The Ignorant American Stereotype

Originally in the May 4, 2012 issue of the Marlin Chronicle

   When I was at National Model United Nations recently with our Model UN team, I had a great conversation with a Parisian student about the upcoming French Presidential elections. Out of nowhere she says that she is so happy that at least one American cares about what is happening in France. That statement struck me because if we are honest with ourselves, Americans are very ignorant of what is happening in other countries and how those occurrences are affecting us at home. How many of you do not even know who the current President is in France? Or who the current Prime Minister is in England? Likely very few of you could answer those questions without googling it on your iphone or Mac.

   There is a stereotype all over the world that the citizens of the United States do not care about anyone outside of their own country and, sometimes, I have to agree. Very few people in the United States even know what the capitals of other countries are, let alone their current events.  Over time I have tried to figure out what the reasoning is behind this phenomenon and there are several that have come to my attention.

   First and foremost is how our education system is structured. Students in the United States spend the better part of eight years without learning even a little bit about other countries in their history classes. No one takes World History until they are in High School and even then it is normally only two years, after that if college is not the next step that person leaves with basically no understanding of the countries outside their own and what effects they might have on the United States everyday. While in other countries the histories and structures of other countries are incredibly important to their education. Their own history emphasizes the interconnection of nations. What can we expect but people who only look so far as Capital Hill, if that, in their view of the world.

   Another problem is the focus of the media and news in the United States. How many times are we going to hear about some celebrity getting married or divorced or going to jail, but not hear about a civil war in Sierra Leone or revolutions springing up throughout the Middle East? What do you think is really more important to our everyday lives? It seems that media in the United States has degenerated to such a point you can barely even find out what is going on in the government in Washington, D.C. or your own state let alone anything that may be happening in the United Nations or other countries. A lot of political science and international studies students have just resorted to using other countries’ news stations. I know that I personally have Al Jazeera bookmarked and subscribe to BBC World News because I can’t get full coverage here in the US. What does that say about our priorities?

   To be fair, there are several people that do worry about what is going on in other countries. Some more informed than others, but they still are trying. An easy way to get informed right here on campus is to just venture into the Office of Intercultural Programming and talking to Lena Johnson or even just go up and ask a professor. More often than not you will find more information than you could ever expect and that stereotype could slowly be turned on its head.

Youth Voter Apathy in 2012

Originally Posted: 5/28/12 and in the May 30, 2012 Edition of the Marlin Chronicle

"Why should I vote? It’s not like it really counts anyway.”

    I have heard things like this more than any Political Science major wants to hear it. The apathy of our generation towards the political system has become almost our definition. I know that I am one of the only people at my alma mater that voted in state elections as well as the presidential elections. People just do not believe that they have a voice in the government. From the beginning of our academic careers we have learned about the electoral process and how important it is, somewhere along the way most people are convinced their opinions do not matter. One of the most frequent arguments I hear is that the existence of the Electoral College causes the popular vote to have no real power. I hear that people think all politicians are liars and that no matter their vote nothing will change. To tell the truth I have heard all the excuses that can be used and some that make no sense whatsoever.

    The truth is that the youth vote is the most important one out there. Let's admit it people. WE are the future of this country. Eventually, WE are going to have to take that responsibility and run with it. If our generation does not start going out and voting en masse as we should then we cannot complain about the issues we have to deal with later on when we do have to take the lead in government and the running of this country. Our generation needs to start taking responsibility and begin voting so that they actually have a say in what is happening in our country again. We may not all agree on how the country should be run, but we cannot say anything if we are not attempting to do anything constructive with what power we have in this system. We have power regardless of whether my peers want to believe it or not.

    The arguments I hear against voting are abysmally inadequate if you ask me. The belief that the Electoral College does not have to match the popular though somewhat true is still misguided. The Electoral College has to vote on the percentage that their state votes and the number of votes per state is the amount of congressional representatives each state is allocated (Senate + House Reps). The only way the popular vote may come out one way, the electoral vote may come out another, in most cases, is when there is a very close race. This was seen in the 2000 election between Al Gore and George W. Bush. This came when many people in my generation were right around 10 years old and it was one of the first defining moments in out political awareness. Obviously, it left a mark because so many of us think that the popular vote means nothing in any race.

