Irresponsible and Negligent... What's New?

The Bush administration has again struck a blow against appropriate and prudent public policy. Bush has vetoed a bill that would extend basic health care insurance coverage to 10 million children who parents earn too much to be eligible for Medicaid but cannot afford insurance on their own. In recent polls it was found the policy was favored by over seventy percent of Americans. This in a country that is traditionally against social spending, even for the poor. The fact that Bush said that he vetoed this measure because it was too big of an increase in spending is impossible to justify in light of the billions spent each year on subsidies to large companies and pointless military purchases and research. It is difficult to comprehend how providing unneeded subsidies to those who don't need it is unquestioned while providing health care to children left behind by the system is considered a burden. The audacity of Bush to attempt to prove that he is a "fiscal conservative" at this point is bewildering. Even Republicans realize that he is not and never has been a fiscal conservative. Hopefully Congress can push through the desperately needed bill and get back with more "important" business like flag burning amendments.

Post of Convenience

I would have to say the most crucial post in a blog is the second one. For the first one you get some leeway because you have to introduce yourself and identify the reason for creating this node on the "internets." The second post has to prove that you are here to stay. It can't be posted too closely after the first or it seems that you are desperate for attention and it can't be posted too long after or you seem like a shiftless layabout who is attempting to prove they have a "real" life. I assure you that I am aware this may not be the best way to start out a second post; a self-referential discussion of the unwritten rules of blogs. I will try to pick things up.

After the first extremely hectic year of my thesis, things are finally starting to come together. I was going to say things are starting to settle down, sadly nothing could be further from the truth. Even though my schedule isn't as set as it was in the first year, the stuff I have to worry about now is far more important and requires much more concentration to create. Right now I am conducting my univariate and bivariate stats on my dataset. This is a time consuming process and I will not go into the details. This is compounded by the fact that I am using a theoretical approach whose operationalization(a fancy word for turning concepts into something measurable) is contentious and something I have to be ready to defend once I create it. At the same time I am working on three of the central chapters of my thesis. On top of that I still have to TA and RA, along with my duties as chair of the Sociology and Anthropology Graduate Caucus (a committee that has become mostly devoted to getting the alcoholic in the cohort free booze). Now I am not posting this to complain. I can't think of any place I would rather be. I am really enjoying working on and writing my thesis. The theories I am using are really exciting(probably only to international development folks) and provide me with a wealth of information that I am using to construct an engaging thesis.

The grad school experience has also helped me to see what my plans for the future could be. Once Heather and I finish our Masters' we plan on going to Washington D.C. and getting jobs in public policy. This would mean working for a think tank, NGO(non-governmental organization), or possibly some job on The Hill. I am presently surprised by the wealth of interesting jobs I will be qualified for and would be applying for at the moment if I were done already. Compounding this is the fact that we will be going out there in summer 2008 just ahead of what looks to be a watershed year in American politics (let's hope Americans can get it correct for once). While the weather in D.C. will be a huge downgrade from Vancouver, I look forward to going back there. Eating at the same restaurant only a few tables away from an arch neo-conservative traitorous hack (Robert Novak) is just too much fun to pass up. And this time the housing situation won't involve a lecherous roommate who inquires if I will sleep on the couch if he calls an escort service (unless Heather is into that sort of thing, unbeknownst to me).

Welcome

It is easy to lose track of friends as life goes on. I'd like to thank Sarah for having the great idea to start a blogging pool, so that we can keep track of each other. Like Heather, I am in my second year of my M.A. This means I am writing my thesis currently. In my thesis I am examining the relationship between income inequality and health in Chile, within the context of neoliberal reforms. I am sure that does not sound terribly exciting to most people. Sadly no, I am not visiting Chile as part of my thesis (unless I find some additional funding in the near future). My thesis only requires the use of a dataset from Chile.

Things are really busy right now. This semester I am both an RA and a TA, in addition to the thesis work and the advanced stats course Heather and I are auditing. Even though we are really busy we are able to find time to eat at excellent restaurants, go to film festivals and hang out with friends. I am really enjoying living in Vancouver and learning about living in Canada. As similar as it seems to the U.S. there are many funny little idiosyncrasies that seperate them. It has made me appreciate and resent things about the U.S. at the same time. It has also made me interested in living in other countries at some point.

Yesterday I walked into one of the two classes I TA for. I head up to the front and greeted the professor(who also happens to be my senior supervisor Dr. Fernando De Maio). We chatted for a bit and I headed over to my seat. As I was walking over I pulled off my sweater and heard a little chuckle from the front of the room. I looked back and didn't see anyone in particular. Later Fernando and I handed out a course review and went to grab a quick coffee while the students filled it out. As we head down the stairwell Fernando turns to me and says "Did you notice we are wearing the same t-shirt." Looking at the collar of his shirt protruding from his sweater I see that we are both wearing a purplish-merlot colored shirt. Fernando and I also have two pairs of pants that are identical, luckily I did not end up wearing those pants today, as he did. When I informed him of this he was shocked. I said "Well I am your TA, RA and graduate student, it was just a matter of time till I turned into a mini-Fernando."

