Jackie's American Studies

The Key To Progress (From Tanzania, Africa)

2009-07-31T07:28:00.000-07:00

"We are the future leaders of Africa"

A book of statistics can reveal interesting things about a country. The infant mortality rate, the gross national income, and the yearly income of an average resident. But usually overlooked is the literacy of the country. A small number that can reveal so much, especially over time.

Education, education, the key to progress.

This percentage can separate the developed world, from the developing world. A little number, so easily overlook, but so important to every country. In the United States, a place where not going to school and gaining that education is punishable by law, it is too easy to forget our luck. Yes, America has poverty, and homelessness, and lots of hunger, but the literacy rate we can boast is outstanding.

As I walk the streets of rural Tanzania, I'm amazed by the energy that exudes from these kids. I've been here four days, giving out toys, learning names and teaching lessons, and they are always eager for more. They don't think about the presents we give them, or the amazing new things we bring to the school. They show up whether we are there or not, and this is simply amazing. To think in a country where a child is lucky to get an education, these children are so eager to get just that.

Education, education, the key to progress.

We listened to them sing us songs today. They had it all figured out. The poems they wanted us to hear, the formations, chanting and beautiful rhythm. I thought is was cool that they could memorize, but i was more astounded by what they were actually saying. "We are the future of Africa!" they screamed. "We love our teachers, we love our school, we love you, our humble guests".

Education, education, the key to progress.

I can't seem to stress what ran through my head at that moment, when through the thick accents I understood what they said. They get it. And their brilliant. One of these kids could lead Tanzania into the light, and into the 'developed' world. I was staring at Tanzania's future. Its only future.

Education, education, the key to progress.

And so, as I continue to walk the dusty streets of Africa, towards a beautiful school, with four children hanging on each finger (you'd be surprised by how literal I'm being), I don't see despair in their faces, but joy at their most proud possesion. Their minds. And as I walk from the orphanage every night, I can't shake their smiles from my mind. We walk down these humble paths, smiling, and giggling, as slowly they chant:

"Education, education, the key to success"

7/31/2009
Jackie Lungmus

A Youth Rallies

2009-06-01T08:56:00.000-07:00

Guess I’m not done yet!

My picture is of a youth rally. In the picture you see a large group of young adults, holding cameras and obama support posters. They are all smiling, which leads to my conclusion that they are in support of Obama’s administration.

This is interesting to me when looked at alongside a history of presidential races. Only in the last century have people really begun to rally around presidential candidates. For a long time Americans struggled with the idea that they could really have an effect on their government, and change the way things played out in their world. But people are starting to get it.

This world is too precious not to have a say in it. You see the newer generations becoming more active in things like human rights issues. Young adults, from early ages, are beginning to think about their world, and form opinions on difficult issues. It’s increasingly common for people to take those extra steps to change their world. To plant a tree, to write to a government representative, or to go to a rally like this one.

This shows progress in America. This is a good thing, when people, young and old, are realizing their point of view counts. It’s important that Americans value the ability to vote, and their freedom of speech, and their freedom to assemble. We are very lucky, and American’s are starting to realize it again.

I wonder what compelled these students to go to this rally. I wonder how many people showed up to the rally. From the picture it looks like a very large group. And I wonder if this trend will continue in this way. I sure hope so!

“You must be the change you wish to see in the world” ~ Mahatma Gandhi

Thanks for a great year!!

Good Night and Good Luck

2009-05-31T19:55:00.000-07:00

Wow.

Another year flies by. It’s hard during the year to think about whether or not it was a good one. For me, it usually takes a while before I can fully appreciate, or not appreciate, a school year or a summer vacation or something like that. But I have good feelings about this one.

For one thing, when I think about my year as a whole, I can’t help but smile, which probably means I’ve had a good one. But its just so weird to think it’s over. My third year.

But I can’t help but say the one thing I feel like I missed this year, while I had a good out of school social life (I always had something to do with my free time) , I can’t help but realize that I have formed very few bonds with the kids in my classes. Maybe it’s because three of my four classes were majority sophomores. Maybe it’s because everyone is so wrapped up in “junior year” that we didn’t really stop and enjoy the people around us.

I know that sophomore year, I made friends with people that, to this day, I still spend all my free time with. I have so many great memories from my classes, meeting people, and laughing so hard in class the teacher yelled at us. But I’m not saying I don’t have good memories from this year!

I especially liked all my teachers this year. I got along well with every single one of them, and that makes me either really lucky, or….. really lucky. I know I’m going to miss my chemistry teacher a lot, and both of my American Studies teachers. I just have to keep telling myself I’ll see them around school.

Overall, I have to say, junior year wasn’t all it was cracked up to be. Sure there’s the college thing, but I am way too excited about college to even have time to be nervous or stressed about it. While this year at times was annoying, disorganized, and confusing, I’m lucky to have kept my sanity. I know kids that have cried every night for like, the last two months! I’m grateful for my sanity.

