A Global Wave of Democracy- Was It Successful? (Part 2)

Alright where to begin... Lets see, lets begin where we left off. The effects of the global recession and social media on the revolutions. First lets define the word "revolution". Throughout history revolution has come to mean many different things but generally it means when something drastic happens that changes a society's way of operating. Revolutions can also mean a change in leadership or a change is style of government but ultimately something about the society's way of life has to change in order for it to be defined as a revolution.

Lets examine one of the global democracy revolutions: Occupy Wall Street. Occupy Wall Street was initiated against the slow and dogmatic US government back in 2011. It started as a movement to end all the problems of the US government from gerrymandering to international affairs to income inequality. It also proposed some radical  changes to the US system for elections especially the electoral college. This movement took to the streets of New York then all over the United States in order to catalyze a change is US government. Occupy Wall Street had several major causes and outcomes. As discussed in the previous post it was influenced by the Global recession and the international community's lack of action, social media prevalence and communication, but it as also influenced by the Arab Spring. Occupy Wall Street is truly a copycat movement. Arab Spring and Occupy Wall Street are basically mirrors of each other. Alright any way Occupy Wall Street also had some major outcomes. As the conservative movement against the Occupy Wall Street Movement, the renewal of the "tea party" occurred and ended up creating a  faction of the Republican Party which is known today as the Tea Party. This conservative movement dominates politics today more so than Occupy Wall Street does. Tea Party beliefs and the troubles of the current US government can force us to conclude that the Occupy Wall Street " revolution" was in fact a failure. This is because Occupy Wall Street had some major problems.

In every major revolution there were great leaders: George Washington for the American Revolution ( though was it really a revolution? That can be debated later), Napoleon Bonaparte for the French Revolutions ( even though he basically became the king or emperor after he overthrew the king) and Simon Bolivar of the South American Revolutions ( now there's a revolution). However in the Occupy Wall Street movement there was no leadership or any kind of organization. The movement depended on individuals just voicing their concerns and coming together sometimes to protest publicly. This lax of action and a strong voice within the movement undermined its goals and opinions on how the government should be fixed.

The Occupy Movement also had another fatal flaw. The movement had to many goals that it hoped to accomplish. That in the end it just ended up being a indiscernible jumble of convoluted messages given by a huge pool of people who were barely coherent when approached as whole. The multitude of goals that the movement wanted to accomplish greatly undercut the momentum that they were building, because no matter how much support you have unless your goals are clear nothing will get accomplished (life lesson kids). So what do we have in the end. Just a movement that tried to change the US political landscape and ultimately failed.

However that doesn't mean the Occupy Wall Street movement did not have an impact on the US and the world. It showed us what can happen when people come together and truly demand for change. The effects of the movement can still be felt today, and it is still an ominous threat to many politicians.Therefore not only did the Occupy Wall Street Movement show what can happen even in the US in terms of revolutions and public distress but it also showed us that our government is far from perfect and there are still many challenges ahead to make our government better.

Look out for the next post about the other revolutions. And remember always Rip the Tape.

Look Back of the Day - Global Wave of Democracy (Part 1)

This post is dedicated to the wave of democracy that spread, for good or for bad,  across the world. The Arab Spring, The Syrian Revolution, Occupy Wall Street, and all the European revolutions such as the Spanish Revolutions and Greek Revolutions. The world has truly experienced some major changes. Lets examine why and how these protests came to be and what their impact is on the post revolution world that we live in today.

As we know from history not every revolution is successful ( oh French revolution). Therefore was this revolution successful or a failure? Lets look at it from the start. Like all revolutions throughout history, it starts  with general distress among the people. As the Global Recession affected the economy and the everyday lives of people,  incomes and employment fell and general happiness levels of the population also fell. This global depression and distress with the failing economy caused many people across the world to doubt their leaders and in some cases doubt their whole government system in general. After the global recession was in full wake, and when people started to truly feel the affects of the depressed economy. They got mad. Simple answer maybe but it does encompass the feelings of most of the people in the world during this turbulent period.

