Provide Common Defense - Learning

The current war has not affected me much besides frequently seeing things on TV about it. Though almost everyone I know knows someone who is either in Afghanistan or died in battle which is pretty depressing. I believe that what Obama has done to defeat many al Qaeda leaders with the beginning help of President George W. Bush was a huge success for the American people and now that 20 of the 30 big al Qaeda leaders are dead, it is only smart to start withdrawing troops from Afghanistan. To me, it does make sense to keep some troops in Afghanistan to keep peace among the country. I agree with President Barack Obama on keeping strong relationships with other countries like Israel by committing to its security and really focusing on Asia Pacific because of its potential for future growth. Sometimes I do think the U.S. gets too involved in other country’s problems, which just ends up causing more harm than good for us. I don’t know if this is possible or not but I’m sure there are situations in which the U.S. can back off a little bit. Honestly, it’s not the United States’ job to make sure there is peace and safety among all countries and I think sometimes other countries rely on the U.S. to do so because we always have. I believe that we have a lot of things to worry about and fix in our own country and to try and help out others is sometimes taking on too much.

http://www.whitehouse.gov/issues/foreign-policy  

http://www.cbsnews.com/video/watch/?id=7054225n

Establish Justice Project

To explain how our United States government works together to ensure domestic tranquility, I created a presentation on Prezi.com which shows the purpose and powers of the three branches of government: legislative, executive, and judicial. The presentation also gives an idea on how these branches communicate with one another to keep our country at peace. Check it out!

http://prezi.com/wyxpmdlvfeei/present/?auth_key=n6b2315&follow=om67e57zcekf

We The People Project

Check out this website I put together with information about the foundations of United States Government! On the site, I talk about the drafting of the Declaration of Independence, the Revolutionary War, and writing of the Constitution. There's lots of valuable information!

http://foundationsofusgovernment.webs.com/

Establish Justice - Learning

Over the years, riots have broke out all over the world in hopes of throwing out their own government. The recent outbreaks in Tunisia and Egypt caught the attention of people worldwide. On December 17, 2010, a 26 year old man (Mohamed Bouazizi) committed suicide by burning himself to death after police knocked over his cart and took the vegetables he was selling at a market because he did not have a permit to do so. Tunisians began to communicate through Facebook where the word spread and more people joined this mass of anger and soon after, the riots began. President Zine el-Abdine Ben Ali was a very paranoid man who would not allow for any Tunisian to speak their minds and would commonly use torture as punishment. The Tunisians had reached their breaking point and they were not scared of the President anymore. There were so many protesters that in January 2011, after about a month of continuous riots, President Zine el-Abidine Ben Ali resigned and left the country. The word spread like wildfire around the world and when Egypt heard the news, they started to get ideas. On June 6, 2010, a 28-year-old man named Khaled Said was beaten and killed by police. The people of Egypt (mostly young people) were mad about not having economic opportunity and because of the such high unemployment rate. They thought they deserved more from their country like freedom, democracy, and human rights but President Hosni Mubarak could not and would not keep up with the Egyptians' demands. But the cause of the riots was because primarily because of the police abuse. Following the killing of Said, A Google executive named Wael Ghonim set up an anonymous Facebook account to organize the riots. A picture of his dead body was also posted on Facebook. On January 25, tens of thousands of Egyptians protested in Cairo and other big cities for an long 18 days. President Mubarak figured he needed to take action; and with the use of police force and thugs, he tried and failed. The protesters were still standing and were in control of Tahrir Square. President Mubarak’s next attempt to stop the riots was a propaganda campaign to try and make it look like the protesters were actually foreign agents. This tactic failed by DID manage to get some protesters to go home which caused the protesting to calm down a bit. The man who set up the Facebook account was held in isolation and blindfolded for 12 days. When he was released, he was interviewed on the TV and emotionally spoke about what he had been through and that he was determined to keep fighting until President Hosni Mubarak resigned. People heard what this man had to say and this time, hundreds of thousands of Egyptians showed up in the streets to protest. Mubarak acknowledged the public but was stubborn and unwilling to resign. He instead “temporarily turned his power over to Vice President Oman Suleiman. In February, 2011, a day after speaking to the people, the Vice President announced that Mubarak will step down and the military will take control of the country. Egyptians heard the news and paraded in the streets of Egypt.

