opinion
Opinion pieces from the left, right, and everyone in between.
Parkland, Florida Shooting Analyzation
Another school shooting has happened, a tragedy that could of easily been avoided, and no, not by enforcing gun control. I want to bring attention to some facts and strange behaviors that are being overlooked, hopefully to enlighten others to a better understanding of what is going on.
Beautiful SurrenderPublished 6 years ago in The SwampUnpleasant Facts
Let us begin with facts. Hard, verifiable facts. First there have not been 18 school shootings since January. Not every discharge of a firearm on a campus constitutes a "school shooting." For more details look here:
Michael BauchPublished 6 years ago in The SwampYou Don't Need a Gun
Just when I thought people with mental health issues were receiving empathy and understanding from society, Mr. Trump declares people should be screened for a mental health illness before gaining a gun license or purchasing a gun.
Lesley Anne ArmourPublished 6 years ago in The SwampGood Guys With Guns
If I could snap my fingers and cause the hundreds of millions of firearms and other weapons in the US and world to simply vanish, I wonder how long it would take for people to manufacture new ones.
Michael ThielmannPublished 6 years ago in The SwampThe Right to Bear Arms
Self preservation is a right shared by all law-abiding Americans. Whether or not you choose to personally exercise that right should not be contingent on another’s decision of whether or not they exercise that right.
Brian DollardPublished 6 years ago in The SwampInternational Aid Does More Harm Than Good
There is a book (Dead Aid by Dambisa Moyo) that claims that international development aid has resulted in greater poverty.
Peter RosePublished 6 years ago in The SwampIs the Era of Heroes Dead?
What happened to our love of heroes? When I was a kid Luke Skywalker, James Bond, John Steed, and Indiana Jones were who I looked up to. Now, it's Darth Vader, Hans Gruber, Anton Chigurh, and Hannibal Lecter. Since when did villains become who we aspire to be?
Christian ChapraPublished 6 years ago in The SwampWhite Privilege Does Not Exist
I acknowledge that there is still racism in today's world. Unfortunately, racism will never go away completely because there will always be people who have skewed views of their race and other races. Racism can only be prevented, but not destroyed due to it being an idea. It is an idea not a disease and just because it's an idea does not justify it being an acceptable one. Racial issues cause a great deal of division in America and other countries all over. However, you cannot put out a fire with fire and claim it's water yet activists, advocates, and social justice warriors do so with the idea of white privilege.
Cameron MasucciPublished 6 years ago in The SwampDeterioration of Political Debate
There are lots of reports of extreme nastiness and violent hatred over political opinion. Rationally this is difficult to comprehend since politics is such a fluid every changing concept and these are opinions, however strongly held that are only opinions. History is the only real judgment on any political policy and even then we have to be cautious since “history is written by the victor.” Judgement on the merit of a future policy has to be an opinion.
Peter RosePublished 6 years ago in The SwampWhy the United States Should Support Planned Parenthood
In a world full of wrongly accused reputations and (almost) an entire government trying to destroy a business, there are people like me who want to stand up for what is right. Planned Parenthood is not just a clinic a young girl would visit to get an abortion. Planned Parenthood is a place of refuge and support for young women all around the United States. Without them, we would have young women doing things they would not do otherwise if they were properly educated. We would have young women dropping out of college to take care of a baby that they tried every way in the world to prevent. We would have young women dying of cancer caused by Human Papilloma Virus because they aren’t provided scans or vaccines. Without this company, and its refuge, our young women would be in a state of crisis. As a country, we should be supporting a company that just wants to help and educate our youth, instead of trying to tear it down. Many people, when they hear the name “Planned Parenthood,” become panic stricken. Lots of people may think, “Oh no! Killing tons of babies! That is so wrong. How could anyone live with themselves?” when there is so much more to the company than just abortions. Not only do they provide this service, (safely if I might add) they also are the leading source of sexual education in the country. We should not need our population to get sexual education after they have made the mistake already; our population should have already known about these things and why they are important. Because they do not already have this information, the employees at Planned Parenthood have been trained to deliver this important information to everyone that comes through their doors. The Planned Parenthood education staff doesn’t only educate patients, they also educate students and children. The company itself reaches 1.5 million people each year. Out of that 1.5 million people, 65% of them are middle school or high school aged students. Their outreach program provides information useful for everyone. They have sex education information for people with no medical insurance, curious kids who have no parental support, and safe, non-biased support for people within the LGBTQ+ community. All in all, even if the company did nothing else, they provide important information for anyone willing to listen and receive it. Although Planned Parenthood plays an important role in the education and support of both men and women, they have a large portion of their company that deals with Women’s Advocacy. They are a large supporter of anything that benefits a women’s overall well-being. The widely encourage women to get to know their bodies and become familiar with its usual functions so that when something goes wrong they can identify it much easier. They have something within their clinics called a Well-Woman Visit, where they do many different check-up screenings to make sure the woman is at her best and that she stays that way. They have these screenings adjusted into different age groups. For example, if you are under 18, you may be given the HPV vaccine and have a conversation about your cycle to make sure everything is as normal as it could be. For me, this would have been much less awkward than my experience with the male doctor that gave me this vaccine and talked to me about becoming a “woman.” When you’re twelve years old, and in pain, all you can think is, “This man doesn’t even go through this, how would he know?” In conclusion, Planned Parenthood is more than just an abortion clinic. This is a place of safety, support, and refuge for all young men and women who are lost and need help. They have made a huge impact on the United States, and we should be intelligent enough to give them as much support as possible so that they can continue to impact our nation positively.
Makenzie HicksPublished 6 years ago in The SwampInternalising Externalities
In economics, externalities are activities conducted that affect those who did not wish to be involves in said activity. Common negative examples include pollution, noise and second-hand smoke. But they can be positive as well, such as pollination from a beekeeper's bees, general levels of education and vaccinations.
Alex RalphsPublished 6 years ago in The SwampCause Then Complain
Cause Then Complain Blame everyone except yourself. This is a favourite ploy of politicians on all sides of the debate. Policies they supported while in power, have disadvantages that come to be noticed after they have left office and they suddenly become critics of that policy. Presumably, in the hope that the electorate have short memories or maybe because they themselves have selective amnesia.
Peter RosePublished 6 years ago in The Swamp