Hello everyone, thanks for coming back for this next civic issues blog post! But guess what? It is not only the last civic issues post but the last blog post I will be writing for the whole school year! This academic year went by way quicker than I had expected and honestly was not at all prepared for it. They always said college is over before you know it and now I see what they are saying and will do my best going forward to care more about each individual day. This week’s blog post is going to be somewhat similar to last weeks where we took a look at the economic affects of the Russia Ukraine conflict and supply chain issues. We will be taking a deeper look into inflation in our country right now and surrounding happenings. Inflation in a basic sense is how much the dollar is worth today vs yesterday. For example, something that would cost $100 dollars in 2022 would be worth $166 today. Inflation is signaled and showed in the consumer price index (cpi) that measures the increase in the costs of all goods. At the current moment, the Federal Reserve just released that CPI is 8.5%, the highest surge and CPI since the 1980’s which shows that there are clear issues in our economy. Our dollar is depreciated at a rate that is way to high making it harder for people to see wage raises that can combat current inflation rates. In an attempt to decrease inflation, the Federal Reserve has decided to increase interest rates to decrease demand in the market and slow the flow of cash in the economy. The Fed in 2022 decided to hike the rates every two months with the most recent one being a 50 basis point (0.5%) increase. These increase in rates have adverse affects on the markets that it does for inflation and consumers. Financing becomes much more expensive and difficult which poses separate and other concerns. Inflation began to really skyrocket as the tensions in Russia and Ukraine began messing with the global supply chain. The problem with CPI is that if the Fed or the government decided to help inflation earlier we would see much more workable inflation and CPI rates. They came late to help with the problem that now has escalated out of their control. Hopefully we can see CPI drop back down to a range of 1-3% in the next year with the fed’s increased rates for the year. Thank you again for tuning in to all of my blog posts and hope you all have great lives! 

Thanks for tuning in again for another civic issues blog post, even though they are never as interesting as the Eagle’s passion posts. Last week we discussed current gas prices in this economic climate, which is still unfortunately no better. We have seen gas prices stay generally the same since that post was blogged, which is still a major issue our country is facing at the moment. Enough with gas prices, this week we are going to be talking about the current supply chain issues in our country and what is going on with it. 

At the moment, our nation’s supply chain is having major issues. Even as covid policies and restrictions are beginning to ease up, we still see shortages and problems with the supply chain. Such issues have caused prices of normal and everyday goods to increase which is a problem that all people have to with on a daily basis. Some specific goods that are taking the biggest hit are corn and wheat. Russia and Ukraine supply a combined 29% of the world’s exports of wheat as well as 17% of the world’s exports of corn. These percentages of wheat and corn would normally not be a problem, but as I wrote in my third blog post, Russia and Ukraine are currently in a war as Russia has been invading Ukraine, which has eased up a bit recently but has not been enough to fix these specific supply chains. We are also seeing a cotton shortage as some big name brands refuse to use cotton from China because of their forced and unfair labor practices. Some say that our nation’s and global supply chain’s are going to take multiple years to fix as some experts say at least two more ongoing years. 

For me specifically, I have seen the supply chain cost me a few extra bucks at my favorite restaurant. At my favorite poke bowl place called Wasabi, they sold bowls for $9.99 before I went to school. One day first semester, I got a picture sent to me from my mom that they raised their prices to $10.99 due to supply chain issues. They also made extra to-go sauces that used to be free to have $0.50 each due to supply chain shortages and increases in price of the little plastic containers. This scenario is just one that illustrates the struggles all businesses are going through at the moment which will hopefully fix soon. 

I know it has been a long while but it’s time to get us back into the swing of things with another political civic issues blog! In the last civic issues post I discussed the Russia vs everyone conflict going on in the world and what the US is doing about it to keep the peace in the world. Today we are going to take a look at a related case that seems to blame Russian conflict for – Gas Prices.