And so, as I venture into another patch of unknown waters, I look back and remember my good year, and my good luck, and look forward to a crazy summer ahead. As what will probably be my last post of junior year, and my last post for my American (Integrated) Studies course, I hope I made a good impression on the people around me, and that I don’t just become another student that took American studies one of those many years. I could ask for nothing more, for everything else has been given to me already. And so I conclude, Good night, and Good luck.

I can't think of a title for this, but read it anyway...

2009-05-20T19:37:00.000-07:00

Last weekend my sister got confirmed into our church. It was a happy event and the whole family was there, but the one thing I really remember from the weekend is that I took way too long getting ready!

Not only am I not a morning person, but I, in a classic girl move, couldn’t for the life of me figure out what to wear! I had a dress and a sweater but it was missing something. As I rummaged through my mom’s draws of her vintage clothing I found it. A beautiful Chanel floral silk scarf, a perfect accessory to the simple white dress I was wearing.

Now that’s all nice and interesting but that’s not what I’m writing this blog post to talk about. I want to talk about fashion and clothing as a symbol for social class.

This scarf had a pretty and simply floral pattern, but in the center was a huge Chanel symbol. It is by far the biggest image on the scarf and draws a lot of attention. I soon realized that this is one of the reasons the scarf is so pretty, and why I was so drawn to it. Yes, it’s shallow and materialistic of me, but I love the fact that I was wearing a vintage Chanel silk scarf. Of course, this symbol represents something to most people, at least to most girls. It’s a great symbol for wealth, sophistication, and social standing, whatever all three of those terms actually mean.

So I thought of all the people that spend thousands of dollars on clothing and accessories. But why? Is it because of the quality of the merchandise? I don’t think so. We pay for labels. It’s a simple as that. We like Chanel and Coach and Louis Vutton because we have this idea in our head that they’re high-class.

I think this something important that needs to be taken into account when looking at American’s views of social class. It is possible to find people, who live on the verge of poverty, but are still going to pay to have the nice clothing, because at least it gives off the idea that they care about their image, and they can afford to keep it up. It’s an interesting glimpse into American society and how much we obsess over our public image. We want to look wealthy and respectable, so we pay for those random labels that to a lot of people don’t actually mean anything at all. And I think it’s a simple as that.

Small and Mighty

2009-05-10T21:50:00.000-07:00

The American Flag. What does it symbolize, what does it mean?

I ended up going away for mothers’ day this weekend, up to Kohler, Wisconsin, which was convenient because if there is only one thing I’ll ever remember about Wisconsin-ites it’s that they love big American Flags. Really big American Flags. I’ve made the drive to Kohler about three times a year since I was like five, and we probably pass five huge American flags on the way there. Actually now it’s only four since the insurance company headquarters we pass took theirs down (which is interesting within itself).

However, the picture I took was not of one of those flags. It was of a much smaller flag. Actually, it isn’t a flag at all; it’s a painting of a flag. This painted flag, as you can see, is placed atop a silo. An interesting place for a flag. Or is it? The first thing I wondered was why there? Is there anything particularly American about silos? Well, yes there is. We’re one of the bread baskets of the world. But then I thought about how the farmer who owned said silo had to make the conscious decision to have that flag on top of his silo. Maybe he believes he is doing something particularly patriotic. Making food for Americans and foreigners alike. There is something strangely idyllic about an honest farmer, who lives off modest means and owes everything to the land. This is the way most American’s through history have lived, but actually, it’s kind of dying. American’s are no longer majority farmers. And with the industrialization of farming, both crop and livestock, the lifestyle of the American farmer is drastically different than it once was.

So was does this flag on this silo say? That this is America? These are its roots, its core, and its true citizen? This flag struck me, because it seems to, despite its size, demand attention. Close to the highway and high in the air, in a perpetual state of motion, it titles its farm “American”. But is it American? Is the rural America still the American heart, as this silo, and a surprisingly large amount of Wisconsin silos claim?

Or is farming a dying art, and with it, a dying form of patriotism?

My Intro

2009-04-23T20:29:00.000-07:00

Here is my intro:

Cult: a group or sect bound together by veneration of the same thing, person, ideal, etc.

The word cult conjures up strange images. For example, pictures of large groups of people with shaven heads talking in unison, or maybe even ideas of brainwashing and abuse. But in reality, the word cult means nothing more than a group of people with a common idea. Or at least the denotation does. We all know there is a lot more to the word cult than just that. According to Sociology, A Down-to-Earth Approach, a cult is simply “a new or different religion whose teachings and practices put it at odds with the dominant culture and religion” (Henslin, 529). This definition, if not less confusing, at least seems more tangible. It is hard to step away from reality, and look at the bigger picture, especially when dealing with something as personal as religion, but truthfully, the world’s most popular religions started as nothing more than cults. When telling of one religion, the same sociology textbook reads, “its handful of followers believed that an unschooled carpenter who preached in remote villages in a backwater country was the Son of God, [and] that he was killed and came back to life” (529). So then why is it that new religious movements, otherwise known as cults, are met with such hostility in America? We react with hostility towards new religious movements because we don’t know how else to react. It is due to the abnormal lifestyle many new religious movements require, the counter-cultural values often held within these groups, and the fear we feel when presented with the unknowns of an entirely new religion.