The Right Side of History

After weeks of positive social action in Myanmar, the military regime has done what many of us expected all along, turned to violence. Monks and their supporters have been marching in solidarity and called for reforms to the country. At a time like this, countries that support democracy need to heed the call to action that these marches represent. These monks have led similar marches in the past and have faced violent crackdowns. Still they march in defiance. The military dictatorship has committed crimes against humanity and even, it has been argued, genocide against some of the ethnic minorities that live in rural areas of the country. The time has come to act. We must move beyond sanctions and simple monetary action. Such petty and deplorable regimes must face a more constant pressure from both regional actors and the international community. This pressure should not include violence, unless it is decided upon in a multilateral way, and in the protection of those who are marching for democracy, or those who continue to face starvation and forced relocation throughout the country. Toppling a military regime with violence only opens a power vacuum that is often filled with another violent regime. In 2001 a U.N. commission published "The Right of Intervention" a document that made the argument that the right to intervene in the affairs of a country must be taken into account when its actions against its own people constitute genocide or other deplorable conditions imposed in a consistent and measured way. The U.S. has failed the test of history many times in the past, it is time we place our actions in line with our rhetoric and not in line with the interests of multi-national corporations.

Development as Opulence

The historical specificity of development is important to keep in mind. The social context of development is still important because it belies much that is taken for granted when discussing issues of development. Development is a misnomer because it depends on the assumption that countries move forward on a trajectory that would eventually lead to a society that is similar to those currently deemed developed. This idea is untenable because the “developed” world is unsustainable and it would require massive change in order for even a portion of the world to reach that level of decadence.

Instead the development paradigm that is put forward by many dominant institutions is not sufficient to allow for actual change. This is particularly reflected in groups such as the World Bank and International Monetary Fund that place both responsibility and blame on the countries themselves for not "developing." This blame is not appropriate because these countries exist within a world trade system that is horribly unfair and does not serve their interests.

The contradiction of "development" can be seen clearly in China. As China begins to turn into a consumer society the ecological footprint of many of its citizens is increasing exponentially. This situation will continue to exacerbate the already dangerous trajectory we are on for consumption of resources. By exporting neo-liberal consumerism as the mode and end of development we are selling short a chance at a more just and equitable world.

A Plot Most Despicable

A recently released report makes the charge that the U.S. did in fact set up illegal and secret prisons in Europe that were used to interrogate suspects in the war on terror. The report also alleges that flights were known about by different countries that were involved. While the CIA has recently rejected these charges it is difficult to believe their assertions that there is no truth. This is once again a damning indictment of the Bush administration and represents a significant threat to democracy in America as well as the other countries involved. It is telling that this sort of thing is plausible because of previous actions of the administration, such as wire tapping, Guantanamo, and the designation of "enemy combatants." These actions put more Americans in danger as we are continually seen as an evil superpower. If other countries were to do the same actions we would not stand for it, thus we cannot allow it to happen here either.

The Breakdown of Democracy

It is truly scary when a presidential candidate is laughed out of the election because of how he looks or how he talks. Dennis Kucinich represents a significant change in politics. His proposed policies would attempt to create solutions that would be a value to a majority of Americans. He refuses to be beholden to corporate or ideological interests. Kucinich is often called "Dennis the Menace" for his dogged approach and willingness to propose legislation that others are afraid to. This undeserved moniker is an indication of the poor state of democracy that the U.S. currently is subject to. Three major factors show that we have truly lost course: money required to run, confused public perception, and a poor system of elections.

An increasingly ludicrous amount of money is required to run a campaign for election for either the presidency or for seats in Congress. This leads to a system were raising funds becomes the most important aspect of a legislators time. Less time is left to work on issues and actually create quality legislation. This system, which is taken for granted by most Americans, is actually very different than democracy found in other countries. Election cycles in Europe last only a matter of months (though this number is now increasing), candidates spend a fraction of their U.S. counterparts, and the voters are able to be more informed on issues. Because parties are the focus in Europe, as opposed to the individual focus of the U.S. system, it is much easier to identify what policies would be pushed for if one of the parties is elected. The parties hold their members to the party line and because there are multiple parties it is much easier to find one that fits the politics that you would like seeing.

Now I am not saying that we have to go to a proportional representation system that is seen in Europe, we do need to implement significant electoral change. Changes that would make legislators less beholden to special interests, allow them to actually legislate, and allow U.S. voters to understand what the benefits of voting are.