Blog #5: Social Media and America's Political Separation

    Social media is a relatively new creation. When I was born in 2002, the term social media was not a commonly used phrase to describe the digital world that has grown along with me and become an integral part of our lives. In today's society, I believe we have a dangerous dependency on social media that is causing problems in every part of our culture. 

    I find the area of our lives that our beloved apps have the most destructive impact on is politics. Our country is on the forefront of technology compared to the rest of the world. The problem with that is that we do not know what happens to a civilization after being exposed to this kind of constant attention to ourselves. The social problems that have stemmed from new media are very prominent and can be seen on a daily basis. With many people feeling pressure from being constantly in the spotlight of the internet. This also is true for many issues that shape our political landscape. Continued and nonstop coverage of the world is good in many ways; exposing human rights violations, reporting crimes and illegal activity immediately, etc. However, it also allows false information to be spread whenever and where ever. 

    Before the days of social media, there were trusted and reliable sources of information that people could go to to get educated and well informed news. Fast forward to the present, and anybody with access to the internet can be an "expert" on whatever they please. This combined with the emotional and raw political nature of America, a deep rooted divide between people of this nation has formed. 

    Whether or not social media has caused the informational divide to grow, giving people a shared space to freely speak their beliefs without fear of getting into an argument in person has definitely added fuel to the fire. The internet has given people with extreme views a digital voice to be heard that they would not have had. This ties in with the speech theory of promoting tolerance. These extreme beliefs are now more prominent and there is now a lot more that we as Americans need to tolerate. I believe that this increase in radicals has thrown off the normal time that it takes us to learn or become tolerant of these beliefs. So, for a time, I think that the internet and social media will cause problems in politics, but I think that there will also be a period after this where we have a sort of golden age of acceptance of all kinds of people. 

https://www.forbes.com/sites/petersuciu/2019/10/30/does-social-media-make-the-political-divide-worse/#193deca56e3a

https://www.pewresearch.org/internet/2019/05/13/publics-in-emerging-economies-worry-social-media-sow-division-even-as-they-offer-new-chances-for-political-engagement/

Blog #4: Antiwar Media

    America's presence can be felt all over Earth. Our social and entertainment culture is the envy of most of the world and our technology is everywhere. What is just as widespread is our military. America has served as the world's largely unwanted police force for over two decades, but our military escapades have been around a lot longer than that, they've just been rebranded as antiterrorist. During the Cold War, America involved itself in conflicts in many different places, saying the reason behind their wars operations and wars to be to stop the spread of communism. Fear tactics kept most citizens from thinking anything bad of it. In this century, stopping communism has become stopping terrorism. 

    We have been involved in the Middle East for decades and with no signs of pulling our troops out anytime soon. Each election it seems that a candidate will run on the promise of bringing our boys home, just to do exactly what their predecessor did. Yet the topic is not as talked about as many other issues. This could be because what the US is doing in many scenarios is illegal and they are trying to hide it from the public eye. Currently, American forces are stationed in Syria without the permission of the Syrian government and without a declaration of war. Even though many media sources will point out many illegal things the government does, America's military actions are in another ballpark. Whistleblowers are still sought out by the US government today for simply doing their civic duty. 

    I believe that mainstream media is worried that the Federal government could enact the same kind of aggression on them if they were to expose the problems with our nations apparent need to conduct our armed forces however we see fit, legal or not. 

https://www.theamericanconservative.com/articles/get-out-of-syria/

Blog #3: 6 Freedoms and #BlackLivesMatter

    The First Amendment is one of the single most important and ground-breaking principles adopted by our nation. As the very first thing that the founding fathers included in the Constitution, even back then, its relevance was clear. The First Amendment provides the citizens of America six freedoms; freedom from religion, of religion, speech, press, assembly, and petition. When first instituted, this was a revolutionary idea. Previously, the government of a nation had a say over what kind of beliefs their people could have. Now a days, it is hard to even imagine not being able to speak your mind freely without fear of suffering consequences of the law. 

    However, the First Amendment does not allow some kinds of speech that are considered dangerous or go against general law. The BlackLivesMatter protests have been at the heart of the news for months now and many people are questioning the legality of some of the demonstrations. There have been several instances widely covered by the media that show protests leading to violence and destruction of public and private property. This is not protected by the First Amendment because it is not only speech, but action. This being said, a report I found showed that only 7% of the 8,000 demonstrations became violent. While this does not excuse the actions of the protesters that took destructive means to protest from the law, it does show that the BlackLivesMatter movement is often inaccurately portrayed as being dangerous and unlawful. 

    In a world where we are more divided than ever over our personal beliefs and political parties, I think it is important to think of the First Amendment. In the 1700s, it was revolutionary to think that the government was not allowed to censor discriminate you based on your beliefs, maybe now it is time to realize that we as citizens should not as well. We need to become a more united nation or I fear for the worst. A nation attacked from foreigners can rebuild, a nation broken from the inside is much harder to put back together. 

https://www.thedenverchannel.com/news/america-in-crisis/93-of-black-lives-matter-protests-between-late-may-and-late-august-were-peaceful-group-says 

Blog #2: The Supreme Court

    The Supreme Court is an integral function of the government of our nation. Of course, as one of the three branches of the Federal government, they have a job in the checks and balances system. While this is gives the Court a large amount of power, that power has not always been as strong. 

    When our country began, the Supreme Court held little to no power compared to Congress or the Presidency. It was Chief Justice John Marshall that put the court on the map as the only branch that could interpret the Constitution and say what is constitutional and what is not. Judicial Review brought more respect, dignity, and power to the members of the Supreme Court, establishing their utmost importance in our political system. However, the court has made rulings in the past that limited their power for a time. In the incredibly controversial court case Dred Scott v. Sanford, the court ruled that black people could not be citizens and therefor had no rights. The case not only weakened the courts powers at the time, but remains a racist stain in the good reputation of the Judicial Branch even today. 

    We currently have a total of nine Justices in the Supreme Court, each with their own opinions and principles. Even though they are different, they all must work together for the good of the people of this nation. Without their hard work, we would not have as many liberties as we do today, because it is the role of the Supreme Court to amend the Constitution if necessary.