Political Socialization Essay Example for Free

Political Socialization Essay Both my parents are independents; and I used to identify myself as independent. However, I believe school was the political socialization agent that has had the greatest impact in my judgments and decisions related to politics. This process began in my country, Venezuela, there I learned about world and Venezuelan history, patriotism, symbols, basic institutions and values of politics in school. I was always taught to stand for my principles and beliefs. Therefore, from seven to twelve grades I got involved with my schools Student Government Group. At that time, I was able to make a difference in issues related to students and staff interests; I also made a difference in the community by organizing conservationist campaigns, good neighbor activities, and beautification of our city projects, to mention some. Most of the time I felt that I was not bonded to any of the countrys political parties, but shortly after entering college I began to work and there were the opportunities for involvement within the system. Unfortunately, my countrys political situation started to deteriorate with the intended of a military take over. Later on, it was totally crushed with the actual Presidential election of the perpetrator, current President, Hugo Chaves. My trust and faith in a democracy were shattered until I decided to come to the US. Now, I appreciate and love this country very much for all the opportunities existing to me. I also feel that my opinions in American politics, ethics and other subjects are well-informed and once again school has marked and amplified them. On the other hand, I believe that a persons knowledge of politics cannot simply come from their own personal experience or through the lessons learned from others directly. For instance, the mass media influences individuals by what they report and what they do not report; and it does not frequently discuss alternatives to the way society is fundamentally structured. In conclusion, I think much of the political knowledge people have comes from a combination of agents, for me in priority basis are: school, my values, and the mass media. I also think that my family has the least impact on me as political socialization agent because they were never inclined to any political party and this was not an important subject of discussion in my house.

