Comment on the blog "The Political Views of Modern Society"

Comment on Classmate's blog

Good post. The issue of removing our troops from the Middle East has been a huge debate in both the Bush Admin, and now the Obama as well. I think that Americans can easily become confused on this issue. We, as citizens, see news reports and television shows about the hatred and cruelty that happens within this war, so naturally we assume that our country is fighting a true and just war, which causes the confusion. What our citizens do not see is that we are only prolonging the suffering of our soldiers, which is not even necessary. As said in the above blog post, we have kept our soldiers away from their family and loves ones long enough, their return to the States is way past over due. Our country is suffering from this war. Our citizens are drowning in a recession and we are seeing the full consequences of unemployment and chaos within our market. Millions of dollars are being spent over seas towards an effort that is in some circumstances, completely lost.

As described above, we are doing an incredible dis-service to our country, but we are doing an even great dis-service to the countries of Afghanistan and Iraq. This gruesome battle is being fought of their soil, in their homes. We can only imagine the terror that goes on within this war; they see it up close and personal. It is their homes that are invaded; it is their children that are captured. We can all understand that this country at many points in recent history has indeed needed our help, but maybe it doesn’t need our help now. Maybe we are in this war for no reason.

I completely agree with this blog post. Send our troops home, mend our country and allow the eastern countries to being rebuilding. It is imperative. 

A More Peaceful War

To me, war in general is unjust. I understand the necessity of it, and I surely understand that it is a part of self-defense, but I do not exactly agree with it. There is usually a winner in most wars and the gold metal usually goes to a great world power with lots of resources and money, but the gold metal never goes to the innocent soldiers and civilians that are killed in the battle field or in the aftermath. Within this unfortunate group the bravest of them all lie.

I am not suggesting that war be stopped; I know that is too steep a request. I do however believe that we can have more peaceful and more tolerable wars without taking prisoners of war. Not only will wars be more just in doing this, it will bring peace of mind to the civilians of our country. Prison camps such as Guantanamo Bay use unjust and immoral tactics such as torture to get into the heads of prisoners and get answers. While it may seem necessary to take prisoners of war, in reality it is not. Our nation is now seen as cruel and over bearing because of the manner we represent ourselves in; taking prisoners of war does nothing for our moral, and nothing for our prosperity as a country. Denying any individual their rights of a trial by jury is wrong at every circumstance, we cannot claim our country to be noble and just if we do not treat civilians of other countries the same as our own.

A solution to the prisoner of war conflict could be expensive, but ultimately necessary. Providing trials for all prisoners of war would also take time, but we would reap the benefits. Torture and unlawful interrogation is not necessary to keep our country running, it simply goes against the integrities and standards our Founding Fathers set before us.

President Obama has been actively working to shut down prison camps and restore justice back into America’s government. Read more about Obama’s efforts here . There are many critics of President Obama’s actions to shut down Guantanamo Bay and other camps but there are even more supporters…

"We commend President Obama for acting quickly through these executive orders to enforce a single standard of humane treatment for all US intelligence interrogations. As commander-in-chief, he has provided clarity throughout the military chain of command. By unequivocally rejecting torture and other cruel and inhumane treatment, shutting down secret prisons, providing Red Cross access to prisoners in US custody, rejecting the legal opinions that facilitated and excused torture, and announcing the closure of the Guantanamo Bay prison, President Obama has rejected the false choice between national security and our ideals. Our nation will be stronger and safer for it.”

Comment on original editorial

Comment on "Conceived in Liberty"


"Uncle Sam Wants YOU... Unless You're Homosexual"


Good post!

