Future of Democracy

 Is there a future for Democracy? I believe that there must be some glimpse of hope that democracy still exists, and that even though we as a nation have stumbled away from it, that somehow we will find our way back. To find our way back citizens must forcibly get the government to understand that they need to put aside their differences and work on a comprimise. No more He said She said way of thinking. No more belittling, badgering, or being condescending. Is this possible. Again, we have come a very long way from where this country started over two hundred years ago. We announced our independence in 1776, outlawed slavery in 1865, women became eligible to vote in 1896, and the civil rights movement ended in 1954 which in turn ended segregation.

Throughout our countries history the american citizen has accomplished many feets. We need to take back our country. No longer should the rich be able to say who, what, when, where, how, and why things happen. Corporations should not be able to rule the nation or the world.  

The alternative to democracy is dictatorship, and I don't believe after over two hundred years that the American citizen can go back to this type of government. Many governments have fallen throughout history because of dictatorships such as Rome, Egypt, Germany, Britain, and Russia. The American people adopted the constitution for a reason.

"We the People of the United States, in Order to form a more perfect Union, establish Justice, insure domestic Tranquility, provide for the common defence, promote the general Welfare, and secure the Blessings of Liberty to ourselves and our Posterity, do ordain and establish this Constitution for the United States of America." (Retrieved on April 21, 2011, http://www.archives.gov/exhibits/charters/constitution_transcript.html )These first couple of lines taken from the United States constitution have meaning, and we need to relearn what that meaning is. How about Patrick Henry's famous words of "Give me liberty or Give me Death"

Complacency is not the answer, standing up for what is right and decent is the answer. Democracy is more than a word, it is a way of life. However, the rich and the powerful should not be able to dictate what our country should or should not do. Democracies future depends on the welfare of the whole not the few.

Is there a future for democracy, I sure hope so!!!

What is the process to develop an economic policy that provides services and sustainability?

What is the process to develop an economic policy that provides services and sustainability? Is sustainability really ever going to happen? Can we sustain an economic policy that everyone in the government will agree upon including the citizens of the world. In the last few weeks the congress has been arguing over the budget, to the point where according to the news that we were very close to a governmental shutdown. The democrats nor the republicans can agree on what is best for a country. This morning on my way to work the radio was discussing Obama's plan to cut over $35 billion dollars of spending from the budget. In my eyes it needs to be much more than that.  Truth be told the money should be cut from anything and everything except for education or the welfare programs. Why can't our government take pay cuts like everyone else in the country? Is it really necessary for us to have these big costly state dinners and such? The money that is charged per person to go to one of these events should be paid against our deficit.



When it comes to discovering the process which will provide services for economic policy and sustainability, the only process is for the government to listen to its people and to sit down and agree upon what is best for the nation and stop pussy footen around what needs to be done. We can have all the comittees in the world, but if we can't see past the end of our noses about what is really going on in the world then no process will ever work!

Welfare: How does a government facilitate comprehensive care for its constituents without sacrificing equity?

According to the U.S. Census bureau reported on November 4, 2010, the average household median income was $52, 029 for 2008 and the amount of the American public that was considered at or below the poverty line was a mere 13.2% (http://quickfacts.census.gov/qfd/states/00000.html) From 2008 to 2009 the amount of American's grew from 13.2 % to 14.3%. (http://www.mybanktracker.com/bank-news/2010/09/20/poverty-rate)

New figures have not been released, with the U.S. Census Bureau completing census reports only every two years. However these figures prove that the American citizens are feeling the pain. With the average household median income level only being $50,000, imagine what size family could be living on such little money.  Imagine the typical expenses such as; rent or mortgage, food, gas, car payments, insurance (health, life, car), utilities, phone, clothing, etc. The majority of America might not be below poverty level but they are at or slightly above.

Can the government facilitate comprehensive care for it's constituents without sacrificing equity? Recently, the new reform act of 2011 was passed in March. This reform act like the reform act of 1996 put even stricter income guidelines and rules on citizens receiving welfare program help. According to the State Column on March 25, 2011 the new reform act will help food stamp recipients become less independent upon the governments assistance and get back to work. (http://www.thestatecolumn/state_politics/new-jersey/rep-scott-garrett)

Are these stricter guidelines actually helping? With our economy in recession and near depression in my mind, the American citizen needs help. The rich are getting the tax breaks, while the middle to lower class have not received any true assistance. We are bailing out car companies, banks, and even the stock markets. Blue collar jobs are on decline leaving millions of people without work. Numerous amounts of companies laid off thousands of people leaving our national unemployment level at the highest it has been since the Great Depression.  So to answer the question can the government provide comprehensive care without sacrificing equity? The answer to this question is of course not. But if the government is willing to give millions to bail out banks, car companies, etc. then maybe they should take a pay cut to help the people that are suffering so dearly. Maybe just maybe the money that they cut from their own salaries will also help to pay down our deficit.

Foreign Policy

Foreign policy seems to be really big business for the United States as a whole. I can't say that I agree with the methods that are used to promote foreign policy, or that I agree with what happens to the citizens of other countries that are affected by our foreign policy. I have read numerous articles and listened to the news regarding foreign policy. Currently we are in the middle of what I consider two wars over in the middle east. Why exactly are we there? Is it because we want to help these other nations form a democracy? Or perhaps that we want to nip terrorism in the butt, because of what happened on September 11, 2001?

I think that these are underlying truths. However, after listening to the news and then reading the many different articles, and even having discussions with friends, family, and even complete strangers I think the truth lies in money and power.

I have learned over the last several weeks in my college course that money and power are politics. But do we ever think about the lives that we are changing or perhaps ending. Is it really worth the pain and agony that these other countries are experiencing just so that America can get whatever the upper hand is?

Foreign policy deals with economics, military, industrial, farming, and above all what can the United States get out of whatever country we are trying to get it from.  The United States has laws regarding the age and hours that a person can work and even a minimum wage that can be paid to an individual. We have laws against child labor. Jobs are being sent over seas because corporations and big business stand to make a higher profit because labor and even materials are cheaper in other countries than our own. Their are children working in these plants making little to no money and working in absolutely horrible conditions. Citizens of other countries are making less money than what they could make here in the United States working for McDonald's or Wendy's. The conditions in which they are working are horrible, and if they were working here in the United States these factories and businesses would be closed down by the labor board or even OSHA.

We need to step up to the plate and prove that what we do here at home is just as good as what we do overseas. If we can't than we shouldn't be there at ALL!!!!

 I think that this image that I found explains it all. What are your thoughts?