1913 Vs. 2013: The Technology Issue & An Important Reminder

While sipping hot chocolate last night, I thought about what changes have occurred in the United States since 1913.  While I was not alive during that time, I can assure you that thinks were much different.  Some of the obvious things [between then and now] are: women earning the right to vote, interracial marriages are now acceptable (as well as interracial schools, etc.), the United States electing its first catholic president (President John F. Kennedy in 1960) and its first African American President (President Barack H. Obama in 2008), and an increase in military actions including being engaged in two world wars.  However, there are many things that haven’t changed despite the change a century can bring. For example, unemployment still remains high in many parts of the country, Germany is still mad at the United States (due to the drone tactics so in a sense military intervention), ships keep hitting things and sinking (like the Costa Concordia), and the United States being engaged in a war overseas based on an attack to the nation (except it wasn’t a ship or a torpedo, it was airplanes flying into buildings like torpedoes).  Out of all of the things that have not changed, technology has paved the way for America to be more isolated while still maintaining a façade of global communications. Technology seems to be making the general public more secluded or reserved while being less engaging and less intelligent.

I don’t mean to be insulting, but it’s true.  If someone doesn’t know something, more than a majority of people will resort to the common phrase, “here, let me google that,” or “I’ll google it.”  We have become so reliant on technology to the point it being mundane.  I realize it is the future and it is important for it to ensure progress within a society, but I firmly believe that if we were not so “connected” with the various outlets of technology, then [we the] people wouldn’t be as stressed or have other health-related issues.

I have taken extra steps to not tweet or Facebook – well, not so much Facebook, but definitely Twitter or Pintrest – within the past week and it has been rewarding.  I have even turned my cell phone on to “vibrate” mode and noticed that I got a lot more accomplished around my apartment (my laundry and dishes are finally happy to be clean and resting in their respective places). I just think if people would “unplug” once in a while, everybody would be happier. In 1913, if the power went out or the radio became broken, people would actually just go on living their lives and even spend time with their families.  If the power goes out today, I know people would either go crazy of boredom or run their cell phone battery down tweeting or updating their status on Facebook about the power being out and hoping their favorite show will still get recorded on their DVR.

Yes, technology is a good thing; but, too much of a good thing can be rendered into a harmful thing. Let’s not abuse our technology because if we ever do lose it, we wouldn’t know how to survive. If the power is out, credit card machines don’t work, ATM machines are down, and gas pumps turned off…can you sustain yourself if something like this happened for more than two hours? What about a week? Luckily, I know how to garden (notice I didn’t say I had a green thumb, haha) and I know how to barter if needed, do you? The people in 1913 never thought anything could happen to them; but, in 1929 on a day known as “Black Thursday” that all changed.  Is history destined to repeat itself or have we learn to correct our mistakes?

“Then Shut It Down” – Unintended Consequences

This shutdown also has unintended consequences for every American. Due to a budget not passed by Congress, the government has had to close down some important parts of its government. I’ve already discussed the national parks; now, I’d like to touch a more personal area of the government shutdown: Education.

            I know many teachers, professors, and people who love education (whether it is teaching or just learning). I am still considering the teaching profession within the next five or ten years. Teachers are always getting the short end of the stick. Since the shutdown has taken place, the Department of Education (and the Departments of Public Instructions & Auxiliary)  has had to cease funding of grants and other funds. Why you may ask…because the two departments within the Department of Education are subsidies.  All subsidies within the Federal Government have ceased (which is why many are concerned that the Women, Infants, and Children – or W.I.C. program will hurt many Americans because it isn’t being funded at the moment).  This shutdown is severally hurting those educators that are trying to better the education of their students through grant funding. Not only are teachers in North Carolina getting….shafted...but now they are getting it from their own government!

            One of the “solutions” proposed by Congress is to back legislation called a “continuing resolution” (to clarify, I think I covered in the last post but if not then I’ll explain again), which essentially continues funding the government until a certain time period. The problem with this is that is postpones the political debate over funding by the same time period. In layman’s term, it “kicks the can down the road” which doesn’t benefit anyone. Now, if the House of Representatives could pass a continuing resolution with no riders attached (again, a “rider” is an amendment – so to speak – put into the legislation) because once a rider is attached, it will immediately create controversy resulting back to square one. If the House passes it, then the Senate should pass it as well so the President can sign it and the shutdown will be over.   This may sound very easy and should be easy to do, but when you have 435 voting members of one body (The House of Representatives) and fifty members of another body (The Senate) all trying to agree on one issue AND THEN having to have the President sign off on it as well, it becomes extremely challenging to accomplish.  This is why Political Science is in the “Arts & Sciences” category. It is an art and there is definitely science involved to alleviate the problems of government. Well, so go the theory.

“Then Shut It Down” – The Rippling Effect

This shutdown isn’t just about which budget to pass…it is so much more. It affects every American in some way or another. Let’s start with the obvious things: let’s start with the national parks service, for example.