-----------------------------------

I guess the real problem is the length. I have always struggled with making my pieces short. I like putting words together and trying to make them sound nice, so it's always hard for me to get to the point with my essays.
It's a rough draft, and most of it will probably not be present in my final draft.

The real accomplishment this "weekend":
Getting my thoughts organized and getting a interviewee!

The Toon of Three Thoughts

2009-04-12T19:26:00.000-07:00

So here I sit. Staring at a screen, with what I’m supposed to believe is a sound introduction to (supposedly) one of the most important papers I’ve ever written.

The future looks bleak. At least to me.

I mean, I’m sure it’s not that bad, and it’s not the introduction that scares me as much as the multiple paragraphs that must follow it.

I’m still trying to wrap my mind around the exact, perfect, interesting, and painfully specific direction I want my research to go.

Not to mention the fact that I awake almost every morning to the toon of three thoughts: 1) uggg, school again/uggg, track again 2) what is this thing poking me in the back, oh wait, that’s my dog… and 3) I need to find somebody to interview for my junior theme!!

It’s like this little feeling down in my chest that keeps me in a constant state of anxiety, and it doesn’t help when I look at the calendar and realize I have two more weekends to pull this together.

Excuse me!?

Oh and one more thing, the fact that I’m an independent learning that would probably learn about writing this paper by jumping off a bridge than by going in for help, frustrates me, especially when I realize my fourth quarter grade rests upon my ability to keep in touch with my teachers.

I need a hard slap in the face. I shouldn’t be sitting here venting to my American Studies blog. I should be doing something productive!

The million dollar question though, is what.

REAL LIFE PLANTATION!

2009-03-30T18:55:00.000-07:00

I had the chance this week to drive across the heart of the South, twice. I have done this every year as long as I can remember, but I’m usually either asleep or watching a movie. But this time I decided to keep my eyes glued to the landscape. Well what I saw was pretty interesting. For example, driving down the freeway in the heart of Tennessee, I saw a sign for a “Real Life Plantation”. You could see it from the highway, it was a large house made out of what looked like cardboard overlooking about half an acre of land with a huge sign saying “Real Plantation” on the roof with a letter or two falling off.

After I overcame the sticker shock that they were actually advertising a plantation, I thought that if you’re going to sell yourself in that way, you could at least make it nice. Like make a real house on an open field, without the huge sign that needs a paint job. It really shows you how much this is a part of their identity. Even though plantations are widely considered a negative thing, it’s such a part of Southern culture and southern identity that they’d rather do it poorly, then not do it at all. It also makes you wonder about how “they” see plantations versus how “we” see plantations. I hate you use a broad term like “the north” but I have to in this situation. The North probably sees plantations as symbolic of oppression and rebellion, while a Southerner could see it as a symbol of the glory days, when the only thing larger than their property was their wallets. This resembles what we talked about with the south retaining their individual identity, completely separate from the North’s after the end of the war, and even after Reconstruction.

I’m not saying it’s a bad thing that they wish to draw tourist in this way; it’s just pretty interesting that that is how they wish to embrace their past. Could it truly be better to do it poorly, than not do it at all though?

He's always talking about Puerto Rico!

2009-03-11T17:21:00.000-07:00

I walked into my living room yesterday to find my mom, brother, and sister all watching American Idol. I don’t really watch the show consistently, but I do know a lot of the people on it right now and when I came into the room the only Puerto Rican contestant was currently singing. I like him, he’s nice, modest, and with his modesty he ends up being quite funny, and after I announced this to my brother, he said, “I don’t really like him”. I asked why, and my brother said, “I don’t know, he’s always talking about Puerto Rico” (Keep in mind my brother is eleven). I laughed and jokingly said, “What are you? Racist?” My brother, in defense, turned and literally said, “What are you talking about Jackie, racism is between whites and blacks!” My jaw dropped, and I instantly asked him who told him that. He blushed, realizing he obviously said something incorrect, and I continued to explain exactly what racism really is.

Now, my brother is only eleven, but at the same time, he’s eleven! He’s not five, but he’s not yet a young man, so part of me expected it, and the other part was surprised he didn’t even really know what racism is. This got me thinking about the way race, and racism is taught, especially in junior highs. When I look back, I don’t actually remember ever talking about race in my junior high classes. That upsets me.

We are spending so much time talking about the banning of books for things like racial slurs. I think banning of any type of book is bad, not only because I think it’s the parents job to both monitor and push their children when it comes to reading and learning, but I don’t see what good comes from banning a book!

Honestly, banning Huckleberry Finn from high schools is not going to make racism go away, and it’s not going to make slurs go away either! In my mind, it’s actually going to promote ignorance! Kids, even young kids, need to embrace racial differences, because it’s our differences that make us human beings! (May sound kind of idealistic but hey) So what I think needs to be done, is just that. We need to stop banning books because they make us uncomfortable, use good judgment on the maturity levels of the students reading said book, and most importantly, acknowledge that we are all different! Yes we are equal, and YES we are all human, all deserving basic rights, but race, at least the social construction, is immensely important for self identity and much more.

