Friday, May 6, 2011
Small Businesses Drive America Forward
Small businesses give America its strong entrepreneurial spirit and drive the economy forward. According to the small business administration, (SBA), small businesses account for 99.9 percent of the businesses in America. Though many of these businesses fail, they still account for many new jobs. Since many small businesses are startups, they often hire in recessions. Though not huge on their own, collectively small businesses make up a potent force. In addition, small businesses drive innovation forward, gaining 13 times as many patents as large firms, according to the SBA
Environmental Protection
Setting away land and sea area as preserves is very important in preserving our nation’s natural wonders. These areas should be maintained and wildlife in them studied to help us better understand the world we live in. Funding for this can come from entrance fees as well as some from taxes. With preserves set up, we can keep our wide variety of wildlife so all can experience and enjoy the beauty of nature.
The American landscape is beautiful, and has been cherished for generations. Our forests, our mountains, our prairies. Our landscape is unique and should be protected for posterity. This is the way our land was. This is the way it should be kept. Our wilderness serve as beacons for stewardship of the environment, illustrating all the beauty that the Earth has.
The American landscape is beautiful, and has been cherished for generations. Our forests, our mountains, our prairies. Our landscape is unique and should be protected for posterity. This is the way our land was. This is the way it should be kept. Our wilderness serve as beacons for stewardship of the environment, illustrating all the beauty that the Earth has.
More on Foreign Policy
Instability in many nations leads to an influx in terrorists. In order to combat this, we look at the root cause, so that we may hope to understand why this is happening.
Instead of intruding into other countries, we must respect their sovereignty and push for reform. In many instances, there are cruel dictators that will not reform or negotiate. Conflict might be inevitable, no matter how much negotiation goes on. Intervention will occur, but what then? Before going in, powers need to have a game-plan on what will happen afterwards. Concrete planning and collaboration with the locals on how to make their lives better and more peaceful is needed. Nation-building is often frowned upon as policy, yet this may be needed. Military action with no back end involvement will lead to the destruction of order in a country, bring the nation, and consequently the entire region, into chaos.
We need to work with the people of other countries, planning for strong, open, effective governments, accountable to the people, and free of corruption.
Torture
The US must obey the Geneva convention and not torture people in detention. They are people too, and must be treated as such, no matter how different or evil they might be.
Many foreign combatants under our control are simply young men who had no future, so they turned to terrorism. Now, this decision may be frowned upon, but we must look at the root cause of the influx of these fighters if we are to succeed and make the world safer.
The root cause may be the instability of regions in which these fighters come from. If they have no future, no education, and they perceive their well being is in danger by foreign military forces, then they will fight, and fight with terrorism.
Torture, in fact, might not be as effective as it seems. While valuable information has been attained through "enhanced interrogation techniques", when people are under stress, they may not tell the truth. If someone is threatening you, you may be more likely to say whatever will get you get relieved of that stress, instead of what might be the truth. It is the same with combatants. They could say what interrogators want to hear, instead of what they need to hear. Treating everyone like humans will gain their respect, showing that we are not in fact evil. Once they realize that, they can be of much more help than ever before.
Many foreign combatants under our control are simply young men who had no future, so they turned to terrorism. Now, this decision may be frowned upon, but we must look at the root cause of the influx of these fighters if we are to succeed and make the world safer.
The root cause may be the instability of regions in which these fighters come from. If they have no future, no education, and they perceive their well being is in danger by foreign military forces, then they will fight, and fight with terrorism.
Torture, in fact, might not be as effective as it seems. While valuable information has been attained through "enhanced interrogation techniques", when people are under stress, they may not tell the truth. If someone is threatening you, you may be more likely to say whatever will get you get relieved of that stress, instead of what might be the truth. It is the same with combatants. They could say what interrogators want to hear, instead of what they need to hear. Treating everyone like humans will gain their respect, showing that we are not in fact evil. Once they realize that, they can be of much more help than ever before.
Nuclear Weapons
The US should not expect the rest of the world to forgo nuclear weapons when they themselves do not want to abandon their own policies. The US should take the lead and reduce, not necessarily eliminate, but reduce their nuclear weapons supply and not make any new ones. In turn, the US should encourage others to do the same. Others will not do so unless someone will take the lead, someone who does have a vested interest in nuclear nonproliferation. It should be the United States who takes the lead, as a major nuclear superpower. We cannot let nuclear weapons get in the hands of terrorists; this is understood. What we should work on is not a world where allies of the US have nuclear weapons and the rest don't, but as little countries as possible have nuclear weapons. Also, regarding missile shields, it is not a good thing to do and threatens other nations nearby, so that they are extremely uncomfortable with US presence. Many countries that are near it oppose it, and with good reason. Since we would not like missiles near our country, we should in turn honor others’ requests and not install missiles without their permission.
Problems with the Media
As time goes on, people should be aware of several alarming facts. The media in the United States, and several other places in the world, is increasingly being centralized into a few news organizations. As evidenced by many sites, including freepress.net and fair.org, these corporations include many media and news outlets, and continue to become bigger.
As this happens, more and more Americans are getting their news from very few organizations, regardless of how many shows they watch. Instead of valuing small, thought provoking, and independent journalism, we instead are getting large conglomerates who answer to their rich owners and corporate funders. The independent, small scale journalism is held accountable to the people. Since their operation depends solely on, say the publication of a single newspaper, they are more likely to listen to criticisms about their integrity or depth, since their success depends on only one or a few journalistic ventures.
Now, it will be quite difficult to prevent or change the course that is happening at this moment. But there is action that everyone can take. Write to congress. Tell them to pass legislation limiting the spread of media conglomerates. Bring up anti trust legislation. Encourage limitation on these media empires. In addition, support your local papers. If they have not been bought up already, encourage the operators not to sell. Buy papers that are not from these empires, buy magazines that you value for there in depth, thought provoking coverage of the news. Lastly, if you are unsatisfied with the media, start spreading your own magazines, newspapers, and pamphlets. Encourage others to do the same. Take on the empires. Make journalism truly free and balanced.
As this happens, more and more Americans are getting their news from very few organizations, regardless of how many shows they watch. Instead of valuing small, thought provoking, and independent journalism, we instead are getting large conglomerates who answer to their rich owners and corporate funders. The independent, small scale journalism is held accountable to the people. Since their operation depends solely on, say the publication of a single newspaper, they are more likely to listen to criticisms about their integrity or depth, since their success depends on only one or a few journalistic ventures.
Now, it will be quite difficult to prevent or change the course that is happening at this moment. But there is action that everyone can take. Write to congress. Tell them to pass legislation limiting the spread of media conglomerates. Bring up anti trust legislation. Encourage limitation on these media empires. In addition, support your local papers. If they have not been bought up already, encourage the operators not to sell. Buy papers that are not from these empires, buy magazines that you value for there in depth, thought provoking coverage of the news. Lastly, if you are unsatisfied with the media, start spreading your own magazines, newspapers, and pamphlets. Encourage others to do the same. Take on the empires. Make journalism truly free and balanced.
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