Chemical warfare is a broad term used by international strategists to classify certain types of weapons that use chemical reactions to cause harm. Chemical warfare was used sporadically throughout the years, but was first introduced on a widespread scale in World War I. The use of these chemical weapons resulted in 1.3 million casualties. World leaders agreed that this scale of chemical warfare was extremely dangerous and agreed to abide by the Geneva Protocol, which prohibits nations from using chemical and biological weapons. However, nations are still able to create these weapons in the event they would ever need them in retaliation. Later on in World War II, chemical weapons were used (contrary to some beliefs) in Nazi concentration camps, as well as by the Japanese army, but were not used during battle at all. Incidents of chemical weapons being used appear every now and then throughout history since, with the biggest use of chemical warfare occurring in 2013 during the Syrian Civil War. Syrian military forces used sarin gas to kill hundreds of innocent civilians, including over a hundred children. There have been even more incidences more recently that indicate Syrian government involvement.

Syria isn’t the only country to have recently used chemical weapons. Russia has also been accused of using chemical weapons, the most recent case on Sunday, March 4th when a Russian double agent and his daughter were attacked with a nerve agent that had been created in the Soviet Union during the Cold War era. While the Russian government denies their involvement and blames Great Britain, many countries including Great Britain and the United States, have accused Russia of using the nerve agent. Many experts say that the use of a nerve agent on a former Russian spy that turned spy for Britain is sending a message to others considering spreading Russian secrets to other countries. Others have been using chemical weapons even more recently, including North Korea, who used a nerve agent called VX to kill the half brother of Kim Jong-Un. ISIS has also been using chemical weapons, such as mustard gas, which was commonly used during World War I.

To get a better understanding of chemical weapons, they are separated into three main categories: nerve agents like sarin gas, blistering agents like mustard gas and VX, and choking agents like phosgene, which was an extremely deadly and dangerous gas used during World War I. Within those main categories are sub categories that can identify each agent based off of its chemical composition. The sub categories also have varying levels of severity, like with nerve agents. Nerve agents within the “G” agent sub category typically are not as dangerous as those in the “V” agent sub category because they do not persist without continuous exposure. That being said, each chemical weapon is extremely dangerous, which is why world leaders worked to stop the spread of a threat of chemical warfare by establishing various legislation and treaties.

The earliest (relatively) successful treaty signed to stop the spread of chemical warfare was the Geneva Protocol, signed June 1925. Having witnessed the horrendous deaths that plagued the battlefields of World War I, world leaders apart of the League of Nations agreed to prohibit the use of chemical and biological warfare. While the Geneva Protocol was successful in keeping chemical and biological weapons from the battlefield, some nations did get away with using those weapons without punishment, like Syria and Egypt. In 1972, the Biological Weapons Convention was created, which continued on from the Geneva Protocol and added that countries were not able to produce and stockpile chemical and biological weapons, which the Geneva Protocol had previously not covered. The fault with the Biological Weapons Convention, however, was that there was no way to enforce that countries follow the agreement. Finally, in 1993 the Chemical Weapons Convention was created, which bans countries from creating, stockpiling, and using chemical weapons. This successful treaty is signed and followed by most countries, with North Korea, Egypt, and South Sudan being the only non-observers of the treaty.

As I learned more about the use of chemical weapons, I noticed an increase in the use of chemical weapons in recent years, even with the establishment of the Chemical Weapons Convention. The attacks using chemical weapons haven’t been as destructive as when they were used back in World War I and World War II, but have been more individualized, like the recent attacks on Kim Jong-Un’s half brother and the ex-Russian spy and his daughter. Meaning that while chemical weapon attacks haven’t done as much damage, the presence of chemical weapons is still lingering. Some experts believe the threat is growing, especially with the majority of chemical attacks having gone without major punishment. This increasing threat is extremely dangerous, simply based off of the severity of chemical weapons. It seems as if everyone forgot about the damage chemical warfare did in World War I and only want to focus on power and control. Having nations ignore the harmful effects chemical weapons can have on people is incredibly dangerous if the threat of chemical warfare continues to spread. If we aren’t careful, disregarding human life by using harmful chemical weapons will lead to larger-scale chemical warfare, which is the last thing the world needs.