I agree with you entirely. The bottom line is, Americans descriminate it seems to be our nature quite honestly. We live in a country that is one of the most powerful at best and we are arrogant. I am an avid service worker, I work with homeless artists often through an organization called "Art from the Streets" even then, I can feel myself and other judging. Its the law of the land. If everyone could set down their pompous opinions and accept that there are thousands if not millions of closet gays out there, I think our country would be a lot more unified. I respect the military greatly and am greatful for the brave soldiers that are defending us everyday, but I don't think banning gays and lesbians from the military is a good way to show the respect and honor soldiers are supposed to have. I understand that there are consequences but, isn't that a good thing? Isn't that what we should be doing to help our country? Lets face it- American isn't so hot right now. Our economy is in shambles are there are more unemployed everyday, where do we have to go but up? I cannot reason with an opinion that believes that accepting gay and lesbians into our society would be a bad thing. It's people's own arrogance that stops it from happening now. We honestly shouldn't be worrying about accepting gays and lesbians into the armed forces, we have an even bigger task- accepting gays and lesbians into our country, making gay marriage legal, stop being unsympathetic and start striving to make our country what it once was. Our founding fathers didn't create our country in order to scrutinize it's citizens. In George Washington's farewell speech he addressed the country clearly and told them that he didn't believe in division of any people, he didn't even believe in political parties. That is where our morals should stem from. Accepting each other is not hard, but it is a necessity.

We need to look at the big picture here and ask each other Why should we care about sexual orientation? It doesn't matter, were all people.

Our Crumbling Environment

One of the most outstanding issues in this country, in my opinion, is the fragility and importance of our environment. Our citizens do not understand the severity and significance of the horrible state our environment is currently in. Following the oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico , the stability of the environment has severely plummeted. We have a true environmental problem in this country.

The average temperature levels across the country rising every year. We are indeed experiencing a very rapid “global warming”. We are quickly using up all of our natural resources, which forces us to burn fossil fuels, and other un-natural gasses into our atmosphere. Our environmental issues are completely man made, with the increasing gallons of trash being dumped into water ways every year; we will soon be facing a detrimental change in our environment. Most people believe that this issue will be faced by future generations, when in reality we are facing this very real problem today.

We under every circumstance need more interest and support groups that will take greater measures to protect our environment and stop pollution at the source. However, above all we need government intervention into our environmental issues. We need more money and funds available for leaders and law makers to make a difference in our environmental issues. We most surely need more action into this issue.

In order to stop this imminent destruction of our environment, we must stop the pollution of the earth and of our atmosphere at the source. There are hundreds of ways that citizens can help. Recycling, conserving water, conserving electricity and joining local support groups are only a few examples that will make a difference. We must treat our environment as a very fragile thing, in need of great care and attention. If we do not take actions now to mend our environment, we will be dealing with this issue for hundreds of years to come.

WE NEED OIL EDUCATION

On MSNBC's blog NEWS VINE I found a very interesting blog post...

The post asks us as readers if BP should be allowed to teach children in schools about the oil spill. There are many threads that have lengthy and sophisticated replies, but I see no need for. My answer to that question? Yes- are you kidding me?

BP is responsible for the most detrimental environmental disaster of our time. I think it is important that the younger generations learn and grow from this disaster. In one middle school in Louisiana, 8th grade students are learning about the oil spill by making their own. Students are stimulating oil clean-up in the Gulf of Mexico, using a 10 gallon aquarium and an eye-dropped filled with cooking oil and Hershey’s cocoa powder. The exercise is meant to answer any question the kids may have about the science behind that cleanup, and how it affects their lives. WHY AREN'T MORE SCHOOL LEARNING ABOUT THIS OIL SPILL THIS WAY? That is my question.

First off, it is pure genius to stimulate the young mind with hand on activities such as building and interacting with models in order to understand a situation. This oil spill reenactment done by 8TH GRADERS is a perfect way to help younger generations learn about environmental issues today. I am one of those crazy people who believe in global warming, and feel that there are measures we as a nation can do to stop it. I am some what of an environmentalist, I truly believe that our environment is extremely fragile, and needs to be nursed back to health after this oil disaster. Kids should be learning and growing from our mistakes, they are our future right? If they cannot learn what not to do, how will they ever learn what to do? These are our future leaders people, c'mon!

