Blog #20: Making Change

As I move onto the next phase in my life, I will certainly be applying the knowledge I have gained through this course into all aspects of university! It will motivate me to join many clubs involved with community work and service and inspired me to educate people on how important it is that we put a stop to certain issues going on in our world such as sexualization, ending the circle of poverty, water shortage, etc! I will continue to participate in groups like Me to We and Free the children and may even go on another service trip similar to the one I went on to Kenya, but next year!

Blog #19: Important Skill- Voicing My Opinion

This course has taught me so many skills that can be used in and outside the classroom this year through out all the topics we've covered. I feel that the most important skill this course has taught me is voicing my opinion. Learning about such sensitive topics such as poverty, water shortage, abortion, sexualization and so on, it becomes very apparent as a student as to what your true opinion on the topic is. In fact it started to become more and more natural realizing which side I was on for debates and why. In doing this, it then became easier to voice my opinion on the topic and to support it with my reasons as to why with the push of some confidence. Being able to voice your opinion is a very important life skill to have in my opinion, because it can benefit you in so many ways such as: standing up for yourself, helping others, helping global issues become known, educating others on an issue, etc. Another thing voicing my opinion could strongly help me in is the fact that I want to be a lawyer when I am older! I think that this skill would definitely benefit me drastically when being a lawyer because it is necessary that you are able to voice your opinion in court.

Blog #18: Motivation

This entire year of World Issues has taught me a lot and helped me grow as a person in many ways. This course can positively affect so many people in so many different ways, through all of the general themes it covers inspiring us as students to make a difference in this world. I feel that the main theme of this course would be motivation. Every topic we covered, whether it be a tragic shooting or the rate of poverty over these years, all motivate each one of us to make a difference and a positive change. For example, being a girl, learning about sexualization and the negative impact it has had on mainly girls around our world, but even guys really shocked me and made me want to make a change. Its shocking how society can change over the years so drastically, from respecting the population of women entirely to making them feel so degraded and disrespected through the media. This is one issue I found myself to be very passionate about, especially being a woman myself. Another issue I found myself very passionate about, motivating me to make a change, was poverty. I find it very unfair that being born into the wrong country around the world, or the wrong family can so easily alter someones well being and wealth for the rest of their life. I think it is also unfair that there are many wealthy countries such as Canada and the United States that waste money on such materialistic things to develop our technology even further than it has to be, when we could be using this money to help out third world countries that don't have the money to help themselves. All in all, every topic we learned about this year, motivated me to make a change in this world.

Blog #17: Gun Issue

If I lived in America today, I feel that the government should be strongly enforcing laws regarding gun ownership in a more harsher manner. For one, the rate of gun ownership in the US is much higher than most comparable countries. About 42.8% of households in the states own firearms and when there are more guns, more casualties usually follow close behind. The death rate by firearms in the states was 10.2 per 100 000 people in 2009, as it is slowly going up. This is an easy problem to solve or aid, as long as the government is enforcing the laws they are placing down. If the government was more harsh with how they enforce their laws and the consequences that follow disobeying them, there would be less homes with illegal possession of firearms, lowering the casualty rate from firearms. While the strength of a states gun laws is just one factor in contributing to gun violence, there is a clear link to gun violence and gang related violence also. The gang violence in the US is also a lot higher than most comparable countries, resulting in more people feeling the need to own firearms to protect themselves, especially after the Connecticut shooting. If the government helped their country feel more protected as a whole, by enforcing other laws that can contribute to this feeling of security, there would be less need for people to buy firearms.