Most people living in the United States and most other countries consider North Korea to be an extremely dangerous and volatile nation that is under control of dictator Kim Jong Un. For many years, nations such as the United States have been wary of North Korea and their military forces, including watching them begin to build a nuclear program. Previously, Americans were not allowed into North Korea; citizens of other countries were also not easily able to enter the country, for the government spread propaganda and wished to keep their citizens from knowing the truth about the rest of the world. In 2007, a National Geographic documentary Inside North Korea aired and showed footage from inside North Korea and gave the world new information about how the citizens of North Korea are being treated, as well as a bit of how the government of such a dictatorship is organized and run.

The United States and North Korea have been on edge with each other for over 50 years. Ever since the Korean War, when the United States fought alongside South Korea against North Korea in the effort to promote democracy, North Korea and the United States have been working against one another. Communist China backed North Korea, while the democratic United States backed South Korea, trying to prevent communism from spreading and trying to keep a democracy established in the southern part of the Korean peninsula. While the two countries eventually reached a stalemate and agreed to a ceasefire, the war has never quite ended, resulting in heavily armed borders between the two countries, like the 38th Parallel, which divides North and South Korea, at almost the exact same place from before the Korean War. Communication between the North and South has been limited and sparse. Often times when South Korea attempts to contact North Korea via a communication line set up at the border, the North Koreans never pick up the phone.

Recently, there has been a lot of activity involving North Korea in the news. Much of it was news of nuclear tests that North Korea was performing, testing missiles for use and range. Many people in the United States feared that North Korea had finally become capable of attacking the country and began to worry about safety. Soon after news of North Korea’s achievements spread to the United States and the rest of the world, a false alarm alert was sent out in the state of Hawaii, causing even more of a panic, for Hawaii would be one of the closest targets to North Korea’s missiles. However, not all news of North Korea has been bad recently. Before and during the Winter Olympics in South Korea (2018), North and South Korea began speaking, which resulted in South Korea inviting North Korea to participate in the 2018 Winter Olympics.

The most recent news involving North Korea came on March 8th, 2018 when a South Korean delegation traveled to the White House to meet with President Donald Trump. President Trump spoke with the South Korean president on March 8th, which is when the president and South Korean National Security Advisor Chung Eui-Yong passed the message onto President Trump from Kim Jong-Un, saying that he wanted to meet with President Trump and that North Korea was willing to denuclearize. Later, Chung gave an announcement to the press that revealed the message that was passed onto Trump, as well as the announcement that President Trump agreed to meet with Kim Jong-Un and would do so before May. Many people were shocked at the prospect of President Trump meeting with the North Korean dictator, as well as Trump’s speedy answer. Many political news reporters were stunned and didn’t believe that Trump would fulfill his promise of meeting before May because it would not give him and his staff enough time to evaluate the situation and determine if it is completely safe. Political analysts were also quick to point out that North Korea’s promise to denuclearize and refrain from testing missiles has been said before, but the promise was eventually broken.

When I was home for spring break, I actually watched the announcement from South Korea’s national security advisor live and was able to hear instant feedback from reporters and political strategists. Most had assumed that the message from North Korea was about a potential meeting, but none had expected President Trump to have an answer already, much less a positive answer in agreement. While it seemed promising at first that North Korea would be willing to denuclearize and stop testing missiles, it was good to be aware of the past promises North Korea had made regarding denuclearizing. A meeting between the two leaders would be unprecedented and would hopefully lead to peace and cooperation between North Korea and the rest of the world. Hopefully this invitation is the first of many attempts at making peace between the two countries and the rest of the world.

Gun violence is a very big issue in the United States these days. It seems as if every single day there is a new report of a shooting that occurred, resulting in injuries and deaths. As of February 15th, 2018, there have been seventeen school shootings. That is 17 shootings in 45 days. No matter what side of politics you are on, there has to be some acknowledgement of the problem that we Americans are facing today. This doesn’t mean doing away with guns altogether or destroying the Second Amendment, but there is an issue in our country with gun violence. After every single shooting there has been, many people call for action, but nothing has been done to stop the violence. That is one of the biggest issues we have today.

