“I wanted a perfect ending. Now I've learned, the hard way, that some poems don't rhyme, and some stories don't have a clear beginning, middle, and end. Life is about not knowing, having to change, taking the moment and making the best of it, without knowing what's going to happen next. Delicious Ambiguity. “-Gilda RadnerTime has passed like the warmest and coolest breezes of summer and spring. It has come with hope and excitement for the future, and left behind it a sense of accomplishment, but also a bitter, resonating sting of regret. In the passed semester, I have learned so much, knowledge has come and stayed or given opportunity and dissolved at inaction . I look back and see all I have been exposed to in the passed few months, and I feel so grateful. Yes, even the days of late-night blogging and tireless map study I recall with a warm fondness. I am not sure whether this fondness comes from the knowledge that, in the end, I became a better, more informed person, or the knowledge that what I was doing actually mattered. I believe that…maybe its both, somehow. Yet, I feel that to analyze my time these passed weeks, to dissect the nostalgia that is now so strongly overcoming me, would cheapen the happiness that I have felt. I can only hope to reflect upon what I have learned, and continue to strive to be a well-informed, well-educated person. In the following, I will attempt to revisit all I have come across this passing semester, and hopefully make proud the teacher that has taught me so much.Differentiating Political and Economic Systems of the WorldThe year began, amidst excitement and anxiety of the time to come, and we were given our very first project. This was to explain the political and economic systems of the world. We approached it, hesitant, not sure exactly what standards we would be held to. Yet, we learned. We learned that the governmental powers of the world are held within seven main systems, the first of them being Absolute Monarchy. Absolute Monarchy is defined as being dominated by a king or queen, whose power is ever-present, and not limited by law. Stemming for this is Constitutional Monarchy. The theory of a king or queen still remains in this system, however, their power is not absolute, as the title suggests. They are limited by law, and can be seen as more of a ‘figure head’. The next system, still ruled by one person or entity, is Communism. In this system, one person owns and controls everything. In theory it is a ‘utopia’, where everything is shared and no one goes without. However, in practice, this flawed system is much different; people go hungry and live in poverty, whilst the one ruler lives in total comfort and lushness.We now transition from Communism to Democracy; representative and direct. Only one of these two forms of democracy can be found in the world today; this form being representative. In this form, citizens elect officials to represent their interest in the government. The United States functions under this system. Direct democracy, like that of the Greeks and Romans who voted on a public forum, is completely run by the people. No upper form of government controls or censors the results of the people’s wishes. It is the people alone that are responsible for all decisions. From this we focus on Dictatorship. This system is the polar opposite of direct democracy, yet similar to communism. One person controls everything and everyone in this form of government. North Korea is a prime example of a country, failing, under this system.Finally, Anarchy. This system of government is defined as a complete lack if government in itself; in layman’s terms it is complete and utter chaos, with no central form of control or law.Disparities Between Democrats and RepublicansFrom the governmental systems of the world, we stop looking on a global scale, and refocus ourselves to the United States. It is common knowledge that in this nation, we are divided. We are expected to pay our loyalties to either the Democratic or Republican party. Between these two groups lie vast differences in opinion; differences that through the beginnings of this class, we learned, discussed, and debated.A very heated conversation came from the topic of abortion.The democratic party is very well known for generally, since individual views may very, supporting abortion. They believe it to be the mother's choice in what she does with her body, and what will or will not be produced from it. This vastly differs with the Republican party, which is seen as being much more religiously dependent in their views. They believe that life begins at conception, and all women who have, for whatever reason, gotten an abortion, have committed the crime of murder. They are completely and utterly against it. Stricter gun control laws, the banning of religion from public, government funded schools, and lax restrictions on immigration clearly define the democratic party as the more liberal head of the nation.The Causes and Effects of Global WarmingFrom our national-oriented view we turn ourselves once again to pressing issues on a global scale. Global warming, the threat deemed as one of the most crucial and heated topics of my generation, has begun to effect us exponentially. We have begun to loose habitat, and with it, animal species. We’ve noticed temperature change, and frightening rising water levels. It is clear that this has a place in our hearts as one of, if not the, most important issue of our times.Effects brings with it causes. It is widely accepted in the scientific community that global warming is, in large part, a product of human error. It is our desecration of forests, our greenhouse gas emissions, and our damning ignorance that damn the world along with it. We’ve tried and failed to improve our effect on this molten rock thatwe inhabit, yet on the grand scale of things, we are barely making a dent.OverpopulationTying in with global warming is Overpopulation. Overpopulation is defined as the circumstance where there are too many organisms for one single habitat. Medical science has grown, taken the most incredible of strides, that the death rate is lower. With these medical advancements come more births. That is the sole cause of overpopulation, that alone, our populating and existence. There are, however, many effects of overpopulation.With so many people, living, breathing, consuming, our forests are depleting for farm land and cities. People are without jobs, for we cannot reach the job demand, thus the poverty rate is high. With this comes starvation and malnutrition, all effects of overpopulation. Education in countries that are the poorest of all is incredibly low. Family planning services are not offered, or widely known about . All of these things contribute, and are causes and effects of overpopulation.GlobalizationI have thus far attempted to explain threats, faults, in the above few paragraphs. The following paragraph will explain not the evils or threats of or to the world, but rather a glorious, even beautiful, development in the world. This new development contains in it the future of mankind; globalization. The world’s hindrance to communication is shrinking. Now, as the world turns and time passes, we are able to communicate with anyone at nearly any time.It is globalization; our ability to reach passed the restrains of distance to share information and data. It is growing and developing, yet shrinking at the same time. It can only get smaller from here.We segue from this into the current events that we dissected and debated throughout our studies this semester. The first of these being the War in Iraq.The War in IraqWe have had our fair share of conflict with Iraq. The first time we witnessed their instanbility was in the 1990's. Iraq invaded Kuwait. Soon, the US, Canada, and the UK began sending countless troops. The UN created a colaition of 12 nations to untie and solve the conflict in Kuwait. This conflict would later be named as the Persian Gulf War. The second and current time we as a nation have faced problems with Iraq is occurring now, before our very eyes. A radical Islamic group, Al Queda, in the worst act of terrorism in US history, hijacked four commercial airlines. With these airlines, filled with the desperate lives of innocents, they flew into the Twin Towers in New York City, The Pentagon, and a field in Pennsylvania. We had to respond to this. In retaliation, we sent our troops seas to search for nuclear weapons. In the end, we ended the reign of Saddam Hussein, but continue to fight a war we cannot seem to win.The Situation in IranFrom this we segue into the closely-related country of Iran. Iran has spurred countless conflicts in the middle east, as well as in the world. Currently, they are linked to radical Iraqi groups, whose sole goal is to wipe out any and all western influenced from their country. The show their support by supplying them with weapons and information...their reach into Iraqi culture has gone so deep that some would go as far at to accuse them for any election upsets in Iraq. Out focus on them does not merely revolve around their relationship to Iraq, but also their nuclear problem that, some say, will become a huge problem for the world in the near future.SomaliaThe next issue we discussed, I would like to summarize by first giving the definition of a failed state."Common characteristics of a failing state include a central government so weak or ineffective that it has little practical control over much of its territory; non-provision of public services; widespread corruption and criminality; refugees and involuntary movement of populations; and sharp economic decline."(Source: Wikipedia)Somalia, because of the above definition, fits the term "failed state" extremely well. The citizens of Somalia are faced with the wreckage and death of along civil war, few resources, and even pirating off of its coasts. Many Somalians go without, and live in constant fear of death, for the widespread criminality and danger are so prevalent in their daily lives.AfghanistanThe Unites States went to Afghanistan because of the 9-11 attacks in 2001. The Taliban allowed Al-Quada to train terrorists in their country, allowed them to spread their lies an propaganda. However, Afghanistan is no longer the US' main focus, we've moved onto Iraq, to the dismay of some critics.Darfur and RwandaI would like to finish this semester review by combining two events that are very similar, that recently effected, or continue to effect the world as a whole. These two events are the Darfur and Rwandan Genocides. However, we must differentiate between the above two items.Rwanda, in the 1990's, experianced what most consider a massive, merciless genocide. The Hutu's of this area had the mission to kill all the innocent, normal, non-rebel Tutsies they could find. They were told to exterminate an entire race of people, to make themselves the most powerful, most loved race in the area yet again.Finally, this transfers us into Darfur. This is travesty is happening currently. The main conflict began in 2003 when the SLA and JEM were accused of treating the Arabs better than the black Africans. A powerful, merciless militia called the Jajanjaweed was trying to kill off black Africans, to be supreme. Throughout the ordeal, the Sudanese government has denied having any relations with the Janjaweed, though all accusations have basically been proved.. There have been rapings, poverty, death by malnutrion, and countless killings. An estimated 300,000-400,00 have lost their lives in the past five years. Yet, no one helps.In closing I would like to simply say:"A man who carries a cat by the tail learns something he can learn in no other way" -Mark TwainThough these passed weeks have been hard, agonizing, and stressful, the experiance I gained...I would never trade.
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