I think that funding should be invested in teacher younger generations about the Gulf of Mexico cleanup, and quite possibly involve them! It would be a great learning opportunity for these kids. Maybe they would even have some ideas about how to prevent such accidents from happening, nobody seems to have any lately. 

                                      

                                                            What a disaster.

It's the American Way Folks...

In an editorial column in the New York Times, op/ed writer David Brooks makes some very absurd accusations. His belief? In the political world, money does not equal power. Although, it is honorable that he is trying to keep the "respect the country" morale alive, and the "our country is not corrupt" idea in our heads, it is simply not the case. In this day and age, money can buy you just about everything, its a sad sad truth.

Brooks believes that there is "no real evidence" to support the fact that the amount spent on a campaign equals the amount of benefit said campaign enjoys. I however largely disagree. For example, the Obama campaign. Obama's nation-wide success was largely due to his outreach to the community, and his ability to utilize every communication device possible. He found ways to raise lots of money very fast through the internet, text/email, and television ads, and he made millions and millions and millions and millions... The more money and support the Obama campaign received, the more communities they were able to reach out to. Money is HUGE factor in the political system. However this is the clean version as to why money is important...


Honestly, our nation is built around the wealthy. Although it is a sad truth to admit, we live in an age where the wealthy and upper-middle class get special treatment. You can see it everywhere. America is mainly built on money and power, winding your way through the political system gets easier and easier the more people you know that have substantial resources. Although, Brooks presents many exceptions to this "money governs all" rule, and supports his claims very effectively, these are merely exceptions. The majority of political campaigns are MUCH easier won with money, resources and power.

Although this is not always the case, I do believe that there are still trustworthy politicians out there, they are just certainly very few and far between. So what does this mean for America as a Nation? I mean, come on. Everybody knows that life in America gets SO much easier with a heavier wallet. Are we doomed? Can we ever pull ourselves out of this money hungry Wallstreet state we are currently immersed in? My prediction is no, absolutely not.

The Death of CREATIVITY

"That’s O.K. It’s not their job to value the humanities or even to understand them. But it is the job of presidents and chancellors to proclaim the value of liberal arts education loudly and often and at least try to make the powers that be understand what is being lost when traditions of culture and art that have been vital for hundreds and even thousands of years disappear from the academic scene. "


In a hard-hitting editorial in the New York Times, Stanley Fish firmly defends the importance of the Humanities within modern-day education, and questions the actions of the government and officials to keep such education afloat. Fish believes that the Humanities are a substantial part of education, he believes that education in the arts is extremely vital. I on all counts AGREE!


The American System seems to manufacture the same type of person over and over again, a rich white male with a degree in business advertising. Now, there is absolutely nothing wrong with a corporate business man, AS LONG AS THERE ARE CREATIVE MINDS TO BALANCE IT ALL. This world needs artists, historians, musicians and everything in-between to be able to dwell and prosper, creativity if absolutely necessary to life. In the 1950's, American society was mainly Suzy Q suburbia, with perfect house wives and "Leave it to Beaver" families. That worked for a while, America's corporate success shot through the roof, highways were being built, we were making it at a nation. Then came the uprising of the hippie-chique 60's. It was inevitable, there has to be rebellion and creativity that inspires people. The 60's were filled with music, art, and expression. The 60's greatly influenced our modern day culture, that era let us know loud and clean that it is ok to be different! IT'S OK TO EXPRESS YOURSELF!


Fish makes some extremely good points within his editorial, he firmly believes that "the humanities enhance our culture; the humanities make our society better", the fact that corporate America is trying to push out the essence of creativity is just sickening. America has to learn about other cultures, we have to be able to respond and understand other languages and customs. America does not make up the entirety of the world, and I think we forget that sometimes! 


If every American sat behind a desk and worked a corporate job nothing would ever get accomplished. If we cannot be active within the world we will quickly and rapidly fall as a world power while other more adaptable nations will take over trade and manufacturing. Art is the way of the world.