the militia Essay -- essays research papers

  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Officially, a militia is part of the organized armed forces of a country that is called upon only in an emergency. There have been paramilitary groups with revolutionary ideas throughout America’s history, but today’s militia movement is a new more organized and violent presence (Meyers). Today the militia are unofficial citizens’ armies organized by private individuals, usually with antigovernment, far right agendas. They rationalize that the American people need armed force to help defend themselves against an increasingly oppressive government that is becoming part of a global conspiracy called the â€Å"New World Order† (Sonder, 2000). These armed groups call themselves militias; to both imply the image of the Minuteman of the Revolution and to try to claim legitimacy by asserting that these paramilitary groups were the â€Å"unorganized militia† of federal and state law. The causes for the militia movement are many, but mos t center around a fear of gun confiscation and the role such confiscation would play in their various one-world conspiracy theories. The major events, which helped to incite the movement, include the Ruby Ridge and Waco standoffs, the Brady Law and the Assault Weapons Manufacture Ban. The first groups began forming at the end of 1993; by mid-1994 (Sonder, 2000) there were a variety of such groups in many states across the country. While the media noted the emergence of this movement, little attention was paid to the phenomenon until late 1994, when civil rights organizations such as the Southern Poverty Law Center and the Anti-Defamation League released reports on the militia movement. According to the Southern Poverty Law Center most of these citizens’ armies have few members and are not involved in violent activities (Sonder, 2000). They are interested mostly in the purchase and use of firearms, in discussions of patriotism, and in playing weekend war games. However, there are more than a hundred of these groups, which probably have ties to violent right wing and racist organizations. The militia exploded into prominence, however, in April 1995 when early reports indicated that Timothy McVeigh and Terry Nichols, the Oklahoma City bombing suspects, had belonged to a Michigan militia, or that militia groups were in some way directly connected to the bombing. As a result, nearly every newspaper and television stati... ...f nuclear material  ·Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Criminalizing the use of chemical weapons  ·Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Asking the attorney general to issue a report on whether bomb making literature is protected by the First Amendment  ·Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Giving the secretary of state authorization to identify a group as terrorist and forbid them from raising funds, they can also freeze the assets of such organizations  ·Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Offering restitution to victims of some federal crimes  ·Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Authorizing more than $1 billion over five years for federal, state, and local government programs designed to prevent or deal with terrorists. After the Anti-Terrorism Law of 1996 was passed militia violence continued throughout the United States, but none of activities seemed organized on a large scale (Sonder, 2000). This could be due to increased pressures on the movement by the new law, which forced the militia further underground. Dees, Morris, (1996), Gathering Storm: America’s Militia Threat. Meyers, Leisa, Militia Movement, Microsoft Encarta 2001 CD-ROM Sonder, Ben, (2000) The Militia Movement: Fighters Of The Far Right the militia Essay -- essays research papers   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Officially, a militia is part of the organized armed forces of a country that is called upon only in an emergency. There have been paramilitary groups with revolutionary ideas throughout America’s history, but today’s militia movement is a new more organized and violent presence (Meyers). Today the militia are unofficial citizens’ armies organized by private individuals, usually with antigovernment, far right agendas. They rationalize that the American people need armed force to help defend themselves against an increasingly oppressive government that is becoming part of a global conspiracy called the â€Å"New World Order† (Sonder, 2000). These armed groups call themselves militias; to both imply the image of the Minuteman of the Revolution and to try to claim legitimacy by asserting that these paramilitary groups were the â€Å"unorganized militia† of federal and state law. The causes for the militia movement are many, but mos t center around a fear of gun confiscation and the role such confiscation would play in their various one-world conspiracy theories. The major events, which helped to incite the movement, include the Ruby Ridge and Waco standoffs, the Brady Law and the Assault Weapons Manufacture Ban. The first groups began forming at the end of 1993; by mid-1994 (Sonder, 2000) there were a variety of such groups in many states across the country. While the media noted the emergence of this movement, little attention was paid to the phenomenon until late 1994, when civil rights organizations such as the Southern Poverty Law Center and the Anti-Defamation League released reports on the militia movement. According to the Southern Poverty Law Center most of these citizens’ armies have few members and are not involved in violent activities (Sonder, 2000). They are interested mostly in the purchase and use of firearms, in discussions of patriotism, and in playing weekend war games. However, there are more than a hundred of these groups, which probably have ties to violent right wing and racist organizations. The militia exploded into prominence, however, in April 1995 when early reports indicated that Timothy McVeigh and Terry Nichols, the Oklahoma City bombing suspects, had belonged to a Michigan militia, or that militia groups were in some way directly connected to the bombing. As a result, nearly every newspaper and television stati... ...f nuclear material  ·Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Criminalizing the use of chemical weapons  ·Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Asking the attorney general to issue a report on whether bomb making literature is protected by the First Amendment  ·Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Giving the secretary of state authorization to identify a group as terrorist and forbid them from raising funds, they can also freeze the assets of such organizations  ·Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Offering restitution to victims of some federal crimes  ·Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Authorizing more than $1 billion over five years for federal, state, and local government programs designed to prevent or deal with terrorists. After the Anti-Terrorism Law of 1996 was passed militia violence continued throughout the United States, but none of activities seemed organized on a large scale (Sonder, 2000). This could be due to increased pressures on the movement by the new law, which forced the militia further underground. Dees, Morris, (1996), Gathering Storm: America’s Militia Threat. Meyers, Leisa, Militia Movement, Microsoft Encarta 2001 CD-ROM Sonder, Ben, (2000) The Militia Movement: Fighters Of The Far Right