There are many, many different ideas and theories as to why the gas prices in the US have been skyrocketing as of late. If you take a step back to the Summer of 2020, we were buying gas at really cheap rates. I remember filling up for $2.05 a gallon one time. Taking a look now, we are reaching price heights over over $4 in most places and even higher like $6-7 in other places. Gas prices usually flutter depending on the price of crude oil, as well as demand for gas. But what caused such a sudden increase recently? 

One cause of the increase is the rapid increase in demand for gasoline as Covid-19 is going away and restrictions are leaving causing more and more people to need gas to go back to work or anywhere they want now. Another cause is the Biden Administration banning imports of oil from Russia in the midst of the Russian invasion of Ukraine. The US had been importing about 8% of its oil and refined products from Russia. This has caused less supply of the good while demand is still increasing. This combo causes major issues increasing price. This still should not be enough to raise gas prices that high. Another factor is the increased inflation rate that is still moving up as time goes on approaching 8%, which is ridiculous. This causes many money related issues.

Lastly, the US has not been utilizing its oil reserves at all during this conflict and Biden is now going to release 30 million barrels of its almost 600 million barrel reserve to help these issues. This is risky because although it will help, it is our safety reserves for when we really, really need it. I also think that it is those first factors I mentioned that has caused such increases in price so to me taking from reserves might not be the best play. Hopefully things will get better and we can finally fill up our tanks affordably!

Two weeks ago we talked all about the idea of cancel culture and its progressive political influence on our society today. This week we are going to take a look into a more serious political issue, a current event we see happening right now that is having many effects on our lives: Russia threatening invading Ukraine. Russia has been sending troops, tanks, supplies, etc. to the Russia Ukraine border and are threatening attack – built up to almost 130,000 troops with 175,000 being the number that would take over Ukraine with little difficulty. Russia has no real plans to invade, but are still threatening such. The US is on high alert during this situation. But why does Russia want to invade Ukraine? It all goes back to NATO, the North Atlantic Treaty Organization built up of many countries after WWII that has an active military ready to attack any other country who attacks one part of NATO. NATO was really created to stop and not allow Russia to take over countries and expand after the war. But right now, NATO is about to gain Ukraine and Russia and Putin are not happy at all about it. Putin also seems to desire a larger Russia-dominated area and grow its power. What is the US going to do to fix this growing threat. Before we get into that, oil prices have hit a seven year high due to the hanging threat and also have caused volatility in other aspects of the financial world. Back to the US defense efforts. The US has sent anti-tank and anti-aircraft equipment to Ukraine as well as other military weapons, as well as 8500 troops to help defend Ukraine from the imminent Russian threat. President Biden has also threatened Russia with extreme economic consequences, such as taking them out of the International Banking System, and more. Some wonder if the change in US presidency from Donald Trump to Joe BIden has made Putin more susceptible to not listening to NATO and other countries and begin doing whatever he wants to do with his country, like invading Ukraine. Then again, there is a lot on the line for the two countries, as well as Europe and the world as a whole. Hopefully, nothing comes of the issue with there being a small withdrawal of troops from Russia, but again, the threat is real and is imminent. Whatever happens, I think the US is too strong to keep or have problems and can quickly fix things.

