Democracy in New Mexico

Bridging The Racial Divide In The USA

President Elect Obama’s speech on Sunday, May 17, 2008 still continues to be one the most inspiring and emotional speech to date given by any politician over the past many decades. Before the actual speech actually began there was a lot of acrimony and debate whether it was in the right taste to honor a prominent abortion rights activist and too in one the well known Catholic Institutions. The atmosphere was agog with rumors and gossips of large scale demonstrations and boycotts by those belonging to the more conservative strains of society.

But as the saying goes and as history has shown us time and again, the best people exhibit their best skills in times of great trials and tribulations and this was one such occasion. Though Obama had won a landslide election, the nation was still split down the middle and there was palpable evidence that USA has still to overcome the racial divide which has been its bane for the last so many centuries. However, President Obama took this opportunity to take the sail off his critics by acknowledging the fact that there did exist a problem of racial divide and he used this speech to defuse the situation and take the heat out of the whole atmosphere. He bridged the divide by actually acknowledging the fact that there existed one.

Much water has flown ever since that historic speech in the summer of 2008 and USA is now trying to find back its feet as an economic superpower. But this has been not without setback for Obama on the way and the latest results of opinion poll suggest that his ratings are at the lowest since he got elected in the historic 2008 elections. The health reform program which was so close to his heart is one such program which has pulled his ratings down.

Filed Under: Politics, United States Tagged With: Barack Obama, Opinion poll, President, Speech, United States

US Relations With North Korea

The recent flurry of activities as a result of North Korea hitting some targets in South Korea led us to believe that the USA is on the verge of getting involved in yet another nasty bout in the Korean Peninsula as though the bitter lessons learnt during the Korean War were not enough. The guarded and extremely secret nuclear program of North Korea has been a major reason of concern for USA and its relations with South Korea has got to do more with strategy rather than anything else. There are many people in.

The USA who believe that the missile program of North Korea could be a direct threat to the safety and security of USA and this left many military experts in the USA in a tizzy deciding and planning counter strategies in case of such an event. But their fears could a big far too fetched and misplaced. This is because if you look at North Korea’s missile program from close quarters, it can be described as average to say the least. Their missile program could be compared to what happened in when the Olympic Games were held in Seoul in 1988.

The great dictator of North Korea Kim Jong-II was left fuming and fretting when the games were allotted to South Korea. To show to his own countrymen that North Korea was not far behind, he ordered construction of a hotel which was supposed to the tallest one in the world and having more rotating restaurants than any other such hotels in the world. Work was started with the help of the then USSR. However, things came to a grinding halt when the USSR starting breaking up. The building for many years stood testimony to the in competency of the North Korea regime. So we can rest assured that North Korea is but just a paper tiger.

Filed Under: Business, United States Tagged With: North Korea, Olympic Games, Seoul, United States

American, India & China

There is an old proverb which states that whatever goes up has to come down. Perhaps the same logic is now being applied in the case of the USA There is an all around perception that the days of USA as a powerhouse of world economy is fast ending that in the next few years countries like China and India may catch up and eventually overtake this great country of ours.

Though this topics perhaps may make interesting and exciting reading for many people around the globe and particularly people from these countries, it might take a quite bit of time before this happens and who knows it may never happen in the next 60 to 75 years. On a rough estimate if the current growth scenario continues in all these three countries, China may overtake USA in the next 20 to 25 years, whereas for Indian it would take another 45 to 50 years. Remember the current situation has to continue, i.e. USA should still continue struggling and the new economic power houses, i.e. India and China should continue to grow at the current levels of high growth. This looks good and achievable on paper but in reality it might take much more than writing articles to actually achieve this. However, there are signs that USA is coming out from the worst slump since the great crisis of 2008 and things are slowly beginning to fall in place.

If we believe in ourselves as nation, and start working on the basic foundations of hard work, commitment and willpower, it is almost certain that USA will once again occupy the pride of place amongst the world nations and will once again be the undisputed superpower both economically and militarily. A economically and militarily powerful USA is very important for world peace, because if any country even today has the will and courage to taken on extremism, terrorism, religious intolerance in the world stage, it is without doubt our great country. We are sure the valiant efforts of our great grandfathers will not go in vain.

Filed Under: Democratic Party, General Tagged With: China, India, USA, World economy

The 2008 Crisis And The USA

Almost all religions across the world teach us that the basic reason for unhappiness and strife in an individual and across the world is greed and jealousy. Starting from families, to societies and nations abnormal greed and too much of materialism is the main problem which divides families, societies and nations. The irony is that such unbridled and unabashed greed it bound to hit back and this is what has exactly happened in The USA. The great 2008 meltdown if one analyzes coolly, now that the dust has settled, will surely ascribe it to greed and nothing else. The greedy lots are not the average Americans who toil day and day out to secure a better future for them and their family, but the few rich people who in their quest for accumulating more wealth have become unabashedly shameless.

The greed of corporate America is so naked and blatant that it does not require some extra talent or skill to see it. Though some desperate measures have been put in place to try to put back the economy back on rail, every such move is bound to be temporary and a stop-gap arrangement, until we as a nation try to go deep and find out the actual reason for the disaster called the 2008 meltdown. Unfortunately, America which proclaims itself to be the torch bearer for free enterprise and equal opportunities for all, is today finding itself under the total economic control of a few greedy crocodiles better known and corporate giants.

A small or mid-sized organization or an industry in the USA today has no chance to fight the resources and muscle power of these corporate giants and eventually they lose out. It is indeed a sad fact that in the name of competition, America has created a few corporate giants who have started monopolizing almost every section. This indeed is very bad for the nation. This greed is bound to create deep fissures within the nation and society and if not checked soon, it might blow into a serious socio-economic problem.

