Navy Yard Shooting

On Monday, September 16, 2013, a shooter by the name of Aaron Alexis entered Building 197 of the Navy Yard in Washington D.C. He was armed with a sawed off shotgun and took the lives of 12 people working in the building on that day. My prayers go out to those who lost loved ones on that day. This is a horrible tragedy that could've been prevented had someone picked up on his history of mental problems, mischief, and run ins with the law.

The two most notable instances, in my mind, were other shootings that took place in Fort Worth, Texas and Seattle, Washington. It was in Fort Worth, where Aaron Alexis shot a hole in his roof. This shows a lack of regard for the safety of others as firing stray bullets for no apparent reason in one's own home can be dangerous. In Seattle, an even more serious incident occurred. This was where Alexis fired shots at a car's tires causing them to go flat. Alexis, himself, called this incident "an anger-fueled blackout", according to the New York Times, in this article.

Now, the question that we are all left asking ourselves is, "How?" How did this man gain access to the Navy Yard in the first place? This was due to a breakdown in the system, as well as many missed signs of outrageous behavior, including those two shootings I spoke of, but also instances of insomnia where Alexis claimed to be hearing voices and a bar fight he was involved in, yet another example of violent tendencies. 

It is all of this that I will point to when somebody tries to point the finger at a lack of gun control being the cause for this awful tragedy. This, along with the fact that the person behind the gun is ultimately responsible for their own actions, not the gun itself. Even if guns were outlawed, bad guys would still have them in the same way that drugs are easily accessible to anybody willing to put out the effort to get some. The only difference here would be that the good guys could not protect themselves from the bad, and would have to wait for the police to arrive, and by that time it will likely be too late. 

In conclusion, I would just like to, again, acknowledge the tragedy that occurred, and send my prayers out to those who were killed and those who lost loved ones at the hands of this deranged man. I am very sorry for their loss. 

Works Cited:

Gabriel, Trip, Joseph Goldstein, and Michael Schmidt. "Suspect's Past Fell Just Short of Raising Alarm." New York Times. The New York Times Company, 17 Sept. 2013. Web. 24 Sept. 2013.

19, Richard A. Serrano September. "Navy Yard Shooter Attacked 'calmly,' FBI Chief Says." Los Angeles Times. Los Angeles Times, 19 Sept. 2013. Web. 24 Sept. 2013.

Syria: To Intervene Or Not To Intervene?

The hottest topic within the media for the last month has been Syria and what our reaction should be as the United States of America. This topic is very interesting to me because it is one of the few political debates where you don't already know where each particular congressman, or congresswoman, will side just based on their political affiliation with either the GOP or the Democratic Party. This debate represents, to me, at least, the increasingly larger debate between, not just the right versus the left, but the establishment types versus the growing grassroots, libertarian minded leaders in Washington. We saw it with drone strikes, the NSA, and now we are seeing it take place with foreign policy. Quite frankly, I love it.

Over the past year I have taken quite the interest in politics. The more I have looked into it, the more I see that our government has become very corrupt over the years, with both sides catering to special interest groups while nearly entirely abandoning the common man. Something must be done to fix it. So when I see what looks to be people in Congress actually working for the good of the common man and preserving our civil liberties, rather than working for interest groups or to further their own power within the government, it puts a smile on my face.

So now you may be wondering what civil liberties and the power of government have to do with the crisis in Syria, and whether our government should take action there or not. First, let's take a look at the actual declaration of war by the president. Under the constitution, the president does not have power to go to war without the consent of Congress. Yes, other presidents have violated this clause, however, it does not make it okay for another president to interpret the constitution in this dangerous way of doing so. The founders of our nation wanted it this way for a reason. It was a form of checks and balances. Also, they wanted Congress to decide with a majority decision, insinuating that it would then be the wants of the general public. NOT one man in Washington. When the president has this capability to declare war, he also has the greatest ability to expand the power of government because war expands the government's power at a greater rate than anything else. Throughout our history, war has been used to put regulations on free speech and, more recently, has infringed upon our fourth amendment search and seizure rights.

