Category: government
Frederick Douglass vs. Condoleeza Rice
Frederick Douglass & Condoleeza Rice were/are two extremely influential African-American leaders who changed the political and social landscape of the United States.
Education: Douglass was mainly self-educated, learning to read from his slave master and any book/newspaper he could find. Condoleeza Rice earned her bachelor’s degree in political science from the University of Denver in 1974; her master’s from the University of Notre Dame in 1975; and her Ph.D. from the University of Denver’s Graduate School of International Studies.
Work Experience: Rice served as a special foreign national security advisor to George W. Bush before being appointed as Secretary of State in 2004. She also taught at Stanford University, and plans to expand her teaching there. Douglass was a slave from the time of his birth around 1818 but was freed in 1847. In 1838 he began attending anti-abolitionist meetings and became involved in the anti-slavery and women’s rights movements.
Personal Life: Douglass married twice and had a total of five children, as well as several extra-marital relationships. Rice never married and has no children.
Rice is an advocate for education reform, female empowerment, international anti-terrorism measures and “transformational democracy.” Douglass advocated for black suffrage, women’s suffrage, fairer treatment of black soldiers during the civil war, and black literacy.
Writings: Rice wrote mainly about foreign policy and diplomatic relations, while Douglass focused on civil rights and social justice. Rice’s works include Germany Unified and Europe Transformed (1995) with Philip Zelikow, The Gorbachev Era (1986) with Alexander Dallin and Uncertain Allegiance:The Soviet Union and the Czechoslovak Army (1984). Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass, an American Slave, was published in 1845, My Bondage and My Freedom was published in 1855. In 1881, Douglass published Life and Times of Frederick Douglass. He also published some abolitionist newspapers, most significantly The North Star.
Public Speaking Rice has delivered thousands of speeches worldwide on a variety of topics, and in 2012, she spoke at the Republican National Convention in Tampa. Douglass delivered his first speech at the Massachusetts Anti-Slavery Society’s annual convention in Nantucket before he did several lecture tours through the Midwest as well as across Ireland and the United Kingdom. (Source) In 1848, Douglass spoke at the first Women’s Rights Conference supporting an equal rights referendum. Reports say he was a moving, powerful and elegant speaker.
An intellectual’s crusade against Trump
In a lecture on Oct. 18 at the Adam W. Herbert University Center, politics and foreign policy columnist Anne Applebaum analyzed the U.S. election on a global scale, focusing on rise of Donald Trump compared to that of Eastern European leaders as well as offering a professional perspective on issues facing journalists today.
As her speech progressed, she expanded on the idea that for the first time in contemporary history, we have a presidential candidate who does not have our shared western values. “He’s not just uninterested in our alliances, he’s not interested in maintaining them,” she said.
“If NATO is no longer a deterrent, then there is nothing to stop Russia from using military or political tools to destabilize European states, as it has already proved it is willing to do. If the United States is no longer a voice for democracy, but rather a country focused on its own “mess,” then it can’t serve as an example or an inspiration,” Applebaum wrote several months ago.
Although the lecture was supposed to cover topics like Brexit and the immigrant crisis, she changed the theme of the speech to reflect instability in the West across Europe. To give background, she explained France’s extreme right-wing candidate and Russia’s special interest in this election. I learned that Russia spends money learning about America’s media and politics because they fear a democratic uprising.
In the speech, she applied her knowledge of European politics to the current election. During our class’s discussion with her, I realized that the values of Putin and Trump are very similar, with only their economic values contrasting. I also thought it was very interesting how she compared Trump and Chavez, saying that Trump has more in common with the Venezuelan leader than the Russian dictator.
The rise of Trump is a phenomenon that few other than Applebaum can truly explain. She compared him to a contestant on a reality show, saying “the person who is the loudest, most interesting and causes the most drama will usually stay on the island.” As well as discussing Russia’s contributions to Trump’s campaign, she also explained the growing problem of “bots.” Applebaum said that although we cannot prove Russia’s been giving money to Trump, it’s widely known that Trump has strong economic ties within the country. As she compared Trump’s rise to power with elections in Eastern Europe, she explained that claims the election is rigged and criticizing the system is a tactic used by corrupt or failing dictators.
