The American military presence in over 130 countries is a perfect example of a country establishing an empire and extracting resources. Citizens and lower level government officials have been aspiring to “end the Iraq war” and pull troops out of Iraq for years now. However, the US will never leave Iraq as it is home to rich oil supplies and a strategic location in the Middle East. It is a stepping stone for when we move into other Middle Eastern nations to gain the resources present there. Also, America can conquer more territory faster than any empire in history. This is a great opportunity for those who want to expand the empire. Any country that allows the US to put a base in their country is basically conquered as soon as those troops set foot on the ground.

Some may think that military bases around the globe are necessary for the security of our homeland and to prevent another 9/11. The bases do very little to prevent any terrorist attacks and should not be seen to give us a feeling of security. The US can never be completely secure, but the media portrays all of America’s military conquests as making the US one step closer to ultimate security. The media also serves to induce a sense of paranoia in citizens that makes people more inclined to support spending billions of dollars as long as that money will make the country more secure. It is amazing how easily people will support anything that is reported to improve their protection. The US military presence in foreign nations is only there to serve its agenda in the future and to ensure that it remains a prolific empire for years to come. In essence the bases are in other countries are for the sustaining of the empire and not protection.

In the end it is all about the resources a country possesses in America’s choice to have a permanent presence there. Once the world’s fossil fuels are near depletion, the US will be in prime position to take the resources of the world by force.

People seem to be tired of dealing with organized religions. It’s not that they are disregarding a higher power, just the rules made up men that they must obey to be a part of a certain religious institution. For example, the Catholic Church wants people to donate money to them to be a part of their church. I’m not saying that giving to a church is a bad thing, but for some people it may not be economical to pay to worship with other Catholics. Being a good Christian doesn’t require you to go to Church every Sunday. Religion shouldn’t require people to do anything besides to live decent lives and adhere to a moral code. This is probably why people are rejecting organized religions and why they will go extinct in modern countries.

In countries where religion is tightly bound with the government, organized religions will probably never be extinct. Laws in Muslim countries reflect the laws of their religion and very few people reject the religion. When governments become religious governments the laws become too strict and the government becomes oppressive compared to governments that do not associate with religion. When religion is forced onto the entire population of an area, the population loses freedoms. Certain religions have too strict of a moral code to reflect the views of large populations.

Also, people don’t seem to be thrilled with what organized religion offers them. They likely don’t get much out of going to church or an organized worship. The things that seem to drive more than the weekly visitors to church are disasters and financial trouble. After the recent economic downturn, there seemed to be more people that I talked to that had gone back to weekly services. People need somewhere to turn when they are faced with hardship or they do not understand what to think of a situation. This is the only aspect that is keeping organized religion alive: it acts as a shoulder to lean on in times of uncertainty.

The idea of sentencing juveniles to life without parole is appalling. Is our court system in Pennsylvania so completely flawed that we lead the world in locking up our children for life? Juveniles cannot be held 100% accountable for their actions because they are not completely developed psychologically. And as stated in the letter, they can be easily manipulated into committing crimes which they do not completely understand the consequences and do not know why the action is wrong. People seem to like the idea of locking away people for life because they see them as “scum” or they are afraid of what they may do if they eventually get out again. Fear is what drives people to push for harsher laws and jail sentencing. Also, the idea of life without parole infers that they will never be rehabilitated and will always be a danger to society. I think just the term life without parole makes people think that we are being tough on crime and keeping the population completely safe. Life without parole is the worst sentence you can get, second to the death penalty. Parole is set up to let those who are rehabilitated out of prison only after they have proven they are not a danger to society. They don’t just let people who are serving a life sentence out of prison after a random amount of time.
How can we as a society cast aside our youth in this way. We put our money into their education to make them ready for the future and to eventually take on the roles that adults have. Life without parole seems too serious of a penalty for our youth offenders. If we at least gave them parole we would be doing a better job at rehabilitating them. There is no point in calling it rehabilitation if they will never have the chance to reenter society.

