BLOG POST #6 - Quote Analysis

"All that it takes for evil to triumph is for good people to do nothing." - Sir Edmund Burke, 1769.

     I don't believe that this quote could apply specifically to a certain period in time. This quote is applicable to humans in general no matter the time or place. It explains a part of basic human nature. Usually "evil" things are done for personal gain, to rise above others in a way that is easier than doing so legitimately. If there are not barriers or things to deter one from taking this easy path to greatness, then it will taken advantage of. You've probably heard the saying "you give an inch, they take a yard". The reality is, is that humans are selfish in general. We want to do what is best for us or our immediate group of family or friends and we want it done in the easiest, fastest way possible. If there aren't barriers or "good" in our life to stop us from taking this easy path then 9 times out of 10 we will take.

     This "good" in our life can come in many forms. In many cases it is the law. The law of a country is supposed to reflect the general opinion of the countries citizens pertaining to what is considered just and unjust. The law and those who uphold it ensure that people adhere by these general societal beliefs. 

     Now I realize I'm not talking about the force of philanthropic good that we were probably meant to discuss after reading this quote. While I don't see this as the main message of the quote it certainly plays a part. Those who speak out publicly against injustices in effect accomplish the same thing as the law. They are creating a social deterrence against injustice. If someone can convince the majority of people that something is wrong, then that creates a deterrence. As much as everyone wants an easy way out, everyone also wants to fit in. Many people won't, for example, commit crimes because they don't want to be viewed as a "criminal" who is held at a much lower social standard. A perfect example of how both of these forces of "good" work can be seen in the crime of theft. While everyone would like to go to a store and take whatever they want for free, most of us don't. We don't for a variety of reasons. One we could be held accountable for our actions in the form of punishment by the state. But also perhaps just as prevalent is the fear of being looked down on by society as a criminal.

     In summary all this quote really means is that evil needs to be held in check. If left unguarded then the flood gates will open and the world will be taken advantage of. 

BLOG POST #5 - To act or not to act

     I choose not to act and not to do the right thing on a daily basis. Do I do this because I'm a bad person….No. Like almost everyone on this planet I don't take these opportunities because it's EASY not to. Humans usually take the easy way out when the positive consequences of their actions can't be clearly seen. Why do people fail to reuse and recycle?? Because it can be such an inconvenience and one load of recycling hardly seems to make a difference. Why don't kids stand up for other kids who are being bullied?? They could themselves get clobbered over someone they may hardly know. When the positive result or consequence of one's action cannot be easily seen in the face of an overbearing negative, it is human nature to ignore the tough choice and to take the easy way out. 

     The people who have done the most good in our world are the people who either fight through this easy vs. right conundrum or who can see the bigger picture. They wouldn't look at recycling one single bottle as making a huge difference. They would envision MILLIONS of people recycling ONE plastic bottle to making a significant impact. It's all a matter of perspective. Rosa Parks is a perfect example of this. She probably didn't see her one act as solving the problem of segregation. However, she realized that her action could inspire others to do so. Her action clearly worked as today segregation doesn't exist in government levels of countries. Another example of this would be voting. While one person's vote is practically negligible in deciding an election, everyone's vote carries the same weight. The combined force of millions of votes is what represents the popular opinion of the citizens of a country, not the individual vote. If people (including me) can start thinking of how our actions can fit into a greater world community instead of our actions standing alone, then more people will take action and take opportunities to make our world a better place in all regards. 

BLOG POST #4 - Human Rights Activist

Abraham Lincoln is an inspiring human rights activist that every Canadian should know more about. His unwavering sense of morality against untold hostilities is a true testament to his character and integrity. For those who do not know, Lincoln was the 16^th President of the United States, serving from 1861 until his assassination in 1865. He served his term in one of the darkest times in American history: The American civil war. The American civil war was fought between the Union (Northern States) and the Confederacy (Southern States). The war was started because Lincoln was elected to office in 1860. As the head of the Republican Party he was strongly advocating an anti-slavery policy where all citizens of a nation would be considered equal. This was not to the liking of the Southern cotton States who relied on slavery to produce cotton and thus to maintain their state. The war began when 7 Southern States attempted to separate from the North and form their own country. The Union States took this as an act of treason and declared war. Soon after 4 other Southern States joined in the Confederacy. In 1863 Lincoln issued an executive order called the Emancipation Proclamation using his powers in times of war. This order called for the abolishment of slavery and thus made ending slavery a military goal for the war. After the war was over and Union forces had emerged victorious (largely because of Lincoln’s military contributions) Lincoln amended the United States Constitution to include the Thirteenth Amendment. He feared that many States wouldn’t accept the Emancipation Proclamation as codified law as it was enacted as a wartime measure. The Thirteenth Amendment ensured that the complete abolishment of slavery was entrenched the US constitution forever.

     To be inspired as a “young Canadian” to take action I do not believe that we must necessarily be inspired by someone Canadian or who did something for Canada. This is one of the problems with our education system today that we have an incredibly biased and narrow focus of history that includes nothing of great men like Abraham Lincoln.     Lincoln stood in the face of a gross violation of human rights and didn’t stop until it was solved. It took immense courage to do this. Many of the Southern States economies were solely based on slavery to do cheap labour to harvest cotton. Lincoln saw through the economic benefits of slavery to the fact that it was just plain wrong in all regards. As well he put aside his political ambitions to do what’s right. Clearly he wasn’t campaigning against slavery to gain power as half the country diametrically opposed his stance. Where would we be today if more politicians stopped worrying about being re-elected and did what was right for the people of the country they swore to protect? Where would we be today if more politicians acted like Lincoln and stood up against things that benefitted the economy but were detrimental towards human rights? Lincoln has inspired me to stand up for what I believe in and what is right even against steep odds. His lesson is one that can and should be applied to all aspects of everyday life. Lincoln took a stand in something he believed in and in the end paid the ultimate sacrifice for it. Is that not the definition of a “Human Rights Activist”? 

BLOG POST #3 - FDR Quote Analysis

     If I was to sum up this quote in one word it would actually be quite simple: Globalization. FDR is stating that in today’s age all nations of the world are dependent on one another. He also alludes to a sort of international community. This is a very interesting concept. Picture a small village in Europe before the industrial or agricultural revolutions. This village would be completely autonomous meaning that it would be able to survive without importing or exporting any resources. The village probably wouldn’t have even had the technology or means to trade with other villages. FDR is saying that the world has become that village. The concept of inter-dependence has grown to a global scale. Instead of a grocer and cobbler relying on one another for food and shoes respectively, Canada and Mexico rely on each other for raw minerals and produce respectively. The other part to this quote is the notion that humans won’t be able to achieve peace unless we band together. This is true but ultimately unrealistic for today’s time anyway. Humans have a natural tendency to want to belong. This leads people to things such as religion, and nationalism. Because of these human tendencies I can’t foresee the completion of “an international community” anytime soon.

     Globalization plays a huge role in today’s age. Developed nations such as Canada and the US are outsourcing businesses to other countries where the labour can be done for less money. Not only is this creating a dependence on that country but it is taking away jobs from Canadian or American citizens. In this world each country must specialize in certain industries or it risks massive unemployment. For example, Canada has an abundance of lumber. Because of this geographical advantage Canada is a huge exporter of lumber to other nations that perhaps don’t have the volume of trees Canada has. The lumber industry is a specialization of the Canadian economy that relies upon the strengths of the country and its geography and employs thousands of people. I’ll use the analogy of a functioning human body to better illustrate my point. Each organ utilizes certain advantages in its genetic coding to specialize and become the best at carrying out a certain function. This division of labour allows for a highly developed system that plays upon the strengths of all its parts which results in an exceedingly advanced organism. Furthermore, globalization can be seen in everyday life when we send texts, or check Facebook, or write a blog post. The simplicity of communication is leading the way towards a global village. The ability to communicate with people thousands of miles away to exchange ideas and information in seconds is making our world smaller. That village I talked about earlier probably had no idea how big the world was or the other entities that resided within. Communication renders geographical barriers that would have hindered small villages completely irrelevant. No longer are people across an ocean like aliens to us. The greater the association the greater the chance of collaboration, and through collaboration, dependence.

BLOG POST #2 - AIC reflection and What's up with Italy

     Thus far our AIC simulation is going very well. We started off slow, not making our intentions public or submitting action forms while we tried to gain allies. We allied ourselves with France as we hoped they would share our view in trying to decrease the US’ involvement in general. This proved somewhat true as we were able to agree to a joint peacekeeping mission in Syria which creates diversity in the militaries station throughout the Middle-East as the US are no longer the only key player. As well we sent a press release stating our opinion on how peace is to be achieved. We are currently trying to broker a deal where Israel will stop building settlements in the West Bank while all Palestinian factions will unite under one banner so diplomacy can continue. We have also participated in many secretive actions which I cannot discuss on this public forum.