As the global recession was taking place. Another factor, I would say equally influenced, the wave of democracy. The prevalence of Social Media. Social media, like Twitter and Facebook, opened the world for many dissenters that needed a extra boost or catalyst. Many protesters' inspiration and coordination came from social media. The protests at Tahir square and the many protest of occupy wall street and the various other revolutions were all coordinated on social media. This global contact and support greatly affected the beginning of the protests. It gave many dissenters an outlet to express their concerns and issues without the confinements of their respective governments. Also Social Media was the main mode of protest in many areas. People would take to the internet to express their raw and undettered emotions and views on their currrent situation.

Therefore without the Global recession to make people feel dissatisfied and without social media to give people a global outlet and coordination there would be no global revolution for democracy.

The Power of Corporations

Okay guys I know haven't been posting for a while, but anyway its not like actually looking at this blog, its just as useless as the useless blob we call the internet. But anyway, corporations in america are now greater than regular Americans, they have more money, they have more political sway, and they have more immunity from the law. For example, the recent troubles with General Motors(GM) caused a lot of waves in America, and many wanted to see GM get punished for their willful ignorance which could have seriously injured or killed someone, however what was their consequences...........wait for it .........NOTHING. GM just had to pay a small fine for their misgivings and they were wiped clean of the blood on their hands.  Wait how can this be true, did they have a magical get out jail free card? or did they have a genie in a lamp? How can they be wiped clean of murders and serious harm to mulitiple lives? The legal system in the United States sees corporations as gods rather than just companies that can do a lot of harm if unchecked. So next time when I'm on the road, I am going to seriously injure a couple of people and kill a few, lets see what happens to me right I mean if GM can get away with it can't I? I mean corporations are people too right, they have free speech and everything. After the landmark campaign finance ruling Citizens United vs. FECA, corporations have the right to utilize their "free speech" in elections and donate often unlimited amounts of money in an non transparent kind of way ( through 501(c)(4) groups) . I mean come on   if corporations can express their "free speech", then they should get punished the same way we regular humans get punished also, GO TO JAIL. Also, the legal system in the United States needs to be fixed, corporations are not people, they should not be able to hold this much sway over our political process. There has been a lot of research done on the subject, and the conclusion is that an individual practically has no sway over politics when compared to a corporation. God DAMN IT AMERICA, I mean cmon you're supposed to be the most democratic country in the world, you're supposed to be the safest country in the world yet you have criminals walking in you're streets everyday. Oh jesus.

Government Shutdown

Ok, this time I am pretty mad. If you guys are watching the news at this time right now, you'll probably see the "great" US government at its best. They are currently arguing or rather fighting like children on whether or not they can have their favorite toy. As you all should know, the affordable care act, is about to roll out tomorrow and the Republicans or rather the extremist terrorist group within the Republican party, otherwise known as the Tea Party, are doing what they do best, they are holding the country hostage. God, sometimes I get so frustrated with the government. I mean it is a bit ridiculous for the Tea Party to ask the American people to repeal AFA. The Tea Party should stop kidding themselves, I mean AFA was approved by Congress AND approved by the Supreme Court AND it was reinforced by the fact that the American People re-elected Obama. So I beg the American people that will vote in the midterm elections, next year. Please, PLEASE, do NOT re-elect the extremists Tea Party.They will continue this cycle of filibustering and fucking with the system until they will have destroyed the US government and disgraced it from its former glory. As always remember to Rip the Tape. (and I'm sorry for the language, but I'm really frustrated)