And maybe if you want the idea of race to go away, better education on race and science will help show our younger generations that, though are skin colors are different, we all come from the same thing, the same core. We are all people.

Ticking Time Bomb

2009-03-03T16:40:00.000-08:00

Last night my family and I taped a new episode of 24, and then stayed up late so we could watch it conveniently without commercials, and two things amazed me. One is this ticking time bomb scenario, which the entire episode was based around! Do you allow Jack to beat one guy’s face in, if it could (key word could) save hundreds of lives? Most people are against the idea of torture, but not if they’re told it could save many more lives, but what people don’t understand is there is very little room for compromise. It hard to say, “I’m okay with torture, sometimes…” Reality doesn’t work that way. If you say yes to torture in these situations, you’re saying yes to torture in every situation.

However, like in last night’s episode, it’s hard to look a man in the eye, know he could be the key to saving many lives, if only you could press a little harder. How do you justify the deaths of the people that could result from not pushing the suspect harder? But once again, there is little to no room for compromise. If you say no to torture, you say no to torturing everybody, no exceptions.

This is what governments have struggled with in our new “ethical age”. Our values are constantly changing, from decade to decade, administration to administration, and these issues change with them. So is there a “right” answer? Well no, because it’s an opinion, but is there a moral thing to do? I think this is one of those things we just can’t answer, but if we ever want to truly be the role model we need to realize we are, and then we need to approach these hard issues head on. Without compromises, no more picking and choosing appropriate situations.

Look for my other issue with the 24 special in my next blog post!

Live Breaking News!

2009-02-09T17:16:00.001-08:00

I’m sitting here, watching President Obama's first official news conference, and obviously the main thing on his mind is our country’s economy. He said something that made my jaw drop. The amount of jobs we have lost is like losing every job in the state of Maine, and of all those jobs, more than half disappeared in the last month! Ouch! That is why we need the stimulus package. But do the ends of it really justify the means? People are freaking out about the amount of money being used in this package (with just cause as it somewhere in the trillions I think). I don’t really know where I stand on this issue though. We need the money, and we need it now, but you have to worry about the struggling families that are going to have to pull some of the trillion out of their pockets. At the same time it don’t even feel totally comfortable taking a stand on this issue because I don’t know how it feels. I don’t pay those taxes, I don’t need that money. To me, I have to admit, it is just a number, and it’s such a big number I can’t even actually realize how much money that is. But I don’t think this is wasteful government spending, because I don’t think this money will be put to waste. One of the few things I claim to understand about of failing economy is the fact that we need to work from the ground up. We need to get families back into houses, with a steady income, and off of welfare. But maybe a couple trillion dollars is too much money for creating four million jobs and “fixing” the economy (something that isn’t even a guarantee). Maybe it’s my naïveté, maybe it’s my gut, or maybe it’s a bizarre mixture of both, but I really can’t help but kind of trust our president on this one.

Beowulf Versus Gandhi!

2009-01-26T19:37:00.000-08:00

As we discussed Rosa Parks today in class, the word hero came up a lot. Rosa Parks is indeed a modern day hero, but what type of hero is she? The myth suggests she a quiet, simple, loving, innocence, and I think most importantly, passive person. In her myth, a story that resonated across the country and still touches hearts today, Rosa Parks was a hero that was oppressed by people more powerful than her, and she rose up against them with non violence. We love this idea of a peaceful hero, and it seems that within the last decade or two, these are the ones that last. Rosa Parks, Gandhi, Martin Luther King, all non violent activists that spoke against injustice without a single violent act. But if you look farther back, it’s actually the opposite. Ancient heroes, the stuff of legends and folktales. I, for some reason, instantly think of Beowulf. He was written about as a hero, and in his tale, he was considered a hero by both his men and his followers, but Beowulf became a hero not through peace, but through bloody savage fighting. Even though Beowulf may be thought of today as a blood thirst warlord, this legend has lasted hundreds of hundreds of years, which means it obviously resonated when it was created (or it actually happened. It hard to prove if the stories of Beowulf are actually true).

It’s bizarre to look at the bigger picture, and realize how the idea

of a hero has changed with history. People like Beowulf, physically strong, brave, noble, and violent, versus Gandhi, weak, oppressed, strong willed, brave, virtuous, and peaceful. So which is a hero and which isn’t? Or are they both heroes? Well, I think the hero is all in the eyes of the beholder, the situation, and the time period. So basically, there is not cookie cutter hero. But what then, makes a hero a hero, and not just another really good person? That’s another post for another day.

The Bible Code: Yeah its confusing!