War, also, is a great regulator of our economy. War is very expensive, and the money to fund it must be printed in mass quantities, causing inflation of our dollar, making every dollar in our pockets worth less than before. I know what is being talked about now is being called an "unbelievably small" attack by John Kerry, but when was the last time, aside from budget cuts, we have ever seen anything "unbelievably small" come from our government? Our debt is far from small, and the Iraq and Afghanistan wars were some causes of that debt. President Obama has promised us on TV that soldiers won't be on the ground, but how can he be so sure that Syria or their allies aren't going to retaliate in any way? Then are we just going to sit there and not do anything? The bottom line is we cannot afford another war.

A non interventionist foreign policy is what is best for the people of the United States of America. That should be the government's number one priority. After all, the Syrian people do not pay their salaries. I understand the moral outcries of this, but it is not the United States of America's job to be the police of the world. That ship has sailed, and we should look forward to the future in promoting peace with our foreign policy and setting a good example to those around the world. The interventionist foreign policy of the last decade has had far too many unattended consequences for the worse. It is time we listen to what our founders tried to tell us all those years ago.

"The great rule of conduct for us, in regard to foreign nations, is in extending our commercial relations, to have with them as little political connection as possible. Europe has a set of primary interests, which to us have none, or a very remote relation. Hence she must be engaged in frequent controversies the causes of which are essentially foreign to our concerns. Hence, therefore, it must be unwise in us to implicate ourselves, by artificial ties, in the ordinary vicissitudes of her politics, or the ordinary combinations and collisions of her friendships or enmities." - George Washington, 1796, Farewell Address

Sources:

Paul, Ron. The Revolution: A Manifesto. New York, NY: Grand Central Pub., 2009. Print.

Woods, Thomas. "Liberty Classroom." Liberty Classroom. N.p., n.d. Web. 18 Sept. 2013.

Washington, George. "Farewell Address." George Washington's 1796 Farewell Address. 18 Sept. 2013. Address

Mandeville vs Hutcheson

So today we took a look at the pessimistic attitude of Mandeville, who really seemed to feel as if everyone is selfish and only takes part in activities that work for their own self interest, versus the writings of Hutcheson, who went about attacking the claims of the selfishness of mankind by Mandeville in, what I felt, was a very odd way.

Hutcheson responds to Mandeville by going on, what was basically, a long, drawn out, 18th century rant about "beauty" and "uniformity". This response was of greater interest to me than that of Adam Smith, who took a more direct approach to combatting Mandeville's attack on the selflessness of mankind, because it was one that I definitely wouldn't have thought of off the top of my head and I only understood after reading the writing for a second time. At least, I believe that I now understand Hutcheson's point.

Toward the end of Hutcheson's piece on beauty, he begins to speak about wisdom, and this is where he  (finally) drives the point home for us. He writes, "Wisdom denotes the pursuing of the best Ends by the best Means; and therefore before we can from any Effect prove the Cause to be wise, we must know what is best to the Cause or Agent. Among men who have pleasure in contemplating Uniformity, the Beauty of Effects is an Argument of Wisdom, because this is Good to them; but the same Argument would not hold as to a Being void of this Sense of Beauty. And therefore the Beauty apparent to us in Nature, will not of itself prove Wisdom in the Cause, unless this Cause, or Author of Nature be suppos’d Benevolent; and then indeed the Happiness of Mankind is desirable or Good to the Supreme Cause." In my opinion, Hutcheson's point here is that because "beauty" and "uniformity" bring pleasure to the eye, anyone who creates something of beauty has brought joy to those who will view it in the future, and the act of creating it is, therefore, "benevolent" in its nature.

In this debate of the nature of man being either selfish or selfless, I find myself towards the side of Hutcheson and Smith. This is an optimistic approach, however, I feel that it is a necessary one. The world would be a very dark environment, in my opinion, if Mandeville were correct and everyone is just in it for themselves. 