“This is how you act is you want riots in the street after you lose the election,” said Applebaum, referring to Donald’s unpredictable behavior.
“I thought she talked about a lot of things at face value and was kind of discursive,” said UNF International Relations student Kat Thames. “She didn’t give solutions to how to regain control of these unsettled areas, just stressed the importance of staying a part of supranational groups like NATO.” There were about 200 audience members, with an equal number of students and community members.
Listening to @anneapplebaum discuss the resettlement of Europe and The West (plus Russia & Trump) @WorldAffairsJax pic.twitter.com/LJtRvqZhBW
— Jordan Bebout (@jordanbeebs) October 18, 2016
The Future of Journalism
With the rise of Facebook, biased news and polarization, there’s been a paradigm shift in the news industry. “There’s no longer a common narrative,” she said, talking about the stark differences between a conservative’s news feed and a liberal’s newsfeed.
She’s very informed about the technological revolution happening in journalism.“We need to teach media literacy for the digital age,” she said. The breakdown of the typical “newsroom” in major corporations in America has changed the way we pay for and receive news, and she says the future in journalism will look different.
She said that news of the future will rely on crowd funding and support from foundations, like PBS or NPR. She expects the expansion of “fact-checking” organizations, and predicts that whoever can gain the trust of the people as an objective news source will be successful.
She concluded her speech with an excerpt from George Orwell’s book review o Hitler’s Mein Kampf, leaving the audience with the unsettling parallel it creates with Mr. Trump:
“Hitler … knows that human beings don’t only want comfort, safety, short working-hours, hygiene, birth-control and, in general, common sense; they also, at least intermittently, want struggle and self-sacrifice, not to mention drums, flags and loyalty-parades.”
Gaurdian Opinion: If we don’t act now, all future wars may be as horrific as Aleppo
“A UN resolution in May urged combatants to refrain from bombing medical facilities. MSF says that the resolution ‘has made no difference on the ground.’ Four out of the five permanent members of the UN security council, it says, are actively involved in coalitions whose troops have attacked hospitals.”
Military experts say climate change poses ‘significant risk’ to security
We the people
“We the people” has been interpreted differently over America’s history. Today, I think “we the people” means that as a group of motivated, voting Americans, need to work together to make America a beacon of democracy. The influence of money in American elections, the power of interest groups, and the two-party system are interfering with the true definition of that famous phrase.
The potential for corruption when politicians rely on money from supporting companies is a cause for concern. When political groups, such as the Republican Party, received donations from big companies like Exxon Mobile, the politician is more inclined to pass legislation in their favor. This happened in 1925 with the Teapot Dome scandal and in 1972 with the Watergate scandal. the creation of the Federal Election Campaign Act no doubt helped curb the bribery issue in Washington, and led to the creation of the Bipartisan Campaign Reform Act. The rising costs of elections prevent middle class, genuine politicians from running, which gives an unfair advantage to the wealthy. The raising and spending of “soft money” in elections is still a problem today. Related to issue advocacy, interest groups are another important issue when discussing democracy in America.
Interest groups are Issue advocacy is another problem with elections- corporations behind certain issues, like the NRA, will support candidates who endorse less gun control. The NRA has over 4 million members who are dedicated to protecting the right to bear arms. This makes them one of the most powerful interest groups in America. Interest groups have cohesiveness, leadership,and they do lobbying. A lobbyist is someone who is employed by and acts for an organized interest group or corporation to try and influence policy decisions and positions within the government. The varied tactics of group influence, the investment of interest groups in the electoral process,and the vast number of lobbyists in the government would probably surprise (James Madison. Page 178, textbook.)
The founding fathers did not want a two-party system. James Madison proved to the public that factions create a system of checks and balances that make it hard for one faction to dominate government. In his theory, called pluralism, all factions were supposed to have equal power- but we don’t see that today. If we have a Democratic House and Senate, few conservative policies will be passed, and vice versa if we were to have a Democratic House and Senate.
The second phrase of the constitution says “in order to form a more perfect union…”. This means that us as Americans need to overcome factionalism, improve clarity in U.S. elections, and keep more checks on interest groups in order to really make a more perfect union.
Jordan Bebout 