February 14th, 2018 – Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School (Parkland, FL)

A gunman opened fire inside the Florida high school, killing and injuring students and adults. This shooting marked the seventeenth shooting of 2018, causing people nationwide to go public with their disgust over the lack of gun safety laws and gun control, arguing that no matter how many shootings there are, there won’t be anything done to change things for the better.

One of the most shocking things for me to hear was that the Columbine shooting is now no longer one of the 10 worst mass shootings in the United States. I was not alive when the Columbine shooting occurred and I never really knew much about it, other than the fact that it was a very large and horrible school shooting that was relatively unheard of at the time. During the many school shootings that have occurred in my lifetime, I have heard many people compare them to Columbine. It seemed as if it was the first occurrence and it was horrible, so every shooting following should be compared to it, because it was the first that was known. Whenever it was brought up, I also got the sense that it was so horrible, that there was a fear associated with it. After doing some basic research into what happened at the shooting, I understand the kind of fear that is associated with shootings based off of Columbine. The thought and planning that it took to execute such a terrible act is horrifying. Learning what exactly happened in the Columbine shooting also made me understand why other shootings are compared to it, because it was the first of its kind and was so horrible that the fear that goes along with shootings is brought on because of it. It is now hard to imagine that it is no longer one of the ten worst mass shootings in the United States.

In my lifetime, the first large mass shooting that I can remember is Sandy Hook. Even though I was alive for more, I was old enough to watch the news with my parents and begin to understand what happened. I may have been alive for other shootings, like the Virginia Tech shooting in 2007, I was very young and wasn’t able to comprehend what was going on. The Sandy Hook shooting was the first time I was seeing the horror of gun violence that resulted in a mass shooting. Ever since then, I have seen even more shootings, but one thing is always the same: nothing has been done to improve safety and stop the gun violence.

After nearly every shooting, politicians call for change. Many push for legislation to be passed that would help to stop gun violence and to control the use of guns in America. Other politicians call for safety, but do not make the push for gun control as other politicians do. It does not matter what political party you belong to; it is the matter of public safety and the fact that gun violence has not been stopped and until we can find a way to stop it, we need more control with guns.

I am no politician and I certainly have no place in making legislature at the moment, but I agree with the many politicians when they say that something needs to change about the way things work against gun violence. Politicians on both sides of the aisle must come together and work toward a solution so that these horrible mass shootings do not continue happening. It is exhausting having to hear about how change must happen after every mass shooting, then see nothing happen, only to hear about yet another mass shooting happening just weeks later. No matter what political affiliation, everyone has to agree that there is a problem with gun violence in the United States and politicians need to start working together on a solution, or else there won’t ever be a break from the constant cycle of shootings, calls for change, and inaction.

This week’s political civic issue will be a little bit different than those done previously. Instead of focusing on our country’s politics and government, this week I will mostly be addressing the politics of two important countries, both of which who have been at war with one another for over sixty years: North Korea and South Korea.

The Korean War started when the communist-backed North Korea invaded South Korea, who was immediately backed and supported by the United States, who favored a democratic nation over communist. Both sides fought back and forth, giving way to a bloody massacre, which resulted in the Korean Peninsula being divided at the 38th Parallel, almost the exact same spot as it had been divided before the war. While the cease-fire had been made, there were no peace treaties signed, meaning that even though there is no active conflict between the two countries, North and South Korea are still technically at war. Tensions between the two countries have always been high, but recently there have been talks of potential peace, especially in regards to the upcoming Winter Olympics in PyeongChang, South Korea. 

On Friday, February 9th, the Opening Ceremonies of the 2018 PyeongChang Winter Olympics will commence, which will officially open the Olympic Games and welcome the participating countries to South Korea. Marching among the participating nations will be a delegation from both North and South Korea, displaying “the Unification Flag—a Twitter-blue silhouette of the peninsula against a white field” (The New Yorker). The two united countries will forgo the use of either country’s national anthem and instead enter with the song “Arirang”, a folk march that will symbolize the unity of both countries and potential for peace. The two countries will also form a combined team with players from both nations that will compete in women’s ice hockey this year. All of these symbolic events and actions made by both countries come at a time where both nations are slowly but surely working towards peace between the two.

