In the United States (US), after the Civil War, the African Americans were faced with many hardships. Some of these hardships faced by African Americans were segregation, racism, and being denied the right to vote. Although these hardships gradually were found to be morally wrong, there are still places in the world where racism and human rights are denied.
One place, in particular, where we see human rights being denied is China. In China there are many minorities that are being denied their human rights such as Muslims, Christians, and Falungong practitioners. In this blog I am going to be focusing on how Falungong practitioners are being treated. Falungong is a new religion that very similar to Buddhism. Falungong has become very popular in China, where about 70 million people practice Falungong. For this reason China felt threatened that Falungong practitioners were going to over throw their government (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Falun_Gong#1999_and_after_in_mainland_China).
The Chinese government couldn't have been more wrong when it came to their fear of the Falungongs over throwing the government. Before the government denied the Falungongs their human rights, the Falungongs had no problems with the Chinese government and would abide by the rules. A reason the Falungongs would most likely abide by the rules and try not to overthrow the government is the Falungong religion doesn't approve of violence and is very peaceful.
After July 20, 1999, the Chinese said that practicing Falungong was illegal. The Chinese government began to arrest many Falungong practitioners. Although Falungong was illegal, Falungong practitioners didn't find anything wrong with the practice and continued to practice the religion. To object to the government, Falungong practitioners began to protest, but still remained non-violent. These protests were much like the civil rights movement in the United States (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Falun_Gong#1999_and_after_in_mainland_China).
Although these protests have been going on for about nine years, the Chinese government has not changed and still says practicing Falungong is illegal. Some of the human rights denied from the Falungong practitioners are being thrown in jail without a trail, being sent to work camps, being kidnapped, and being beaten. The practice I find to be the most revolting is removing organs to sell. For instance, in China there are places that remove prisoners' bodily organs and then sell them to make a profit.
A question I ask is how can the Chinese government get away with this? One reason is the U.S. isn't trying to stop these practices. If anything, the U.S. is encouraging China to not change. The U.S. government is partially responsible because the U.S. buys a lot of products made in China. If the U.S. didn't buy as many products from China, then China wouldn't have a reason to produce so many products. This would reduce the need for work camps and less people would have to work against their will. This wouldn't solve the problem, but it would help.
I believe treating people in China this way is a huge problem and the U.S. government needs to help the Chinese citizens, and other places the world, where this is happening. Although we didn't have help to eliminate racism in the U.S., that doesn't mean the U.S. can't help others get their human rights. Just think how much less suffering African Americans would have gone through if the Civil Rights Movement had a strong country supporting the movement.
Thursday, October 23, 2008
Wednesday, October 8, 2008
What is so Bad About Immigrants?
As a teenager I am most affected by migrant workers and immigrants coming into the United States (US). The reason this is true is that a migrant worker and an immigrant is more likely to take a job that I am eligible for than an adult's job. Although a migrant worker and immigrant might be taking my job, I still understand how they are good for the US http://www.immigrationcontrol.com/ImmigrantsTakeTeenJobs.htm.
Some, migrant workers and immigrants will take practically any job they are asked to do. Proof of this opinion would be at an apple farm I visited about a week ago. At this apple farm they hire Jamaicans to pick their apples. Any American worker could do this job, but most American workers would not want to pick apples for ten hours in a day at the price a migrant worker might get paid to do the same thing. The advantage of a migrant worker picking apples rather than an American worker is it keeps the cost of produce down.
Another example of migrant workers and immigrants being good for the US is the hotels industry. I have noticed that most people who are cleaning the hotel rooms are immigrants and migrant workers. This is good for the average American because it keeps the cost of a hotel reservation down. It also makes it easier on the owner because then he or she does not have to worry as much about turning a profit, but is it fair for the immigrants and migrant workers?
I think this system is unfair to the immigrants and migrant workers. I think we could improve this process by changing the law. I think a way to fix this is by evening the playing field. For Example, workers in America should get paid at least minimum wage. The cost to house, feed, and give there necessary needs to immigrants and migrant workers should just be taken out of their wages. Therefore it would cost the same to employ immigrates as it does to employ US citizens.
Although I believe immigrants and migrant workers should be able to work in the US, I think the employment process can be made better and fairer. I think the main way to stop unemployment is for US citizens to stop being lazy and go out and get a job. This comment is not directed to people that have been laid off their jobs unexpectedly.
Some, migrant workers and immigrants will take practically any job they are asked to do. Proof of this opinion would be at an apple farm I visited about a week ago. At this apple farm they hire Jamaicans to pick their apples. Any American worker could do this job, but most American workers would not want to pick apples for ten hours in a day at the price a migrant worker might get paid to do the same thing. The advantage of a migrant worker picking apples rather than an American worker is it keeps the cost of produce down.
