Cold War

1. Context:

In 1945, World War II was drawing to a close with the surrenders of the Axis Powers and consolidation of power in the Allies. However, the close wartime alliance between the Soviets and the United States began to splinter as the necessity of wartime cooperation faded with the war. In reality, the extreme difference in ideologies and contest over who would fill the power vacuum led to a series of confrontations between the United States and Soviets that ultimately caused the deterioration of the relationship between the wartime Allies.

 

Central Reason: struggle for dominance of a certain ideology: Captialist v communist

 

• Way: Yalta: Poland, germany
  • Would give the dominant group/ideology power of influence
  • Pro-west or pro-Soviet, Lublin vs. London
  • Germany—correctionist or constructionist—capitalist or weak for soviet control
  • Contest for dominance
  • Emergence of the dealing with a postwar world with very different objectives
    • Arguments, but at Yalta
• Way:  Truman Doctrine, Containment of communism, Marshall Plan
  • Know through Kennan Telegram, Soviet spies
    • Knew about the Americans’ intentions to counter Soviets with all their resources that was not present in Yalta/Potsdam
    • Distrust, Stalin genuine reason for suspicion of American actions, contrary to arguments that Stalin’s personality was at fault (Gaddis)
    • RepercussionsàSoviets realize that US is trying to encroach on its sphere on influence, counter with greater antagonism
      • Evidence of harsh American intentions
      • Threaten satellites (Czechoslovakia) not to accept Marshall Aid
• Way: NATO/ Berlin Blockade
  • Symbolic power struggle—Berlin airlift
  • Formal, public separation in relations between the two nations—SOLIDified DIVISION
  • Solidified western bloc
  • Congregation of capitalist nations that excluded Soviet Union

 

 

 

1. Superpowers emergence
   1. Marshall Plan—collapse of Europe, military/industrial advancement of Soviets/US
   2. UN leaders
   3. Arms Race—nuclear powers, scientific development

i.      US military-industrial complex

ii.      Soviet resources

 

• Left in an advanced postwar situation facing the turmoil in Europe, Asia
• Competition to fill the power vacuum—greater, faster development, advancement

 

1. Ideological Differences—large role in fact.

• Different views on security
  • Unilateral (Soviet) or collective (US)
  • Essentially communism v. capitalism
  • Soviets feel that security involves soviet control of territory, imposing values
  • Historiography: theory of the arms race that created fear, need for dominance

 

Capitalism v. Communism

1. Germany question—construction or correction
2. Cominform, Comecon vs. Marshall Plan’
3. Soviet aggression in Poland vs. US attempts
4. Containment vs. global communist revolution and proliferation

 

 

4. Potsdam/Yalta

Yalta issues: Poland government, Japan entrance, UN creation

Potsdam Issues: Poland’s boundaries, German Reparations and division into 4 zones

 

Moderate extent, Conferences set the stage for ideological issues that formed the basis of conflict during the Cold War

No child left behind

Senators are working on an overhaul of the No Child Left Behind law that would let states waive obligations to standardized testing. Senators Harkin and Enzi proposed the 868-page bipartisan bill. However, Senator Rand Paul invoked a procedural rule requiring the consent of the Senate if any committee met for more than two hours and halted the committee action. He announced that he did not want to rush the bill through Congress. However, President Obama and the senators were visibly frustrated at congressional inaction.

            I also learned that Congress is inefficient and slow at making any changes due to many technical processes. Senator Paul’s decision to invoke a rarely-used, but simple rule is an all too easy way to delay legislation. Furthermore, any simple conflicting of interests could lead to similar methods of blocking action in Congress and contributing further to inaction and policy gridlock. In addition, the article raised the issue of whether the bill should be considered from scratch in a delayed process for a thorough hearing. However, the other side of the argument is that the input gathered across the years from teachers and students is sufficient. This is also a question of the effectiveness of linkage institutions in voicing these concerns. Also, the overhaul of the No Child Left Behind law would mean giving back to states powers that the federal government had previously seized. Instead of imposing standardized mandates across the nation, state teachers would be given more freedom to develop curriculum to meet the needs of their students. Overall the situation presented in the article is a good representation of the problems in the congressional process and interactions of policy in state and federal governments.