Due to a Government shutdown, all national parks and monuments will be closed because the staff that maintains these places are federal workers.  They will not work as it would be in violation of a law (and I can’t remember the law but I’ll double check). Now since there are national parks, and monuments, are in every state, it will affect every citizen in the states. It’s really sad because for all the members of Congress, it seems like they don’t want to stand by their constituents.  Here me out on this: National parks and monuments generate a lot of revenue for surrounding areas and businesses with souvenirs, restaurants, and even hiking trails provide camping opportunities and money-raising goals for upkeep of such trails.  When these places close, none of these places get tourists, which hurts local economies.  As much as each party says, “we can manage without them”, in the end, the local communities that depend on tourism revenue can’t survive without business.  It is simple, and a very practical basic rule to remember: all politics is local.

Yes, the shutdown is about not passing a budget by the Legislative Branch. A budget, as many know, has the main topic of money and funding allocations. There are certain things that will still continue during the government shutdown time. The first thing to note is that if an American is on social security, Medicare, and disability, then they will continue to be sent out (like those people will still get their checks).   Even the Affordable Care Act Law will still be funding because its funding is not tied to appropriations budgeting (its funding comes from another source).  Now one of the things about the shutdown does is that is ceases all forms of new applications and stalls all current stuff. So as stated, people will still receive their social security checks, but if people apply to get a check, then they will be postponed since there is nobody to process the requests.  The same thing goes for hunting licenses, driver’s licenses, passports, etc.

            Staying on the topic of money, it is important to realize that funding cuts don’t just stop with national parks and monuments.  How long do you think it will take for Congressional leaders to cut funding, or just not fund, other areas of government without thinking about the bigger picture (while still remembering the smaller pieces that make up the bigger picture).  What’s next to not fund…education? Transportation? Science? It’s already starting to happen with education in other states. In a really sad way, maybe this is “the trickle-down effect” that the Republican Party loves to remind us about; or, maybe it’s the Democratic Party’s version of “spreading the wealth” even though the wealth is drying up because the United States government has shutdown. Okay, time for a quick break so sit tight and the next blog piece will up soon enough. In the meantime, if you have questions, feel free to e-mail me – timoteohines@gmail.com

“Then Shut It Down”

It seems like I’m living in season five of The West Wing, only I’m not.  The United States Government has been shut down for over twenty-four hours now.  I know plenty of people who work within the federal government and they are not working or getting a furlough if they do work.  I honestly figured a deal would be struck in the eleventh hour – just like all the other times the United States has encountered “close calls” of a government shutdown.

            Now that the government has shut down and it doesn’t look like it will re-open any time soon, it is important to understand how Congress has failed to represent the people that elected them to govern.  Some would say it is a partisan gridlock but when one looks further into the situation, they will see that the gridlock and overall failure of this Congress falls on bipartisan lines.  While it is true the House of Representatives is controlled by the Republicans, the Senate is controlled by the Democrats, it is not true that they can’t get along and pass legislation.

            The Republican-led House of Representatives tried to pass legislation dubbed as “continuing resolutions” which would fund the government for a certain amount of time. The thing that is often overlooked by the general public is that they also attached riders to the legislation. A “rider” is simply an attachment to a piece of legislation that has a specific goal to either undermine a standing law.  Now I’m not going to get into the specifics of what the national news networks are reporting. The bottom line is both parties failed to come to an agreement to fund the government; which ironically, is one of their sole purposes of the legislative branch of government. The Legislature makes the budget and the Executive Branch either signs it or vetoes it (hence the system of checks & balances).

            Now there are a lot of things going through my head. So to alleviate this, I’m going to go ahead and post this piece and start on the next one. If anything, it will keep you coming back to see what I’m thinking and to see my point of view on this historic time during the first half of the twenty-first century. Personally, I think the government shutdown of the United States Government will last at least four week…then again, I’ll address that soon enough.

The New Middle East: Egypt & Syria (Part Four of Four)

I’d love to finish this Middle East Political series by discussing the countries of Egypt and Syria. It just seems appropriate to end with the two countries continually making the news on an international scale.

            Egypt has made sure to stay true to their “cease-fire” agreement from 1978 (Yes, I’m referring to the Camp David Accords) regarding Israel. At the same time, they have been very stagnant regarding accountability for their government’s administration. While the country is rich in culture and vast knowledge of history, it is also abundant in chaos and turmoil. With the Arab Spring happening, Egypt decided to go a different direction and elected a leader that was part of the Muslim Brotherhood – Mohammed Morsi.

Due to the nature of changing administrations and ideology, this new government didn’t last that long enough to get many things accomplished. In fact, Morsi was in power a little over year before he was ousted in a military coup.  This captured the attention of the world because it presented the challenge of how to asset and handle the situation. It is interesting because while the coup was of a military origin, it is close to the uprising that is going on in Syria at the current time.

            Even before 2010, the Syrian government and the rest of the world didn’t know how to deal with each other.  The fact that I can’t really speak to things previous to 2010 is, in a way, sad because even if I did follow such events it would be confusing. Since 2010, the Syrian government has undergone major obstacles such as dealing with the United Nations regarding their reactor program – which the alleged reactor was in fact destroyed by air raids conducted by the Israelis. Even the Arab League voted to suspend Syria and impose sanctions on them due to their lack of adhering to the Arab peace plan (this was in November of 2011 by the way). Since that time, the Syrian Government has removed governors of the northern areas, endured suicide bombings, further sanctions by the United Nations Security Council, and the decision to use heavy weaponry and other military tactics on its own citizens; this, in turn, resulted in multiple deaths within the nation of Syria at the hands of their own government.