2009-01-05T18:12:00.000-08:00

I just finished watching a television show on the Bible Code. The Bible Code is believed to be a mathematical system, in which you count the letters of the torah, and then, like a crossword puzzle, pull words out of the block of letters you get. Sounds confusing. Well it is. Those words then seem to come together to create prophecies and even tell the future, by bunching common words together. Sounds iffy. Well it is. Sounds controversial. Yeah, it’s that also. But I don’t want to argue whether or not the bible code exists, I’m far more interested in why we care.

Why do we go looking for a code like this, and why, once we find one, is it so intriguing? I believe it’s because we, as humans, all yearn for one thing. Purpose. When we find something like a code, that in a way makes sense of all the things going on in our world, and has the potential to tell our future, we feel drawn to it because it makes us feel like we have a path, it’s a meaning for our own existence.

As I watched this show, and all these people argued for their sides of the story, I was drawn to the fact that we are even having this argument at all. It’s so interesting to think about how much we love prophecy. Even if we think it’s completely unrealistic, we can’t help but listen. We can’t help but be shocked by those that for one reason or another come true, or others that frighten us. It’s classic human nature to want to know what our futures are, what the stars may hold for us, and I think it plays into our eternal drive and need for a purpose in life. Once again, it makes people feel like we have a path, a destiny, that we aren’t just wandering the earth blindly. In a way, if someone says they can predict our future, whether we believe it or not, it makes us feel like we have a future to look forward to.

Another Thought on Sins

2009-01-02T19:03:00.000-08:00

Here's something else to think about relating to my last blog post. I talked about envy, and how it may be just misunderstood. I asked if envy could possibly be a good thing, a necessary thing, and not the evil thing we are taught from birth.

What about greed? Think about our economy, and Wall Street, and the materialistic community we are. Could greed be a good thing?

A Not So Deadly Sin?

2009-01-01T18:26:00.000-08:00

Envy. It’s one of the seven deadly sins. It is something that, nearly from birth, we are trained is evil. It is often associated with the devil, sin, and bad people, but what about biology and necessity? I’m not talking about jealousy, because jealousy is linked with love. Envy, at its core, is disdain for another person because they possess something that you do not. So what role has this “evil” thing played in history?

Sure you think of warlords and medieval Europe, the whole my castle is bigger than your castle thing, but I’m talking positive. Is envy a positive thing? Sounds crazy right?

I don’t believe it’s all that crazy. I think envy is beyond important. At first it is hard to break out of our molds to think about something like envy in a positive way, but envy is actually biologically necessary. Imagine the earth a few million years ago, and a monkey is out collecting food. It comes home with three nuts, only to discover that another monkey in the tribe collected five nuts! That monkey gets envious of the extra food and vows to collect more nuts next time he is out. Now this story may seem like a stretch, but hopefully the main idea got across. Envy, in a way, actual wills the evolution process. Envy, a somehow trivial feeling, is anything but! Are brains may possibly be wired to be envious in a way to make us want to be better, and feel that it is necessary to be better than we are!

But that’s not all! Imagine its implications today, in modern society. Look at the United States, a completely consumer driven society. Think about the man the returns home from work, and discovers that his neighbor has purchased a new car. He instantly dislikes his neighbor for his new purchase, and the only way he can strike back is by buying a new, better car. So he works extra hard for that big bonus, helping his company, then buys that expensive car, therefore stimulating the economy!

In more ways than those two, envy is vital to our world. It could be vital to the very evolutionary process that made us what we are today and it is more than vital to running our country. 2/3 of our economy is run by consumers, and imagine what would happen to the economy if every person decided they were happy with what they had!
So wait. Is envy really as evil as we preach it to be? Isn’t envy the very thing that runs our countries, runs the animal world, and even our world? Or is it truly evil, something that makes us materialistic and bitter? Well that’s for you to decide, but I think this deadly sin deserves to be rethought a little.

ILLINOIS - Ethics Optional!

2008-12-09T15:06:00.000-08:00

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/28139523/displaymode/1176/rstry/28139155/

Do corrupt officials get elected, or do good people become corrupt in office?

That is one of the many questions stemming from the news of Rod R. Blagojevich’s resent arrest. It has long been suspected that Rod had been behaving in sketchy, or less than ethical ways, but thanks to some wire tapping, warranted I believe, they got actual tape of good old Rod trying to sell President Elect Obama’s old senate seat! That, along with threatening to cancel donation grants to local hospitals and trying to get Chicago Tribune workers fired, earned him a six a.m. wake-up call from not other than the FBI.

Illinois, the whole country actually, has a long history of corrupt elected officials. That brings us back to the question, do we just happen to let corrupt people convince us they aren’t and get themselves elected? Or does the political business have a tendency to corrupt people who began as good?

I think that power corrupts. I think we take good people, elect them, and watch them slowly, through a mixture of peer pressure and fate, fall to corruption. But not everyone becomes corrupt, and not everyone that goes in is good to begin with. I do not believe that Rod Blagojevich was good to begin with, I believe he was corrupt from the start. So I think that the saying “power corrupts” can be revised to “power can corrupt”. Power has the ability to turn any good person bad, depending on the circumstances. It is dangerously easy for people to become power hungry when tempted, and that has always been the true enemy of any good government system. So is there any way to beat it? Or is it pure human nature?