Hunger Games Upset

Okay, I love the Hunger Games. It’s a great series; I read all the books. However, there is something extremely upsetting:

There are no asians in the movie’s cast!

I mean, there’s blacks and latinos, but no asians? Come on! What happened to racial diversity?

Americans with Disabilities Lawsuit

Hosanna-Tabor evangelical Lutheran Church and School in Redford, Michigan fired Cheryl Perich after she was diagnosed with narcolepsy and threatened to sue the school to get her job back. As a result, the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission sued the church on Perich’s behalf under the Americans with Disabilities Act. Controversy over the case centers on whether Perich falls under the ministerial exception of the Americans with Disabilities Act. In addition, the Supreme Court Justices are debating the limits of state intervention in church affairs and enforcement of anti-discrimination laws. The Supreme Court will decide the case in the spring.

The article reveals that the federal courts serve as an important mediator of conflicts such as those between church and state. The Supreme Court justices are faced with the task of clarifying vague or technical exceptions in acts of Congress and interpreting them to fit different cases. In Cheryl Perich’s case, the Supreme Court justices have to decide whether Perich falls under the ministerial exception in the Americans with Disabilities Act even though she taught secular subjects. In this, I was surprised that issues that seem to have such simple resolutions could be dismissed or appealed on slight technicalities. In addition, the article illustrates the separate spheres of influence of church and state. Government, acting out of separation of church and state makes exceptions for religion and often stays out of religious matters in policymaking. However, the Supreme Court’s job is to define the powers of church and state, and tell when church matters are exceptions to government’s laws, and when they must obey them.

Characterizing Haughty

Have you ever actually VISUALIZED a tone word? What does it mean to be confident? or arrogant? What about haughty? Here is a short narrative of my perception of the word, haughty.

Haughty enters a party, smugly showing off a goblet full of gold. He pushes a young partier off of a golden high chair and sits down himself. Snatching a glass of luxurious wine from an unsuspecting partier, Haughty smirks mockingly as he sees the partier’s smile turn upside down. Haughty then raises the drink to his lips and tastes the wine slowly with his chin raised high. Finding the wine unsatisfactory, Haughty dumps the wine down the drain in front of the host with an indignant look. Finally, Haughty pushes aside shocked party-goers, scoffs, and storms out of the party.

Michelle Bachmann and HPV

During the Republican debate, Rep. Michele Bachmann raised the issue of her rival Gov. Rick Perry’s implementation of a mandatory HPV vaccine for 13-year old girls in Texas. Controversy arose because the HPV Gardasil vaccine was manufactured by Merck, a major donor to the Perry campaign. While Perry insists that Merck only contributed $5000, further investigation revealed that Perry accepted hundreds of thousands of dollars from Merck. In addition, it found that Perry’s former chief of staff, Mike Toomey, worked as a lobbyist for Merck in a multimillion dollar campaign to persuade states to make HPV vaccination mandatory.

This article raises the question of whether interest groups and big corporations run government. In this case, the question is whether politicians like Perry can be “bought” by corporations that contribute large sums of money to campaigns, such as Merck. If this is true, then politicians like Perry are corrupt, and the elite and class theory of democracy holds. However, there is also the possibility that Perry’s actions and beliefs were genuinely intended to prevent cervical cancer to save lives. I learned that whether politicians have financial motives or genuine beliefs in their actions remains a much debated issue and test to presidential candidates. In addition, the role of interest groups and companies in funding campaigns and lobbying to their benefit is undoubtedly great. However, the extent to which interest groups’ contributions control politicians or translate into public policy makes up the debate over the validity of the elite and class theory.

El Narcotráfico en Cuba y España

Hi again! I have written another essay in Spanish. This is about the problem of drug-trafficking and the similarities and differences in Cuba and Spain.