            Syria also gets into a rift with Turkey that resulted both countries banning each other’s plans from entering their respective air spaces. Israel also exchanged both war or words and heavy artillery because of Syria’s occasional shelling of bordering towns from the Golan Heights area (also the first time since the Yom Kippur War of 1973 – same year the Camp David Accords were signed; and, the exchange continues into this year). In fact, Syria was under the impression that the growing opposition of its citizens were actually Israelis impostors (again, it’s their speculation and wasn’t ever proven).  It is because the citizens of Syria were so fed up with their government; and, the government got fed up with its new found opposition. The United States, Great Britain, France, Turkey, and other Gulf states formally recognized this wave of “insurgency” as “the legitimate representative of the Syrian people” as they were in formal opposition against their government.

            To fast forward to the present moment, I think we have to consider the current state of both countries and not just one over the other. Both situations propose extremely sensitive challenges for United States foreign policy.  As much as the United States is hesitant to get re-involved in the Middle East, at this point it is the only thing that makes sense politically.  Let me be very clear here: I am NOT advocating for the United States to get into another war. I think when a President states that a line has been crossed and that the United States will examine and deal with the issue, should it happen (and by the way, it did), the United States will handle it with a proportional response. The line being crossed is the continuing facts pointing to Syria using chemical weapons against it’s own citizens.

            Personally, there are a couple of questions and concerns I have regarding the potential scenarios facing the United States. Let’s discuss!

     1)     The United States is part of the United Nations. I firmly believe that the U.S. should wait until the Security Council is able to figure out how to deal with the human rights violation conducted by Syria. A lot of people think the U.N. is a joke, but I firmly believe we have to give the U.N. enough time to meet its obligation as an international body.  The last thing I would want to see is the United States to undergo a unilateral response. It would just be the Iraq situation all over again and I don’t want the next decade to sending our troops in Syria;

     2)    Let’s say the worst possible scenario plays out and the United States does go into Syria. I think the United States wouldn’t be going into Syria alone. In fact, I think the U.S. would be able to rely on Saudi Arabia to assist within the region. The rationale behind Saudi Arabia getting involved to overthrow the current Syrian government would be to dissolve the Syrian-Iran alliance that has been in place for a long time. By minimizing that alliance, Saudi Arabia would be able to re-gain a conservative ally in the region; and for the United States, it would be able to greatly diminish any pressure Iran – and other countries that are anti-Semitic - places on Israel’s existence;

     3)    I will be the first one to stand up and fully support the United Nations; however, I also know that they are not always effective. There is only so much that can be done with sanctions. Some of these nations, such as Syria & Egypt, need to have a little more force given to make them sit up and pay attention. The fact that Russia is even saying, “whoa, we need to figure out how to deal with Syria regarding these human rights violations” was both amazing and comical at the same time (I will discuss why it is comical in a future blog piece…trust me Russia will be the topic of a whole new post).  If the United Nations can continue to impose sanctions, have a positive review of the areas in Syria regarding chemical weapons, and the International Criminal Court bring Syria on crimes against humanity, then I think the United Nations would be able to more credible to the rest of the world...finally;

     4)   If the United States does decide to send in strikes against Syria (in the form of Tomahawk missiles), would that be considered an act of war? The reason I pose this question is because if Syria retaliates, that would set of a potential chain reaction. Here is one potential scenario – US fires on Syria, Iran attacks the US because they have an alliance with Syria, Israel attacks Iran because they are an US ally, Iran decides nukes should be used against Israel, etc. It may seem like a excerpt from a Tom Clancy novel, but things can escalate just that fast and over the smallest of things; and,

     5)   I only bring this up because of the human rights violation brought on by Syria. The United States has an obligation to intervene because   we have done so in other instances. It would not be ethical to “pick and choose” which cases to intervene within the world.  The question becomes, “Why will the United States intervene in Libya but not Syria” or “they will liberate the Afghanistan people and the Iraqis but not the Syrians” or even the fact that they the United States wants human rights for all people, except for those that do not present a special interest to their way of life.

      I do not envy President Obama for the decisions he will have to make in the upcoming days or even weeks. This is an area of the American Presidency that no President wants to engage in, but yet it is a job description that often gets neglected except when presidential candidates are in a political debate. I think the best option is for the United States to wait until the outcome of the United Nations is made known; if things are not ideal, then a coalition needs to be built so it can confront the issue of Syria and the way they treat their citizens. I view Syria as a mild form of totalitarianism and the United States should be greatly concerned regarding this form of government since certain elements of this concept is running rampant in American Politics.

      To be a leader, one has to recognize where they want to progress to and also where they ethically, philosophically and ideological refuse to go. The United States needs to stand by its statements and convictions while at the same time treading very carefully to make clear that another road to invade the Middle East does not remain the only option.