The most prevalent reason I see in the article about why Americans do not travel is that it is quite expensive to do so for a large amount of the population. This is the primary reason that I do not have a passport and have never left the east coast of the United States. The article states that the average trip to Europe costs $2,708 per person, but for a family of four this would cost over 10 thousand dollars. This is just not likely feasible for the 70% of the Americans that do not have passports. It is a shame that it is so expensive because most of Americans will never experience other cultures, which help put our culture into perspective.

Also, the work culture that has manifested itself in this country is also detrimental to our experience of other countries. Striving to attain more money rather than taking time to relax and experience the world seems like it leads to a more depressing culture. As Americans, we seem to be afraid to break the cycle and experience more than the usual agenda.

Our fear of the unknown creates significant roadblocks to exploring the world also. We are presented with frightening images on the news about horrible things that happen in other countries. This leads to misconceptions about other cultures as we see them as barbaric, even though we never experience those countries.

The diverse cultures present in this country also lead us to stay close to home and safety while experiencing other cultures. We could make excuses like “Why go all the way to Mexico when we can just go to Taco Bell.” The fact that people from every country in the world immigrated to this country has caused all of the world’s culture to manifest itself to some degree in this country.

We need to break free from all of our misconceptions about the world and open our minds to travel and experience other countries first-hand. In essence we are not totally free as we are trapped mentally and physically in our own homeland.

The child in this situation should not be to blame bringing the gun to school. This is a good example of how some people are careless in regards to keeping their firearms out of the wrong hands. However, the parent in this situation cannot take all the blame. People make mistakes, some more dangerous than others. In a situation such as this, an attempt should be made to reform the parent by teaching better gun safety rather than issuing sanctions. It would also be beneficial if the child knew the difference between a real gun and a toy and that he or she knew that they should not be playing with the former. Although there is no excuse for a loaded gun to be in a place where a child can access it, the child must know if they find it that it is not a toy. In regards to the child being suspended from school, this is an obvious response to the distrust and fear that is ever present in today’s society. After all of the school shootings and violence that have happened over the years, people can only respond to situations like this by creating more regulations and repercussions for the individuals involved. Situations such as this are so blown out of proportion by the media that they instill fear in all those that read about it. However, this story likely got more coverage in the media than all of the deadly shootings that happen in this country every day. This leads to people supporting being tough on crime and stricter gun control laws. People need to realize that situations, such as this, do not need to be blown out of proportion. Taking this situation too seriously will just lead to more unnecessary laws that further take away our freedoms.

The increasing suicide rates in the military could be the result of a poor economy and the nature of the wars we are fighting today. The wars the United States is fighting today should be characterized as more terroristic and more like guerilla warfare than other wars. In these wars, the men are constantly behind enemy lines as they can be attacked by someone who doesn’t look like an enemy combatant. This fact could create a far worse toll on a soldier’s mental health than if the war they were fighting had clear sides.

Perhaps more strain is put on the soldiers when they come back from fighting. They may be alienated from their friends or family that changed while they were away, or the soldier could have changed for the worse and the family no longer accepts him/her. Their experiences may also push them away from social interactions as they see the world in a different light after they return. Also, the images in their minds may haunt them to the point that they cannot live with themselves anymore.

Our country’s service men and women could also have been mistreated by citizens protesting war. This lack of appreciation could have an effect on their mental health because they feel that they sacrificed their time and possibly their life to defend people at home.

A poor economy and the inability to find a job outside the military could also lead to severe depression. Those who don’t want to or can’t reenlist in the armed forces and are hard pressed to find a job may consider suicide the only option. If the soldier was severely injured and is unable to work, it could be even more stressful to deal with the problems of being disabled. Concerns over being unemployed and a lack of money could possibly overwhelm a person if a source of income cannot be found and the problem persists for a long duration of time.

Better job placement and psychological services for those in the military and those exiting the military could be a huge step in saving the lives of those who have served our country.

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