Wednesday, March 18, 2020

A Brazilian America essays

A Brazilian America essays Freedom is often an ambiguous concept for Americans. While America is considered the home of the free the idea is not meant to encourage citizens to do anything they please or desire. If this were the case, then there would no form of structure and organization, which allows chaos to eventually ensue. In order to prevent such a thing from happening, a government is established. A government can set up laws and regulations to facilitate living in an environment where citizens have certain freedoms. Every citizen, however, must acknowledge that with every action comes a reaction. In other words, breaking a law or regulation leads to certain consequences such as imprisonment or even death. Gerry Spence, author of Easy in the Harness, illustrates how ultimate freedom demands a perfect vision of reality, one too painful for the healthy to endure... Pure freedom is pure terror (806). Therefore, inevitably, an American citizens freedom is somewhat limited to begin with. Aside from civil rights, what happens to an individuals personal freedom, like choosing their own fate? Terry Gilliams movie Brazil, demonstrates how the population of one society is deeply affected by an overly controlling government. The film follows the character, Sam Lowry, in his struggle of living in a society governed by a secret agency that discourages love since it disrupts efficiency. Essentially, the people in Brazil have their freedom stripped away from them as they are gradually being dehumanized. The society in Brazil is plagued by an extremely cautious government, which is now becoming increasingly noticeable in America. The government depends on the faith the citizens have in it, which in turn afflicts the citizens as they are no longer free individuals, but pawns to their government instead. The events of September 11 perpetuated a movement in which the U.S. government took action to eliminate terro...

Monday, March 2, 2020

England Is Not an Independent Country

England Is Not an Independent Country Although England operates as a semi-autonomous region, it is not officially an independent country and instead is part of the country known as the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland- the United Kingdom for short. There are eight accepted criteria used to determine whether an entity is an independent country or not, and a country need only fail on one of the eight criteria to not meet the definition of independent country status- England does not meet all eight criteria; it fails on six of the eight. England is a country according to the standard definition of the term: an area of land that is controlled by its own government. However, since the United Kingdoms Parliament decides certain issues like foreign and domestic trade, national education, and criminal and civil law as well as controlling transportation and the military. The Eight Criteria for Independent Country Status In order for a geographical region to be considered an independent country, it must first meet all of the following criteria: has space that has internationally recognized boundaries; has people who live there on an ongoing basis; has economic activity, an organized economy, and regulates its own foreign and domestic trade and prints money; has the power of social engineering (like education); has its own transportation system for moving people and goods; has a government that provides public services and police power; has sovereignty from other countries; and has external recognition. If one or more of these requisites are not met, the country cannot be considered fully independent and does not factor into the total of 196 independent countries around the world. Instead, these regions are typically called States, which can be defined by a less-strict set of criteria, all of which are met by England. England only passes the first two criteria to be considered independent- it has internationally recognized boundaries and has had people living there consistently throughout its history. England is 130,396 square kilometers in area, making it the largest component of the United Kingdom, and according to the 2011 census has a population of 53,010,000, making it the most populous component of the U.K. as well. How England Isnt an Independent Country England fails to meet six of the eight criteria to be considered an independent country by lacking: sovereignty, autonomy on foreign and domestic trade, power over social engineering programs like education, control of all its transportation and public services, and recognition internationally as an independent country. While England certainly has economic activity and an organized economy, it does not regulate its own foreign or domestic trade and instead defaults to decisions handed down by the United Kingdoms Parliament- which is elected by citizens from England, Wales, Ireland, and Scottland. Additionally, although the Bank of England serves as the central bank for the United Kingdom and prints banknotes for England and Wales, it doesnt have control over its value. National government departments such as the Department for Education and Skill maintain responsibility for social engineering, so England does not control its own programs in that department, nor does it control the national transportation system, despite having its own system of trains and buses. Although England does have its own local law enforcement and fire protection provided by local governments, Parliament controls criminal and civil law, the prosecution system, the courts, and defense and national security across the United Kingdom- England does not and cannot have its own army. For this reason, England also lacks sovereignty because the United Kingdom has all of this power over the state. Finally, England does not have external recognition as an independent country nor does it have its own embassies in other independent countries; as a result, theres no possible way England could become an independent member of the United Nations. Thus, England- as well as Wales, Northern Ireland, and Scotland- is not an independent country but instead an internal division of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland.