The Drug War - Where has it taken us?

In my hunt for interesting news articles today, I came across one that really got me outraged. It was a story of a marine who was shot at 71 times by a SWAT team because he was suspected of being involved in the drug trade, even though he wasn't. It can be read here, and the 54 second clip of the incident (don't worry, it's blood free) can be seen here on YouTube.

The story is of a marine (Jose Guerena) who was woken up by his wife in the morning and told that she saw a man with a gun outside through the window. Being a marine, Jose had a gun in the house, and he grabbed it in order to protect his family. His wife and son hid in the closet, and as the SWAT team busted the door in and saw him holding a gun (which was on safety by the way), they shot at him 71 times, and hit him 22 times. Jose's wife and four year old son saw him get killed through the closet with their very own eyes.

Now I know that legalizing drugs is a big no-no politically in today's society, but I don't understand how people can be so blind to the amount of damage it's caused for America and Mexico. Tens of thousands of people have been murdered by the drug cartels in Mexico, and as if that weren't bad enough, our civil liberties here have been at great threat. Now, busting into people's homes like this is common, and people are just expected to shut up about it and do whatever the police says. Unfortunately, Jose didn't even know it was the police at the door, and he was killed for trying to defend his family.

People might think I'm endorsing the use of drugs. This couldn't be further from the truth. I think drug use is a serious medical problem, and the consequences are absolutely abhorrent. However, wasn't this country build on the principles of freedom and liberty? Wasn't it intended for the people to make their own decisions, whether or not they are the right ones? The truth is, the drug war has been catastrophic to the cause of freedom, and the fact that a marine, who served his country honorably, was shot 22 times should raise questions in everyone's minds.

What do you think? Has the drug war been worth it? Does the prospect of making drugs go away make this incident OK?

America's Role in the World

This week, Obama announced an increased military presence in Australia. Now, for those of us who are educated in the past century of America's involvement over the world, something like this should come as no surprise. But especially now, at a time when the American government is over 15 trillion dollars in debt and counting, we must question ourselves: What is America's role in the world?

I came across an interesting article that puts the American involvement in Australia into perspective. The article can be viewed here. It really shows how the United States military maneuvers are viewed with suspicion all over the world, and although some people might stand with the U.S. military, there are always some that don't.

I think many people in America have gotten paranoid over possible threats from other countries. Many, especially on the right side of the political spectrum, use this as an excuse to invade and station our troops in more and more countries over the world. Currently, we have bases in over 120 countries over the world for a total of approximately seven or eight hundred bases. Is this a proper role of the U.S. military? Has the military become more of a tool for invasions and securing special interests than actually protecting American lives?

At a time when the "super committee" in congress is expected to come out with the information that they were unable to come up with the sufficient amount of cuts, it seems incredible to me that Obama ignores the debt and continues to station troops all around the world. I mean, do we really need to spend more on the military than all the other countries in the world combined?

What are your thoughts? You can address any of the questions raised above.

So, Um, Where Should I Be Looking Right Now?

As I was walking my dog a short while ago, I once again found myself in a few very uncomfortable situations. People were walking past me, and I was unsure of what my proper reaction should be. Should I say anything to them? Or when, if ever, should I be looking in their direction? Considering the fact that I was listening to music, the encounters became even more unclear and troublesome.

My parents lived in Ukraine for most of their lives. From what they've told me, in comparison with America, people were much less social as they walked past each other in the streets. After leaving Ukraine, they found themselves dealing with the same dilemma I'm dealing with right now. In America, it's much more common for strangers to acknowledge each other in the streets. But at least for me, the questions are numerous. Should we say anything, or just manage a small nod? And where is the right place to look as people go from being two hundred feet in front of you to right in front of your face?

Being somebody who still associates himself with Russian culture (to an extent, obviously), situations like these can be quite puzzling. It seems as if these interactions are most common in America, and although I can definitely see the upsides to such a friendly and social society, it definitely causes for some very awkward situations. Had you been on my walk, you'd understand.

What do you think? As somebody passes by you in the street, where should you look? And lastly, are these interactions unique to Americans?

Is Dirty Politics Un-American?

Following the sexual harassment allegations pertaining to Herman Cain, it really got me thinking about dirty politics and its history in America. I know that it's common for people to pretend that everything was so much more civil only a century or two ago, but thorough research indicates otherwise, at least on this matter. Truth be told, politics has been this way for at least two hundred years, most likely stemming from way back.

A particularly interesting example are the presidential elections of 1828, when John Quincy Adams and Andrew Jackson were running for the presidency. Some general information on the topic can be found here.

