What the Crowd Had to Say

So for my last crowd sourcing post i talked about two very important issues that are affecting a lot of people, at home and abroad. Now, given, these were somewhat of open ended questions asking students how they felt on not only the prohibiting of collective bargaining/striking in Wisconsin and Ohio, but also the recent uprisings across the Middle East region. While these may seem very disparate topics, I feel that they share the inherent common characteristics of democratic unrest.

Wisconsin has passes their proposed bill to prevent collective bargaining in the face of weeks of fervent and dedicated protesting to the bill.

“I think it is important for both an employee and an employer to have a mutual understanding and agreement on a job,” said Samantha Foltz. “By eliminating the collective bargaining rights, I think we are giving too much power to a company and silencing employees because they are not given the option to negotiate.”

I attended a Town Hall meeting that happened at UC not too long ago and this was   the sentiment of most of the people in attendance. Sydney Benter expressed similar views saying, “[My mother and boyfriend who are both teachers] work harder and sacrifice more of their time than any other people I know for their jobs. And they surely don't do it for the money. Yet, recently some are questioning whether educators, among many other public workers, are entitled to their benefits.”

I feel such a tie with this and the events in the Middle East. It is the struggle for being represented and having a say in the larger picture of things.

“I think watching all the uprisings happening around the world is just astonishing,” said Carly Behringer.  “All of the sudden, it seems that everyone is rebelling, which is not a bad thing at all! We are living in an incredibly interesting time period.”

Behringer also makes the point that the US government is mulling over the possibility of intervening in Lybia.

“I think we need to let their country sort everything out... We're already in two wars that I personally don't agree with, and I feel as though we need to stop trying to control every other country,” Behringer said.  

“As for the "invasion" of Libya, that's another story. If we were to run up in there guns blazing in the name of Democracy, that's one thing, but taking into account all the horrible and, well, criminal going on in Libya, giving some advice might not be a bad idea,” said Gin A. Ando.

“Committing combatants might be much, but, from what I'm hearing, Tripoli and places all over Libya need help,” Ando added.

These are very complex issues and without injecting too much of my opinion on the matter, I will have to strongly agree with the comment Behringer made: “I think it's great that people are protesting and voicing their opinions. It's important for people to speak up and exercise their right to free speech.”

It is hard to tell what may happen, especially in the case of Libya, but without a doubt, the movements in the Middle East are the result of some powerful, NONVIOLENT protest. I think that this is making a great impression to the western, hopefully shattering the perception that the Middle East can only attempt to solve conflicts by blowing something up. And with the news covering these events, I feel that the general buzz of protests is ringing in people’s ears, hopefully encouraging people to speak up and out against the things that do not agree with.

Some may say that this is encouraging unrest, I feel that if the avenues of democracy are not speaking the will of the people, then there is already unrest.

So, as most of you know, I made a post about the provisions of the patriot act that were not renewed. Well, not long after that post, the provisions were put to a second vote and they DID PASS. So for all those who oppose what it stands for or what it allows our government to do concerning our privacy, you may get a break next year when it goes up for renewal again.

Like the first time the renewals went up for vote, there isn't any real consensus in the general population about the PA. Many times you get answers somewhere along the lines of, "I understand why it was implemented, but I do find it silly to assure people that I am not supporting terrorists," as Samantha Foltz commented.

Many understand the reasoning behind hightened security, but feel the added pressures of making every single person a suspect. The security squeeze makes people who want some sort of preventative effort go into a limbo of what they believe is necessary and what is absurd.

"There are some reasons why the Patriot Act is necessary, but every time I go to open a bank account or apply for a job is it really necessary for me to fill out that paper confirming I'm not paying my wages to terrorist groups?" Said Adam Neyameyer. "Some things are a little crazy but I'm sure there are some provisions that have saved us from further attacks....I know that we need some of it to prevent further 9-11 type events from happening."

Nick Grever said, “While I believe the PA itself is outdated, we do need to insure our safety in some manner. Do I agree to wiretapping and other invasive modes of surveillance? No. But these methods aren't exactly new.”

I think one of the more interesting examples of this protection vs. rights views comes from Sydney Benter. She was very outspoken against the PA, but also commented on the airport scanners that would not be an issue if not for acts such as 9/11.

“While I think the Patriot Act is/was unconstitutional, I have no problem whatsoever with beefed-up security measures at airports.” Benter said. “I don't mind that a couple folks in a dark room see my body if it means that it's less likely that someone will be able to conceal a weapon. If the scans were copied and published with a name attached it would be a different story. But I'm willing to sacrifice a few moments of privacy for overall security. The Patriot Act is like a full-body scanner on steroids. A bit too invasive.

This is a very testy middle ground, but pretty reasonable in my own opinion. She is more than willing to cooperate with security measures but finds one of the principle doctrines of that security to be illegal, out of good taste, and a little too forceful. It really does not seem like the PA is in good standings all on its own. If anything people are just tolerating it.

But for some, the measures the government has taken after 9/11 have been rash, intrusive and unnecessary, like Carly Beringer.

“I think the Patriot Act is wrong and I do not agree with the invasive techniques the government uses to "protect us,” Behringer said. “They don't need to tap our phones to "protect" us or pat us down at the airport and feel our genitals to "protect" us. They are turning the American people into sheep, haha. And I feel like we are living in the book "1984." You have cameras watching you everywhere and an unconstitutional document that makes sure the government can bend almost any rule to investigate or incarcerate you.”

Valid points on the state of security. The PA blurs the line of what is necessary and what is not. There is a constant threat from an unseen and unidentifiable enemy that is supposedly lurking amongst us. It is a good reason to beef up funding for making the general population a bit more subservient and as in all states of crisis; it weeds out those who do not go right along with the status quo.

Finally, a point was made by Gin Ando that I thought was something that goes overlooked a lot during this discussion; why do you need to take such measures if lesser ones could have worked?

“It could, I suppose, be argued that the PA is a necessary evil to keep America safe and out of harm's way, why don't we just restructure our intelligence programs?” Ando said. “Richard Reid might have been stopped if the world just worked together. Secret intelligence being not-so-secret with each other.”

The United States intelligence network is vast and has more funding and power behind it than many of us realize. But the barriers between agencies and the sheer amount of info collected makes for a messy, inefficient, suspicious and even dangerously incompetent form of protection.

Thank you all for your wonderful comments, and thank you all for respecting one another’s opinions. I was really glad to see everyone express themselves as they did and I feel that we can learn from one another that way. Good work guys!