El Narcotráfico en Cuba y España

Cuba y España son países de partes del mundo diferentes y con formas de gobierno diferentes. Pero, los dos países compartan los mismos problemas del uso de las drogas y el narcotráfico. Socialmente, económicamente, y políticamente, Cuba y España tienen las mismas condiciones del narcotráfico, pero tienen medios diferentes a parar el problema.

En el aspecto social, los dos países tienen los mismos problemas con jóvenes y el uso de drogas pero son diferentes en la lucha contra las drogas. En España, el uso de drogas con adolescentes es muy grande. Muchos factores culturales como la media, la televisión y redes sociales apoyan el uso de drogas. También, adolescentes van a fiestas y clubes sociales que usan drogas. Entonces, el uso de drogas en España es algo “normal” para los adolescentes. En Cuba, la influencia de drogas es alrededor de los jóvenes también. Pero, el uso de drogas en Cuba no es tan grande de un problema como España porque Cuba tiene muchas organizaciones y programas educativos para educar a los jóvenes. Aunque España tiene el Plan Nacional Sobre Drogas, no es tan efectivo o fuerte como la Comisión Nacional de Drogas de Cuba. También, el gobierno cubano tiene el control de la media y crea mensajes fuertes contra las drogas; Pero, el gobierno de España no tiene el mismo control de la media y no puede eliminar los mensajes que apoyan el uso de drogas. Entonces, la lucha contra drogas es más fuerte en Cuba que en España.

En el aspecto económico, Cuba y España tiene medios de narcotráfico similares pero tienen condiciones diferentes. Los dos son países del tránsito de drogas porque están cerca al océano. Narcotraficantes usan las costas para transportar drogas a los Estados Unidos por Cuba y a Europa por España. También, los dos países no producen las drogas; Las drogas de Colombia vienen a Cuba y España y se venden en el mercado doméstico en secreto. Pero, el gobierno de España no está haciendo mucho para parar el narcotráfico porque no tiene el control de las portuarias en el sur de España. Al contrario, la policía de Cuba vigila a todas las portuarias y aguas y buscan narcotraficantes porque ellos tienen el control. También, Cuba quiere crear una imagen positiva de la lucha contra narcotráfico para mejorar relaciones con otros países, pero España enfoca en otros problemas más urgentes.

Políticamente,  los dos países tienen relaciones internacionales que trabajan a parar el narcotráfico, pero Cuba está haciendo más en su país. En España, hay la Unión Europea que ayuda a España a parar el narcotráfico. En Cuba, hay relaciones con treinta y dos naciones y los Estados Unidos. También, hay organizaciones en los dos países que ayudan a la drogadicción. España tiene el Plan Nacional Sobre Drogas que crea una conexión entre el gobierno central y comunidades autónomas. Cuba tiene el Ache III que lucha contra el narcotráfico internacional y la Coraza Popular que lucha contra el narcotráfico doméstico. Pero, hay más leyes sobre el narcotráfico en Cuba que España. En Cuba, hay leyes como sentencias de la cárcel o muerte para los narcotraficantes que no hay en España.

En conclusión, Cuba y España tienen el mismo problema con narcotráfico pero irán en direcciones diferentes en el futuro porque hacen cosas diferentes a parar el problema. En Cuba, el gobierno totalitario tiene el control y puede crear leyes y organizaciones fuertes contra el narcotráfico. Pero, en España, el gobierno es un repúblico que no tiene el poder de controlar a los narcotraficantes. Éste es la razón que el nivel de narcotráfico está bajando en Cuba, pero está aumentando en España.

Umberto Eco and his writings

Today, horrifying stories of terrorism, war, and death are all over the news. Deep within the roots of these terrible crimes are conflicting ideologies over the “truth” of the world. The chief offenders are science and religion, both of which provide hope and stability to millions of Americans by giving us a sense of understanding of the world. Any rational person understands that the world is an enigma and that no one can claim to know everything. Yet, science and religion assert the power to explain the world’s enigma even though no single “truth” exists. Various societies all claim their interpretation of the enigma to be “the truth,” only resulting in fury and conflicts in all parties. Philosopher Umberto Eco confirms that human attempts to impose a single truth on others, often in the form of science or religion, distort the “harmless” enigma into a “terrible” one.

