Why can’t America invest in clean energy? Can’t politicians, lobbyists and businessmen look past their own greed for just a second and realize that their actions along with their inaction, although nearsightedly profitable, will only lead to catastrophe? Politicians and businessmen alike should recognize the fact that striving towards truly renewable and “green” energy will lead to new jobs, increased profits, and a better world for the rest of us.
But, this whole global warming thing isn’t entirely the fault of these powerful few. I place much of the blame on myself and the rest of the American population. We need to stand up and demand clean energy and a swift and radical attempt to end climate change. We need to stop being manipulated by those few people who stand to make disgusting profits while ruining our planet. We need to reject the lies they feed us about biofuels, ethanol and “clean” coal. Americans need to find ways to reduce our consumption of both energy and resources. We must demand nuclear, wind, wave, solar and hydroelectric power. We can no longer be afraid of severing our ties with oil, gas and coal because oil, gas and coal tell us we can’t live without them. We can become a nation run on renewable, clean energy and we can establish ourselves as a forerunner in the green movement.
There is some progress being made, and there are some powerful people who are brave enough and selfless enough to make a stand for clean energy, but it is not nearly enough. The U.S. is still the largest consumer of energy in the world, and we are nowhere near the front in the race towards renewable, sustainable energy. I agree with our Energy Secretary Steven Chu, who told the Senate, “When the Starting gun sounded on the clean energy race, the United States stumbled, but I remain confident that we can make up the ground.
Tuesday, October 27, 2009
Thursday, October 15, 2009
Karzai's Korruption
What are we doing in Afghanistan? I realize that eliminating the Taliban and freeing the Afghanis from their control is a very noble and humanitarian ideal, but we are doing it all wrong. Why did we send American men and women into a war to replace one corrupt, tyrannical government with another? If we ever want to get out of Afghanistan, we need to establish a legitimate government that is concerned with the needs of the people, not just send more troops.
Let’s start with the recent presidential election. There have been many reports of widespread fraud in this election, with allegations that up to 1/3 of all ballots were fraudulent. There have also been reports of ballot box stuffing, armed coercion, shutting down polling places, bribery, and vote buying. It is no wonder the Taliban has seen resurgence as of late. They are no longer simply opposed to our lifestyle or ideologies; the U.S. has been kind enough to offer them a legitimate reason to hate us. We have replaced one corrupt government with another, and Afghanis have begun to turn to the Taliban because it has begun to seem like a nationalistic, patriotic endeavor to drive out the corrupt government along with the foreigners (that’s us) who have created it.
In order to stop the Taliban, we can’t just send more troops and more drones and more missiles, because you can’t bomb an idea. We need to offer the Afghan people an alternative. We need to do whatever we can to show that we do not approve of Karzai’s corruption and greed, and we need to do everything we can to establish a legitimate, sound government for the people by the people. Only then will Afghani’s turn from the Taliban and begin to accept the U.S. as a benevolent force.
Let’s start with the recent presidential election. There have been many reports of widespread fraud in this election, with allegations that up to 1/3 of all ballots were fraudulent. There have also been reports of ballot box stuffing, armed coercion, shutting down polling places, bribery, and vote buying. It is no wonder the Taliban has seen resurgence as of late. They are no longer simply opposed to our lifestyle or ideologies; the U.S. has been kind enough to offer them a legitimate reason to hate us. We have replaced one corrupt government with another, and Afghanis have begun to turn to the Taliban because it has begun to seem like a nationalistic, patriotic endeavor to drive out the corrupt government along with the foreigners (that’s us) who have created it.
In order to stop the Taliban, we can’t just send more troops and more drones and more missiles, because you can’t bomb an idea. We need to offer the Afghan people an alternative. We need to do whatever we can to show that we do not approve of Karzai’s corruption and greed, and we need to do everything we can to establish a legitimate, sound government for the people by the people. Only then will Afghani’s turn from the Taliban and begin to accept the U.S. as a benevolent force.
Sunday, October 11, 2009
Why Obama?
I believe that Obama deserves to win the Nobel Peace Prize… about three years from now. Because honestly, he hasn’t done anything yet! I hope that Obama will rise to become the world’s foremost harbinger of peace someday. This is one of my deepest wishes. But he did not deserve to win the Prize this year. He hasn’t earned it, while plenty of other people have.
Why didn’t Morgan Tsvangirai win? He has striven for peace in Zimbabwe for years, trying to overthrow despotic president Mugabe and end civil rights abuses in his nation with a message of nonviolence. Tsvangirai has faced imprisonment, torture, and multiple assassination attempts because of his message of peaceful overthrow of the current tyrannical government. What about Father Thadeus Nguyen Van Ly, a Catholic priest who has been peacefully opposing and protesting the despotic Communist Vietnamese government and its abuses against human rights and civil liberties. He has faced almost 15 years in prison for his peaceful, pro-democratic beliefs and actions. Wei Jingsheng, another possible recipient, is a Chinese dissenter whose outcries against Communism, the Chinese prison system and Tibet’s freedom earned him over fifteen years in prison and eventually deportation. Or even Helmut Kohl, the ex-Chancellor of Germany who was one of the main architects of the German reunification and one of the founders of the European Union. These men have earned the Nobel peace prize. They have sacrificed immensely to bring about peace and civil liberty in their home countries. What has Obama done to put him above these embodiments of peace?