Blog #15: Religion and the government

I believe that yes religion has a place in the government in the sense that many laws based on religion are fair in terms of majority of people in that region having that same religion they are based off of. Any laws being passed by the government should not concern or affect those that are not of that religion, such as not being allowed to have more than one wife. However, I also believe religion does not have a place in the government considering many laws that are passed are biased based off of religion and can negatively impact those of a different religion. For example, passing a law that states you could not open your stores on Sundays due to Catholic/Christian religion could negatively impact those of a different religion, who own stores (maybe they want profit made on Sundays or family days?). In this sense, if many of the laws are going to start problems within a country, laws should be the consequence of debate and discussion. Also, since religions disagree even amongst themselves as to what the right policies are so the only sensible way to vote for elections is for what the candidates are actually proposing, not based on religion.

Blog #14: Food Dumping

4. One way that developed countries 'help' the less fortunate nations of the world is by offering aid in the form of food. This approach to aid has been criticized by some as ineffective at best, and criminal at worst. Read through the material posted here, then answer the question: "What is food dumping, and how does it contribute to the cycle of poverty and dependence among the world's poorest people?" Also, offer a solution to the problem.

There are certain types of food aid that can be considered destructive. For example, dumping food onto poorer nations can actually cause their economy to go down, instead of improve it. This is because local farmers cannot compete, so they are driven into poverty and out of jobs.  When the land that is having the food exported to it is capable of producing adequate amounts of food with their own agricultural land, it is extremely beneficial for the exporting country, but not for the country being exported to (many poor nations are rich in agriculture). Food dumping is a huge contributing factor to the cycle of poverty in this world. Far from ending hunger and promoting the economic interests of farmers in third world countries, agricultural liberalization has created a global food system that fits the needs of the powerful but is a detriment of poor farmers in our world. Instead of just dumping this "cheap" imported food onto third world countries land, if we were to give them access to land, industrial tools, protection from cheap imports, they could be more self sufficient when it comes to producing food for their country and bettering their economy.

Blog #13: Al Qaeda-inspired terrorist attack

An investigation led to the arrest of two men, from Montreal and Toronto for targeting an attack on a commuter train in the Toronto area. Both men were not Canadian citizens and police would not comment on their nationality. CBC News reported that the alleged plotters were reportedly under surveillance in Quebec and southern Ontario for more than a year. What does this mean to me? To me this shows that there are definite signs of concerns that should be coming out of this arrest because for even the casual observer, this Canadian flavored terrorist-takedown is not something that should be easily ignored. For one, this is the first instance of Al-Qaeda following through with supporting an actual planned attack on Canadian soil. While Bin Laden apparently named Canada as a target in papers recovered from his assassination, we’ve never been considered a prime objective for Islamic terrorists. This planned attack is a huge threat to us Canadians, as it could be a sign to "go into hiding" for once. This reinforces the stereotype behind the belief that all "Muslims are terrorists" just like things were right after the 9/11.

Blog #12: Boston Marathon and its impact on Western civilization

The explosions that went off at the Boston marathon has sent Americans into full 9/11 mode once again. There were two coordinated bombs placed at the finish line that remarkably, only killed 3 people but injured over 170 civilians. Having had been the first successful terrorist attack in the United States since 9/11/2001, this has sent Americans and the rest of the world into wondering when and where the next attack is going to be. The Al Qaeda turned Western civilization into a paranoid state years ago but there is a fallacy inherent in bringing the entire nation into a stand still over suicide bombings that killed three people in Boston, while being unconcerned about American shootings that kill 30,000 people a year. This attack goes to show how much stronger the nation must become in order to prevent terrorists from piercing through the thick wall of our defences. In my opinion I think the bombings will bring the nation closer and make them stronger as a whole in the long run, as it is clear that there was much support by everyone after the bombings. The government is definitely going to have to fine tune their security in which ever way possible, in order to keep their people safe. Surveillance cameras have taken on a new allure, and the upside of this expanding surveillance network is clear — a greater potential for law enforcement to solve crimes and, in some instances, to prevent them.

