Comments for Clouds, Clocks and Sitting at Tables

Comment on Comparing My Political Ideology to that of an Elderly Couple by jd

jd — Thu, 09 Feb 2012 07:37:24 +0000

You’re not alone! Though, if you want to become the political leader of a country, you better start heading (from a politically ideological standpoint) in a north-easterly direction!

Comment on Comparing My Political Ideology to that of an Elderly Couple by dockyard

dockyard — Sat, 04 Feb 2012 04:38:42 +0000

8 deep to the left, about 6 squares towards libertarian.

Looks like I’m a big hippy.

Comment on Support for Capital Punishment by jd

jd — Sun, 22 Jan 2012 22:31:21 +0000

“In light of those and other factors, letting a lust for revenge decide a criminal’s fate is, well, dumb.”

Thanks for your comprehensive response. Did you know that a US presidential election was arguably decided on the question of the death penalty? Let’s go all the way back to 1988:

Comment on Support for Capital Punishment by viksdotter

viksdotter — Sun, 22 Jan 2012 19:32:53 +0000

I think that support for capital punishment stems more from primal impulses toward vengeance than anything else. People, understandably, are very upset by certain kinds of crimes and want to see the perpetrators punished in a manner proportionate to their crime. That said, I absolutely believe that rationality and practicality need to take precedence over what may arguably be natural impulses, especially given the many social and economic factors that make capital punishment a Terrible Idea. Imperfect law enforcement and justice systems and plain ol’ human error can and have put innocent people on death row. Institutional racism and classism mean certain populations are over-represented in the prison population. Ideology of politicians and lawmakers can and do drive severity of punishments, making a crime committed in one place be worth death and in another worth community service. The criminal’s fate is then a matter of geography. Troubling, too, are the staggering financial costs of supporting an inmate on death row and their eventual execution, versus that of another sentence.

In light of those and other factors, letting a lust for revenge decide a criminal’s fate is, well, dumb.

Comment on My favourite vacation spot by camhick

camhick — Wed, 18 Jan 2012 03:19:02 +0000

One of my favourites!

Comment on Chapter 1 or Chapter 2 Post–Global Military Expenditures by rilanliblog

rilanliblog — Wed, 18 Jan 2012 03:18:48 +0000

haha

Comment on My favourite vacation spot by jsake

jsake — Wed, 18 Jan 2012 03:18:34 +0000

looks lovely

Comment on Globalization is good…or is it? by youngaeyune

youngaeyune — Fri, 15 Apr 2011 04:55:41 +0000

A response from Young Ae Yune to the question ‘Is globalization good?

Liberalists think that globalization is good. They follow a view that humans are basically good creatures and are capable of wide cooperation. Liberalists also think that international free trade makes states interdependent with one another. Cooperation, therefore, is necessary among countries. Globalization will lead states to coexist peacefully and secured.

Poverty makes people live with few human rights and little dignity. The poor can only concern themselves with daily survival. It is thought that in a healthy international community, wealth will trickle down from the developed countries to the less developed ones through international cooperation and free trade. Liberal trade and democracy open up the door of an ‘opportunity’ for all poor states to overcome their long standing poverty. What kinds of states would reject globalization? In the short term of course, realists can see trade problems and inequality; but in the long run, liberalism is the best answer for world development.

p.s. I noticed that my reponse was posted in as ‘timshohn1014′. I can’t figure why. He is a kid who used our computer, earlier. I’ve tried to log in again as ‘youngaeyune’, but somehow, it does not allow. I’m trying to repost it with my name at the top.

Comment on Globalization is good…or is it? by timsohn1014

timsohn1014 — Thu, 14 Apr 2011 08:14:01 +0000

A response from Young Ae Yune to the question ‘Is globalization good?

Comment on Globalization is good…or is it? by timsohn1014

timsohn1014 — Thu, 14 Apr 2011 07:48:39 +0000

Comment on Globalization is good…or is it? by kendrawingerter

kendrawingerter — Mon, 11 Apr 2011 17:40:34 +0000

Though the video seems a bit biased – I feel that the narrator examined very ideal cases – I agree with the main points presented. Globalization provides people with options, they have the choice to work for a MNC, whereas before they usually simply did not work. When people are formally employed, it provides the state with a tax base, and thus the state can afford to carry out its tasks. Globalization may not be a pretty process (neither was the industrial revolution), but I think the end result will be worth it.

Comment on Regime Change, Freedom, Democracy, and Islam by kendrawingerter

kendrawingerter — Mon, 28 Mar 2011 20:47:07 +0000

I think that the status of women is an indicator of other societal values that may be linked to authoritarianism, as it suppresses a certain group, and authoritarianism suppresses the masses. To allow one group to be restrained within society opens the door for restraint of others on a larger scale, as it is recognized as acceptable to treat people this way. Once women have been made equal to man, human rights tend to become a concern, and other groups (such as gays, or ethnic minorities) seek to achieve similar status. Authoritarian regimes do not provide citizens with such rights like freedom of speech, so it is not consistent with this type of system to allow equalization of all groups.