Though we have not seen major riots appear in the United States in years, they have occurred and will stay in the history books for years to come. One of which is known as the Kent State Massacre. On April 30, 1970, President Nixon announced that he was sending American and South Vietnam troops to attack Cambodia against communism headquarters in South Vietnam. There was outrage across the country but on May 4, in Kent, Ohio at Kent State University, about 1500 students protested and ultimately, four were killed and 8 were injured. The other well-known riot that broke out was in Los Angeles, California with Rodney King. In 1992, he was driving down the freeway in LA when he passed California Highway Patrol and was caught speeding. The police put on their lights but because King was worried about getting in trouble with his probation for robbery, he led a high-speed chase which reached 115 mph. When King was finally stopped and taken out of his car, the police men thought he was resisting arrest so they used a TASER on him twice and when that didn’t stop him, police began to beat him. The beating was videotaped and publicized. People became angry looking at the beating as a racial offense and riots broke out on April 29, 1992. Only a few days went by and 53 people were dead while there was about $1 billion in damage from the protestors destroying property and lighting buildings on fire.

In the 18 years that I have been alive and living in West Des Moines, Iowa, I have never experienced any type of major traumatic event anywhere close to my home. The last time there was a real big event was September 11, 2001 and I was only 6 years old. I was too young to comprehend what had happened and to realize how close to home it really was. If something like these riots were to occur today anywhere close to my home, I would be in complete shock. It would be something I would never forget. But today, in the world we live in, I honestly could never image these riots ever taking place. In my opinion, and I may be wrong, but I feel the young adults in our society have changed from wanting to change the world, to just wanting to make their own life a great one. I don't feel like many college-aged kids are willing to sacrifice their lives for what they believe in anymore. Though there are the exceptions, for example: the men and women who join the military and also the occasional men and women who do and would give their lives up for their beliefs. But in the United States today, I feel young people don't have much of a reason to start any type of riot; and if they did, it would probably have something to do with foreign affairs. With that being said, I am sure there will be riots in the future and I am sure they will never stop until the human race comes to an end. What I do hope, is that the voices of the protesters are heard and compromised before violence becomes the solution.

Sources

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2011/02/01/egypt-tunisia-arab-revolution_n_816695.html

http://www.nytimes.com/interactive/world/middleeast/2011-spreading-revolutions.html?emc=eta1#24

http://www.time.com/time/specials/2007/la_riot/article/0,28804,1614117_1614084_1614831,00.html

 

We The People - Learning

Government is such an important part of a country's well being. Every country, state, city, town, etc. need to have some kind of government in place to keep rules in place and to regulate the economy. We, as Americans, often take our freedom and our rights for granted because it is all we know; but there are many countries who don't have these unalienable rights of life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness which were talked about in the parody song of Apologize by Timbaland in the following link: http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=uZfRaWAtBVg. Not to mention all the rights written in the Bill of Rights shown on this website: http://www.archives.gov/exhibits/charters/charters_of_freedom_1.html. These documents were created by the United States government to insure that the American people lived the life they dreamed as free people. Without some type of government, countries would see crime, a terrible economy, and overall chaos. People would not be given rights, there would be no structure of any sort, and ultimately, the country would go up in flames. Government is the glue that keeps societies together and running peacefully.

We The People - Watching

I believe this parody to the Timbaland song "Apologize" does a pretty good job of capturing what the Declaration of Independence stands for. In the song, it says "We want to make it clear. We believe this much is true. Men were created with certain unalienable rights. Among these: life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness". This wraps up what the Declaration of Independence says and what it stands for. Also, when the chorus comes on and says "It's too late to apologize, it's too late", I believe he's telling this to the British because they tried to get the colonies to pay an unfair amount of money for the war. In my opinion, this song does a pretty good job of explaining the Declaration of Independence; considering the song is only three and a half minutes long.

We The People - Reading

The Revolutionary War was a time where many peoples' thoughts changed and people began to speak up for themselves. When the English came to the Americas and Great Britain tried to force the colonies to help pay for the Seven Years' War, the newly "Americans" stated that they were free men which eventually lead to what was called the Revolutionary War. Americans created the Declaration of Independence, the Constitution, and the Bill of Rights. All which had their own problems. I believe the Americans were so proud of themselves for winning the war which caused them to speak up about these changes they wanted made. I also believe that maybe some were fearful of America failing as a country which would also cause them to speak up about issues in these documents. Throughout the years, African Americans spoke up for themselves, along with Native Americans and women. Who all stood up for what they believed in, possibly because they were fearful of taking steps backwards and turning into Great Britain again. Americans weren't the only people who changed their perspectives on life; many countries all over the world started to immigrate into the United States to experience this freedom everyone was talking about and also in attempt to get away from the government they were living in. I still believe there are still some who fear today that the United States may turn away from democracy, and towards a type of government people initially wanted to get away from. This was seen a lot in WWII. There will always be things people want to change about our Constitution or our laws. And with the government we have, we have the freedom to do so, which is what's so great about our country.