    The next argument is just bunk to me. I have heard the phrase "All politicians are liars" more times than most people will ever vote in their life times. It is hard for me to believe that every politician in Washington is crooked. It is just statistically impossible. Yes, many politicians make promises they think they can keep during the election process, but many of them do not necessarily know the entire situation that they are getting into or there may be some situations that occur that derail their ability to follow through on the promises. This does not make politicians liars. It makes them practical and logically going after the more important and immediate problems put forth for them once they are in office rather than forcing through so trivial campaign promise they made. This can be seen in the most recent rants and ravings about Obama and how he has not come through on many of his promises. Of course, there has been an economic crisis, a couple wars, and several natural disasters, but how many people care about those issues.

    I hear the words “I hate politics” at least once a week. But do you hate politics or that it forces you to make decisions and discuss things with people who may not agree with you? People have developed such a fear of offending people or being offended that they do not want to debate even when necessary. The typical Political Science major, of course, does not understand this sentiment and will often get fussed at for inciting arguments when all they are doing is discussing their beliefs and wanting to learn about someone else’s beliefs. The Youth of this country need to get their act together and stop running and hiding from what really matters. We cannot just keep ignoring that our country is in crisis and eventually it will be our job to fix it. 

 

    Needless to say, I can only hope that my generation begins to head to the polls in full force in the future and take up the reins of our own future and country. As I have said many times, if you do not vote, you cannot complain because you did nothing to try and get your voice across or to support your beliefs. Also, do not just vote in Presidential elections, vote in state elections and local elections so that you can be represented at all levels of the government. The federal government is not the only government legislating and affecting your life. A good time to start is this November. Don’t just vote for President, vote for your Senators and Representatives. They affect you more directly anyway. Take hold of your future and wield your power as an American Citizen. Vote, rally, campaign. Show that we have a voice and that we are not the apathetic, uninformed kids the world thinks we are. Be the Change. Be the Leaders. Take Responsibility. Show them we are so much more than they think.

The World Will Start To Implode In 3, 2...

Originally Posted: 2/22/11

   To say that the recent uprisings and revolutions through out the Middle East and Northern Africa scares me would be an understatement. Several people believe that this is a good thing, more democracies will form, but we don't know that these countries will enter into democratic governments. Ever since the Tunisian Revolution in January it has been like a domino effect has been enacted across the region knocking out country after country. It has moved from Tunisia to Lebanon to Egypt and then on to almost every other country in the area as can be seen from the map. Part of what worries me about all this is that it took the revolution in Egypt to get the attention of the rest of the world. How many people in the United States knew that there was a revolution in Tunisia before Egypt got on the news? How many people even know that the March 8th Alliance, led by the Hezbollah, walked out of the Lebanese government and caused a collapse and re-election in favor of the March 8th Alliance and support of Hezbollah? I'll bet no one except those of us that were following those particular countries or Political Science professors who have feelers out at all times for great political distress.

   Don't get me wrong, more power to all these people who are fighting for their freedom. I am in full support of them and their causes, but I also fear the outcomes that could come of all this revolution. There is so little stability in the Middle East and Northern Africa as it is that in all truth I don't feel like the these countries are ready for democracy though I don't feel like they should be subjected to the horrible reins of dictatorship any longer. Unfortunately, I can't help but be pessimistic in the current era, what with the economic crisis, the growing animosities between countries, and the elevated polarization of ideologies all over the world. It seems like it would be all too easy for all the countries that are liberating themselves to fall into dictatorships or imperfect democracies all over again.

   One thing that scares me more than any of the stability issues is all the violence that has begun to occur in Libya. Though Egypt was relatively quiet and peaceful for a revolution with few actual casualties with these developments in Libya it seems likely that like revolution, the violence and suppression could spread as well. With all the dictatorial regimes in Northern Africa and the Middle East I would not be surprised is a counter domino effect begins to happen and violent suppression began to spread across the countries and governments causing these sights of hope in our eyes to devolve into sights of horror. I worry that these governments will care more about their power over the people than the people themselves and the country they rule over.

