Gaius and Gracchus
Jesus
Mahatma Gandhi
Malcolm X
John F. Kennedy
Emiliano Zapata
Martin Luther King jr
Sitting Bull
Medgar Evers
Abraham Lincoln
Yitzhak Rabin
Che Guevara
Robert Kennedy

The list is mind numbing. And these are just the "famous" ones. There are countless other people who have been killed for nothing else than their beliefs.

I don't know if there is enough to do a whole class on, but I think it'd be great if a college had a "Sociology of Assassinations" class. Or a "Politics of Assassinations" class.

in totally simplistic terms...
Structural Functionalists argue that the systems of society are interworking, and that everything works towards the stability of the society. So everything in this perspective works towards the progression of society. Take prison for example. Prisons can be seen as functional because prisons house criminals away from society, as well as providing a service to society by providing jobs. Both functions work towards the stability of society.

Conflict theorists see society as a struggle between competing interests. Take prisons again. A conflict theorist would say that prison is a place where those who "have," keep those who "have not." Conflict theorists could even take it a step further and say that prisons is just another model of exploitation.

In the case of political assassinations, a structual functionalist would say that it's just the method that the dominant forces in society use to keep the status quo moving along.

A conflict theorist would take it a step further and say that political assassinations are the tool of the powerful to keep the poor, disenfranchised, and potentially dangerous at bay.

I don't think that its controversial to say that many of the people above were killed by the more conservative elements of their societies. By their very definitions, those who don't want society to progress are conservative. They want to conserve the status quo. I'm talking about the Lee Harvey Oswalds, the John Wilkes Booths, the Nation of Islam, the James Earl Rays, and Brian De La Beckwiths.

And if they weren't killed by lone people seeking to conserve the balance of society, they were killed by governments who saw them as a threat to their power. Jesus killed by the Romans and conservative clergymen. Che Guevara killed at the request of the CIA. Emiliano Zapata by the Mexican government.

I tend towards to usually agree with the Conflict Theorists, and see life as a struggle between those who have, and those who have not. I tend to see society more as a struggle between competing interests, than as a series of interwoven parts. Functionalists tend to merely explain, but I like to hope that there is a possibility of change. Functionalism is too blase about everything, and almost seems to be saying that these are just the way things are, and that nothing is going to change. Maybe they're right all along, as the list above proves. But I like to believe that there is a possibility of change out there.

But I don't know. I'm kinda talking out of my neck at this point. Any thoughts?

matt out