Science and religion have become an accepted part of the upbringing and education of America’s children. However, often the “truths” that children must decide on their own are placed on them daily by adults. During the Scopes Trial of 1925, educators of the state of Tennessee argued over whether evolution or creationism should be taught in America’s schools. The jury were shown evidence of both evolution and creationism and forced to decide between the two. In essence, the case was decided over which faith was more “true” than the other.  As a result, the more “true” of the two faiths was taught as “the truth” in public schools to children. Society’s attempts to impose one truth on children take away their ability to choose and decide for themselves, revealing the lack of the moral value of freedom and choice. In daily life, children are subject to adults imposing their ideas at home. Children are subject to adults imposing their ideas during lectures at school. Children are subject to adults imposing their ideas in the media, using propaganda. The society of each child already imposes its interpretations of the world’s enigma, leading to lack of freedom and choice. Tragically, this lack of choice given to children has fatal consequences. In 2008 little eleven-year-old Madeline Neumann died of treatable diabetes while her parents prayed and watched her die without taking her to a hospital because they didn’t believe in medicine. The parents of poor Madeline imposed their beliefs on her, without giving her a choice of life or death. This lack of freedom and choice to interpret the world’s enigma only victimizes society’s most helpless victims: children. Children should at the very least be given the freedom of choice of life or death and beliefs.

Attempts to impose faiths on other people have disastrous and destructive outcomes. In the Roman Empire before Emperor Constantine, Christians who would not pray to the emperor as a god were brought for punishment. Most Christians refused to renounce their faiths and died gruesome deaths. The pagans and Christians both believed that their faith was the “truth” of the world’s enigma. The pagans’ persecutions of Christians transformed the peaceful, harmless nature of religion into a terrible, painful history. Yet as a nation, we have not learned from the past. Yet Christians and Muslims still persecute brothers and sisters. Yet we accept one truth and deny all others. It is urgent that Americans tolerate all interpretations and religions. History has shown that when the Muslims set out to create and empire, their policy of tolerance of other faiths led to peace within conquered lands. Tolerance of all truths instead of imposing a singular truth will be crucial to mediating the anger and hatred of America in the Middle East. Tolerance will reconcile the two societies and help avoid a costly, global war.

American interpretations of the world’s enigma are essential to a society of freedom and happiness. Though no single underlying truth to the world exists, “truths” such as religion and science are sources of inspiration and provide hope in times of despair and understanding in times of chaos. However, when these “truths” are imposed on other people or children, resentment and destruction often ensue, as Eco confirms. Tolerance and freedom of interpretations are essential to the prosperity of the lives of all humans on Earth. Through acceptance and tolerance of the different interpretations of the world’s enigma, we no longer “madly” impose a single truth. We become the voice of eleven-year Madeline that she never had. We become the millions of voices of children voicing their freedoms. We become the voices of our friends halfway around the world. Finally, we become the voices of ourselves, happy and peaceful with an enigma that is not “terrible,” but stronger and better than “harmless.”

The British Occupation of India

 

The Reasons and Consequences of British Christianity in India

1. Introduction
   1. Hook: In January of 1999, Graham Staines and his two sons were brutally murdered when they were burned to death inside a locked car. He was an Australian Baptist missionary who lived and worked in India with lepers for the majority of his life. His murderer—Dara Singh, was a Hindu militant who publicly boasted of his crime. However, the Indian police reported that Staines’ murderer was “never found.” This is just one heinous murder on the long list of crimes of Anti-Christian violence from the Hindus now that the British have lost their control over India.
   2. Thesis: Although Christianity brought new hope to India, the Indian independence from the British led to an increase in religious conflicts between the Hindu majority and the Christians.
2. Body
   1. When the British controlled India, conversion was safer and easier than after Indian independence.

i.      Under the Portuguese, conversion was forced. However, under the British, conversion was voluntary. Conversion is peaceful and true.

ii.      Churches from all over Europe felt the obligation to reach out and send missionaries to India and convert the people.

iii.      Christians were protected under British government.