Another example of migrant workers and immigrants being good for the US is the hotels industry. I have noticed that most people who are cleaning the hotel rooms are immigrants and migrant workers. This is good for the average American because it keeps the cost of a hotel reservation down. It also makes it easier on the owner because then he or she does not have to worry as much about turning a profit, but is it fair for the immigrants and migrant workers?
I think this system is unfair to the immigrants and migrant workers. I think we could improve this process by changing the law. I think a way to fix this is by evening the playing field. For Example, workers in America should get paid at least minimum wage. The cost to house, feed, and give there necessary needs to immigrants and migrant workers should just be taken out of their wages. Therefore it would cost the same to employ immigrates as it does to employ US citizens.
Although I believe immigrants and migrant workers should be able to work in the US, I think the employment process can be made better and fairer. I think the main way to stop unemployment is for US citizens to stop being lazy and go out and get a job. This comment is not directed to people that have been laid off their jobs unexpectedly.
Sunday, September 21, 2008
Flaws in the US Government(revised)
As a United States (US) citizen I have the freedom of speech, which gives me the right to criticize the US government. Like many US citizens, I find there are reasons to criticize the government based on how the system has been corrupt and unfair.
Why must the wealthy and successful have a larger tax percentage than others? I believe the amount the government taxes the people should be an equal percentage regardless of what one earns. For example, I think Bill Gates should pay the same percentage of his income to the government that I do, although obviously the amount would not be equal. This would benefit the economy and the US because it would encourage people to work harder, and with the extra money they are earning they can put it back into the economy. The down fall of this tax reform is a US citizen that make very little the tax rate will go up. The advantage of the reform is it would encourage all US citizens to work harder because no matter how much they make there tax percent that is taken out will still be the same.
In addition to unfair taxation, I believe the political parties are not good for the government. For example, most US citizens do not watch or research candidates running for offices. Instead, they choose the candidate that is in their same political party. What makes the Democrat and Republican's party so much better than third parties? In my opinion a third party can be better for the US rather than the democratic or republican parties because it would promote more critical thinking about the candidates rather than just choosing a candidate based on his or her party. Although having no political parties I think would be best for the US, I don’t know if the solution is possible. Instead we can create more parties and not have US citizens declare their political party.
In this 2008 presidential election both Obama and McCain are talking about reforming the government. However, I think the third party's is in a better position to bring reform based on previous performance of these parties. Yet we have not much about those running on a third party ticket, because they have no chance of winning the election. This is because the Republicans are going to vote for the Republicans and the Democrats are going to vote for the Democrats (this is not true for all elections but just an opinion).
Another reason why political parties are bad for US citizens is based of the ties the political parties develop before becoming in power. What I mean by this is political parties raise money for their candidates who are running for office. Although candidates need this money in order promote their campaign, the place they get this money is not always good for the people. For example, if tobacco industries give a candidate $200,000 to help win the election, that candidate may be less likely to make laws that will hurt the tobacco company and more likely to ignore US citizens' concerns.
Our country could be a much better place if our government would clean up its corrupt and unfair policies. At the moment our government is diminishing our potential to be successful. I hope some day these changes will be made.
Why must the wealthy and successful have a larger tax percentage than others? I believe the amount the government taxes the people should be an equal percentage regardless of what one earns. For example, I think Bill Gates should pay the same percentage of his income to the government that I do, although obviously the amount would not be equal. This would benefit the economy and the US because it would encourage people to work harder, and with the extra money they are earning they can put it back into the economy. The down fall of this tax reform is a US citizen that make very little the tax rate will go up. The advantage of the reform is it would encourage all US citizens to work harder because no matter how much they make there tax percent that is taken out will still be the same.
In addition to unfair taxation, I believe the political parties are not good for the government. For example, most US citizens do not watch or research candidates running for offices. Instead, they choose the candidate that is in their same political party. What makes the Democrat and Republican's party so much better than third parties? In my opinion a third party can be better for the US rather than the democratic or republican parties because it would promote more critical thinking about the candidates rather than just choosing a candidate based on his or her party. Although having no political parties I think would be best for the US, I don’t know if the solution is possible. Instead we can create more parties and not have US citizens declare their political party.
In this 2008 presidential election both Obama and McCain are talking about reforming the government. However, I think the third party's is in a better position to bring reform based on previous performance of these parties. Yet we have not much about those running on a third party ticket, because they have no chance of winning the election. This is because the Republicans are going to vote for the Republicans and the Democrats are going to vote for the Democrats (this is not true for all elections but just an opinion).
Another reason why political parties are bad for US citizens is based of the ties the political parties develop before becoming in power. What I mean by this is political parties raise money for their candidates who are running for office. Although candidates need this money in order promote their campaign, the place they get this money is not always good for the people. For example, if tobacco industries give a candidate $200,000 to help win the election, that candidate may be less likely to make laws that will hurt the tobacco company and more likely to ignore US citizens' concerns.
Our country could be a much better place if our government would clean up its corrupt and unfair policies. At the moment our government is diminishing our potential to be successful. I hope some day these changes will be made.
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