As the Winter Olympics approached, North and South Korea slowly began to discuss potential pushes for peace. In order to discuss possible participation in the 2018 PyeongChang Winter Olympics, the two countries restored their communication line between the two capitals, Pyongyang for North Korea and Seoul for South Korea. The line for communication had been out of use for nearly two years, so restoring the communications had been a huge step in the right direction in regards to talks about peace. After negotiations had been made about the participants and athletes in the Winter Olympics, the two countries continued their peace talks and lightly began to discuss possible family reunions after over 60 years because of the Korean War. Many families were separated because of the 38th Parallel and have yet to even imagine being reunited until now. The two nations also began to discuss a possible increase in tourism from South Korea to the North.

Ever since the Korean War, relations between North and South Korea have been very strained. The upcoming PyeongChang Winter Olympics were a much needed reprieve from the tense relationship the two countries shared and gave them the opportunity to put the past behind them and begin working toward a peaceful and prosperous future as two nations with excellent diplomatic relations. Before the peace talks and light discussion over the Olympics, politics between the two countries were plagued with negativity, threats, and violence. Now, because of the Olympics, relations between the countries may end up being positively and friendly somewhere in the near future. Even though the politics between the two countries doesn’t directly involve the United States, it is still incredibly important to know about and try to understand. The United States has previously backed South Korea and still continues to support them to this day. Tensions between the United States and North Korea have spiked, especially in regards to nuclear weapons. Recent missile tests conducted by North Korea have incited fear and worry among many countries, especially now that it has been shown that North Korean missiles are capable of reaching the mainland of the United States. Having potential peace between North and South Korea would not only be a step in the right direction in regards to positive relations between those two countries, but also a positive step in relations with the entire world, including the United States. Should peace talks and positive communication continue with North Korea, it may be more believable that North Korea will agree to cooperate with other countries.

I remember first hearing about what a dangerous and mysterious country North Korea is when I was in middle school. In my 8th grade Civics class, we watched Inside North Korea, a documentary that followed an eye surgeon on his quest to repair and restore eyesight in many North Korean citizens with cataracts. He brought a film team with him to not only document the medical journey, but also obtain inside footage from North Korea. It was an incredible documentary that opened my eyes to a country that I soon realized was extremely isolated and very different than most other countries in the world. I knew that relations between the two countries were extremely poor, as shown in the documentary, but hearing some of the first things about potential peace was very enlightening and hopeful for friendly relations between the nations in the future.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AlJUGZPanB8

 

On Tuesday, January 30th, President Donald Trump gave his first State of the Union Address to Congress under the watchful eye of the nation. The speech lasted an hour and twenty minutes, making it the third longest State of the Union Address in history. Over 45 million people tuned in to watch the address and many took to social media to comment on the remarks made by the president. The address quickly became President Trump’s most tweeted about speech, which easily passed by his previous speech to Congress back in 2017. The number of tweets regarding one of Trump’s speeches went from three million Twitter users to over four million.

The idea of the State of the Union Address came about because of the Constitution, which states that the President must inform Congress about the current nature of the United States. Only two presidents have not given a speech, President William Henry Harrison and President James A. Garfield. Over time, the State of the Union Address has been given many names, one including the “Annual Message“, before it became officially known as the State of the Union Address. Many former presidents wrote the speech that was given to Congress, but did not speak it. Former President Jimmy Carter’s 33,667 word address in 1981 holds the record for being the longest State of the Union Address, though he did not speak it in front of Congress. Former President Bill Clinton holds the current record for longest spoken address, which was 9,190 words long. In the past, presidents started to address the United States on the condition of the economy and budget, but Congress agreed that both pieces of information should be separate from the general state of the union. In recent years, the State of the Union Address has become a way for presidents to voice their opinions, boast about their accomplishments in the past year, and announce upcoming plans and attempt to gather support for policies that will soon be enacted.

President Donald Trump did many of the same things in his 2018 State of the Union Address. He first addressed all that the nation had been through in the past year, including the Las Vegas shooting, wildfires, and the multiple hurricanes that have affected many states. He recognized several special guests that had been invited to experience the State of the Union Address and acknowledged their accomplishments. While discussing the bravery of Congressman Steve Scalise, the representative injured during an unexpected shooting at a DC baseball practice, President Trump called for the people to unite, just as they had done to show their support for the congressman, in order to make the United States strong.