     The AIC simulation has been more of a game to me then anything. I find most of the other groups on the simulation to be fairly uneducated with anything to do with the Arab-Israeli conflict. This does make it more enjoyable however because we can do things such as sending Russian peacekeepers into Syria. This is an action that would NEVER occur in real life because: one the US would never allow it, two Russia has no place anywhere in the Middle-East after their attempted invasion of Afghanistan, and three its not in the government of Syria’s best interest as it will draw international attention to the atrocities its soldiers are committing to its citizens. While most of the simulation has been fun and games I am however expanding my knowledge of the Palestinian factions. I didn’t know that there were so many competing factions and that this was one of the main reasons diplomacy was failing.

    

     I’ll start with a brief history of the Italian economy. During the fascist era of the 1920s under Benito Mussolini’s rise to power, Italy’s economy was surprisingly very liberal. Mussolini implemented a policy called Laissez-faire which means “let it be”. This virtually removed all government involvement in the economy through a reduction in taxes and trade regulations. However this did not last as once Mussolini acquired more power he reworked the economy to be mostly controlled by the government as is characteristic with fascism. Nothing good happened for Italy’s economy in the next 20 years as they were on the losing side of both WWI and WWII and forced to pay huge reparation payments. The sun started to shine again in the cold war where the US felt that Italy’s weak democracy was threatened by the increasing communist prescience to the East. This led to US monetary support. As well the demand for armaments in the region helped to stimulate Italian industry which bolstered the economy. With a few hiccups on the way Italy made excellent economic growth until the recent recession. They were hit hard by the recession. One of the main reasons they were so ineffective in dealing with the crisis is due to their current weak coalition government. This renders the government unable to make the tough, controversial, sometimes unpopular decisions necessary to escape a recession. This in combination with their failing economy caused their credit rating to be downgraded. Italian interest rates currently sit around 6.5% 

      Now to the current issue at hand. What we are currently witnessing in Europe is the failing world’s seventh largest economy. This could potentially spell disaster for Europe and the rest of the world. How the world and the EU deal with Italy will depend on how they deal with Greece and how well that solution works. If Greece is bailed out then it sets a precedent that the EU and potentially the IMF believe bailout is the best option. Because Italy’s economy is larger and more internationally important than that of Greece, it could be assumed that Italy would be bailed out as well. If Greece isn’t bailed out then Italy would have much more of a problem. Personally I can’t see the EU not bailing Italy out as it is the third biggest economy in the EU. If Italy defaulted then global investors would lose all faith in the EU. How would it be viewed if the EU let its third largest economy fail?? I hope that the EU will take pre-emptive measures so decisions aren’t being made in the face of a default as is the case with Greece now. Hopefully sufficient austerity measures will be implemented so the economy will stabilize and the debt will level out. The problem is that as Mr. Whittard said, humans generally need a crisis situation for drastic measures to be imposed. Italy and the EU need to realize that this WILL be a crisis situation if somewhat drastic austerity measures are not implemented immediately.

    

BLOG POST #1 - What I did this summer

     This summer for the first time in my life I worked as a ski instructor at a jewish summer camp called Camp George. While this was my first time as staff I had been going to Camp George for 5 years as a camper and as a CIT (counselour in training). My favourite activity at camp was always waterskiing and I always wanted to be an instuctor not only so I could get my own fix of skiing but so I could teach and inspire kids to ski like my counselours did for me. I have to say it was my best year at camp so far. Working all day on the dock, skiing, driving boats, getting in the water to help kids was an incredible experience and I loved every minute of it. In addition to camp my summer involved going to a cottage with my family and seeing friends. What I did this summer relates very concretely to the recent massacre of campers at a youth camp in Norway for set up by the Labour Party. In this horrific event a man dressed in a police uniform (believed to be named Anders Behring Breivik) came to this camp and started shooting campers on the spot. This event hits extrememly close to home for me because the way I see it it very well could have been my camp with my friends being killed. This is almost unthinkable and I can't even begin to imagine the sadness and trauma this event has cause everyone involved, especially the campers who lost friends in front of their eyes. I can't even begin to comprehend how someone could do something as cowardly and unforgivable as this and I hope with every fiber of my being that something like this will never happen again. Upon saying this however I'm not naive enough to truly believe that there aren't still people in this world who are deluded and sick enough to continue to commit atrocities of this magnitude.