   Several people are, also, criticizing the government reactions, or delayed reactions, to these revolutions all over the Middle East and Northern Africa. Many people believed that people like President Obama would come out of the first day and declare support for the revolution and those protestors. When he didn't come out on the first day and then on the third day took a stance that left him wiggle room between his ally Murbarak and the protestors, some people became enraged and upset. Unfortunately, I believe that many people did not understand that Obama and several other world leaders were stuck between a rock and a hard place with the Egypt situation and all the other revolutions. Many of these leaders are United States allies and we cannot just go out and talk on a whim. The United States holds a privileged place in the world as the Superpower and due to this we pick up a lot of responsibilities that, as much as many of us would like us to, we cannot shirk or leave to the countries with the problems. The United States is not being silent, we are only saying what we can. Behind the scenes there is obviously more going on that we can't see where the world is locked in a discourse about what should be done and how to handle such a mass of revolution and how to make it work in everyone's favor and not spark some international war.

   I would like to give one positive not about all this craziness that is going on in the world. I have never seen news spread so quickly in my life and, truthfully, we only have social media to thank. With this emergence of social media and cell phones news about events like this has gotten to people around the world at astronomical rates. I, personally, was watching Tumblr explode with news about Libya last night. Something new was posted and flooded through the dashboards almost every couple minutes. The same can be said about Twitter and to an extent Facebook. The use of technology in such extents is a brand new tool for the protestors and people to get out the information of what it truly happening and the feelings of those revolting. It has become such a useful tool that now governments have begun to shut down the internet during revolution and protest as well as cell towers, such is the example of Egypt. It's an important new development and will be very interesting to see evolve.

   Overall, I am extremely (probably overly) scared of what is to come. Having no idea how all this could pan out and all the implications of what could happen if things go badly. Many people are able to be optimistic about such a situation since they don't live in those countries, but personally this is what I plan on going into as a job. Analyzing and predicting the ends of events like this. Since these events are so out of the norm I can't see a good outcome at all and that scares me. It makes me happy I was born in a developed country, but makes me wish everyone could be so that they could have the opportunities I have had. 

Violence is NEVER the Answer

Originally Posted: 1/8/11      

       To say that I'm disappointed by this recent act of senseless violence would be the understatement of the century. Representative Gabrielle Giffords was shot on Saturday while holding her first Congress on the Corner event of the new Congressional term. Democratic Rep. Giffords is the House Representative of the 8th district of Arizona and part of the Democratic Blue Dog Coalition. A man ran up to her and the group she was with and began to shoot indiscriminately at a pointblank range. Several people were injured including at least one child. There were initially rumors that Rep. Giffords had died as reported by CNN and NPR, but she was in surgery and no more information has been filtered out as of right now. Giffords recently took part in the rough 2010 elections where she and other democrats were targeted by Sarah Palin for supporting the Healthcare Reform and placed on a map on her web page. To say the least this calls the motivation of the act into question and definitely calls Palin's actions into question.

      What I find the most upsetting is that such an atrocity can occur and there are Americans out there singing the praises of the shooter. I lose more and more respect and faith in my country, the country I was born and raised in, every time an act like this one and many others occurs. I worry that these people who praise this person's "patriotic" act do not actually understand the depth of what has happened. It seems that the American people have become more desensitized to violence and killing than I have ever considered and I'm sure some psychologists and psychiatrists have considered. I am no fan of the 2nd Amendment or domestic terrorism. Yes, I'm calling this domestic terrorism. It was an act to incite fear in the populace with some political agenda behind it. I hope the person responsible rots in prison for the rest of his life quiet frankly. Violence is NEVER the answer in any case. It does not matter if a person feels that their opinion has been devalued and means nothing anymore, there are other ways of gaining more power and having your opinion heard. As for those idiots commenting on Palin's facebook and webpage about how great this is, I hope the FBI kicks in their doors and takes them into custody. Under no circumstances should people revel in the harm or death of one of their own. To say the least, this event has only brought me closer to wanting to live abroad.