President Trump then went on to discuss more of his accomplishments from the past year, including the many tax cuts that had been put in place, as well as employment accomplishments. His remarks on unemployment marked this past year as a major turning point in unemployment rates, which seemingly dropped in multiple categories.

He did not shy away from controversial topics, including the debate over standing or kneeling for the national anthem and the DREAMers. While praising a young boy for his initiative to put flags on veterans’ graves for Veteran’s Day, President Trump stated that the kind of patriotism veterans and people like the young boy is the reason that “we proudly stand for the national anthem”. The current debate over professional football players deciding to kneel for the national anthem was not directly mentioned, but the president certainly implied that everyone should stand for the national anthem. When talking about immigration, President Trump also brought up the extremely controversial topic (which was discussed in the previous post) of DREAMers. Like the national anthem protests, he did not directly discuss it, but suggested the topic be related when he addressed Congress and asked them “to protect our citizens of every background, color, religion, and creed”. He then went on to state that “[his] duty, and the sacred duty of every elected official in this chamber, is to defend Americans — to protect their safety, their families, their communities, and their right to the American Dream. Because Americans are dreamers too”. Many people were extremely upset by this statement, for they felt that the president was disregarding DREAMers and those affected by his decision to terminate the DACA immigration policy.

Personally, I have never really been interested in the State of the Union Address. As bad as that may sound, I always regarded the speech as just another homework assignment that middle school and high school teachers would give out because it was a current event. While watching it and evaluating the statements was a good exercise at the time, I was never extremely interested. Even now, while going back through and evaluating statements made during the 2018 address, much of it is highlighting the main talking points from throughout the year, many of which made headlines for days. I personally would rather stay up-to-date on large-scale events as they occur instead of trying to absorb them all in the span of a little over an hour. That being said, the State of the Union Address has been a vital part of the United States government for centuries and is still an important part to this day.

Once again, the United States government came to a screeching halt last Saturday, January 20th, 2017 at midnight when Congress could not agree on a budget for the fiscal year.  Coincidentally, the shutdown occurred on the one year anniversary of Donald Trump’s inauguration. However, after three days of the government being shut down, Congress came to an agreement on the budget, Trump signed off, and the government was reinstated.

This isn’t the first time the United States government has been shutdown. Back in 2013, the government was shutdown from October 1st to the 17th, making it the third longest government shutdown in history.  Similar to the 2018 government shutdown, Congress could not agree on a budget and could not get one approved before time expired and were forced to shut down. The 2013 US government shutdown primarily focused on Obamacare, which was the largest issue on the budget proposal at the time.

One of the key major issues brought up before, during, and after the 2018 shutdown was the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) immigration policy. The program was put into place in 2012 by President Barack Obama in order to protect children of illegal immigrants, who were brought into the United States as kids, from being deported. Many Democrats fully support the immigration policy and wanted it to continue, but faced issues when it comes to Donald Trump’s deportation plans and whether or not those apart of DACA would be affected. Donald Trump officially eliminated the DACA immigration policy back in September 2017 and has since been slowly dwindling down until the program no longer exists.

The budget in question before the shutdown included funding for the deportation of illegal immigrants, which could eventually include those previously protected by DACA. This prompted Senate Democrats to filibuster and cause the government shutdown. The shutdown officially ended after the Senate reached a decision with the remainder of the budget and agreed to hold a separate debate over DACA. During this separate debate, the Senate is able to discuss how funding would be used in immigration policies and try to protect former DREAMers (those formerly a part of DACA).

Another one of the issues that was brought up during the 2018 shutdown was funding for the United States military. Much of the budget was prepared to give a large amount of money to the US military, but not everyone supported it. After the government was officially shutdown, Democratic Senator Claire McCaskill proposed a bill that would continue to fund necessary military personal while the government was shutdown until they could agree on a budget and give out the necessary and allotted amount of money. The proposed bill also would allow death benefits to be given to the military during the shutdown just in case. While a similar bill previously passed unanimously during the 2013 government shutdown, Senate Republicans denied the bill, arguing that there wouldn’t be the need for temporary measures to be put into place, for they believed they would resolve the budget issue quickly.