And what about the original question, do we elect corrupt officials, or do they become corrupt?

Against the Grain

2008-12-01T17:12:00.001-08:00

Watch this video on the food crisis and how the country of Malawi faced it. Its only three minutes long, and it’s worth the watch. You have to watch an advertisement in the begining though.

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/3032619/#27932835

What is striking about this story is not only the booming success of what used to be one of the poorest countries in the world, but how the government of Malawi decided to go against the advice of Western countries, and try something no one had done before. By giving out 5 million dollars in fertilizer, they brought in record crops, and in an amazing domino effect, boosted their economy, their long term agriculture, their education programs, and their overall well-being. You see in one part of the clip, a small business, doing well, a tell tale sign of a strong economy. And just the fact that the farmers have enough money to buy luxury food items like fruit and vegetables, is an incredible jump from what it used to be like.

This is an amazing example for countries all over the world. With a mixture of droughts, desertification, and all around soil degeneration (the gradual diminishing of soil fertility, or how well it grows crops, to a point of uselessness), this gutsy move proved to work in more ways than just agriculturally. It brought a country out from what seemed to be a long road of poverty and turmoil, and it may be able to help many more countries like Malawi. The question really is, do we need to rethink our advice to poor countries? And when our economy is doing so horribly, can learn something from the fresh young countries of the world.

Human Rights

2008-11-12T19:10:00.001-08:00

http://www.interaction.org/media/photo/women.html

Imagine, you’re a young girl in Afghanistan. Already sounds tough, but imagine being under threat of attack while walking to school in the morning, just because you’re a girl and you want an education.

This was the reality for four Afghani girls. On their way to school, just walking down the street, two men drove by on motorcycles, and used water guns to spray these girls with acid. Two of them where blinded, and the other girls, alone with many others around them, where badly injured. The two men got away, but are suspected members of the Taliban, and the government spokesperson called them “enemies of education.” (Article)

I consider this a human rights violation. Lately in American Studies we have been talking about political issues, and one of those was how involved we should get in other countries affairs. We are already in Afghanistan, but not entirely, we kind of have one foot in the door. This, some believe, is the reason we aren’t doing as well as we have hopped in regions like Afghanistan and Iraq. Something to bring to attention is some past wars. For example, World War I and World War II. During both wars, at the beginning, there was an overwhelming amount of young men willing to die for their country and freedom. In the homeland, meat was rationed in order to send more abroad. Metal was rationed for the war effort. Even salt was highly rationed, all so our soldiers could fight a little better, be a bit stronger, and most importantly, be a tad bit more committed. This is something that our recent wars are lacking. Not commitment from the soldiers, commitment from the citizens.

In our past war efforts, with the exception of Vietnam, the American people poured their hearts into the war effort. People rationed and donated and molded their lives in a way that would make it easier for the United States to fight a war. Today, there are no rations, and most people are completely disconnected from what is going on in our wars. Over 80% of United States Citizens over the age of 18 could NOT find Afghanistan on a blank map.

Some may argue that maybe we shouldn’t be going to war if it isn’t even justified enough to gain the support of the American people, and part of me agrees. This all comes back to those young Afghan women and the civil liberties issues that are being broken everyday in that country. I believe something needs to be done, but I also believe that if we are going to do something, we need a full commitment from everyone, or no committment at all.

2008-10-21T18:56:00.001-07:00

Taxes

Probably the main separator between the democratic and republican parties in the United States. It's one of the most important things in our entire country. I pays for our roads, our schools, our employees, and livelihoods. This also makes it one of the most controversial.

Basically the question is, should a wealthier person pay more taxes than a poorer person?

The wealthier person has more money, and therefore would be better qualified to help out the poorer person, by paying more money themselves. It is the best way to help people on welfare who are struggling just to get food on the table. It plays back to our original idea of fairness and goodness. Take from the rich to give to the poor. Seems fair.

Or...

Everyone pays the same taxes. The ultimate idea of fair. Because a person is "lucky" enough to be successful doesn't mean they should suffer for it. These people also end up giving more money to charity than any other group of people, and therefore help just as much as they might be if they where paying more taxes. This plays back to the original idea of a pure democracy, where you don't pay more money because you just happen to have more. Seems fair.

But what is better?? This idea has had the democratic and republican parties ripping at each other's throats since the idea of parties started. They both have merit, and both seem fair, but in different ways. They both touch back to original ideas that shaped society, like the century old hero Robin Hood and the driving force of not only our country, but our whole foreign policy, democracy. And both have weak points. The more taxes seems like spreading the wealth, which some see as a mild form of communism. The equal taxes seems selfish, why wouldn't you be okay with helping people? There is no answer to this question, and basically, it will keep switching as long the political parties switch control of the white house. But just because there is no answer doesn't mean you can think of one.