In short, the entire presidential election was shadowed by one allegation after another. Jackson was accused of adultery. Adams was accused of being a "pimp". Jackson was accused of unjustly ordering the execution of six men during his time as general in the army. Adams was accused of buying a billiard table with taxpayer money. And there was more. But for the sake of this blog post, let's stop there. What does this say about the way we view the past over our perspective on the present?


In my opinion, we like to paint a picture in our heads where everything was fine back then and only now things have gotten so uncivil. But this couldn't be further from the truth. I'd say most elections in history have had at least some accusations between the opponents, and these allegations surfacing about Herman Cain should really come as no surprise. Campaigns are always an opportunity for certain people to get power over others, and the temptation of power brings out the worst in people. But we have to understand that although people have a bias of the past, human nature has stayed practically the same. No matter how different the situation may have been in the past, humans have always had certain temptations that have remained constant since the very beginning.

What do you think? Does human nature change?

Elections - Is it really worth voting?

I wonder how many times I've heard people say, "One vote can make a difference!" And up until a short while ago, I hadn't really questioned that notion. I've always thought that one vote can in fact make a difference, and at the very least it would make me feel like I contributed to the political system. But is that true? Let's take a look at what we know:

1) One vote will make absolutely no difference in 99.99999999999999999999999% of elections. 

2) Most of the time, you're forced to choose between two candidates that you only agree with partially. So you never actually get to express the entirety of your view.

3) Although you might feel like you contributed to the political system, you really didn't do much of anything to it. It's simply a mindset you might get that doesn't mean a whole lot.

4) It takes a relatively long time to vote. So you could be waiting in a line for quite some time if you really are determined to vote.

So after looking at all this evidence, it seems as if your vote might not be worthwhile. I know this is going contrary to what most people would think, but isn't this the truth? Voting is time consuming, and it actually has no effect on the chosen candidate.  So unless you really believe in a candidate (even though I can't imagine how anybody could even remotely believe in a politician), it seems pointless.

What do you think? Is voting the right thing to do? Will you vote when you reach 18?

MLK's Memorial

One of the front page stories on the news today is the newly opened memorial for Martin Luther King Jr. To make myself clear, I think MLK was an American hero: a visionary, a leader, and a staunch fighter for equal rights. His dedication to fighting for freedom and justice can not be overstated, and what he did has drastically changed society for the better.

But at the same time, I've noticed that MLK gets more attention than many other American heroes. Isn't it odd that MLK gets a whole day devoted to his memory while two previous holidays, each celebrating George Washington's and Abraham Lincoln's birthdays, were lumped together to one day and dubbed presidents' day? Who is it to say that MLK was more significant than Washington or Lincoln? And why do so many other presidents and influential people receive no national recognition in the form holidays?

To repeat, this isn't any sort of attack on MLK and his many accomplishments. I just have trouble understanding why some people get so much more national recognition than others, and why some people don't even get recognized at all. 

If you look up public holidays in the United States, you'll find that most of them celebrate groups of people or American values. Only a select few celebrate individual people. But there have been many brilliant Americans that have done wonderful things. In fact, there probably aren't enough days in the year to celebrate them all. So instead of recognizing some American heroes over others, I say we should celebrate groups of people and American values.This way, we will be honoring all Americans without any discrimination. What do you think?

Lessons from a Fisherman

In class a few weeks ago, we touched on the subject of Americans and our obsession with working. There is a serious problem with this - Americans live to secure a better future instead of enjoying what we already have. I found a YouTube video that tells a phenomenal story demonstrating the insanity of this mindset. 

The story being told is not one that we as Americans usually get to hear. We are told to go to preschool, elementary school, middle school, junior high school, high school, and college for the first twenty something years of our lives. Then, we are expected to get jobs, earn money, save up for our family (including our childrens' college), go on a few small vacations, and retire near the end of our lives at around sixty five.

Clearly, this isn't what the fisherman did. He lived his life in peace, and although he didn't have any nets, boats, or employees, he was happy. At the same time, the businessman had a very busy lifestyle, waking up early every day and flying all over the world to earn money. As a society, we are told that we should strive to live like this. We are constantly pushed in the direction of hard work by our community. And for what? Have we become happier?

I myself have to admit that I am not nearly as happy as I would be if I were just left alone. The countless hours of school and homework has put a great burden on me, and with the late nights and early mornings my life has become incredibly stressful. And it doesn't stop there. Up until my sixties, I am expected to work five days a week with a few short vacations. But if you think about it, this "ideal" lifestyle could be completely unnecessary. Why spend sixty five years of our lives working just so we can do what we could have done from the very beginning? Why have Americans forgotten about living in the moment?

What do you think? Have Americans become too preoccupied with succeeding that we have forgotten the ultimate goal of happiness?