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Top Ten Signs Your Country May Be Going Fascist
Is your country becoming a fascist nation? Let's use this checklist.
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What the Hell is International Law?
In case you're not into current events, (in which case why are you here?) or you have simply had your head in the sand for the past few years, our generation is beginning to develop something that no other generation has found even minimal success in let alone attempt it. International Law, while it may seem like a simple idea, lets build a system of justice that transcends boarders and any crimes that warrent an international court can be dealt with. However, as is typical with people of our age, many have been sucked up into idealism and now international law is moving towards the idea that international law is a means to punish world leaders. Although the debate rages on, both sides bring up good points. While the obvious differences in cultures and laws create problems in governing two sovereign countries with one system, steps have been made towards a permanent system. Some argue that it should be used to punish world leaders such as Osama Bin Laden, George W. Bush, or even Bill Clinton have been brought up for the fact that they were responsible for technically illegal acts on an international level. Others argue that international law should not be built specifically to charge leaders of nations, as they simply act on the best information available to them and in the interest of their country, but rather, that the system should be to charge international criminals who flee their country of origin or any place they have committed a crime and have warrents out for them. To be fair, our occupation of Iraq, and Bosnia so many years ago were technically illegal, should US presidents be charged? Afterall they were only acting on their administration's advice. In contrast, should a man flee from a country such as Sudan after raping or murdering women in a village as part of the Janjaweed he can be charged if caught in a country that has agreed to follow international law such as Great Brittain. There we find that there is a catch. In order for a country to be forced to follow international law and have its inhabitants able to be charged, the country must give up some sovereignty and agree to follow the laws put in place. So, this begs the question... What is International law? Even in its infancy we have found that its a tangled web of bureaucracy and confusion. What are the thoughts of the people? What is the purpose of international law? Your guess is as good as anyone else's.
http://www.icrc.org/web/eng/siteeng0.nsf/html/humanitar... In case you're not into current events, (in which case why are you here?) or you have simply had your head in the sand for the pa... more -
Is the world really round?
Ok, so if anyone is into Friedman they will feel me here. We live in a rapidly globalizing world... In fact, not only did the so called "greatest generation" leave us with the tasks of saving the planet from pollution, nuclear proliferation, and population control, but we also now have to figure out how to globalize each nation. Its not so easy to move from country to country that women are now moving from the third world to the developed nations in order take care of upper and middle class families needs. Its known as the 'care deficit' because so many women are leaving the homes for work, someone needs to cook, clean, and care for the kids, so these women sell artificial love and get paid the bare minimum for it... Now, they make way more than they would have if they would have stayed in say, Mexico or Argentina, but they send almost all the money back to their families (whom they have left behind) to support their kids and parents... How do they make up for the money they send? Welfare of course! Is this ok? Should this be legal? Foreign governments will even pay for them to gain skills necessary to work these jobs... But what is the cost? To quote Friedman: "Its a flat world afterall."
http://www.nytimes.com/2005/04/03/magazine/03DOMINANCE.... Ok, so if anyone is into Friedman they will feel me here. We live in a rapidly globalizing world... In fact, not only did the so calle... more -
Culture Clash
As I sit playing Halo 3 I can't help but notice the fact that nearly all of the 400,000+ people playing along with me are from either the US or Western Europe... And there is a small amount of people in the Middle East playing... Why is this? It has nothing to do with financial status. The fact of the matter is, we live two different lifestyles. In a sense its the McDonald's culture vs. the Islam culture. The West, as we have dubbed it, is a consumer driven, individualistic culture focused on achievement and, of course money. While the nation of Islam is more a nation created based on traditionalistic, group oriented, religion based values. Its really not debatable, its just facts. Maybe these cultures need each other to balance things out... Or maybe its more of a struggle of people against people in a battle where someone must lose their cultural identity... Only time will tell who could win... The Jihad culture, or the McDonald's culture.
http://crx.sagepub.com/cgi/content/abstract/25/4/359 As I sit playing Halo 3 I can't help but notice the fact that nearly all of the 400,000+ people playing along with me are from ei... more -
McDonaldization of the World!
McDonalds is heralded as one of the single greatest business models in history. It was the start of franchising and the beginning of the modern era of scientific business strategy. Now this has been taken a step further and the entire planet is being set up just like one big McDonalds! Is this a great way to create an efficient, systematic, predictable way of dealing with the mashing together of culture? Or are we creating a planet of soulless consumers?
http://www.theatlantic.com/doc/199203/barber McDonalds is heralded as one of the single greatest business models in history. It was the start of franchising and the beginning of t... more -
Waging Economic War!
Ok, so maybe the title is a bit of an exaggeration. But in case you aren't familiar with currency, there are several different forms and on this planet we have named Earth, the 'dollar' is the standard measurement of all monetary value because of its wide use and high purchasing power. There is now a worthy foe to the dollar's supremecy. The EU has been pushing the Euro for a while now and it could dethrone the dollar as the standard currency used in international trade. While the United States has more or less taken the 'ostrich approach' by simply buring their heads in the sand, it has now become apparent that there could be a real shift in economic power. Currency is the most widely traded commodity in the world, in fact, it is the largest market, larger even than the NASDAQ, gold, Dow Jones, and London Stock Exchange combined! But why doesn't anyone seem to notice? The Euro represents over 490 million people while the dollar, only 305 million. The Euro and the dollar both are nearly identical in what their ultimate goal is... provide currency for a large, and extremely diverse capitalistic society... So is this war good or bad? Should the dollar remain king? Or is a little competition good for it?
http://economistsview.typepad.com/economistsview/2007/0... Ok, so maybe the title is a bit of an exaggeration. But in case you aren't familiar with currency, there are several different fo... more
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US Globalization
Contributors (14)
US Globalization
