Post #14: What is Food Dumping and How Does it Contribute to the Cycle of Poverty and Dependence Among the World’s Poorest People?

Food dumping is when food aid is given, when not for emergency relief, in the form of free, subsidized, or cheap food below market price. Food dumping contributes to the cycle of poverty because famers are forced to sell their products for extremely cheap prices, which, while aiding towards feeding those less fortunate, destroys the farmers market and drives many into poverty in the more fortunate areas of the world. Also, this act of “support” leads to dependence among the world’s poorest people. By simply sending over food products, we provide momentary relief to those in need; however, these people are still faced with starvation and now rely on the wealthy nations of the world to feed them. If developing countries were given access to land, industrial tools, and protection from cheap imports these nations could learn to obtain food for themselves and, therefore, the issue of famine could be improved in the long term.  Also, by the United States dumping food that is below market price in developing nations, the agriculture producers in these developing nations will face significant declines in their business, since their customers are receiving cheap imports from those who are trying to help. In effect, the economy of these agriculture dependent nations will suffer greatly due to efforts to provide aid. In fact, some instances of food dumping have proved to force farmers off their land and into sweatshops in the desperate attempt to make money, leaving these societies worse off than ever. The worst part is the United States publicizes this food dumping as if it is in the benefit of those receiving the “aid”; however, this food is sometimes given with the result of a loan that must be paid off and the United States taking over the agriculture fields in developing nations. I think this quotation by Anuradha Mittal is an appropriate summarization of these points, "Far from ending hunger and promoting the economic interests of small famers, agricultural liberalization has created a global food system that is structured to suit the interests of the powerful, to the detriment of poor farmers around the world." 

Post #13: What Does the Recent Arrest of Two People who are Suspected of Planning a Terrorist Attack on Canadian Soil Mean to You? What Impact Does it Have on Canada? What Impact Does it Have on how People Think About Islam? What Motivates People to Turn to Terrorism in Canada?

The recent arrest of two people who are suspected of planning a terrorist attack on Canadian soil has evoked a great deal of fear in society, since this is the first known Al Qaeda-planned attack in Canada. As much as this event is fearful, I don’t believe that Canadians should be overly worried due to the efficiency of the Canadian Security Intelligence Service. This Canadian security organization had been tracking the two suspects for over a year, which proves that Canada had these attacks under control and was not prepared to let innocent Canadians get hurt. I feel that, in comparison to the Boston bombing, Canada is equipped and prepared to protect its people at all costs. In the recent American terrorist attack, the Boston bombing, there were suspicions and warnings; however, the United States did not act upon any of this information and as a result, many Americans were injured and few were killed. Ironically, this event makes me feel more secure, rather than scared, since I now know how effectively Canada deals with attacks such as this one. I think the implications on Canada, are that we have viewed our country as being immune to attacks of this nature and will now be more aware and on guard since this is evidently not the case. In regards to the effect on Islamic people, I think that, despite the fact that this attack was lead by Islamics, Canadians will not develop harsh feelings towards this generalized population. The attacks became known and thus, preventable, as a result of the Canadian Muslim community sharing this information with Canadian officials. Without this inquiry the attack would most likely have been carried out, which would cause major implications for Canada. I think that terrorism is about making an impact and causing a disruption, and therefore, could happen anywhere. On top of this, I feel that terrorism can be sparked in Canada because religion fanatics do not approve of our culture. Finally, Canada may be susceptible to these attacks due to our close proximity to the United States. 

Post #12: What Long-Term Impact Will the Terror Attacks at the Boston Marathon Have on Western Civilization?

I believe that the deadly Boston Marathon, which has collected a vast amount of news coverage over the past two weeks, will have a long lasting effect on society. First of all, whenever a horrific and violent event such as this one occurs, society is left fearful and paranoid, awaiting and expecting another attack. As I have mentioned in previous blog posts, I believe that whenever people set out to kill others in their community, the rest of society looses faith in humanity. This lost faith in humanity may target and discriminate against those similar to the perpetrator of these events. Since the bombers in the Boston Marathon were Muslim I feel that this will further develop the harsh stereotype against their religion.  I hope that this event will lead to beneficial security changes in order to prevent another attack. I think this may also have an affect on security at sporting events, for instance, having to search bags thoroughly before entering the area in which events are occurring. Also, immigrant reform may be affected seeing as the perpetrators were not originally from the United States. Finally, the United States received warning from Russia prior to the attack which could have prevented this event from occurring, so perhaps, in the future, warnings will be taken more seriously and acted upon immediately.

Post #11: US Drone Strikes: What's the big deal? Good idea or bad? Why?

My personal standing on US Drone Strikes is that they are an unnecessary form of violence, which should be stopped. According to statistics, fifty civilians are killed for every one terrorist. This in itself shows the flawed concept of drone strikes, since they are evidently missing the target a majority of the time. I think a level of respect is involved with war, which is eliminated through using drone strikes instead of sending troops and using arms. War should be a conflict where both countries fight for a specific goal, and by simply sending drones overseas to destroy the competition without actual conflict, it cannot be considered a fair “win.” If it’s terrorists that the United States aims to destroy through their drones strikes then I believe that they are being entirely hypocritical, considering the fact that through these exact strikes, which aim at destroying anyone who spontaneously kills innocent individuals, they are, themselves, killing innocent individuals.

Post #10: North Korea: What would you do if you were President Obama?

I believe that in regards to the current North Korean situation, China holds all the power. Since China provides 90% of North Korean energy, and 80% of consumer goods, they are essentially responsible for the success or failure of North Korea as a country. In this situation, China wants North Korea to remain the way it is right now since they rely greatly upon one another economically. The situation between North and South Korea currently will remain to be peaceful, as it has been in the past, as long as North Korea doesn’t impose violent acts on South Korea. The United States and China are both against the start of a war, which would result from violence between North and South Korea. Since China is such a powerful ally of North Korea, I would, as President Obama, pressure China to negotiate with North Korea. North Korea relies on China greatly, and if told that any violent acts against South Korea will lead to being dropped by their strongest ally, North Korea would undoubtedly halt any ideas to start violence. 

Post #9: The Sexualization of Mainstream Society- Is it a problem?

The sexualization of society is an overarching and commonly disregarded world issue. I feel that this is a major problem for several reasons, beginning with the perspective of women. For young girls growing up in a society that’s so widely sexualized they may feel pressures to do certain things, act a certain way, or look a certain way, which should not exist. If young girls take on the perspective that a majority of society presents regarding women, they may not respect themselves as much as they should. Women are one half of our world and if society suppresses our self-respect, esteem, and view us as overall inferior, which the majority of advertisements in today’s society would suggest, then we will never reach our full potential. I mean this socially, economically, and politically, since there are many well-qualified and highly capable women who will never make the impact on these areas that they could because of the way that society has belittled them through things like sexualization. Secondly, I feel that it pushes the ethics of our society in the wrong direction. If people are constantly exposed to things like prostitution and pornography then they will begin to view this as the norm. I feel that there isn’t a large step between being accustomed to selling sex for money, and selling a woman’s body through something like human trafficking. All in all, I believe that the sexualization of society could only lead to further and more serious world issues in the future and an overall unethical society.