This
week featured two happenings in the drive to legalize same-sex marriage in the
United States. First, the Supreme Court
finally heard cases concerning the constitutionality marriage restrictions and
second, Facebook was hit by a wave of profile picture changes to a red equals
sign. One of those matters a great deal,
one hardly matters at all. I’ll let you
decide which is which. My distaste for
internet activism aside, same-sex marriage is the topic of the hour and I would
be amiss if I did not add my two cents.
Wednesday, March 27, 2013
Saturday, March 16, 2013
Roadblocks to Effective Government
Citizens
of the United States often complain that their Congressional representatives
and senators focus on ensuring continual reelection over effectively governing
the nation. Desire to maintain political
power discourages members of Congress from tackling politically sensitive and
often times vitally important issues, resulting in the crippling gridlock we
have experienced over the past decade. While
it seems like an easy fix to this problem is to create term limits for
representatives and senators, effecting change in this area is not as easy as
it sounds.
Saturday, March 2, 2013
The Inception of World War One
At the Paris
Peace Conference in 1919 after the end of formal fighting in World War One,
Britain and France, over the objection of the United States, forced Germany to
accept a war guilt clause. This clause
put the complete responsibility for dragging Europe into the war in 1914 on
Germany, forcing the state to accept draconian punishments. These included complete disarmament,
significant land concessions, and substantial war reparations. While the German delegation had little choice
but to sign it, the reality is that Germany did not prove to be the state most
at fault for the descent into war.
Friday, March 1, 2013
World War One and Total War
While World
War One may not have been the first global war (the Seven Years War featured
fighting in Europe, North America, Central Asia, and numerous naval skirmishes
all across the globe), it was certainly the first total war. To be considered a total war, a war must have
profound impact on the daily lives of nearly every citizen in the combatant
states. Their social, political,
economic, and cultural lives become directed by the state in such a manner that
it benefits the military effort.
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