#9 Howard Zinn

(August 24, 1922 - January 27, 2010)

Howard Zinn was a historian, playwright, and activist. He wrote the classic A People's History of the United States, a brilliant and moving history of the American people from the point of view of those whose dilemma has been largely absent from most histories.

The book, which has sold more than two million copies, has been featured on The Sopranos and Simpsons, and in the film Good Will Hunting. In 2009, History aired The People Speak, an highly praised documentary co-directed by Zinn, based on A People's History and another volume, Voices of a People's History of the United States. Howard Zinn was a co-executive producer, co-director , and co-author of The People Speak.

Zinn grew up in Brooklyn in a working-class, immigrant household. At 18 he became a shipyard worker and then flew bomber missions during World War II. These experiences helped shape his opposition to war and passion for history. After attending college under the GI Bill and earning a Ph.D. in history from Columbia, he taught at Spelman, where he became active in the civil rights movement. After being fired by Spelman for his support for student protesters, Zinn became a professor of Political Science at Boston University, were he taught until his retirement in 1988.

Zinn was the author of many books, including an autobiography, You Can't Be Neutral on a Moving Train, the play Marx in Soho, and Passionate Declarations. He received the Lannan Foundation Literary Award for Nonfiction and the Eugene V. Debs award for his writing and political activism.

#8 Works Cited

Archer, D., & Rahmstorf, S. (2010). The Climate Crisis: An Introductory Guide to Climate Change. New York: Cambridge University Press.

Berlatsky, N. (2009). Global Viewpoints: Population Growth. Waterville, Maine: Greenhaven Press.

Grant, L. (2000). Too Many People: The Case for Reversing Growth. Santa Ana, CA: Seven Locks Press.

McNall, S. (2011). Rapid Climate Change: Causes, Consequences, and Solutions. New York, New York: Routledge.

Shah, Anup. (2010). Global Warming and Population. Global Issues.

#7 Patent Problem

America’s food industry is making a killing. Since the 20^th century, the farming industry has gone through a radical change. Today, only four varieties of potatoes are widely grown. 97% of the vegetables grown in the beginning of the 20^th century are now extinct. The terrifying idea of – “Patenting,” is effecting our daily lives as citizens. How these companies own anything they put this “patenting” process into. Giving these companies the power to own and control the species of the Earth. Basically, whoever controls the seeds – control the food. Putting “Monsanto” ahead of the game and their $8 billion spent for buying an assortment of seed companies only helped them, rather than hurt.

This issue of “Patenting” has never been voted on by the people, or Congress. Leaving myself questioning all of the other rules we follow as citizens - and practice as a nation. In 1998 in Canada, when Percy (a farmer that has been farming for 53 years) got a ridiculous lawsuit from “Monsanto,” that is when I began to really go against this “patenting” idea. A line needs to be drawn, and farmers should have a right to continue to farm. Giving the right to save and reuse their own seeds, or buy conventional seeds from their neighbor like they have been in the past.  Without having to worry about infringing someone’s patent. Percy and his wife had to destroy over 1,000 pounds of seeds that they have been developing over decades. This is just one example of how “Monsanto” is putting lawsuits on world-wide farmers and growing with greed. Destroying the work and success many farmers have accomplished. They’re taking the rights and privacy of these important people, who are making the world go round essentially. Is their goal to own all of the seeds in the world and ruin the many lives they encounter? We, as citizens, have a vital problem here we need to fight against before “Monsanto” takes complete control.  

#6 "Please Turn Out the Lights..."

The Mexican-American by the name of, Daniel D. Portado, from California made up this satirical movement that was created for laughs. Until 2012 Republican Candidate, Mitt Romney used this same “self-deportation” topic to open the ears of other republicans out there. I, myself, am a Democrat that goes against most of everything any republican wants.  But this particular “joke” about changing the illegal immigrant problem, actually had me agreeing with the National Review – “FAIR.”  Giving me an example of how a true republican would go about it.  Although, it actually might have hurt Romney more than it will help him in the near future. Using the Florida poll from the video, this source showed you the numbers of a gradual decline from 2008 to 2012. The percentage of republicans who were for the deportation of illegal immigrants declined.

I feel as if it was the beginning of an idea that could be repaired to improve the future, because some immigrants would choose to “self-deport.” If they created an alternative way to give illegal immigrants a path toward citizenship, a chunk of those immigrants would choose the easier way out and get deported.  Opening massive amounts of jobs everywhere and getting closer to solving unemployment. The reasons to why we should have this broken immigration system fixed, is what kept me from actually laughing when I heard this “joke.” These illegal immigrants have been taking too many jobs from us citizens for years, therefore, are bringing down the quality of life more after every year.  “What it means to be an American is in the hearts of the people who, in their struggles and heartaches, in their joys and triumphs, fight for America and fight to be American every day,” says the Huff Post. 

#5 No Government, No Worries

After reading both sources I started to understand what a “political philosophy” was, and how important it is just to understand your opinion on the subject. Think about it in the since of, you’re only gaining from learning this about yourself. The sooner you realize your specific political philosophy, the earlier you can attempt to make changes in this world. Personally, I had to analyze the Wikipedia document a few more times, to fully understand the foundation of the term “political philosophy.” Because before you walk you have to learn how to crawl.

In addition, ended up realizing something I have never before, and that is my political philosophy. I had no idea how to put this into words – until today. “In a vernacular sense, the term "political philosophy" often refers to a general view, or specific ethic, political belief or attitude, about politics that does not necessarily belong to the technical discipline of philosophy,” from Wikipedia. This is the statement that stood out to me, because it related to me in all aspects. I’m a citizen that when I hear “political philosophy,” I now think of “anarchist” myself. I believe all parts of the government should be abolished, and non-existing. We have been in this game we call “life” for generations now, and the government is only holding us back from reaching our dreams sooner.

In conclusion, Michael Benton, the author of “My Understanding of Anarchism 3.0,” helped me fill in the necessary gaps to fully complete my opinion on the subject. “Instead of our current economic system that values things over people and profits over places, anarchists value people/places over profits. Money is an illusion, a powerful one that has real effects in the world, but an illusion nonetheless.” Money should not be our main focus in this world, and there should be no government to say anything different.  

#4 Political Compass Test

#3 Developing as a Nation

The three sources of information were something that should have been influential to every audience. Because this information keeps citizens aware of why they should be proud of the country they live in, and grateful for the world that surrounds it. Without this view, many would not grasp the struggles we are facing today and more importantly, the struggles many had to face to get to where we are today. These people from the past (18^th century and before) deserve more creditability than anyone else that left an impact on this nation, because without them we wouldn’t even have had a foundation to impact. These geniuses lead other special individuals to become heroes, and more importantly a part of our nation’s history. Inside the Wikipedia article was a vivid description of how our foundation was built, how we developed as a nation, and how the world became to bloom from here on. Known as the “Age of Reason,” this is when the 18^th century intellectuals became planting the seeds to a brighter future.

On the other hand, the two clips gave awareness to its audience. About the situations we are in today as nation, and how we are going about these issues. How we are not necessarily planning head but instead, doing as little as possible. Our nation is not using a huge percentage of their brain to think of the future just as much as today. To truly move forward successfully we need to start centering our ideas more on the future. Like Alan Lakein said, “Planning is bringing the future into the present so that you can do something about it now.” We can then focus on other influential things, like school, and improve every grade levels test scores. Therefore, generations will pass and we will only be ahead of our time rather than barely surviving the present.