System Overhaul - Education

The state of American education today is sorely disappointing to say the least. American schoolchildren are among the stupidest bunch of kids in the class of the more prosperous countries. American children are being cheated out of a good public education because the government won't improve the educational system. It may be a difficult task, but it's a task that must be dealt with in the near future and must be handled carefully. Very few in America have the money to send their children to private schools, and American citizens should not only be guaranteed a free public education, but a good, free public education that spans all subjects well. In this declining economy, education should be our top priority because it develops the future of our country, but according to an article in the New York Times titled "The Tricky Terrain of Education Finances" by Ross Ramsey, a $10 million dollar cut is in the works and this cut schools will suffer immensely, and even greater than they have suffered before. We have a growing population, yet we are cutting funding to schools that educate this population, therefore, we are enhancing the deterioration of education. There needs to be an immediate, complete overhaul of the American education system in order to better educate the population and better prepare them for the real world.

Get Up and Get to Work

Poverty has always been and will always be an issue in the world no matter what we do to eliminate it. It is a problem that can only be ameliorated, yet we as Americans are failing to do so. Poverty is a growing issue as of late because of the recent downturn of the economy, and we need to make sure we don't fall into a hole too big to get out of. According to an article in the New York Times entitled "Rising Food Prices Push Millions Into Poverty, Study Says" by Sewell Chan, food prices have consistently been on the rise lately, and this has pushed a whopping fourty-four million into poverty. This presents an issue because America, with its influence, is affecting other countries, making other economies unstable, and the world is beginning to collapse into a never-ending black hole that we will never be able to get out of. Ever. Unless we do something to change that. Part of my solution to alleviate poverty is community service and donations and establishing charities. Every American who is economically capable should donate money to the less fortunate. And America needs to get up and stop whining and get to work on improving itself and the world. Whatever happened to the old America that was a force to be reckoned with and had a booming economy and immigrants were flowing in like schools of fish that scatter after a shark comes around or something.

My Political Standpoint

PoliticsMatch Your Political Philosophy The below is a way of thinking about your political philosophy by dividing your PoliticsMatch answers into "personal" and "economic" questions.  It is only a theory - please take it with a grain of salt! Personal Questions:  Liberals and libertarians agree in choosing the less-government answers, while conservatives and authoritarians agree in choosing the more-restrictions answers. Economic Questions:  Conservatives and libertarians agree in choosing the less-government answers, while liberals and authoritarians agree in choosing the more-restrictions answers.   Your Score You scored the following on the PoliticsMatch questions:
Personal Score	60%
Economic Score	48%

Gay Rights - Democratic View

Equality is one of the more current issues that America has been dealing with in the past century and a half. There are always people in this country who oppose equality or certain equalities, yet the majority rules, and the view of the majority of the American population has been shifting recently. First, African-Americans were granted equality, yet did not fully obtain it until a quarter of a century ago. Then, women began fighting for suffrage, and then for their equality, and are still fighting for full equality. Now, as gays are beginning to develop more comfort with publicly expressing their sexuality, gay rights is becoming an issue. As a firm believer in the Constitution and in equality, I believe that gays should be allowed to marry without a doubt, especially in a country where church is supposed to be separated from state. There isn't really a true argument against gay marriage other than that it's against common religious beliefs, which should not matter politically. Recently, President Obama has changed his actions as the head of the executive branch and now claims that the law that banned gay marriage is unconstitutional, and must not be upheld by the Supreme Court.
Donald Trump has recently sided against gay marriage, following his republican standing, yet he also said that he thinks the gay population of his city of New York is "great." Unless Trump truly is against gay marriage, the only reason he would side against gay marriage is to please his republican followers, because, supposedly having interacted with gays on many occasions, he can't have anything personal against them.
Like Barbara Bush, I have spent time talking to and interacting with gays, and I find that there is nothing different about them and nothing wrong with their desire to be able to marry in a country that prides itself on equality and individual liberties.

Republicans - Strengths and Weaknesses

One strength of the republican party is that it manages to push through legislation that they are in favor of, such as cutting spending and cutting taxes. Especially as of late, because people are beginning to think that the democratic way of stimulating the economy through spending isn't working, they are beginning to side with the republican view of cutting spending and taxes in order to stimulate the economy.
One of the biggest weaknesses for the Republican party as of late is that it is beginning to split off into extreme right, the Tea Party, and the rest of the right. The issue isn't simply that the Tea Party is emerging, the issue is that so much of the Republican vote and viewpoint is shifting toward the extreme right of the Tea Party, leaving a smaller population of total other Republicans. A significant advantage is gained by this for the democrats, a party which has demonstrated much greater unity and ability to agree on certain issues. Another weakness which is the reason why the republican party has split, is the disunity of the republican party. This is an issue because center-oriented people of the U.S. begin to lose interest in the republican party because there is a civil war going on within the party and because there is so little unity within the party, which gives a clear advantage to the democrats.

