politics
Politics does not dictate our collective cultural mindset as much as it simply reflects it; We've got to look in the mirror sometimes, and we've got one.
Utilitarian Standpoint: Issues Where I Stand Neutral
Hey Guys, Today I want to talk about neutrality, and the top ten social issues that I stand neutral on. I wrote something similar where I listed top ten things which people are irrationally sensitive about. It was not accepted because it was too broad and not specific enough. So bear with me while I make the list, short and simple. Welcome to another post in the us series where I talk about subjective matters aiming towards an objective solution. It is a story that affects all of us.
By Heeta Joshi6 years ago in The Swamp
Playing Football?
In recent years, especially since the election of Jeremy Corbyn first in 2015 after Labour's disastrous defeat in the general election and then again in September 2016 after a coup—this time with a larger majority—the Labour party has been accused of having a disease, that’s rotting the party to the core. The disease? Anti-Semitism. Many have claimed that the party has seen a huge increase in anti-semitism, although is this really true? In reality, it would seem that the issue of anti-semitism is nothing more than a political smear campaign which has become the deciding factor in the ever-widening Labour party split. It would be wrong to deny that anti-semitism doesn’t exist, but what is clear to me is that anti-semitism is being used by the right wing of the Labour party to wedge the newly elected leader out of office. The evidence is overwhelming. How could the Labour party be anti-semitic when a Jewish man led them for four long years and then into the 2015 general election? What we the electorate must realize is that political party leaders, in the words of Boris Johnson, are taking us for ‘mutton-headed’ idiots. They are using serious problems within society as a form of political football. Is this really what British politics has come to? These constant attacks towards the Labour party, and more accurately towards the Labour leader from other politicians, including ones from the Labour party itself, are undermining British democracy. This upsets me because at such an important time in British history, can we really afford to take our eye off the ball?
By Lucas Jackson6 years ago in The Swamp
What Is "The Left"
"The Left." We hear it constantly from conservative pundits and editorialists, most often trying to get rise from the democratic party. I find that nobody on the right actually knows that that means. To those who believe they know what it means on the right, you probably have little conception of what socialism actually is, much less the broad term "the left." While the Democratic Party is the most leftist major party in the United States, it is not by any means a portion of "the left," although some moderate leftists are in the party. The broad definition of "the left" as perpetuated by conservatives is an authoritarian system and the soviet-form socialism that resulted in another imperialist state. While people think that socialism is inherently authoritarian, it is not. Socialism, as a principle merely refers to the absence of private property (i.e. property used by an employer's employee for use for the purpose of profit). It states that the employment of such a system will result in mass unemployment, mass poverty, hunger, mass homelessness, and overproduction.
By Thomas Sebacher6 years ago in The Swamp
'The Purge' Already Happened in the 2016 Presidential Election
October 9, 2016. Washington University in St. Louis, Missouri. The second presidential debate is kicking off with a question to former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton. A woman asks about the negative tone of the current campaign, to which Secretary Clinton responds:
By Stephen Walden6 years ago in The Swamp
Best Vintage Cold War Political Cartoons
Studying Cold War political cartoons allows one to see how America sees itself in the ways in which it identifies its own mirror double in the Soviet Union. In US criticism of the USSR, we discover America's own insecurities and the lengths to which it would go to shield itself from introspection. Across these ten Cold War political cartoons, you'll be able to see how it's only under the guise of exceptionalism that America can justify aspirations that are otherwise indistinguishable from that of its foe.
By Lauren Skopkowski6 years ago in The Swamp
Compromise
Compromise. We have compromised for too long, there is a single option that we acknowledge as possible and feasible, and that it must happen as decent, principled millennials. We need a revolution, whether it be political or social, to modernize, streamline, and correct economic, political, and social movements that have outlived their usefulness in their current forms. As such, we must acknowledge that compromise is not a part of revolution—if it were, we would very clearly be reasonable. Compromise is only possible among people who believe that the forces must be there. The problem of compromise is that it is just that, when one compromises, their values are compromised. In the rise of the right-wing, we see very clearly that the world is turning towards authoritarian nationalism. Any compromise with authoritarian nationalism is a deal with the devil—it will come back to destroy us. In the 1930s, compromise among the far-right (where the Republicans have been since the 2000s) and the center (where the Democrats have come to be located after decades of neoliberalism) led to the abolition of liberties and the passage of the Enabling Act after a slight national crisis. We are coming to a point where we will—mind you, will—see a genocide in fascist countries in the next decades. We are in a political climate which, if turned towards compromise, will bring both parties to the far right. While compromise, in theory, was what our country was built upon, I find this unlikely.
By Thomas Sebacher6 years ago in The Swamp
Dying Democracy: The Collapse of Compromise
If one were to ask anyone that predates the millenials about the current political atmosphere, responses tend to be of similar nature. Despite political affiliation, everyone seems to have a strong distaste for the polarization of politics. The response is often, “back in the Reagan-Clinton era and before that, people could discuss politics, civilly.” That comment often precedes the observation, “I do not know how we ended up here.” So how did the U.S. become entrapped in the disease of polarization?
By Dillon Staples6 years ago in The Swamp
Who Controls the Narrative? (Pt. 1)
The Public Adminstrator Article I, Section I of the Constitution grants all legislative power to the Congress of the United States (Independence Hall Association, 2013b). The power of Congress derives from the people who elect them to office. The tremendous duty of developing policy and legislation that represents the needs and desires of citizens but also does not violate the Constitution is a responsibility that falls solely on their shoulders. Theoretically, all influence on policy and legislation comes from the citizens they serve, however, as society has grown more complex, different actors have taken the responsibility of being “the voice of the people” and functioning in protecting the public interest. Policy can create opportunities but who is responsible for the narrative that forms policy?
By LaKeisha Harrison6 years ago in The Swamp