Situation in Syria

Ohh God, I think things are taking a turn for the worst.Syria, Egypt, the hundreds of thousands of people that are losing their futures every day. Syria, and the use of chemical weapons, has become a chance for countries to show their own political interests over the people that need them. The Assad regime has turned from bad to ugly and horrifying. Chemical warfare, deemed the worst kind of warfare, has been used on the citizens of Syria. The once center of many ancient kingdoms is now a place of horror and death on a regular basis. "President" Assad's refusal to step down from power has forced a civil war in Syria which in turn has uprooted thousands of people and has forced them to live their lives as refugees and in constant fear. In their moment of need the U.S and other countries have been postponing the military strike and other countries (I'm pointing at you UK) have refused to take part at all in this completely justified and necessary military action. However what I think is even worse than not participating, is using this predicament as an opportunity. The US is using this moment to its political advantage and Obama is using this moment to show that America is a unified country by making Congress vote on whether or not to take military action. Just yesterday, the US was ready for a strike, Obama could have striked and ended this tyranny sooner, but he is using this moment to "unify" the country, whatever that means. However even with all this I praise Obama, at least is prepared to do something to better the situation. But with the attitude of Congress these days my hopes aren't very high, but we'll see. Oh well I think that we can only hope that Obama and the rest of the World will make the right and absolutely necessary decision to help Syria and more importantly the people of Syria that are suffering in the hands of their unrelenting dictator and murderer. As always remember to Rip the Tape.

The News: Fact or Fiction?

Alright this one I need to tell someone about. This is probably the most influential thing that shapes how you view the world: THE NEWS. And I am telling you that the news is stupid. It's stupid because it is Cable news and cable news depends on viewers and ratings and most importantly money. Money is the number one reason that cable news is stupid. Cable news has to raise money and to do that they have to select stories that the viewers want to see, this changes things. it twists them and it makes them more perverse. The big three in cable news: CNN. FOX, and MSNBC, are all here to cover the news right? WRONG they are here to make money and what is the best way to do that? They tell stories that their viewers will keep on watching. For example, ever notice how much attention the media is giving George Zimmerman. I mean it's too much! Why does anyone care about what happened to Travone Martin! I mean I am not trying to be insulting here, but there are more pressing matters to cover than a case that will go on no matter how long CNN covers it.

back to cable news, here are the problems with, none of them present only the facts, and give the viewer the option to make their own opinion about that fact. All of the cable news networks are either strong liberal or they are strong conservatives. For example, MSNBC is a strong liberal and FOX is a strong conservative. Therefore they report news stories like they are opinions. The NEWS IS NO ONE'S OPINION, its fact. So how do we keep the news from covering BS, and things that aren't important? I guess there is only one answer to that question: We don't. As long as the news needs money they will only cover stories that they feel the viewers will like. Also where does someone go if they want a moderate reporting the news, not some partisan fool whose only goal is to make his opposition look like a stupid donkey that only knows how to lie? The answer to that question is also simple-- turn off your T.V because what your watching is probably just what the news anchor is describing of his opponent- A lying donkey. As always always remember to Rip the Tape.

Gay Rights?

 

 

Wow guys its been a long time and many scandals have passed and many great things have happened in the last three months. Lets see here, there was the NSA, the AP scandal and also Benghazi ( no that was just those crazy conservatives, that we call Congress). However through all of this immense legislation has been struck down. DOMA and Proposition 8 have been struck down by the Supreme Court. DOMA or the Defense of Marriage Act, was created so that the federal government would never recognize same sex marriages, well I can tell you this confidently, this absurd law has been struck down! Thank God, right ...well not really. DOMA was struck down but this does not create a blanket ruling, meaning the  Supreme Court did not make gay marriage legal is all the states, it just made the federal government recognize same sex marriages. Therefore the result is that only the states that allow same sex marriages, which is about like thirteen, only those states can gays get married, but those marriages will be recognized as legal and they will get their legal benefits. Prop 8, however will only apply to California. In California there was a proposition that said that gay marriage should be illegal, but this was after California legalized it. So two couples sued and the case wen t all the way to the Supreme Court. They decided that Proposition 8 was illegal and therefore gays can get married in California again. So where does this leave the country, well Gay marriage is legal in about 13 states and counting and it is illegal in all the others. However there are many unanswered questions left, for example what happens when a legally gay couple moves to another state and their marriage is no longer recognized and they don't receive their benefits? The path is still not clear but equality is coming, we can be sure of that. As always, Remember to Rip the Tape.