Comment on Documentary on Partition of Palestine 1947–With Map by kendrawingerter

kendrawingerter — Mon, 28 Mar 2011 20:40:30 +0000

I do see the need for partition, as suggested by Kauffman, but as Alexander stated above, complete partition was not achieved. Had there been a way to successfully partition Israel/Palestine completely, the outcome may have been different, but I do recognize that certain circumstances made this task extremely difficult. As the two groups shared certain regions, mass migration would inevitably occur. It was a good suggestion to use international forces to achieve this peacefully, but I do not think it could have realistically occurred without violence, even with the presence of mediators.

Comment on Gender and violence during and after India/Pakistan Partition 1947 by aleks4wearingpurple

aleks4wearingpurple — Fri, 25 Mar 2011 22:41:32 +0000

Lee’s emphasis on the suffering endured by women as a separate group is intriguing, but identifying women as separate can be as liberating as it can be contentious and even misplaced within a disciplines that examine ethnicity. To suggest that the suffering endured by ethnic Sikh women in the Punjab region is different from the suffering endured by a male of the same attributed ethnic identity seems ill-fitting on a macro-scale, in the grand sweep of social sciences. Personally, I do believe that these nuances are extremely important for, even within the literature we have examined within our IS 309 course, any mention of gender has always come in way of differentiating males. The banal, blood-thirsty hooligans were males (Mueller) — these are the perptrators of ethnic violence, as the media arguably portrays them. Verwimp’s article does give some proof to the heavily male participation within ethnic violence, showing that “conscripts” to the cause were a son or husband from each household. Forging a role for women within ethnic conflict, given their veiled non-appearance within the dominant literature on the subject, is important, and this could effectively be explored on a micro-scale. Ethnicity, which is ever-changing, is just as ephemeral and fluctuating as gender itself, I would argue, and so the relations between ethnicity and gender provide for some fascinating insight on the psychology of victims and/or perpetrators (but this does delve into a portion of ethnic conflict studies which has lost steam in the past few decades, following a cultural and psychological strain that lends itself more easily to anthropology).

Comment on Documentary on Partition of Palestine 1947–With Map by Alexander Dirksen

Alexander Dirksen — Wed, 23 Mar 2011 18:09:46 +0000

While not in complete support of Kauffman’s view in regards to ethnic conflict resolution through partition, I do believe that the way in which the partition took place in Israel/Palestine had a significant effect upon the ensuing conflict and violence. Kauffman advocates for complete partition of conflicting groups, and as the map above illustrates, this was not achieved in this case – the Jewish and Arab populations were split amongst 3 regions each, which were spread throughout the former state of Palestine. Mass migration, supported and secured by international forces (as suggested by Kauffman) coupled with a proper, complete partition, would have allowed for proper resettlement of these regions and possibly avoid the levels of ethnic conflict that we are witnessing in the region today.

Comment on The Political Economy of Revolution–Egypt by kezakimana

kezakimana — Sat, 19 Mar 2011 19:41:13 +0000

‘’How much time will the new Egyptian government have to provide food security for the Egyptian people before the polity’s patience with democracy is compromised? Or is the public yearning for democracy and liberty so strong that economic crisis will have little effect on democratization in Egypt going forward?’’

There is always a price for everything. A profound change like this one that has started in Egypt will have a higher price than what they have experienced before. Maybe some of them will even regret Mubarak’s times… The same way they got together hand in hand asking for change, they will have to continue in order to achieve their goal. Otherwise, they would have suffered in vain. Change is a huge word and we mostly do not realize what it implies until the moment we start to pay its cost. Unfortunately, there is not a way to calculate the exact cost of change; it is mostly higher than expected. And who pays it?

Comment on ICG claims Ivory Coast on verge of another civil war by kezakimana

kezakimana — Sat, 19 Mar 2011 07:30:32 +0000

‘’The African community should not be influenced by the support that Gbagbo enjoys from a part of the population that has been frightened by the ultra-nationalist propaganda and threats of chaos of a militant minority. It must act decisively, not least to defend the principle of democratic elections, but key countries show signs of dangerous disunity. Any proposal to endorse Gbagbo’s presidency, even temporarily, would be a mistake. His departure is needed to halt a return to war.’’