Maybe there can be a compromise? Like an equal income tax. The tax is technically equal, but if you make more money you just happen to be paying more money on taxes. But neither party wants to think of a compromise because they think their way is correct. So how will this election season effect the taxes? The potential for the white house to turn blue may bring interesting results for the country. But who knows, maybe that's what we need to get us out of this hole.

The Play vs. The History Book

2008-10-21T11:40:00.000-07:00

What is more accurate, a history book, or a play? Seems like a simple question. But then you stop and think again and realize it isn't. A history book covers concrete facts, while a play may not be factual, but is a close look into the time period. Something that makes it even harder to decide is that they both have a lot of bias. A play can be represented or written in any way the writer feels like, and history books can be changed by things like word choice or chapters. They are both, at their core, just interpretations of a time and place.

I believe that a play is more "accurate". It may not have concrete facts, with dates and times, but what a play does that a history book can't is explore the emotions of the time. Plays tend to focus on the psychological things. How people where feeling and going through and struggling with in their minds when a historical event was happening. These emotions, I believe, have a lot more importance than just a certain battle. How people are feeling at these times has bigger sway on how future events turn out, and a play gives you an amazing insight into a character, therefore into a time.

Some people believe that history books are more accurate because they provide true facts, but that wont ever give you the big picture. You could read chapters of battle descriptions and body counts but it will never make you understand the emotions of the people and how they handle the events, (which I believe is the real history) like a great play can.

Is it Really the End!?!

2008-10-20T16:03:00.000-07:00

We have been talking a lot about the economy lately, and I think we all understand how important this really is. It is daunting when you realize that this is something that our children might be reading about in their American Studies history books. But while we are in the moment, it is really hard to get the bigger picture. My dad and I where talking about the economy and he flat out told me that this could be one of the worst times in world history. He even went as far as to say that it has the potential to be the downfall of capitalism.

I certainly hope not, and neither does he, as his career depends upon it. But it really made me realize how big this really will be. It started as just a mortgage crisis, and has turned into a world economic crisis. When we do read about downfalls of things in textbooks, for example the downfall of dynasties or the downfall of communism, it usually starts with something similar to what we have going on. Some part of their government becomes corrupt or something backfires, like our economy just did.

Something else daunting is the realization that, being a surprisingly young country, how are we sure our system actually works as well as we think it does. This about how many dynasties the Chinese went through, and the constant switch from things like imperialism, to Confucianism to Taoism. Can we be totally sure that we have it right? How much will this change the path of our country? Can we tough it out?

To end on a happier note, we have to remember what doesn't kill us makes us stronger. And we aren't dead, so we must be getting stronger.

Majority Rules

2008-10-06T16:07:00.000-07:00

This years election brings a lot of changes to the entire government of the United States, including such places as the Supreme Court. Something that was brought to my attention recently was how the majority rule of the Supreme Court could change.
The Supreme Court is made up of nine members, and currently there are four liberal members, and four conservative members. This, therefore, means that the vote usually depends on one member (Anthony Kennedy), and one vote. Two of the other members of the supreme court are nearing retirement. Justice John Paul Stevens is 88 years old, and no member has ever served over 90.
So, during this term, Justice Stevens (a liberal) may retire. If Obama wins the white house, another liberal justice will be chosen, but if John McCain wins then a conservative justice will be picked. That will switch the majority rule to the conservatives, actually changing many regulations. There could be more gun owners, changes on the abortion debate, and changes on many other issues.
One more point thought, is that people argue that however wins will try and pick someone who will mix things up a little. They may pick someone young, or a female, because there is currently only one woman on the Supreme Court. There has also never been a Hispanic on the Supreme Court, opening that up to possibility also. So whoever wins may be looking for a young Hispanic woman.

What does this mean for our country? If McCain wins, how will the issues change? And what do you thing of a young Hispanic female as a Supreme Court leader, good idea or bad?

Slowly Falling Apart

2008-09-21T16:09:00.000-07:00

57 people were killed from a truck bomb outside the Marriott hotel in Islamabad, Pakistan, including two Americans and a diplomat from the Czech Republic. The explosion also injured 266 people, 11 of which were foreign. Pakistani Interior Minister Rehman Malik said the attack at the Marriott Hotel "is the biggest attack, volume-wise" in Pakistan in seven years. The driver tried to talk his way past the gates at the hotel with his truck packed with 1,300 pounds of explosives. He was a suicide bomber.

Watch the CNN news video on the attack here, and click "Suicide Blast Rocks Islamabad".

No arrests have been made with connection to the attack, but Malik says that all paths lead to the tribal regions of Pakistan. South Waziristan is where most trails wander, and is one of Pakistan's seven tribal areas where Taliban and al Qaeda militants are active. It is in tribal areas similar to Waziristan that reported sightings of Osama Bin Laden have come from, and with a big issue of this year’s election being our foreign policy and the war, Pakistan is daily becoming a more and more important country to the United States.