Democrats - Strengths and Weaknesses

I believe that right now, the democratic party has many strengths and picks the more socially acceptable side on many issues. I believe one of the biggest strengths of the democratic party today is that it is, for the most part, unified, and there isn't a huge split between extreme left and center-left, and that most democrats get along with each other and can agree with each other on most issues. Another strength for the democrats is that they support for freedoms and rights, an issue for which the democrats possess a standpoint that they will be able to gain support with in the near future due to the apparent interest in the advancement of individual human rights. The democrats view on abortion is that people should have the right to choose, aka pro-choice. Backing for this view can be found here. This view is a strength for democrats because I believe, in the future, more people will begin to lean in this direction because they will feel more strongly about preserving individual liberties. The democrat view on gay rights is also a definite strength because leading democrats such as Barack Obama and Hillary Rodham Clinton, are pro-equality, meaning that they support the right for same-sex marriages. I believe that this is a view that will become more widespread also because homophobia will decrease as more people become more comfortable with their sexual orientation, and again, people will want to preserve individual liberties.
A weakness right now for the democrats is that they are trying to push bills and legislation that seem to be against the public's desire or at least against the outspoken public's desire. Many in government and many people seem to be for tax cuts, yet Obama and other democrats are pushing strongly to increase taxes and spend more in order to stimulate the economy. Also, another weakness for the democrats is that their tactic of spending more seems to be ineffective in the eye of the American public, which is putting them out of favor and is bringing pieces of legislation like this, which are designed to cut spending in order to stimulate the economy.

The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly

My work as an officer for the BuildOn Club at Acalanes involves setting up fund-raising events that will provide BuildOn with money in order to build a school over the summer in a developing country such as Mali, or Nicaragua. Recently, this past Sunday, I took part in a fundraiser at Diablo Foods selling Chinook Books, which are large coupon books that contain coupons for stores and items that emphasize living healthy and protecting the environment. I knew Diablo Foods would be a good location to sell the books because, while they do save you an enormous amount of money on good, sustainable products, they aren't very cheap at the price of $20 and people who shop at Diablo Foods, one of the more expensive grocery stores in the area, will have more money to donate and will therefore be more willing to donate. In spite of this, the sale of the books did not go as well as I had expected on such a busy day with people who have money to give. It is unfair to demand that people donate money because we do live in America where citizens hold specific rights to decide what they want to do with their money, but I was sorely disappointed in the number of people who were willing to donate a tiny portion of their excess money to the noble and inspiring cause of education. I am not trying to say that some people don't care about the world, but it seems somewhat ridiculous that these people, who have money to give, are not willing to give it up for a world and for a future that will exist long after they pass away. Such resembles the arrogant attitude of upper-class Americans, who will be part of this country's demise if they refuse to selflessly give up an almost insignificant amount of the money they make in order to benefit America and the world as a whole.

America Falling into the Same Economic Class of Countries in the Middle East?

In a state of significant economic decline, or, at least, having recently endured a state of significant economic decline, the poverty rate has increased substantially, and more and more Americans are continually finding themselves unable to make ends meet. Poverty is unlikely to decrease in the near future because it has penetrated the American economy so deeply and because it is so intricately tied with various other contemporary issues that America is facing. The article by Billy Rainbow in the San Francisco Examiner on February 13, 2011 details how, despite America's current status as one of the world's prominent countries, it is beginning to fall as a result of different, interrelated issues, like countries in the Middle East and Asia with populations suffering from malnourishment and poverty. Rainbow bleakly states that:

Maybe the cost of oil will do it for America, and a lot sooner than most might think.  Information revealed by WikiLeaks indicates there is concern that Saudi Arabia, the world’s largest crude oil exporter, may have overstated its reserves by as much as 40%.  Without getting into a “Peak Oil” analysis that America’s dimmer bulbs would require to be topped by a tinfoil hat, the information has already caused reputable experts to predict that oil could more than double in price to $250 per barrel by the end of 2011.

Even further increasing oil prices will force America into a deeper recession and will escalate the poverty rate to a point which will force Americans to begin to  change the way they are living and for the Americans who are living comfortably to possibly, hopefully and selflessly contribute more time and effort to serving their community and serving the increasing number of people who struggle to make ends meet

A Good Christmas for (Almost) All (in the East Bay)

As community service over winter break, the varsity basketball team went to a church to help organize Christmas presents for families who are less fortunate and, for whatever reason, are not able to have the traditional American Christmas due to their restraining economic conditions. Being part of the BuildOn club, a club which is part of a national organization to improve and provide education around the world for those in developing countries or those who are less fortunate, I have done countless hours of community service, and this community service project is among the most fulfilling projects that I have done so far. Every Christmas I appreciate what I have because I know there are so many people who don't or can't celebrate Christmas because they don't have the required economic means. I feel terrible for the innocent children who are forced to miss out on a genuinely American holiday because their families are in unfortunate situations, so knowing that I was a helping hand in getting Christmas presents to Bay Area children was a great feeling. I don't just say all of this to be cheesy or to show off how good of a person I am, I say it because the feeling I get from doing community service is one of the greatest feelings that I have experienced because I know that I am contributing to humanity as a whole.