What is happening in Côte d’Ivoire is certainly regrettable and scaring but we do not have to forget that the African Community needs time to take the right decisions about it. There is no need to rush things in the name of democracy if you are going to screw everything up. There is a process for everything and time is always a best ally to achieve success. In addition, it is not only in the African Community that we can observe a sort of disagreement while it comes to take such decisions .This is also what we can call an advantage of democracy by respecting those who elected Gbagbo. Minority or not, they represent a part of the population that needs to be managed in order to avoid a greater civil war.Their votes can’t just be ignored because they supposedly voted under ‘’ultra-nationalist influence’’. I have never seen American ultra-nationalists, Hungarian ultra-nationalists or French ultra-nationalists portrayed with a such contempt.Since when it is unconventional to be nationalist? Or it is just unconventional to be an African nationalist? Ironically, africans are most of the time criticized as non-nationalists but when they are nationalists, they are qualified as aliens…Gbagbo’s departure is maybe ‘’necessary’’ to avoid what can be avoided but there is not guaranty since the national army still behind him….There is an African proverb which says that:’’ The rain always ends up ceasing.’’ Then,wait and hope…..

‘’There is no doubt Ouattara won the run-off.’’

There is not also a proof that he did….

Comment on Regime Change, Freedom, Democracy, and Islam by kezakimana

kezakimana — Sat, 19 Mar 2011 06:27:06 +0000

It seems like in the three-abrahamic religions, the place for freedom or democracy is practically inexistent. Religions promote the concept of a supreme power, a traditional form of legitimate power as could say Weber, thus authoritarian in some way. Reason why those who serve, apply and follow too closely religions can hardly embrace the ideas of democracy or freedom as we conceive them in this century. It is not only Islam that can be linked to authoritarian regimes but it is same for most religions. In every situation, any organization or any political party, there is always people who are against any change.People who want things to remain the way they are and have always been. Islam is maybe linked to authoritarian regimes but we do not have to forget that it was the same situation for European countries and kingdoms a century ago or less when religion was still incorporated in politics. I do not believe that there exist a democratic religion or a religion that prone democratic values. By its definition, religion is all about soumission, obedience without questioning things and more important no elections, thus no revolution or revendication.

Comment on The Partition of India in 1947 by sjsim

sjsim — Mon, 14 Mar 2011 01:33:27 +0000

I think you bring up a really good point here. I also find it really interesting how ethnic identity is often in a constant state of flux, whether it be the nature of ethnicity that is changing or the degree to which people attach themselves to it. It is also hard for me to to grasp the fact that people can react so violently to defend their ethnic identity despite it often changing over time. I guess it is particularly hard for me to understand, since I am third generation Canadian and have no strong attachment to any ethnic group…unless you count “Canadian” and I’m not quite sure what that means other than my citizenship.
When I read this, I was reminded of the Maalouf article we looked at on the the class of IS 309. I think Maalouf mentioned that even though everyone has many different allegiances that form their identity, sometimes those loyalties come in conflict and people are pressed or ordered to take a side or reduce their identity to one affiliation. Almost like you feeling that saying “Pakistani” is not enough, and that you need to be more specific in your response. And the fact that you weren’t even aware of this other identity and felt you had to ask you father what you should say, to me, shows how often it is the influence of others that essentially determines what our affiliation to a given group is. An example from Maalouf’s book that stuck with me was the one about the 50 year old man in Sarajevo who at different times in his life went from proudly saying he was Yugoslavian, and then Muslim and now Bosnian first but also Muslim. The partition of India seemed to have led to similar evolution of identity of people now residing in Pakistan.
The more we learn about ethnic identity in this class, the more it seems there’s almost always a political issue and historical context that determines the identities people hold and how much value is placed on each. I think it is the particular context that can also, to some degree, explain the scope or extent to which different identities can come into conflict.

Comment on Kurdish Nationalism by Alexander Dirksen

Alexander Dirksen — Sat, 12 Mar 2011 00:00:54 +0000

In my research so far for my term paper I’ve discovered that historically there has been differing policy in regards to the Kurdish populations in Iraq and Turkey. However, it appears as though this may be changing – as Turkey continues its attempt at ascension into the EU it must align its policies regarding ethnic minorities with EU standards.

While the Kurdish region of Iraq shows some promise in regards to its push for an independent state, I find it hard to envision a series of circumstances under which the 5 states which currently contain a large Kurdish population would be willing to secede territory to create the state of Kurdistan that many today hope for. Economic concerns alone (the Kurdish region of Iraq is a region with rich oil deposits) would be enough for some states to deny such actions from taking place, and the political ramifications of a new state in the Middle East are significant, particularly when one considers the current environment – a fragile Iraq state, a continued international military presence in Afghanistan and the current wave of protests and uprisings against dictatorships in the region. Whether the international community would support the creation of an independent Kurdistan in the midst of these conditions I feel would be extremely unlikely.