Donald Trump’s reaction to the government shutdown has been confusing to most. His most recent comment on the shutdown was back in May 2017 when he suggested that the government be shut down and that it will ultimately benefit the United States and the government. However, during the 2013 government shutdown that occurred during the Obama administration, Donald Trump was quoted saying that “problems start from the top and they have to get solved from the top and the president’s the leader…when they talk about the government shutdown, they’re going to be talking about the president of the United States, who the president was at that time.”

During the 2013 government shutdown, I was just a freshman in high school. I’d only taken one social studies/history class that focused on politics, so I didn’t know much about what it meant for the government to be shut down. The most important thing for me at the time was that the National Zoo was closed. Years later, I started to understand more about how government works and why it shuts down if an agreement cannot be reached about the budget for the upcoming fiscal year. During this recent 2018 government shutdown, I still remember being in class and having the notification pop up from my News app, saying that the government had shut down because Congress had not been able to reach an agreement on the budget. I still didn’t completely understand why or what it meant, but I did know that the government was not going to be functioning properly because of it.

Most of the information I learned was by doing research about the specific reasons the government shut down, other than the fact that it was a budget issue. By doing so, I was not only informed about how the new budget and agreements would affect myself and others but also what people in Congress were doing to get an equal and fair budget out for the people. I still may not know or understand all about the affects of a government shutdown, but it is important to know the reasons behind it, so that you always know what the government cannot agree upon. Because for the most part, those are the most important things to consider in politics and society.

One of the most talked about topic as 2017 came to a close was net neutrality. For those who are not aware, net neutrality is the law of the land when it comes to the internet. Coming into play during the Obama administration, net neutrality gives internet users rights and protections so that large companies cannot scam users and cheat them out of the service they are using. The internet and large companies have abided by net neutrality for years, but on December 14th, 2017, Congress voted to revoke net neutrality. While this does not mean there would be an immediate effect felt among internet users, it does give large companies, such as Verizon and AT&T, the freedom to control the speed and access given to internet users. For example, before December 14th when net neutrality was in place, companies were not able to purposefully slow your internet access to make you pay more because net neutrality protected internet users from such acts. Now that net neutrality is not protecting internet users, large companies have the ability to purposefully slow service or hinder any internet access because there are no protections against it. Even though Congress as approved the removal of net neutrality, there are many activists fighting the removal. A website has even been constructed to gain awareness of the issue and interest in protecting the rights of internet users.

Large companies have already reacted and responded to the announcement of the removal of net neutrality. Netflix was one of the companies that addressed the issue and reassured the public that they would continue to follow net neutrality and that the company supports its users.

Many other companies have openly argued for keeping net neutrality rules. Dozens of companies drafted a letter that was sent to Ajit Pai, the chairman of the Federal Communications Commission (FCC). Pai was responsible for the campaign to end net neutrality, which is why many complaints about the decision were directed to him. In the letter, the companies address their concerns that would become reality if net neutrality rules were revoked (the letter was sent before the decision was made). Many of the companies included in the letter were smaller businesses that would be affected the most by the repeal of net neutrality, but other larger companies were eager to participate, such as Pinterest, Reddit, TeamSnap, and Airbnb.

Some companies, however, support the repeal of net neutrality. In most instances, the companies that are for the repeal of net neutrality are larger companies that service a large proportion of internet users, such as AT&T, Verizon, and Comcast. With net neutrality rules no longer in place, larger internet companies would have the ability to restrict access and slow usage, thus leaving internet users everywhere vulnerable. While AT&T and Verizon have vaguely addressed the outcome of the net neutrality repeal, both companies have supported the campaign to get rid of net neutrality for years. The companies may say that they want “an open internet”, but the decision is in their hands, giving them the power to control the future of free, open internet.

When I first heard about net neutrality, I didn’t understand what it was at all. All I knew was that, if net neutrality rules were repealed, internet companies would have the ability to slow connection, charge more for the same services that existed during the time period of net neutrality, and that the internet would not be as open as it once was. I mostly knew about what would affect me, but I wanted to learn more about it. I asked my dad if he knew what it would mean if net neutrality was repealed, but he had barely heard anything about it. The conversation ended with me explaining what I knew about it to him. Most of the information I had learned was from Twitter and seeing tweets from people who were outraged by a specific part of the repeal of net neutrality, which meant I never saw the full picture. My dad, because he is not active on Twitter, was not able to see some of the specific ways repealing net neutrality would affect internet users.