Living downstream essay Essay

The toxic century refers a history of events in how mankind has polluted the environment and even our own bodies. This was done using harmful chemicals and toxins through a variety of military and industrial practices. Even now if we eat healthy, exercise and live the most innocent lives, you can come under attack from this invisible enemy, simply by existing on this planet. What caused this? Of the 200 organic chemicals known to cause breast cancer in animals 203 are manmade and 9 are natural. This stat shows us that we created a toxic environment. Wilhelm Hueper who we learned about in class said The majority of human cancers are traceable to environmental exposures and therefore potentially preventable† â€Å"Why did we do this to ourselves? After each World War, numerous military plus industrial practices and technologies have introduced a series of new chemicals into our bodies and damaged the environment we call home. This led to many diseases such as cancer or †¢Itai itai byÃ…  †¢(ouch ouch sickness) the toxic century is a by-product of rapid industrialization due to war. Sandra Steingraber wrote the book living downstream about her experiences with cancer and chemicals. In it she details the wars in playing an active role in the toxic century and in her words† changed chemistry and physics forever.† After each world war the need for each country trying to rapidly industrialize in order to beat other countries was so important that common sense was not present. Countries decided to forgo safety checks in order to make sure their products were more effective. As a result, many chemicals such as chorine, DDT (used as an insect repellant in the war) and PCB’s were released in society for commercial use. DDT in particular was linked to cancer and hurt wildlife in the areas it was released. Chorine was used in the war as a biological weapon was very effective and fatal against enemies. After the war, chorine was released in cleaning products, medicines and agriculture. They used propaganda and the ignorance of the people in order to sell the products. It was a time where western society was obsessed with cleanliness, they would give up anything to have it in their homes. First it was health issue & economic industry, soon it became a desirable convenience & cultural norm. The cold war was created as a by-product of the two world wars. After World War 2, countries have found a new untested technology known as nuclear bombs. This led to the invention nuclear power where countries started generating power from nuclear sources. The problem of this is nuclear accidents. At least 6 of the biggest nuclear accidents have been recorded. Chalk river in Canada being one and the most recent one in Fukushima, Japan. Nuclear fallout results in cancerous carcinogens being released into the environment. The effects of which are not felt until years and years later. This is not allof the negative effects, more importantly, a state of fear was created in society. An example was given in lecture about a town that was near a nuclear plant. When an explosion occurred in the plant, the people fled thousands of miles away. The mayor only recommend a few people leave and just a few miles away. This shows you the state of mind, these people were in after hearing about other nuclear meltdowns. On the positive side, it shows that people understand the dangers of the toxic century and things like this will not be endorsed by the people in the future. Sandra Steingrabber advised at the end of her book that we should use the precautionary principal in our daily lives. That we should act to prevent and not the other way around. One can only imagine what would have happened if we testing chemicals before using them commercially or simply not using them at all. One could argue that we gained so much as a society thanks to the inventions that came along because of these chemicals but can we truly weigh human lives against that? Only in learning about the toxic century like any other piece of history, can we prevent future situations similar to the one we are in.

What A Stealth Gambling System - 1163 Words

Introduction Your first thought when seeing the title of this book is to ask what a stealth gambling system is. This refers to winning money in a casino without drawing too much attention to yourself. I first began developing an approach to casino gambling after many losing trips to Las Vegas from my home in California. In fact, I don t remember having a single winning trip. After one too many losing excursions to the gambling Mecca, I began to become curious about which games I was losing the most money at, and which games I was losing the fewest dollars playing. On my next trip to Las Vegas, I took a notebook with me. Regardless of the game I played, and regardless of how much money I won or lost, I wrote it down. I wrote down the†¦show more content†¦I would cash out with both coins and chips. I didn t always have as much as I started with, but I was setting limits on my losses without even realizing it. Without being aware of it, I was also setting limits on the time I spent gambling. I remembered there were moments I getting bored with a certain game, so I would cash in, write down the information and then went in search of something fun to do. To sum up, there were three important things that happened to me when I started recording my casino play: 1. I slowed down, and stop throwing money around the casino 2. I realized several smaller winnings that made up for smaller losses. I wasn t attempting to win a big jackpot. 3. I limited my time playing any game too long, so the casino was no longer grinding away at my money. There were no marathon slot machine sessions, or too many rolls of the dice or spins of the roulette wheel. With these three principles, I began developing systems that would give me my best chance at winning, but only systems that would bring small or medium sized winnings; amounts that do not attract a lot of attention. If the amount of money I could potentially win with one of these systems was going to turn a lot of heads in a casino or result in getting my picture taken, or triggering an IRS form to sign, then the system was not for me. I was looking for small or medium sized wins over a short period of time. Hit and run, so to speak, orShow MoreRelatedEssay about D. H. Lawrences The Rocking-Horse Winner1535 Words   |  7 Pagesthere is a connection to the average person. â€Å"There was a woman who was beautiful, who started with all the advantages, yet she had no luck† (Lawrence 481). Lawrence begins his tale by introducing not only the main character, but the main question. What is luck? By revealing Hester’s definition of luck, Lawrence makes his disdain for his society’s need for unnecessary luxuries known. 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