However, I do admire how Obama handled the award. He did not claim he deserved it. He even admitted that he hasn’t done anything to deserve it yet. "I am both surprised and deeply humbled by the decision of the Nobel Committee," Obama said. "I will accept this award as a call to action, a call for all nations to confront the challenges of the 21st century." This is a very noble outlook on his winning of one of the most prestigious awards in the world, and I hope he is truly called to action and that he goes on to truly deserve the great honor awarded to him so prematurely.
Why didn’t Morgan Tsvangirai win? He has striven for peace in Zimbabwe for years, trying to overthrow despotic president Mugabe and end civil rights abuses in his nation with a message of nonviolence. Tsvangirai has faced imprisonment, torture, and multiple assassination attempts because of his message of peaceful overthrow of the current tyrannical government. What about Father Thadeus Nguyen Van Ly, a Catholic priest who has been peacefully opposing and protesting the despotic Communist Vietnamese government and its abuses against human rights and civil liberties. He has faced almost 15 years in prison for his peaceful, pro-democratic beliefs and actions. Wei Jingsheng, another possible recipient, is a Chinese dissenter whose outcries against Communism, the Chinese prison system and Tibet’s freedom earned him over fifteen years in prison and eventually deportation. Or even Helmut Kohl, the ex-Chancellor of Germany who was one of the main architects of the German reunification and one of the founders of the European Union. These men have earned the Nobel peace prize. They have sacrificed immensely to bring about peace and civil liberty in their home countries. What has Obama done to put him above these embodiments of peace?
However, I do admire how Obama handled the award. He did not claim he deserved it. He even admitted that he hasn’t done anything to deserve it yet. "I am both surprised and deeply humbled by the decision of the Nobel Committee," Obama said. "I will accept this award as a call to action, a call for all nations to confront the challenges of the 21st century." This is a very noble outlook on his winning of one of the most prestigious awards in the world, and I hope he is truly called to action and that he goes on to truly deserve the great honor awarded to him so prematurely.
Monday, October 5, 2009
I'm Not an Ass or an Elephant
Why is partisanship such a major problem in the U.S.? Why do Americans feel they must subscribe to a party that holds some of their beliefs instead of merely subscribing to those beliefs? Why do Americans blindly follow what their party or influential members therein tell them to do despite the fact this may not be in their best interest or in the nation’s best interest?
I am not against partisanship as an institution. I believe that partisanship is beneficial and perhaps necessary as long as it is in moderation. Partisanship can give a likeminded group a sense of community and influence as well as provide the foundation for the conflict that fuels and regulates our political system. However, in recent years political parties have been corrupted, becoming instead vehicles which allow manipulative demagogues to satiate their lust for power, recognition and wealth. Parties have become breeding grounds of indoctrination, hate, ignorance and blind obedience. A political party should be an opportunity to express and empower your own personal political views. A political party should not tell you which views are correct and which are incorrect, or tell you that you are not a true Democrat/Republican unless you believe this. I am the only one who can decide what is good or bad, right or wrong, beneficial or detrimental, and it should be my right as an American to be able to develop and express these views without the constraints of an oppressive partisan system.
Parties in themselves are not bad or evil. But when the wellbeing of a party or its leaders begins to take precedence over the wellbeing of the nation and all its people, parties become dangerous, destructive entities. Take for instance the response of some conservative Republicans to Chicago losing its bid to host the 2016 Olympic Games, despite a personal appeal from President Obama himself. It has been reported that some Republicans actually rejoiced upon hearing of Chicago’s and, ultimately, America’s defeat because Chicago’s plea had become associated with Obama, and because Chicago lost, in a way Obama lost. In Fact, some Republican-controlled newspapers printed headlines like “Obama Loses!” and “World Rejects Obama.” This is a clear example of putting partisan malice ahead of the nation’s wellbeing. It is small instances like this coupled with larger examples such as the incredibly partisan fight over health care that are revealing America to be a divided, disjointed and dysfunctional nation that cannot be whole or prosperous until this partisan extremism comes to an end.
I am not against partisanship as an institution. I believe that partisanship is beneficial and perhaps necessary as long as it is in moderation. Partisanship can give a likeminded group a sense of community and influence as well as provide the foundation for the conflict that fuels and regulates our political system. However, in recent years political parties have been corrupted, becoming instead vehicles which allow manipulative demagogues to satiate their lust for power, recognition and wealth. Parties have become breeding grounds of indoctrination, hate, ignorance and blind obedience. A political party should be an opportunity to express and empower your own personal political views. A political party should not tell you which views are correct and which are incorrect, or tell you that you are not a true Democrat/Republican unless you believe this. I am the only one who can decide what is good or bad, right or wrong, beneficial or detrimental, and it should be my right as an American to be able to develop and express these views without the constraints of an oppressive partisan system.
Parties in themselves are not bad or evil. But when the wellbeing of a party or its leaders begins to take precedence over the wellbeing of the nation and all its people, parties become dangerous, destructive entities. Take for instance the response of some conservative Republicans to Chicago losing its bid to host the 2016 Olympic Games, despite a personal appeal from President Obama himself. It has been reported that some Republicans actually rejoiced upon hearing of Chicago’s and, ultimately, America’s defeat because Chicago’s plea had become associated with Obama, and because Chicago lost, in a way Obama lost. In Fact, some Republican-controlled newspapers printed headlines like “Obama Loses!” and “World Rejects Obama.” This is a clear example of putting partisan malice ahead of the nation’s wellbeing. It is small instances like this coupled with larger examples such as the incredibly partisan fight over health care that are revealing America to be a divided, disjointed and dysfunctional nation that cannot be whole or prosperous until this partisan extremism comes to an end.
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