Are Poor People Slaves?

Last week, if I remember correctly, Mr. O'Connor said in class that poor people are essentially slaves. He pointed out that since poor people have to work so hard and still struggle to get by, they are practically enslaved. I disagree with this assessment for three main reasons.

For one, I believe that people are entitled to their life, liberty, and property, and unless somebody takes those things away, you should be considered free. As the Founding Fathers said, there are things such as Natural Rights - or rights that every man, woman, and child is automatically born with. Life, liberty, and property are Natural Rights, and I believe that nobody should be entitled to anything more. Just because people are making a voluntary decision to work and support themselves financially doesn't mean that they are entitled to anything else. To do that would be to take away somebody else's rights, by taking money from them (perhaps through taxation).

Also, I feel like Mr. O'Connor is overlooking the fact that although poor people may seem to be struggling, rich people only a century ago could only have dreamed of such luxuries that are considered common today. Many of the things that we take for granted these days - like TV's, phones, an computers - were beyond people's imagination back then. I would say that poor people have a higher standard of living than rich people from the past. So with this train of logic, were kings and queens many years ago slaves too? What about the hunter gatherers from thousands of years ago?

And thirdly, if we are to consider poor people to be slaves, can't anyone be considered a slave? Shouldn't students at New Trier be considered slaves, since they are confined in a building for over seven hours a day and spend much of their remaining free time doing homework? And students don't even get paid. In fact, I would argue that what many young people are forced to go through could be considered slavery, to a certain extent. I mean, most of the people at school don't have a choice whether or not to go to school, and many of the students in level 4 classes are practically forced to take them because of pressure from home. In a sense, I'm required to work for a minimum of seven hours a day, and I think some of my Natural Rights have been taken away. But my point is that billions of people live very tough lives, and are we really to see them all as slaves?

What do you think? Are poor people essentially slaves, or am I right in arguing otherwise?

Celebrity Headlines - Give Me a Break!

In my search for interesting news articles on Yahoo, I realized I was bumping into the same celebrity headlines over and over again, whether it be Katy Perry debuts dramatic new hairstyle or Stars' posh kitchens match their styles or Stars step out in the same minidress. What really got to me was that for every three or four articles I saw on celebrities, sports games, and other useless and irrelevant information, I saw about one article on important issues, such as the article titled U.S. agents helped launder drug money and another one with the headline: Iran brings down U.S. drone.

Now maybe it's just me, but I couldn't care less about Katy Perry's new hairstyle. Who cares if she dyed her hair pink? So what? And who would even bother read an article about two celebrities wearing the same dress? Does it matter? Does it at all pertain to the serious issues facing America today? How can people find these things interesting? I've worn the same shirt as somebody else numerous times, and nobody writes a front page article on me. Why are celebrities so special? How is it not an outrage that as the world's financial system hangs on a thread and a war with a Iran seems imminent, people go online and read articles about celebrities and their "posh kitchens"?

I hope this isn't perceived as a rant, but I can't seem to comprehend the nonsensical interests of so many Americans. I mean, how is it that only about 37% of the eligible population voted in the 2010 elections? And yet Americans (and people all over the globe) seem so intent on finding out the latest hairstyle of a celebrity that the media hires hundreds of reporters to find these things out and write about them.

I found an interesting article that can be read here about people's obsession with celebrities. It does a fantastic job going over celebrities and how people tend to treat them. First, we build them up and get interested in their personal lives. We follow their every move and begin idolizing them, painting them as gods of some sort. In the end, some scandal tears them down, and we realize they were human all along, only to jump to the next celebrity. Apparently, this is the sort of cycle that appeals to Americans. In my opinion, it's an outrage, and when I hear people talking about this stuff, I fear for humanity.

What do you think? Am I overreacting or is this obsession really as ridiculous as I put it out to be?

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?