of the Jews during World War II. Jeffrey's' main aim is to relate the horror of 'social cleansing' and the disregard for human life by educated and cultured people, like the wealthy.

The author relates events in society that are hegemonic, and leading to the mass genocide of members of the Colombian society considered 'disposable'. He points to the fact that this is a prevalent problem in Latin America and that the culture of the society is changing to reflect a deviant trend that allows the killing of a group of people for no other reason than that they are undesirable. The mores and norms of society have clearly changed based on the evidence in the article. The influential, the wealthy, and those in political power have set their agenda, and like societies in the past who have set out to destroy a group of people, they will no doubt find themselves dealing with a revolution eventually.

The 'cleansing' is seen as a form of control by what the higher members of this society consider deviant behavior. The article causes one to pause and consider the fact that a society that is so modern and evolved as we are, and have witnessed the horrors of genocide as in World War II, can sit back and tolerate and allow such atrocities. The wealthy have become cocooned in their world, never experiencing the struggles of the poor and have thus turned their backs on a problem they see as easily disposable.

The inhumanity of such killings has not been realized by those perpetuating the crimes, and until that occurs or a social revolution takes place, the balance will be tipped against the 'disposable'. In conclusion, the deliberate taking of life is considered deviant behavior in all societies and punishable, but in Colombia it has become the norm. Colombians seem to have become xenophobic towards members of their own society, allowing the deaths of thousands of people. The mores of society that would normally prevent such crimes have dissolved and a country that should be evolving for the positive seems to be digressing into a more primitive state.

WORKS CITEDJeffrey, Paul. Social cleansing in Colombia. Christian Century, April 12, 1995.