America Is (Not) a Christian Country

Originally Posted: 12/26/10

"I don't care what you say, if you're a Muslim, you are suspicious." - A family member

  To say the least, this statement is no surprise in post-9/11 America. People have only just begun to learn things about other religions and, unfortunately, it has been in a bad way. More people than I can count have told me that all Islamic people hate Christians and are part of a violent faith. The problem with such statements is that they are completely false. Any one who has taken a World Religions class would know this. My experience in such a class was very informative. I've never been one to judge other religions and I find them incredibly fascinating to learn about. In the past 9 (almost 10) years since 9/11, the people of the United States have created this (not-so) new creation of 'us' and 'them.' 'Us' to most being White, Protestant/Christian, born in the United States citizens. 'Them' being, well, everyone else. The quote at the top of the page is something that I heard at Thanksgiving dinner this year. An adult in my family said this and a few others commented in agreement. I held my tongue to be respectful, but I did try to say something in defense, though as a young adult I was shot down as not knowing what I was talking about.

    In New York, there was a large uproar over an alleged "mosque" near the Ground Zero. Truthfully, everything was blown out of proportion and all the rumors were false. The mere fact that such a project could illicit such a horrid reaction from people is disappointing. Politicians even joined into the debate and made right fools of themselves. The truth of the matter is that it was not a mosque to begin with. It was in fact to be Muslim Community Center, which included a prayer room, but no true mosque. That is not the problem though, what if it had been a mosque? What difference does that make? The United States has the fastest growing Muslim population in the world. The Islamic faith is also one of the most peaceful religions in the world. The Christian faiths claim that they are so much more peaceful than Muslims, but the Crusades, the Spanish Inquisition, and several other violent acts can be attributed to Christian faiths. More recently, groups like the Army of God and the Ku Klux Klan have used Christian tenants as justification for violent acts against people they believe to be enemies to the Church, whatever church it may be.

  What I find so interesting is that people cannot seem to remember the First Amendment. Freedom of Religion is one of the most important parts of our Bill of Rights and is the reason many of our ancestors immigrated here. The United States is a Melting Pot for a reason and if we stop acknowledging that fact what will we come to? I know many people will argue that the Founders wrote the Constitution with Christian values in mind and that the Untied States was meant to be a Christian nation. In my opinion, the Constitution was written to endure and for the interpretation to grow with the country. Our country now harbors people of every religion and with that our Constitution protects all of them as American citizens.

    The real problem is that people do not seek out information about things outside their lives. People could be so much more understanding if they took the time and educated themselves in the very least the basics of other religions. Truthfully, it seems more thorough education about anything would save people and the world a lot of grief. Unfortunately, too many people do not take education as seriously as they should and more often then not people will make comments and talk about things they really do not have too much knowledge about. It'll only continue this way until people acknowledge they might be wrong and that their preconceptions could be entirely misinformed.

     What people need to learn is that one act by a small group can not be representative of the entire group. I would not say Christianity is a violent faith with my opinion based solely on the actions of the Army of God, a group accredited with several bombings and killings in the US. The same can be said for Islam in the case of 9/11. Every religion will have its extremists and often their form of the religion is an interpretation that is quite opposite of the central, majority belief. I hope that people will begin to learn this lesson or there might be more than extremist religious groups that we have to worry about in the future. 

Something Needs To Be Done

      This bothers me. THIS upsets me. SOMETHING needs to be done. Gun violence is on the rise. To be honest, it has been on the rise my entire life. I cannot remember a time where there was not a story in the news about some mass shooting or someone being shot or someone getting caught in the crossfire. I grew up in a world where it was not safe to go outside and play with your friends anymore. I grew up in a world where you could not even feel safe within the hallowed halls of your school anymore. Here's a statistic for you, exactly ONE year after the Sandy Hook shooting over 30,000 people had died gun-related deaths in the United States of America. One year. Need proof, there is a billboard that is counting each death. Here's a photo of it from December 13, 2013. Credit to the twitter user.

