The idea of democracy in America can be very confusing to someone who is learning about democracy for the first time. In middle school history classes all around the United States, students are taught the basics, benefits, and disadvantages within the standard system of democracy. However, when it comes to democracy in America, there are many alterations of its system of democracy when compared to what is considered and taught as democracy. Some Americans consider the system of government to be more republic rather than democratic. According to the New York Times article, “Is There Too Much Democracy in America or Too Little?”, Michael Lind addresses the commonly discussed issue in America that our country’s current system of democracy is too weak and focused heavily on the federal government instead of the state and local governments. When thinking of a regular, unaltered democratic society, we think of a system of government that evenly distributes power between the federal, state, and local government by giving each government certain responsibilities to oversee. Michael Lind discusses how as of late, the federal government has been receiving more and more power due to the attainment of responsibilities that formally belonged to both the local and state governments. This starts to create a “democratic deficit”, which causes an imbalance of power and a loss of the idea of democracy as a whole. Examples of this loss of distribution are the nationalization of the New Deal, the Supreme Court’s constitutionalization of reproductive rights, gay rights, and civil rights, and the recent addition of federal grants-in-aid which takes up a third of state government spending. It is very apparent that the American system of government is starting to slowly see an increase in centralization. Michael Lind and I both agree that there needs to be an increase in democracy. This can be done with aim towards decentralization by giving the states and local governments the power that they deserve. Without this, America will only see a loss in its current system of “democracy”.
Monthly Archives: September 2016
Blog Post 9/26/16
At first I wasn’t sure what to write about. But then I thought about registering to vote and how not everyone is registered to vote and not all registered voters vote. Nearly 44 percent of registered voters America do not participate in the Election Day that decides the next president of the United States. This is extremely critical as we decide who our next president should be and if everyone voted the results could change dramatically. So why don’t people vote? Especially when it can decide their future and the world they live in. People think it’s rigged, controlled be people on Wall Street, or their one vote just won’t affect the result. People don’t participate when they feel there isn’t any benefit to them. As a country where we have the power to control the next leader of our nation we should take advantage of this fact. Many people say they can’t vote because they have to work and there to busy. And quite frankly I think it is obnoxious that people can’t vote because their worried economically. And is it a proven fact that a higher percentage of people who make more money vote. As a democratic country where we have so many people not voting makes it less democratic. There is already a movement to make the Election Day a national holiday. There are already many countries that have done this already including Austria, Belgium, France, Germany, and New Zealand. They have already surpassed us in voter turnout. By giving Americans a paid holiday we are ensuring not only people will have a political participation but America’s electoral process is as democratic as we’d like to believe. http://america.aljazeera.com/opinions/2015/7/most-americans-dont-vote-in-elections-heres-why.html
Readings for Wednesday, September 21st
Please read the following articles in preparations for Wednesday’s class. Bring hard copies with you to class on Wed.
“Colin Kaepernick shouldn’t stand up if he doesn’t want to,” LA Times 8/31/16
Josh Levin, “Colin Kaepernick’s Protest is Working,” Slate, 9/12/16
David Brooks, “The Uses of Patriotism,” New York Times, 9/16/16
Rembert Browne, “My 17-Year Old Self on David Brooks on Colin Kaepernick,” New York Magazine, 9/16/16
Blog Post – 9/19/16 – Raymond Pietzak
Raymond Pietzak
Like any smart individual who needs to write about democracy, their first step is google. After doing that I found an article that struck my eye when I saw the title “Donald Trump is a Unique Threat to American Democracy” so I clicked and ended up reading the whole thing. In a democracy the people of that nation vote on the bills that are soon to become laws, and decide to pass or veto them. This made me realize that we don’t even have a democracy in our country we have more of a republic then anything. This basically means we as a people vote on other, more qualified people to elect, and pass the laws that we have today. I found a video explaining how our founding fathers intended on how our country should be ran, and they felt that a true democracy was not the best option. This then brings me back to the article that I found that said Donald Trump was a treat to our democracy. This statement, first, is false because America was never a democracy in the first place it was a intended to be a republic from the beginning. Although Mr. Trump is very unique like they said, the article never really talks about how he is going to impact the American society. I may not agree with the views of Donald Trump, and the fact that he has not made a clear stance in some of the controversial topics, makes many hesitant on how he could execute in office. With this entire election I feel as if the candidates are just trying to make the other look worse so that they seem like the best candidate for the job to lead our countries. This in my opinion is what would be the worst thing to threaten our government. Our candidates should be trying to prove their stance in a way to get the American people on their side instead of saying that the other person’s ideas are not what is best for our country with no evidence of such. Since this article was targeting Trump and how his ways to try and get the American people on his side isn’t working because he realized that his initial belief wasn’t in the best interest of the country. Although we are not a democracy we are still the ones deciding on who we elect as our next president and we should have candidates that put their best foot forward instead of pulling their opposing candidate behind them.