Pakistan is ranked as the ninth most unstable country in the world, behind countries like Somalia, which got first, Sudan, Cote d’Ivoire, and the Democratic Republic of Congo (See the list here). I guess the point of all of this information is how upsetting it is. I feel incredibly sad when I realize that this is what the world has really come to, war, strife, and a lot of hatred. I also feel confused when I realize how little I actually know about Pakistan as a country. Pakistan is an amazingly pivotal country, and it is just looming there, waiting for the US to deal with. I guess what it really comes down to is who is going to deal with Pakistan. Most trails point to Osama Bin Laden being either in Afghanistan, where we are already, or in rural Pakistan, a place that the Pakistani government has no control over. I don’t know why it is strange to me that Pakistan is so violent, and unstable. Maybe I’m just used to the peaceful side of the beautiful Islamic religion. So is there hope? Or is the world just slowly falling apart, one country at a time? I sure hope not.

Extreme Consequences

2008-09-14T15:47:00.000-07:00

They’ve been all over the news lately. They’ve driven millions from their homes, and caused millions of dollars in damage. They’ve even stolen the spotlight from some of the most famous American politicians. And, oh yeah, that’s just this year. They are hurricanes. Hurricane season is something dreaded, yet dealt with by most of the south eastern United States. Every year dozens of storms come, with an average of 4-6 turning into hurricanes, but only 1-2 of those being a serious threat. Hurricane season officially started back on June 1st, but only recently are any hurricanes getting attention. Even so, both of those hurricanes where taken seriously, and both caused serious damage. People are starting to realize that there seems to be more serious hurricanes, more frequently. The real problem is that they’re correct. When looking at the evidence, you see that the number of category 4 and 5 hurricanes has almost doubled in the last 30 years.

“What changed in the US with Katrina, was a feeling that we have entered a period of consequences…” –Al Gore

But why is this? While many people would argue about what is causing it, many scientists now believe the culprit is none other than global warming. Global warming makes the oceans warmer, and warm water is the fuel that drives hurricanes across seas, eventually smashing them into the land that gets in their way.

Hurricanes aren’t the only thing we have to worry about either. With the earth slowly getting hotter, we can expect an array of extreme weather attacks, says organizations like edf.org, which stands for Environmental Defense Fund. Imagine massive wildfires being sparked from forests of what is essentially dry tinder. Droughts are likely, because warmer weather causes water to evaporate much faster. And all of those put together means heavier rainfall less often, which could result in flooding as disastrous as what happened to New Orleans. But even with evidence slowly mounting that these two things, extreme weather and global warming, could be linked, you rarely hear the two used together.

So, the battle rages on about whether or not global warming is the cause of these super hurricanes. Maybe it isn’t the cause. But I believe it sounds like a better idea to try and stop it this way, by fighting global warming itself, even if it is wrong, than to just wait and hope the hurricanes stop coming.

GO TEAM?

2008-09-03T07:19:00.001-07:00

Last Friday night, I found myself amongst a throng of Highland Park High School students, cheering as their team ran in their first touchdown. But there was something wrong. I looked around to see that I was one of the few, the very few, people actually standing and cheering. I found it strange that I, a New Trier High School student, was cheering louder than majority of the students in the crowd. I joked with my HPHS friends that I had more spirit than they did and I didn't even go to their school. But then it dawned on me how hard it really is to find school spirit lately, anywhere. Highland Park isn't the only school where spirit can't be found. New Trier has "Blue and Green Fridays", where students are urged to dress in all blue and green to support our many different sports teams. I know one girl who makes an effort to wear blue and green every Friday, and every other person who does wear those colors, claims to have done it by accident. Most people would argue that there is plenty of spirit though. It is true, New Trier football games are crowded with students and fans all socializing while they watch their high school go for the win, and everyone gets extremely excited at every opportunity to pull ahead of the other team, but only at these events. How many students will follow their teams on away games? How many people wake up on Friday, remember that they should wear something blue or something green, and just pretend to have forgotten? I'm as guilty as everyone else, and it is interesting to realize that high school pride doesn't seem to be dished out by the pounds anymore. Its seems to be dripped out whenever it is convenient. What happened to make us forget we are trevians? I was standing as I screamed for Highland Park High school as they ran in another touchdown, and I heard a voice from behind me. I turned around and a boy, probably a sophomore, was sitting there. "Um, we," he said with a hint of cockiness as he waved to his surrounding friends, "would really appreciate it if you all would sit down." I couldn't believe it! Sit down? At a football game?! But then I though of myself and all the lazy students at New Trier games, and of all the students who only go to the games to stand on the sidelines and talk. This wasn't as weird as I was making it out to be, I realized. Still, I wasn't gonna let him put a damper on my wanna-be-a-spirited-Highland-Park-High-School-student parade. I looked at him and said, "Um we," making a similar gesture as his to my group of friends, "would really appreciate it if you all would stand up." Today, when so many students across the north shore are too busy to think of their local sports team, and probably a little embarrassed to show up to school as the only super crazy, colorful fan of their high school, I think it is time for all of us to break the habit of only being fans when we want to be, and to not only to be fans when the team is actually winning. To start showing how proud we are of our schools, whether it's HPHS, GBS, or NTHS, and to not be afraid to let those colors shine.