Filed Under: Business, United States Tagged With: economy, religions, United States

U.S Foreign Policy

The American foreign policy for generations has been built around the game of flexing its muscles and establishing its hegemony. This is not done directly, but by entering into a strategic alliance with some not so powerful countries of various regions of the world. If one looks at history, you will find dozens of incidents, where in the name of establishing democracy and freedom of speech, they have supported and helped the growth of many dictatorial regimes and despots. If America is fighting a bloody battle in Afghanistan today, it the result of its skewed and short-sighted foreign policy during the cold war, when the then USSR and invaded this country and installed a puppet regime.

The best thing that America could have done if it was really keen on world peace and stability would have been to encourage the forces of democracy and the rule of the law. Instead of doing it, America instigated armed rebels and faction to take up arms and fight the puppet regime in Afghanistan. While USSR’s move of occupying Afghanistan cannot be justified, America should have realized that two wrongs do not make a right. The country not only instigated the rebels to fight against the government of the day, but also armed them to the teeth. In the process it created a Frankenstein which is now haunting not only the USA, but also poses a grave challenge and threat to world peace and stability.

Ironically, many of the arms and ammunitions supplied by the then American administrations are now being used by the Taliban and other terrorist groups against America’s own soldiers. It is high time America realized the importance of the harm it is doing to the cause of world peace by being a Kangaroo Court in trying to settle disputes between two nations or various groups within a nation. However, nothing much is likely to change as long as America believes that it is the unilateral power in the world to arbitrate world disputes. The sooner it realizes this fact, the better it would be for world peace.

Filed Under: General, United States Tagged With: Afghanistan, Taliban, United States, World peace

Why Democratic Party

The Democratic Party has come back to power in The USA after a gap of eight years on some very carefully thought out policy issues. Some of the policy issues which have enabled them to come back to power could be seen as a rethink on the policies which they have been pursuing so far. They were in favor of increasing the minimum wages for the working class and increasing it regularly over a period time, which could be ascribed as one of the major reasons for their coming back to power. Their commitment to harnessing and developing newer renewable sources of energy is commendable as is their policy to oppose tax cuts to oil companies in their pursuit for discovering more source of fuel.

Another policy which has made them nearer to the majority of the American Public is to provide low-cost government funded college education where low tuition fees and grants of scholarships are the main cornerstones. Coming to social issues, there popular stems from their perception that they would like to unite the country rather than divide it on the basis of color and creed. There slogan leaving the injuries of past behind and moving forward has struck an emotion cord with a majority of the people irrespective of their color. Problems still remain and even today America remains as divided society in this delicate social issue.

Unlike Republicans their opinion that discriminating a person because of his or her sexual orientation has found favor and acceptance with a sizeable number of bisexuals, lesbians and homosexuals. However, this move if it is to be implemented in letter and spirit would be a difficult one because they have to face the wrath of The Church in the country. Another social issue which is bound to face of criticism and opposition particularly from the conservative American Society is their support of giving the right to easy access to birth control. Their commitment to cell research and further advances on gene technology is another point of discord between them and the conservative section of American Society.

Filed Under: Business, Democracy Tagged With: Democratic, Minimum wage, Republican, Social issues

How To Earn Fame In A Society

The aim of a large part of society is to earn lots of money and fame and everything else follows. Luxury has taken new forms and there is no limit to what one can achieve. Also, there is no limit to what people are ready to do for money and fame. The first thing one has to say goodbye while dreaming about fame is your morality and self-respect, especially for women.

It is true that the word morality is not defined in the same way for everyone, and what is good and bad widely depends on the person’s attitude towards everything. It differs from one person to another, depending on their thoughts, ideas and attitude towards each and everything in life.

If we scan our thoughts for a second to think about the famous people, the first category that comes to our mind are about celebrities. Entertainment being a very important part of common people and increasing in popularity because of the influence of media like television, radio and internet, working in this industry can give you fame, if you are well talented and lucky. Working for social upliftment and involving in social services, helping needy people can also bring in fame. But usually no one does good deeds for name sake.

Actually, without thinking about the various fields of work or industries, the one way to be popular is to be the best in whatever you do. Becoming successful in what you do, be it studies, work or extra-curricular activities is going to give you fame within your circle of friends, family and immediate society. Gradually with hard work and sincere effort, any person can aim a life with high social status, lots of money and popularity. Even children are competing with each other for getting the best out of everything. Days are not far when everyone will become stars!

Filed Under: Society Tagged With: Society

How To Live In A Society

Earlier also people used to travel to distant regions in search of job and higher education. But now, it is so common for people to choose a place outside their country of birth, to work study and live their life. Even inside a particular nation, there are so many states and each state with many districts and regions, each having different culture, different style of living, different food and clothing habits and even different language for communication.

So, it is very important to understand and follow these when you decide to live in a particular place. It is an art to blend into a society and man very easily adjust to his new surroundings and live happily with the facilities around, just that it should be better than his home town. Living in a society, there are certain common rules that everyone follows without any special instructions, like respecting other people and their privacy, to behave properly at public places, taking care of public property and avoiding anything that makes you look funny in the middle of a crowd.

People who show act of violence like robbery, hijacking, public attacks on people, etc. are considered as anti-social elements. They form groups and work against the well-being of the society and people living in it. The reasons they tell maybe protests against government policies or due to some other personal tragedies that happened due to social riots.

To live successfully in a society, we need to be a part of that society and adapt to the ways, but that does not mean you should forget your culture. A society binds together the families and individuals living in it. Today, most of the international destinations are multi-cultural societies where people from different countries around the globe come in search of high profile jobs, high standard of living and enjoyment.