The Perspective of Situation

In class, we are doing a simulation on the current Iranian nuclear issue. Each group will be assigned a country. The countries are China, Russia, Israel, The United States, or Iran themselves. What we are trying to do is act upon the best interests of the country as well as the popular beliefs of its people. Any action that we make will have a consequence. This is why we have to choose our moves wisely.

The simulation that we are doing is being played out in reality as we speak. I went online to look at the opinions of the countries on the situation. I found Israel's stance to be particularly interesting. Shimon Peres said that, "Iran is not threatened by anybody. Why do they need it? (nuclear weapons)". Also, he seemed to be fed up with all the fighting, and said that his country has had enough of all the violence, " To those having a clenched fist, I have just one word to say: Enough. Enough war. Enough destruction. Enough hatred." These statements seemed to be genuine, but then I got to thinking. In one of Peres' speaches, two protestors expressed their opinions on the fighting going on in the Gaza strip. Also, doesn't it seem hypocritical for Israel to say that Iran isn't being threatened and doesn't need nuclear weapons when Israel is in fact a nuclear power? Also, if Peres says that he has had enough fighting, maybe they should be the ones to start. I am not trying to harp on Israel, I am just examining the opinions of a country from an internal and external viewpoint. I also do belive that Iran may be acting on the best interests of their people, but their goal of "wiping Israel off the map" is completely over the top. To get a better understanding of the situation, It helped me a lot to look at the goals of the country, and then look at those goals from the point of view of other countries. Every action, statement, and goal will get the attention of the other countries envolved in the Iranian situation. Taking a look at the intentions of other countries will help make more informed decisions.

The New Homeless

I was looking over CNN for current events and I came across a video. This video made me think back to our unit on privilege and poverty. In the video, we see a single mother and her two kids who live in Washington D.C. She worked for the government and was fired in 2007. Ever since, it has been nearly impossible for her to keep her job. Currently, her kids go to public school and they all live in a shelter. The image of homeless families has increased dramatically because of the economic recession. It was reported that there has been a 15 percent increase of homeless families in the D.C. area alone. This particular families shelter will be shutting down soon and they are worried about what to do next.

This video made me think to the artifact about what it means to be poor. I can only imagine how much more embarrassing and challenging it must be for this family to both be poor and homeless. It is stories like this that make a person wonder why we are giving these corporate giants such huge breaks and dumping more and more money into Iraq when we could cut off a sliver of that money and help the people who were basically betrayed by their hard work. This also made me think to the term we discussed in class. America is often referred to as the world police in its attempts to protect against violence and preserve liberty for all. Maybe we should focus a bit more on our own problems because finding a job is becoming more difficult by the day.