For an issue that is so controversial and so important these days, it made me nervous that my dad, the person I always go to about current issues, didn’t know much about it. It got me thinking that what if other people didn’t know much about it either? The letter written to Chairman Pai specifically talked about how repealing net neutrality would affect small businesses. I am sure that small businesses are aware of the dangers of repealing net neutrality and how it could damage their business, but what if someone didn’t know that? Their business could suddenly plummet and the business owner wouldn’t know what happened. Just thinking about the different ways repealing net neutrality could harm various people made me think about how important it is to stay up to date on current issues and be well-informed about certain decisions that are being made in the government. Even if the decision doesn’t affect you specifically, it might affect people around you. The more informed you are, the better off you will be in society, especially with something as important as the internet.

Hello readers!

Welcome to my Civic Issues Blog! In our lives, there will be many issues that come to our attention and become very important to us. As an International Politics major, I am constantly learning about the world around us, as well as our own system of government and how it differs from everyone else. To me, politics is more than just talking about government and debating for the next election. Politics does involve government, but includes so much more, like the issues that are discussed that cause people’s politics to differ.

As a kid, I never really was interested in politics and government. It always seemed so confusing for me and relatively boring. History always interested me, so when I found out that in 8th grade we would be learning more about government than an actual history class, I was upset. However, the new social studies class I took (Civics) ended up being my new favorite class. I learned so much about our system of government and it actually was interesting for me! Because of that class, I started to consider the possibility of being a Political Science major when I went to college. Even though it was a long ways off, Civics planted the seed in my head about the possibilities of learning about politics.

The older I got, the more interested I became in politics, especially when there were big elections coming up. I started to understand more about the process, the platforms, and the reasons why politics become so important before an election. It wasn’t until this past 2016 Presidential Election that I fully became immersed in the culture of politics, as it was the only thing anyone talked about. I would watch the debates, I would see hundreds of campaign ads, and I would begin to see my own beliefs forming in my head, even though I was still too young to vote.

From my experiences with politics and government, I have realized that there is so much more to it than political parties and elections. Politics are everywhere and have influence everywhere, particularly in civic issues that are brought up during elections that shape party platforms. Personally, I wish that I had gotten more involved in politics when I was younger. Looking back, I realize just how long it took be to begin to understand politics and become interested and a lot of that was because I only became interested in politics when there was an election going on. This is the case for many people, which is why it is believed that those people are ill-informed because they only start paying attention when it is absolutely necessary. Politics don’t wait to show up every four years when we have to elect a new President. Politics are here to stay and it is important to understand them so that people can use politics and the world around them to make the best decision for themselves and others.

One thing that is always a heavily discussed topic, especially around the time of presidential elections is voter turnout. As a citizen of the United States, we have the right to vote, yet not everyone expresses that right. In this article from the Pew Research Center, the results from voter turnout from elections is evaluated and compared to other developed countries. In the 2016 Presidential Election, only 55.7% of eligible voters actually voted.

Many people wonder why we have such a low percentage of people voting. One possible reason is that people aren’t as interested in politics as others. Many people use the excuse that they don’t really have a preference, so their vote wouldn’t do anything. In most cases, the person would have a preference if they took the time to evaluate the platforms and chose to pay close attention to a specific topic or topics and use those as the basis for voting. Speaking from experience, I know what it is like to not be involved or interested in politics. Because I am now able to see it from the side of paying attention to politics, I feel so much better knowing that I am well-informed and educated about our politics and system of government. Now that I have experienced what it is like to care about politics, I will continue to do so and never go back because I believe that being knowledgeable and aware about politics makes you not only a better person, but a better citizen. I know that I will be able to make an educated and informed vote in the next election that I am able to vote in.

No matter what party you belong to, what beliefs you have, or whether you follow American politics or not, welcome to my blog. I will evaluate national politics, as well as international to provide a global perspective, and also discuss some of the interest issues that go on party platforms. It is so important to be involved and I can’t wait to share the journey through politics with you.