Technology and Politics: A match made in Heaven

    

Article Summary:

Technology has changed our way of life for many years and now it seems the political scene has been altered. Information is power, and the best way to gain information is from the internet. Information is key to politics so it isn't a surprise that it would have an effect.
In recent history single images or ideas have made empires fall. In today's age dictatorships cannot act without the people knowing about it. Governments and seemingly everyone can no longer keep secrets. Because the public has access to everything the affect of money in politics in America has lessened. Technology is also great for political discussions and protests.

Thoughts:

The article I summarized was from 2009 and in almost ten years things have changed, very much so in fact, and the changes are in my opinion great improvements. Governments are beholden to people on the internet and if those people on the internet do not like how the government is doing things the government will feel the public's wrath. If there ever was something people in the future could call the cause of the second enlightenment they would point it to the ability to easily access information via the web. We have seen protests online many times in recent years. Against the destruction of net neutrality is the example that makes me feel most like my political opinions matter. We have become the politicians and we are politicians in Canada, Russia, North Korea and everywhere that has been affected by the internet and us, we have worldwide influence on politics. If there is something you can talk about on there it will have an affect. Not only is the entertainment industry and our culture affected by technology, but how we are governed. Every election now and in the future is going to be changed and centred around the internet. It is the best tool in politics ever created and if used right it can make or break a cause. During the 2016 election you can see what happens when information is used for good or bad. Hillary Clinton lost because people saw her for the unlikeable person and politician she is. Things still have to get better because some people weren't able to see past Donald Trump's game, but I at least enjoy seeing the worst people suffer when they try to trick us. I love the internet and I love knowing things, anything good or bad. All of what I have said I think is a good change. I like it when politicians have to at least try to get people to vote for them, and I like being able to decide myself using the entire world's library of knowledge. Things right now are pretty good despite the setbacks.

Article used:

https://observer.com/2009/06/the-impact-of-technology-on-political-communication/

Jordan Protests

       In early June, demonstrations were raised in Jordan an independent group, Hirak Shababi. The demonstrations were demanding the government to abolish the tex tax law, which will increase the percentage of citizens who will be taxed from 4.5% to 10%; it will increase government revenue to between $350 m and $430 m by 2020-2021. The main excuse for collecting higher taxes is to remedy national budget deficit.

From what I have learned during the time I was in Jordan, Jordan has a distinct demographics for its one third of the population are refugees. Due to Jordanian governments’ financial inability to aid those people, local NGOs, including UNWRA and UNHCR are ‘taking over’ this field from the government. Most Jordanians are not able to obtain adequate resources such as natural resources (water) or education, unless they are the descendants of government officials or military. Corruptions are as well common in Jordan and thus, when the government proposed to undergo an economic reform by collecting higher taxes, the public outraged. Jordanians vowed to continue protests and people realized ‘they have nothing to lose’.

Original Article: https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2018/06/jordan-protests-180604052840527.html

Trump and Kim meet for historic nuclear summit in Singapore

For the first time ever a Northbound Korean leader will meet with a sitting US President. At around 9 AM local time in Singapore, Donald Trump and Kim Jung Un shook hands and so began the long awaited summit to discuss the denuclearization of North Korea’s growing arsenal.  A key obstacle that the US looks to overcome is the historical relictance of North Korea to open up to outsiders and this is neccesary for a totally denuclearization, allowing foreign inspections of warheads and fuel. However, all hope is not lost, it was not too long ago that China had its own “opening-up” phase after a particularly dark and tense point in time. Perhaps everything will be alright after all.


Original article: http://www.cbc.ca/news/world/trump-kim-summit-singapore-1.4700549

Canada not doing enough on issues facing Indigenous women, UN human rights council says

After having spent the last week discussing human rights I thought this article might be an interesting read. We talked a lot of how other countries are not abiding the Declaration of Human Rights, but we never really dug in and looked at what are own country is doing. Although Canada may be much much better off when it comes to human rights then other countries we still seem to ignore the issue we have in our own country.

In the article, http://www.cbc.ca/news/politics/un-raybould-indigenous-treatment-1.4659893,It talks about the United Nations councillor confronting Canada about their mistreatment of Indigenous people, especially the women and children. Although we have leaders admitting the human rights issues in our country surrounding First Nations we are still seeing water boil advisories and missing and murdered Indigenous women.

Canada made the Declaration of Human Rights law in Canada in 1982. The last residential school in Canada closed in 1998. So my question for you is how come human rights for the Indigenous people of Canada have been and still are behind the years?