Blog #11: US Drone Strikes

The United States government has made several hundreds of drone attacks on Pakistan since 2004. These attacks are part of the War on Terror campaign in hopes to defeat the Al Qaeda and Taliban in Pakistan. These attacks started with president George Bush and have increased in amounts now that Obama is president. I do not feel that it is right for the US government to go in and drone attack Pakistan with out giving the people they are attempting to attack, a chance to speak for themselves in court for innocence. However, I do think it is right for them to go in and attack if they have full evidence and proof that the person they are attacking is active with Al Qaeda and the Taliban. With this being said, there is also many unintentional casualties of civilians living in Pakistan. The Bureau of Investigative Journalism states that since president Obama took office, at least 50 civilians have been killed in follow up strikes when they were going in to kill victims and 20 civilians were attacked on. The US has no right to be going and causing casualties unless they give the people a chance to defend themselves, just as they would give any "guilty" person in America a chance to prove themselves innocent.

Blog #10: North Korea

I believe that it is way past time for Obama to take charge on North Korean nuclear threats. It must be an urgent critical priority to to counter Korea's rapidly emerging capability to deliver and detonate the EMP nuclear device in the sky. Since no one seems to know how soon they are ready to let it launch, there is questioning as to what should be done to put a stop to it. In my opinion, I think that nothing should be done officially, until Obama is positive that it was not merely just sending a satellite into space, but planning a rocket launch. Because of Korea's dismal economy, wanting to gain recognition, Obama could also offer some sort of trade deal such as oil, food, energy, etc in order to suppress this conflict. North Korea hopes to push Obama into direct bilateral dialogue and eventually gain the respect and recognition they desire. By offering some sort of deal, this could potentially put and end to the conflict.

Blog #9: Sexualization of Mainstream Society- Problem?

Sexualization consists of an instrumental approach to a person by perceiving that person as an object used for sexual activity, disregarding the persons dignity or personality traits. Sexualization occurs everywhere in this world (some more than others). However it is mostly demonstrated through the media in a variety of ways. The sexualization of girls and women is of particular concern and cultural relevance because of its prevalence in many aspects of modern culture and because of the psychological impacts that it can have on the sexualized individuals. It is also a concern in children as, whether as a result of exposure to highly sexual media or as a result of a child's upbringing, an inappropriate level of sexuality can be prematurely imposed upon a child through the media (ex: pornography, sexual magazines, video games, tv shows). Our society has become so twisted in a way, that it has become normal for girls to allow themselves to be taken advantage of, for exactly this reason.

Blog #8: Easing the Worlds Poorest People

Many of us in this world want to put an end to poverty, but the problem is that majority of us are not acting on that goal. There are many individuals in this world that have made a difference with the help of others, but getting an entire country to contribute to putting a stop to poverty is what would make an enormous difference in this world. The wealthiest people in this world living in places like Canada and America, are very materialistic for the most part and tend to focus on insignificant things such as technology and some extra shoes because that is how we have adapted in our society. If every person that was well off gave a buck or two a week (which most of us can find between couch cushions), it would go a long way in helping feed and clothe the poor and eradicating poverty world wide.

Blog #7: Israeli Settlement building

I believe that the Israelis are in the wrong in this situation because they are violating the basic human rights of the Palestinians by impeding the movement of the liberty of movement of the inhabitants of the occupied Palestinian territory. This settlement is causing a conflict that is already occurring in this world   to worsen even more than it already has been. There have been numerous UN resolutions that state that the building and existence of the Israeli settlements in East Jerusalem are a violation of the human law. This settlement is increasing amounts of conflict between the Palestinians and Israelis, as the Palestinians attempted to gain control of their village and that resulted in evacuation and will continue to until there is a stopped put to it.

Blog #6: Connecticut Shooting

The connecticut shooting shows that weapons and military devices are much too available to our society as a whole. It also raises serious questions about the health of our society and collective humanity. People are the globe today wonder how anyone could possibly justify killing an innocent school child (children) and school employees. Obviously there are many messed up people in our society and having weapons so attainable is not necessarily a good thing when it comes to such tragic events like this.