Source:

Francis Hutcheson, An Inquiry into the Original of Our Ideas of Beauty and Virtue in Two Treatises, ed. Wolfgang Leidhold (Indianapolis: Liberty Fund, 2004).

Accessed from http://oll.libertyfund.org/title/2462 on 2013-09-11

Plagiarism Exercise

1. IN CONGRESS, July 4, 1776.
The unanimous Declaration of the thirteen united States of America,
When in the Course of human events, it becomes necessary for one people to dissolve the political bands which have connected them with another, and to assume among the powers of the earth, the separate and equal station to which the Laws of Nature and of Nature's God entitle them, a decent respect to the opinions of mankind requires that they should declare the causes which impel them to the separation.
We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness.--That to secure these rights, Governments are instituted among Men, deriving their just powers from the consent of the governed, --That whenever any Form of Government becomes destructive of these ends, it is the Right of the People to alter or to abolish it, and to institute new Government, laying its foundation on such principles and organizing its powers in such form, as to them shall seem most likely to effect their Safety and Happiness. Prudence, indeed, will dictate that Governments long established should not be changed for light and transient causes; and accordingly all experience hath shewn, that mankind are more disposed to suffer, while evils are sufferable, than to right themselves by abolishing the forms to which they are accustomed. But when a long train of abuses and usurpations, pursuing invariably the same Object evinces a design to reduce them under absolute Despotism, it is their right, it is their duty, to throw off such Government, and to provide new Guards for their future security.--Such has been the patient sufferance of these Colonies; and such is now the necessity which constrains them to alter their former Systems of Government. The history of the present King of Great Britain is a history of repeated injuries and usurpations, all having in direct object the establishment of an absolute Tyranny over these States. To prove this, let Facts be submitted to a candid world.
He has refused his Assent to Laws, the most wholesome and necessary for the public good.
He has forbidden his Governors to pass Laws of immediate and pressing importance, unless suspended in their operation till his Assent should be obtained; and when so suspended, he has utterly neglected to attend to them.
He has refused to pass other Laws for the accommodation of large districts of people, unless those people would relinquish the right of Representation in the Legislature, a right inestimable to them and formidable to tyrants only.
He has called together legislative bodies at places unusual, uncomfortable, and distant from the depository of their public Records, for the sole purpose of fatiguing them into compliance with his measures.
He has dissolved Representative Houses repeatedly, for opposing with manly firmness his invasions on the rights of the people.
He has refused for a long time, after such dissolutions, to cause others to be elected; whereby the Legislative powers, incapable of Annihilation, have returned to the People at large for their exercise; the State remaining in the mean time exposed to all the dangers of invasion from without, and convulsions within.
He has endeavoured to prevent the population of these States; for that purpose obstructing the Laws for Naturalization of Foreigners; refusing to pass others to encourage their migrations hither, and raising the conditions of new Appropriations of Lands.
He has obstructed the Administration of Justice, by refusing his Assent to Laws for establishing Judiciary powers.
He has made Judges dependent on his Will alone, for the tenure of their offices, and the amount and payment of their salaries.
He has erected a multitude of New Offices, and sent hither swarms of Officers to harrass our people, and eat out their substance.
He has kept among us, in times of peace, Standing Armies without the Consent of our legislatures.
He has affected to render the Military independent of and superior to the Civil power.
He has combined with others to subject us to a jurisdiction foreign to our constitution, and unacknowledged by our laws; giving his Assent to their Acts of pretended Legislation:
For Quartering large bodies of armed troops among us:
For protecting them, by a mock Trial, from punishment for any Murders which they should commit on the Inhabitants of these States:
For cutting off our Trade with all parts of the world:
For imposing Taxes on us without our Consent:
For depriving us in many cases, of the benefits of Trial by Jury:
For transporting us beyond Seas to be tried for pretended offences
For abolishing the free System of English Laws in a neighbouring Province, establishing therein an Arbitrary government, and enlarging its Boundaries so as to render it at once an example and fit instrument for introducing the same absolute rule into these Colonies:
For taking away our Charters, abolishing our most valuable Laws, and altering fundamentally the Forms of our Governments:
For suspending our own Legislatures, and declaring themselves invested with power to legislate for us in all cases whatsoever.
He has abdicated Government here, by declaring us out of his Protection and waging War against us.
He has plundered our seas, ravaged our Coasts, burnt our towns, and destroyed the lives of our people.
He is at this time transporting large Armies of foreign Mercenaries to compleat the works of death, desolation and tyranny, already begun with circumstances of Cruelty & perfidy scarcely paralleled in the most barbarous ages, and totally unworthy the Head of a civilized nation.
He has constrained our fellow Citizens taken Captive on the high Seas to bear Arms against their Country, to become the executioners of their friends and Brethren, or to fall themselves by their Hands.
He has excited domestic insurrections amongst us, and has endeavoured to bring on the inhabitants of our frontiers, the merciless Indian Savages, whose known rule of warfare, is an undistinguished destruction of all ages, sexes and conditions.
In every stage of these Oppressions We have Petitioned for Redress in the most humble terms: Our repeated Petitions have been answered only by repeated injury. A Prince whose character is thus marked by every act which may define a Tyrant, is unfit to be the ruler of a free people.
Nor have We been wanting in attentions to our Brittish brethren. We have warned them from time to time of attempts by their legislature to extend an unwarrantable jurisdiction over us. We have reminded them of the circumstances of our emigration and settlement here. We have appealed to their native justice and magnanimity, and we have conjured them by the ties of our common kindred to disavow these usurpations, which, would inevitably interrupt our connections and correspondence. They too have been deaf to the voice of justice and of consanguinity. We must, therefore, acquiesce in the necessity, which denounces our Separation, and hold them, as we hold the rest of mankind, Enemies in War, in Peace Friends.
We, therefore, the Representatives of the united States of America, in General Congress, Assembled, appealing to the Supreme Judge of the world for the rectitude of our intentions, do, in the Name, and by Authority of the good People of these Colonies, solemnly publish and declare, That these United Colonies are, and of Right ought to be Free and Independent States; that they are Absolved from all Allegiance to the British Crown, and that all political connection between them and the State of Great Britain, is and ought to be totally dissolved; and that as Free and Independent States, they have full Power to levy War, conclude Peace, contract Alliances, establish Commerce, and to do all other Acts and Things which Independent States may of right do. And for the support of this Declaration, with a firm reliance on the protection of divine Providence, we mutually pledge to each other our Lives, our Fortunes and our sacred Honor.


