No alla Riforma! (No to the Reform!)

This past week, students have been protesting throughout Italy. University buildings, piazzas and historic monuments have been subject as locations to these protests. In Rome, students forced entrance into the house of the Italian senate armed with tear gas, eggs and stones. Down the road, the Colosseum was obligated to close due to student occupation. As a form of demonstration, university researchers have been sleeping on roof tops. Clashes with the police are all too prevalent. Comparable protests have occurred in Pisa, Florence, Milan, Palermo and dozens of other cites and towns.

The students are protesting the Education Minister Mariastella Gelmini’s proposed bill. The bill reorganizes the governance of institutions and will result in many universities closing and university professors losing their jobs. Additionally, students are protesting the cuts in funding imposed by Finance Minister Giulio Tremonti. The bill will be voted on Tuesday.

Currently, Italy is in an economic downturn, government spending is tight and it will be difficult for the ministry to avoid cutting the education budget. Similar protests against education cuts are happening right now in Austria, England, the U.S. and other countries. So can countries afford the modern cost of higher education? They most certainly can! Governments' budget can often afford many luxuries, but education is always given the short end of the stick. The suggested education reform does not target the true problems at the universities. The very existence of Italian universities is now at stake.

Check out this link directory:
World Advocacy- Education

Sources: New York Times, La Repubblica, Youtube

Czech Dream: A Glimpse of Change the Czech Society has Undertaken Since the 1980s.

Czech Dream is a documentary film directed by Vít Klusák and Filip Remunda. The film recorded a large-scale hoax on the consumers of the Czech Republic. The hoax consisted of an opening event to a fabricated hypermarket, Czech Dream. A hypermarket is a superstore which combines food and retail items to optimally satisfy all consumer shopping needs. Czech Dream reflects the drastic change consumerism in the Czech Republic since 1989. At the time, Klusák and Filip Remunda were film students at the University of Prague. Their final project was Czech Dream.

Czech Dream came to life through a massive advertisement campaign. The two directors posed as businessmen to persuade an advertisement and public relation agencies to participate in their experiment.

Marketing Czech Dream began with a series of focus groups. The responses given by the focus groups would be similar to Karl Marx hearing the sound of screeching fingernails down a classroom blackboard. In fact, a response given by a young girl was particularly stunning. After her mother described how their family hike was interrupted by her daughter’s impatience and temper, the daughter was relieved and most certainly content once at the hypermarket. She was then prompted with the questions, “Can you tell us about the relief? Can you describe it?” And she answered, “Well, it was like I don’t know, like it was raining all day and then I suddenly saw the sun come out.” Other responses further illustrated the powerful growth of modern Czech consumerism. When asked, “how did you spend your Saturdays together as a family before there were any malls?”, the instant response was laughter. Then comments followed such as, “At home”, “In the garden” and “We hardly remember what it was like before the hypermarkets.”

Previous to 1989, the Czech Republic had a command economy and consequently consumerism did not exist. Shortages and lack of product variety were common characteristics of the economy. However, the Czech Republic is credited with a successful transformation to a market economy. The economic growth rates of the Czech Republic are among the highest of Europe. The unavoidable presence of consumerism have resulted from prosperous economic growth: hypermarkets are sprouting throughout the country and the common Czech finds them submersed with advertisements. But is this what all Czechs envisioned before the transformation?

I am not not at all advocating the return to a command economy, but there is a need for regulations to prevent business, such as advertisement firms, from infringing the law. As the conclusion of the film indicates, such high levels of consumerism have drawbacks. The goal is not combat consumerism, but to target certain businesses that have bad practices. Check out these links:

Consumer Goods Advocacy Groups
Better Business Bureau
CCFC

Sources: Czech Dream,  Central & East European Politics by Wolchick and Curry, and Google Images

America's Native Prisoners of War

Since the arrival of the Europeans to the Americas, Native Americans have been subjected to incredible abuse, ranging from simple neglect to relocation, and even extermination. The made up notion of "manifest destiny" has allowed the US government to successfully complete an ethnic cleansing. However, do not be mistaken. This dilemma is not only an occurrence of the past, but also proceeds the present.

Native Americans had their land stolen and were forced to live on "reservations", or more adequately put: prisoner war camps. Frequently, prisoner war camps were strategically placed in areas of land not valuable, making it difficult for Native Americans to survive.

Today, many reservations are considered ghettos. The quality of life on some reservations is comparable to the poorest of developing countries. Issues of infant mortality, life expectancy, nutrition and poverty, and alcohol and drug abuse has a strong presence. For example, Shannon County, South Dakota

Shannon County, South Dakota

Shannon County is a county located in the U.S. state of South Dakota. The population was 12,466 at the 2000 census. Its largest community is Pine Ridge....

, home of the Pine Ridge Indian Reservation

Pine Ridge Indian Reservation

The Pine Ridge Indian Reservation is an Oglala Sioux Native American reservation located in the U.S. state of South Dakota...

, is routinely described as one of the poorest counties in the nation.¹

In Aaron Huey's study of the Lokata people of the Pine Ridge Reservation, he further documents the unjust acts of the US government. Definitely check out his Ted talk. Prepare yourself  because it is powerful video, but it will leave you completely stunned.

Modern Native American inequalities are also evident in Sherman Alexie's The Lone Ranger and the Tonto Fist Fight in Heaven. One of the central themes highlighted in Alexie's text are the difficulties of leaving the reservation. Past the expected discrimination outside the reservation, there is a psychological barrier the city poses for some Native Americans. As one character describes, "It's like a bad dream you never wake up from. Stuck in one of those revolving doors, going round and round while the white people are laughing. Stuck in an elevator between floors with a white woman who keeps wanting to touch my hair. There are some things that Indians would've never invented if given the chance." ² The majority of Native Americans continue to live on reservations.

We must not merely except the unjust acts of European ancestors, but become inspired to adopt different policies and change for a better future for the natives of this land we call our own. Please visit the following websites:

NAAP
DLN Coalition
AIM

Sources:  Wikipedia ¹, TED Talk, Aaron Huey: America's Native Prisoners of War , The Lone Ranger and the Tonto Fist Fight in Heaven by Sherman Alexie, Page 207 ² and www.aaronhuey.com

Falling Whistles

Falling Whistles is a campaign for peace in the Congo.

Believe it or not, the Congo is home to the world's largest war. Over 6 million people have died since 1996. To put this number in perspective, there has been more deaths in the Congo than Jewish victims of the Holocaust. An additional 2 million people have been displaced form their homes. Even now, 45,000 people die every month as a result of this conflict.

Why is this happening?!? Besides inescapable factors of the past (colonization, a corrupt government, African wars), this conflict is now considered a resource war. The Congo's natural wealth (in terms of natural resources) is considered to be worth 27 trillion dollars. Minerals needed for the production of cell phones, mp3 players, computers, digital cameras and etc. are found in the Congo's vast natural environment. Sadly due to high demands of globalization, there are not many enforced regulations to protect the Congo. Large scale companies to local leaders are guilty of stripping the Congo of precious natural resources and stirring up conflict.

How do you help? Purchase a whistle and tell everyone you know! The more people that are aware of the situation, the better. The consumers determine what products companies produce. Ethical production of technologies is possible. We can put a halt to this resource war!

For further information and to support the cause, visit: www.fallingwhistles.com - This past week, I actually met this organization. Great people, with a truthful message.

Sources: www.fallingwhistles.com and Falling Whistles' literature