Déjà Vu

 In political science today, Professor Singh spoke about Thucydides, a Greek writer, historian and thinker who had a theory called “Power Politics”.  Thucydides wrote a historical account on the Peloponnesian War, which was between two major powers at the time, Athens and Sparta. Athens was the intellectual capital, where ideas were considered an item of trade, it was richer of the two, was a very open society where democracy flourished, and also the mentality of the Athenians was a bit on the arrogant side.

Sparta, on the other hand, was the exact opposite. A military powerhouse, Spartans were known for their motto of “Win or Die,” was not a very open society and remained very closed and isolated to the outside world, and frugal and simplistic in structure and standards of living. They fought for nearly a century and over generations over, no surprise here, power. But during times of truce, both city-states were keen on trying to gain allies and power by going to the smaller, and weaker city-states such as Melos, and forcing them to join their sides. In the end, the larger military power won, Sparta, and Athens and its age-old culture eventually died out.

Thousands of years later, fast forward to the 1960s, the height of the Cold War. The two largest superpower nations, the United States and the Soviet Union are in the midst of a large rivalry. The United States is well known as a beacon of democracy, a hub of innovation and ideas and economic prosperity. However, Americans are well-known for their “we-have-it-all” attitude and pride.

The Soviet Union is a cold, isolated nation where the people are ruled with a tight, iron fist. Militarily mighty, the Soviets are not keen on welcoming other people into their barren and sparse nation. Also note that at the time, the Americans and Soviets do not physically fight in one another’s territories, but instead, they move into the developing nations and fight out their issues there. Forcing nations to either side with them or the other, nations such as Panama, Vietnam, the Koreas, El Salvador, and others, to suffer as battlegrounds for the first world and the second world.

Any of this sounding familiar? It’s a direct parallel, one where the big nations duke it out over who rules the world, and everyone else bearing the brunt of their rivalries. And it’s still happening. The developed nations are all competing with one another, try to climb on top of one another at the top of the ladder, while all the rest of the developing nations are struggling just to climb the ladder itself. Right now, it’s just a big competition, one where countries are being forced to jump, and while many countries are, they might not be ready. What do these nations do? What is they’re too behind to jump? If everyone is too busy trying to get ahead in the game themselves, who will help the others?

Take only as much as you can give

I’m in an introductory Environmental Science class this semester, and we are actually talking about waste in class right now. As the population grows with the help of technological advancements, we are giving off more waste, in the form of carbon dioxide and other greenhouse gases, and this is quickly eating away at the ozone layer. Toxic chemicals and pesticides and such used in the agriculture industry definitely are not helping as well. And with globalized trade becoming so open and wide now, the pressure to fuel this booming trade between nations has also increased, depleting natural resources. People are no longer treating the land as it should be treated, and people are exploiting the land for its products. Deforestation, overgrazing of fields and excessive tilling of land are also big problems that need to be regulated firmly.

However, this is not entirely globalization’s fault. This environmental problem is something that has been building up over decades and something that had not been brought to people’s attention. It was only until about several years ago when the environmental crisis was brought to the public’s attention, and with the help of Al Gore’s documentary, activism spread and the urgency of the matter was finally out. The earth needs to be treated with kindness and there needs to be less chemical usage, less pollution; less things that will harm the earth. You take only as much as you give, and people are definitely taking more than they will be able to return. But that is the challenge, to replenish our resources and change our negative habits into better ones that respect the environment as the ultimate giver.

Get in the know!

Today is World AIDS Day of 2008, marking the 20^th anniversary of World AIDS Day, and activists, victims, and just people all alike, come together to bring awareness to this global epidemic.  Although technology and medicinal advancements has helped bring about more than two dozen anti-HIV drugs, there are almost 40 million people in the world living with the virus. There are more than 1 million people are living with HIV in the United States alone, and the number is growing by about 56,000 people every year. Believe it or not, the DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA HAS THE HIGHEST RATE OF HIV INFECTED PEOPLE IN THE COUNTRY. Not New York City, or Los Angeles, or Chicago, but a medium size city only an hour’s drive away from us, has an HIV rate that is nearly 10 times greater than any other city in the country. One out of every 20 DC residents is HIV positive, while one out of every 20 people suffers from full-blown AIDS (a CD4 T-cell count of below 200).

Globalization through the years has contributed to HIV/AIDS, both negatively and positively. With globalization spreading and opening doors, it opened ways for human interaction and communication to increase, but this also meant that the spread of diseases like HIV had it easier traveling to different places. Barriers were brought down, and while this let good technology and economic advancement in, it also let in the bad. Also, globalization also further expands the gap between the rich and the poor, and allows for the exploitation of the poor. Through this exploitation, the poor, who are the majority infected, are unable to receive proper treatment or medications, thus worsening the HIV/AIDS situation.

However, advanced technologies have allowed scientists to further their research into finding an ultimate cure for the virus, or, for the time being, drugs that help lengthen lives of HIV victims.  More and more people are becoming aware of the disease and how to prevent its spread through awareness campaigns and cyber communication and other types of media. Through awareness, activism increases and soon enough, legislation will pass, and more and more people from all over the world will get involved together towards a mutual goal of stopping this deadly virus.