2. I have a dream that one day this nation will rise up and live out the true meaning of its creed: 'We hold these truths to be self-evident; that all men are created equal."
I have a dream that one day on the red hills of Georgia the sons of former slaves and the sons of former slave owners will be able to sit together at the table of brotherhood.
I have a dream that one day even the state of Mississippi, a state sweltering with the heat of injustice, sweltering with the heat of oppression, will be transformed into an oasis of freedom and justice.
I have a dream that little children will one day live in a nation where they will not be judged by the color of their skin but by the content of their character.
I have a dream today.
I have a dream that one day down in Alabama, with its vicious racists, with its Governor having his lips dripping with the words of interposition and nullification, one day right there in Alabama little black boys and black girls will be able to join hands with little white boys and white girls as sisters and brothers.
I have a dream today.
I have a dream that one day every valley shall be exalted, every hill and mountain shall be made low, the rough places plains, and the crooked places will be made straight, and before the Lord will be revealed, and all flesh shall see it together.

Source: King, Martin L., Jr. ""I Have A Dream"" March on Washington. Lincoln Memorial, Washington, D.C. 28 Aug. 1963. Speech.


3. The New York Times is a daily American newspaper, published continuously in New York City since being founded on September 18, 1851. It has won more Pulitzer Prizes than any other news organization, with 112.


4. I believe that electricity is like a fluid, moving throughout the world.