      And through all of this, we cannot even pass a bill for more background checks when buying guns. What is wrong with this country that we let this much time pass and do absolutely nothing? By no means am I suggesting we fully ban firearms from civilians. I'm from Virginia, a southern state, and I understand the uses of certain types of guns for self defense and hunting and the like, but for the life of me I cannot figure out what a CIVILIAN needs with a military grade weapon or even some more powerful guns. Who is invading your property? Seriously, do you have militants using guerilla tactics to try and steal your precious recliner? 

     You may ask what prompted this post. Well, I found an article this morning that really makes me so angry. ThinkProgress posted an article called "There Has Been An Average of One School Shooting Every Other School Day This Year,"talking about the frequency of school shootings in the United States so far in 2014. Every. Other. School. Day. What are we doing? Why are we letting CHILDREN suffer?

     Let me tell you the story of the world I grew up in. When I was 9 years old, Columbine happened. I did not really understand what happened back then, but that's when my friends and I stopped playing outside as much. It's when school started to look different. When I went to middle school and high school I moved to Southwestern Virginia where people value their guns pretty highly. I became friends with kids who were a lot like the Columbine shooters. Luckily, they never got bad enough to even consider taking the same path, but I knew those kids. They were my friends. The way to save them from that outcome was so easy. Just show them that someone cares. Anyone. Listen to them and it will do a world of good. While I lived in Southwestern Virginia, I lived about 45 minutes from Blacksburg. I was 16 when Henry Cho opened fire there killing 32 people. There was a time that day that they lost him and every school in my area went into lock down. My teachers let us have our cellphones out because so many alumni went to Tech that they wanted to know that they were okay too. That is my reality. That is the world I have lived in and those are just TWO incidents that have occurred. Between Columbine and Sandy Hook there were 31 mass shootings in the United States. That's between 1999 and 2012. 13 years. The number grows every year.

      It is time to push back. To Do SOMETHING. Action needs to be taken. People have tried and failed so often and it's insane that we let this continue. 92% of Americans are in favor of background checks, yet for some reason we can't get that passed through Congress. We need to regulate the sale of guns. We need to improve on mental health care in this country. We need to do better. If not for ourselves, then for the next generation. A generation that doesn't know a world without school shootings every year. Because even when President Obama was addressing this in his State of the Union and demanding action be taken, a shooting was happening on a college campus in Tennessee. If this trend isn't turned back we will see a day when the happy days are the ones where there isn't a shooting and that will be the big news of the day.

SOMETHING NEEDS TO BE DONE.

So why not now? Why not start it with us.

Life on the Virginia Campaign Trail

         Well, as many of you might know, I have spent the last 6 months or so lighting up the campaign trail in my home state of Virginia. In August I received an incredible offer to go back to my home turf and organize in Norfolk, VA with the Democratic Coordinated Campaign and I took it. I worked for three men that I believed would make my state better and whom I respect with every fiber of my being. Those three men are Terry McAuliffe, Ralph Northam, and Mark Herring, the current holders of ALL THREE Statewide offices in Virginia. After that, I worked with a woman running for State Senator whom I respect and admire more than any candidate or person I have met so far in my life, Jennifer Wexton. It's been a hell of a ride and I am going to tell you all about it.

     Above is a picture that will forever be burned in my mind. When I joined the campaign in August I was not sure that this would ever happen. Being a lifelong resident of Virginia and having lived in multiple parts of the state I had my doubts that, even with all the work we were doing, we could pull it off. In August I joined a Field Staff like none other in the world. Every person was amazing and competent and determined. We built neighborhood teams, recruited volunteers, knocked thousands upon thousands of doors, make tens of thousands of calls, and kept on doing it right up until 7pm on November 5th. I got the privilege to organize the Westside of Norfolk, VA and work with some of the most incredible and dedicated volunteers I have ever met. I was a part of a 6 organizer team in Norfolk that took on the entire city of Norfolk AND 2 universities. This team was the best in the state. Hands Down. I know I made friends that will last a lifetime there.
   