AHere we are again for another Civic Issues Blog post! Two weeks we talked about the current political world surrounding the Covid-Vaccine and its mandates, and this week we are going to take a look at “Cancel Culture” and how it impacts our world today. What is Cancel Culture? As defined by dictionary.com, “Cancel culture refers to the popular practice of withdrawing support for (canceling) public figures and companies after they have done or said something considered objectionable or offensive. Cancel culture is generally discussed as being performed on social media in the form of group shaming.” This practice is a way for the public to stop supporting an individual or group for saying something terribly offensive or against the mainstream agenda. We have seen this come about more and more recently. The thought around Cancel Culture is different per political party. Surveys show that cancel culture has a different meaning for each. Liberals seem to believe more that Cancel Culture is about holding people accountable for their wrongdoings or sayings that do not follow the mainstream media. Conservatives seem to have a more cynical view that Cancel Culture correlates to punishing people for telling their views that they do not deserve. Both sides believe in both but each is more of their own. An example of Cancel Culture is J.K. Rowling being canceled for statements labeled transphobic while trying to help fight for Women’s rights. Another example is Piers Morgan who has been canceled multiple times for his statements and beliefs that, again, did not follow Liberal Mainstream thought regarding teaching gender diversity and mocking by saying he “identified as a penguin.” There are many examples of canceling that I feel are beyond necessary like for those with sexual assaults or such like R. Kelly, etc. But for me, canceling people for voicing their beliefs that do not follow the mainstream belief system and agenda is just wrong. Like trying to cancel Joe Rogan and others that voice their opinions are comical because of how ridiculous it is. Just because someone believes in something that social media does not like or Liberals do not agree with is not a real problem or cause for one to lose support or livelihood. Another example I did find interesting is that Whoopi Goldberg for her recent remarks discrediting the Holocaust was not canceled for her disrespectful comments because she is on the Left and it just proves the double standard in the Cancel Culture movement. If someone on the right was to make her comments they would have instantly been canceled. I find the Cancel Culture movement good when all agree with it, like sexual assaults or harassments, but ridiculous when it comes to beliefs that the social media disagrees with or when there is a clear double standard. See you in two weeks!

Unlike my other passion blog that has followed the Philadelphia Eagles throughout the 2021/2022 NFL season “Birds Weekly,” this blog will be centered around civic issues. More specifically, this blog will focus on civic issues regarding current politics in the world today. I am not sure what is more disappointing, general politics or the Birds’ brutal loss against the Buccaneers on Sunday (I will go into further detail in the following weeks on “Birds Weekly”). I will start this politics blog off by talking about government and political implications regarding Covid-19. I will begin by posing the following question: to what degree should the government be able to step in to fight this pandemic?

Over the last almost-two-years, we have seen fluctuating mask mandates and “covid-rules” all across the country, whether it be businesses, schools, restaurants, etc. More recently, we have seen the widespread of vaccinations across the world and ever more recently the booster shot. As of now, we are used to seeing the vaccine becoming mandated by cities or businesses in all forms and consequences for those who choose not to get vaccinated – quit/fired from jobs, forced to test weekly, and more. When it comes to the government’s intervention in vaccination mandating, President Biden proposed a mandate for businesses in September. Under his proposed mandate, all businesses with over 100 employees must be vaccinated or test weekly, originally giving businesses until January to get it done. On December 8th, the US Senate declined Biden’s vaccination plan on the grounds that Biden’s policy was overstepping its boundaries in an attempt to create herd immunity. Biden continued to push for his proposed mandate and it made its way to the US Supreme Court. In a 6-3 vote, Biden’s proposed mandate was denied on similar grounds that Biden is overstepping his authority. Not only would it cost billions to implement such a mandate, but we would also see tons of employees quit their jobs. Biden continues to advocate to business etc. to mandate the vaccines and use his voice as president to do so.

Taking a look at this case, I agree that there is no reason that the government or the President would be allowed to mandate such Covid-19 vaccine – should be individuals’ choice. When it comes down to it, it was the Democrats and Liberals who were pushing for the mandate while the Republicans and Conservatives were not allowing such to happen. To me personally, a matter such as the pandemic should not be politically polarized because it is happening to all of us. At the same time, being not so into politics myself, I don’t agree with such mandates mostly because of the consequences that the unvaccinated have to face, but something needs to happen to help fix our current situation. Honestly, to put more of my own perspective onto things, I see the unvaccinated point of view here (I am fully vaccinated) when I had a mask incident in my dorm hall. I rushed out of the shower one late evening to quickly move my laundry into the dryer and, because of my rush from my alarm, forgot my mask. An RA named William saw me moving my laundry without a mask and unreasonably wrote me up. I thought it was so ridiculous that even being vaccinated and having a legitimate story was not “good” enough to be let go, but no, he had to write me up. The ridiculous consequence I received makes me feel for the unvaccinated who would have unfortunate consequences if the proposal went through. See you in two weeks!

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