“Donald Trump is a Unique Threat to American Democracy”
“Is America Really a Democracy?”
Democracy
Democracy: A government system where the general public decides what is best for the economy. Where people have the greater say.
United States has always prided itself of being a democratic country, who fights for justice not only in side of the nation but also throughout the world. It prides itself of being the country with the most opportunity and the most freedom for its people. Yet the truth is that no matter how great a country is there is always an ugly side to every beautiful story.
Going more specific into one aspect of society is the vague word terrorist. Ever since 9-11 has occurred the entire country has been in this protective shell where every person who resembles a little of track is aligned with terrorism. This fear lead the country of freedom to neglect the public’s privacy and tap into every individuals lives to monitor for any terrorist behaviors with in the country.
With this new tactic the government began to question any individual that falls in the borders of being affiliated with any terrorist organizations. One way the government deals with these suspects is by various methods of torture. Although torture tactics was banned in U.S.A. for a certain time, the U.S. officials found loop holes. These loop holes consisted of abducting the suspected individuals and smuggling them into an entire new nation where various torture tactics are legal to use.
Many of these torture tactics include innocent prisoners being constantly raped by the militia that are in charge. Prisoners being stripped naked and humiliates. Prisoners starved as well as electrocuted. So much for the land of the brave where each individual is supposed to fight for justice throughout the world.
The nation itself engages in various un-democratic activities. Now the question becomes what is truly democracy and is United States in fact cut out to have pride in being a democratic country.
*These thoughts has originated from Politics lecture that the class participated on Friday Sep 16, 2016.
Emma Lazarus, “The New Colossus”
As promised, here is the 1883 poem that is engraved on the base of The Statue of Liberty:
The New Colossus
By Emma Lazarus
Not like the brazen giant of Greek fame,
With conquering limbs astride from land to land;
Here at our sea-washed, sunset gates shall stand
A mighty woman with a torch, whose flame
Is the imprisoned lightning, and her name
Mother of Exiles. From her beacon-hand
Glows world-wide welcome; her mild eyes command
The air-bridged harbor that twin cities frame.
“Keep, ancient lands, your storied pomp!” cries she
With silent lips. “Give me your tired, your poor,
Your huddled masses yearning to breathe free,
The wretched refuse of your teeming shore.
Send these, the homeless, tempest-tost to me,
I lift my lamp beside the golden door!”
My America Monologue : Seema Sueko – Vet Story
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=V1hyCsJFa8E
After sifting through other monologues, my eyes landed on this particular monologue, titled ‘VET STORY’ by Seema Sueko, acted out by Tobias Segal. All of the monologues are equally impressive in terms of portrayal and often gives a twist at your heart strings and your brain, making you apply the same questions to yourself. Although some situations may be more extreme than the events that happen in majority of our lives, there still exists some parallels when you dilute the literal events and find the morals or lesson learned.
I suppose the reason why this monologue speaks to me the most is because I feel that I am also reasonably self-aware. It is a bittersweet feeling, because although I am grateful for being able to understand my flaws and what I should or shouldn’t have done, it also evokes a strong sense of self-loathing and paranoia.