       When it came to election night, we were all exhausted, but we found a way to all be in the office together to watch the results come in. We watched Ralph Northam easily sweep through and become Lieutenant Governor-elect, followed by Terry McAuliffe being declared the next Governor of Virginia. Unfortunately, that night it was found too close to call on Mark Herring's race for Attorney General. Barely a month later, Herring was declared the decisive victor of the Attorney General race and we had done something that had not occurred in Virginia for over 40 years. All three Statewide seats under Democratic Control. It still blows my mind that we did it. I don't think I will ever be happier than the day I sat in the rain in Richmond and watched Terry, Ralph, and Mark take their oaths of office and then later that night went to the Inaugural Ball and Staff After Party. Celebrating with the most amazing team in the country is the only way to go and we crushed it.

       The next step, of course, after we won all three seats was to replace Northam and Herring in the State Senate so that their districts could retain representation. I ended up joining the team on Jennifer Wexton's campaign to succeed Mark Herring as State Senator in the 33rd District, but before I talk about that I want to mention my small part in the 6th District's campaign.

        That guy right there is Lynwood Lewis. He is a long time Delegate in Virginia and recently ran and WON the race to replace Ralph Northam as State Senator in the 6th Senate District. Many of my former coworkers from the Democratic Coordinated Campaign joined that race and worked tirelessly to make sure he won. I thank them for that wholeheartedly.

       Here's my story though. I am registered to vote in Norfolk because that is where I have spent the better part of 5 years living and organizing. I knew that the election was incredibly important and had requested to know when the absentee deadline was so I could eek in my vote amidst all the work I was doing up in Loudon County and Fairfax. Unfortunately, I was working so hard I totally forgot to request and send in a ballot to be reminded the night before Election Day when I received a call from a volunteer in Norfolk reminding me to vote. I was, obviously, in the middle of my own call time which means EVERY other person in my vicinity heard me on the call and soon, my coworkers Collin and David were trying to persuade me to DRIVE down to Norfolk and vote in the morning. Collin even went and told our campaign manager, who prompted told me I had to go. The word 'civic duty' was thrown out and I was peer pressured in the best way possible into a 4 hour drive down that night. I told Collin he had to come with me for moral support and keeping me awake. What followed was an adventure through subzero temperatures, hurricane force winds, and exhaustion. We went down to Norfolk and stayed with my good friend, Corbin who was organizing on Lynwood's race, woke up too early in the morning and I was the FIRST person to vote in the Chrysler Museum precinct before promptly jumping back into my car and driving four more hours back to Sterling for work where we spent the better part of the day making phone calls into Norfolk convincing people to get out and vote like I had. In the end, Lynwood Lewis won his seat by a mere 9 votes. NINE. Never has my vote counted more and NO ONE can ever say to me again that their vote does not count because it does. So much.

       The next step on my campaign journey started once I returned to Fairfax. I found myself quite bored and remembered that Mark Herring's district was nearby so checked in to see what was going on with the campaign. Lo and behold the Campaign Kick Off was set to happen a few days after I returned home and the Field Director was someone I had met on Terry's campaign so I went. A week later while I was volunteering on the campaign I got a job offer and the rest is history. When I joined this team I joined the best damn team of organizers I have ever had the pleasure to work with. Every last one of them was the best of the best and I would work with every one of them again ten times over.  I came in knowing it was going to be hard work and that I was going to do a lot of it myself, but I believed in Jennifer Wexton so I did it. We knocked over 100,000 doors and made over 90,000 phone calls. We did all this through two Polar Vortexes and insane conditions and we swept the race 53% to 37%. When we all came together that night in Sterling it was perfect. By 9pm (the earliest I've ever received results) we knew we had won and we celebrated like no other time I have experienced. I would truly have it no other way.

       That was two days ago now and I can honestly say I miss the campaign trail already. It took a day for me to miss work and the people. Post-Campaign Depression is something that happens to every organizer in some form. I tend to get nostalgic for the life and want to jump right back in. This year is going to an interesting one in Virginia and I can't wait to be a part of it.