1. The British ruled with Christian principles
2. The British were more favorable toward Christian subjects

iv.      After Indian independence, the Hindu majority again took control.

1. They discouraged conversion to Christianity
2. People who chose Christianity were expelled from society, persecuted
3. Caste distinctions, tie with Hinduism made it harder to convert
4. Christian missionary work in India proved beneficial in many ways.

i.      Missionaries worked to educate Indians, fight for women’s rights, provide basic shelter

1. Reading the Bible helped open up the Indians to western literature
2. The literacy percentage of Indian Christians was 4 times that of Hindus

ii.      “Evil” practices, such as sati and child sacrifice, were abolished by Christian governors.

iii.      The untouchables at the bottom of the caste were given new hope

1. In Christianity, everyone was equal so they were given an equal chance for a better future.
2. Untouchables had grown dissatisfied with Hinduism where they were treated harshly by the other castes, so Christian missionary work helped them convert.
3. After Indian independence, there have been increased Anti-Christian movements by Hindu nationalists in India.

i.      The percentage of Christians in India has never reached over 3% while the percentage of Hindus was greater than 80% and continues to increase.

1. The police is controlled by Hindus, so they do not bring Hindu criminals like Singh to justice.

ii.      Christian missionaries seen as political/religious threat and foreign menace

iii.      Conflict of Hindu parents, Christian children

1. In 1877, Balakrishan asked his father, a Brahman leader for permission for baptism; he was beaten, confined, then sent away

iv.      Hindu nationalists do anti-Christian violence

1. Greatest violence in places where BJP, Hindu nationalist groups, are in control
2. Intimidation of Christians—arson, threatening literature, Bible burning, bombing churches, ransacking churches, desecrating church graves, murder/rape of nuns, priest, and missionaries

v.      Reconversion of Christians to Hinduism

1. Pressure from neighbors, family, Hindu partners in marriage
2. Try to reconvert Christian untouchables
3. New motive to rediscover, revive the fundamentals of Hindu faith
4. Established Hindu Missionary Society to disrupt Christian missionaries
5. Hindu newspaper writers falsely claim that the Christian population is rising and that the missionaries are increasing to inspire hatred for the foreigners in India.
6. Conclusion
   1. During the time of British occupation, Christian missionaries provided services and resources to the people of India in hopes that they would convert. Christianity, the religion of the British, was supported and favored over Hinduism by the Europeans. However, when India gained its independence, the Hindu majority reasserted control. Some extreme groups of Hindu nationalists began violent and brutal persecutions of the minority: Christians and their missionaries. The consequences for Christianity resulting from religious differences and Indian independence are far-reaching and extend to modern times.

Una Pelicula: Romero

Hi everyone! Here is my review of a very intriguing Spanish film. It is written in Spanish, just a heads up

En El Salvador, el país tiene un conflicto entre las guerrillas y el gobierno. Las guerrillas no están contentas con el gobierno porque el gobierno es corrupto. Entonces, las guerrillas matan a personas ricos. Por eso, el gobierno mata a las guerrillas y personas quién no están contentos con el gobierno. También, el gobierno escoge a un arzobispo nuevo quién es tranquilo y no causa problemas—Romero. Pero, Romero está simpático a las guerrillas y las personas. Él no le gusta la reacción del gobierno, y trabaja para la gente. El gobierno está enojado porque el arzobispo no está tranquilo, entonces ellos matan bispos y enceden las iglesias. El fin, ellos matan el arzobispo, Romero. Un comparación de eso es la situación de las personas quién eran de África e iban a Los Estados Unidos. Ellos trabajaban por los americanos y no ganan dinero. También, ellos no podrían hacer mucho y trabajaban todos los días de sus vidas. Los americanos matan a los personas quiénes no estaban contentos. Este es similar que la situación en El Salvador. En el fin, ellos tienen más que pueden hacer, pero la situación en El Salvador no mejora mucho.