In the case of Sueko’s monologue, there is this constant stab at himself, and the tool or weapon he uses is the question ‘why?’ Why did they do those things? He is painfully aware that with each bullet he uses to take someone else’s life, there is a string of relatives, a string of loved ones holding that person’s hand- someone who will miss them, someone who will mourn for their death. And although Sueko’s experience may be more drastic, there still exists parallels from our lives to theirs. He has no choice but to continue self-reflecting, keeping himself in check of what and why he did this or that; perhaps for the sake of his own sanity and for those that have passed from the pull of his trigger.
Sherman Powell’s commentary on Vet Story
The monologue that most interested me was the Vet Story by Seema Sueko. It interested me because when I watched it many people came to mind. The monologue itself was about a veteran who fought in Afghanistan and now has a hard time intergrating back into notmal society. He struggles to interact with his family as he does not want them to see him as a killer. Despite his efforts, he unintentionally hits his daughter when she triggers a flash back from the war. Although he is proud to be a solider, he claims that he has lost his innocence in the call of duty. Essentially, he realized that even though the war has ended, his life will never be the same.
While watching the monologue I began to think about my grandparents, those on my father’s side. I never had the oppurtunity to meet them as they died before I was born. They lived in Jamaica and were police officers. Unfortunately they were unable to spend much time with their families because of their professions. They would only eat after they had finished working and they almost always put their job before their health. While they were honored for protecting their community, they had to sacrifice their personal lives in order to do so. This also makes me worry about my friends who have chosen to join the military after graduating high school. I hope that the experience of being a part of the army strengthens them instead of harming them.
“What is My America?” FLATLAND
After going through these My America videos, I found one to be particularly interesting and captivating to me. In FLATLAND by Lauren Yee, performed by Johnny Wu, an Asian-American male named Pao is discussing in front of a class about his Hmong heritage in honor of Asian Pacific Islander Heritage month. He explains it in a way where he believes that not many people know of the Hmong people or that they already have a conceived notion about them. Many Hmong people and other Asian immigrants, live in city environments in hopes to establish close knit ethnic communities. I felt that the character, Pao, represented this young urban Asian-American, who was surrounded by people who were oblivious to the Hmong culture. Even though he is clearly American and most likely grew up in this country, it seems that he wanted to prove his culture to be extremely exotic which was shown when he mentioned it’s popular eating tigers and snakes in his culture, when really it wasn’t. I felt that Pao exaggerated his culture to make it seem like it was really foreign like many people would had expected but really it’s similar to those of other cultures in America. As an Asian-American, I understand the idea of people expecting you to be different and exotic, even though you grew up in America and have been surrounded around many American traditions and ideas. Yet at the same time, I do feel the want to stand out as being different and to teach people about my culture and how it is different from others. There are so many different types of Asian-Americans that have families that come from all over Asia. Even in China, where my family is from, there are different regions that develop different cultures and ultimately are classified as different Chinese people. Even though I live in a city that is so diverse, I still witness encounters where people do group together many Asian cultures as if they were all very similar or if not the same, even though each one is distinct.
A.K.A. by Melanie Marnich: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AIiEcX-IJak
The power of a name is incredible, one word that owns you for the rest of your life unless of course it is changed. Melanie explores her American story by exploiting how her name as well as her fathers name format was created. This particular story really stuck to me because when I moved to America with my family nearly sixteen years ago, my father had also changed my name so it would fit into the American custom easily. Though this is a story I had learned later in the years, it was truly fascinating knowing I am not really who I ought to be.
My name is Shawlin Azad Auchal, the youngest daughter of the Azad family. But my college ID, facebook page, instagram cover and even my social security know me as Auchal Azad. Just a simple first and last name, not some complicated first name with your fathers last name as your middle name and then your actual name as your last. “Because that would be too confusing for the teachers who were American” my father had said when I asked why he changed my name. “We didn’t want you to have any trouble in this country,” reassured my mother. And that is when I had realized just like Melanie I was Auchal Azad but I also wasn’t Auchal Azad. Its just a trickery of the name.