Who is the Government Really Governing?
Bianca Jones, a classmate in my Texas Government course, has written an interesting passage regarding politicians, underprivileged citizens, and the economic recession present in our entire country. The piece mentions the unaffected government leaders versus the less fortunate citizens in need. It is absurd that these "leaders" seem to experience no life changes or negative effects from these difficult economic times, but our less fortunate individuals that simply need to stay cool in the extreme heat, for example, are often being put in situations that are unnecessarily harmful in my opinion. The elderly population, more specifically, are greatly affected by the heat because their bodies are not able to tolerate the intense temperatures as a younger person can. If they get too over-heated or become dehydrated, it can become a seriously hazardous situation. Their internal mechanics cannot compensate as quickly to overcome what seems uncomplicated to many younger people's bodies. Some elderly people are also unable to care for themselves independently, but basic daily care for them cannot be funded by the government for unknown reasons. Their health care is often not a priority either when it needs to be provided by our government. Every individual should be treated as a person with important basic needs, not treated like a case number or a "lost dollar sign" or an amount of money.
My classmate has stated our government claims to be, "by the people and for the people". I completely agree with Bianca because when people's lives are in danger, the priorities are not appropriately in order. Human lives are without a doubt, infinitely more important than politicians' yachts, mansions, or other lavish belongings. Where exactly are the funds ending up? If working citizens of all ages are struggling with paying their bills and financially scraping by day to day, the citizens in need labeled as also struggling are most likely being under-represented. My colleague has expressed the point, short and simple, our government leaders must be callous and without compassion to not recognize the significant struggles of our disadvantaged citizens. Our government claims to be for its people, then they need to stand up and provide for those that are unable to provide these fundamental elements for themselves!
Article: "Who is the Government Really Governing?"
By: Bianca Jones
Published: 8/1/2011
http://bjones12-txgov.blogspot.com/
Monday, August 8, 2011
Wednesday, August 3, 2011
Plastic bags on the way out??
City officials discuss ban on plastic bags in Austin stores
In reading this article, I thought about how many hundreds of plastic bags I've seen on the side of the highway, floating through the air, maybe stuck to a fence, or up in the top of a tree hung on a branch. It has always bothered me to see these awful environmentally un-friendly plastic bags everywhere you look. The city of Austin is now wanting to implement a ban on these shopping bags because of their negative effect on our beautiful city. I completely agree, first of all, with trying to rid all places of using them. On the other hand, what are we going to use in place of them? Not everyone can afford to buy a ton of the multiple use green bags that have grown in popularity over the past several years, and paper bags are almost non-existent these days. It would be nice if someone could come up with something more environmentally friendly that didn't seem to trash our planet not just in Austin, but everywhere. Since these bags are not biodegradable, they aren't going to dissolve into the Earth like paper bags can. It seems the city officials have already tried to at least decrease the amount of these bags being used by promoting a voluntary program, but just like most "voluntary" programs they die out after a while if they're successful for any time period initially.
At one point in this article, a citizen of Austin states that if shoppers didn't have the option of using plastic bags then use of them would decrease. True, but like other people in all areas, I have a collection of these bags of my own to re-use for anything I might need a disposable bag for. To tell you the truth though, until this article I had never really thought about the fact that they'll be in the landfills or where ever they may land forever. When I have this thinking process in place, I would like to see this ban pushed through and people gladly following the rules and seeing what a difference it could make for our planet. I'm not a die-hard environmentalist generally, but a top pet peeve of mine is littering because it's just pure laziness.
Ultimately, I think this plastic bag ban may catch on for a period of time IF it is actually enforced, but unless they're "illegal" I don't believe they'll disappear for all eternity. They're just too convenient for a multitude of tasks!
City officials discuss ban on plastic bags in Austin stores
By: Syeda Hasan
Published: 7/25/11
http://www.dailytexanonline.com/
In reading this article, I thought about how many hundreds of plastic bags I've seen on the side of the highway, floating through the air, maybe stuck to a fence, or up in the top of a tree hung on a branch. It has always bothered me to see these awful environmentally un-friendly plastic bags everywhere you look. The city of Austin is now wanting to implement a ban on these shopping bags because of their negative effect on our beautiful city. I completely agree, first of all, with trying to rid all places of using them. On the other hand, what are we going to use in place of them? Not everyone can afford to buy a ton of the multiple use green bags that have grown in popularity over the past several years, and paper bags are almost non-existent these days. It would be nice if someone could come up with something more environmentally friendly that didn't seem to trash our planet not just in Austin, but everywhere. Since these bags are not biodegradable, they aren't going to dissolve into the Earth like paper bags can. It seems the city officials have already tried to at least decrease the amount of these bags being used by promoting a voluntary program, but just like most "voluntary" programs they die out after a while if they're successful for any time period initially.
At one point in this article, a citizen of Austin states that if shoppers didn't have the option of using plastic bags then use of them would decrease. True, but like other people in all areas, I have a collection of these bags of my own to re-use for anything I might need a disposable bag for. To tell you the truth though, until this article I had never really thought about the fact that they'll be in the landfills or where ever they may land forever. When I have this thinking process in place, I would like to see this ban pushed through and people gladly following the rules and seeing what a difference it could make for our planet. I'm not a die-hard environmentalist generally, but a top pet peeve of mine is littering because it's just pure laziness.
Ultimately, I think this plastic bag ban may catch on for a period of time IF it is actually enforced, but unless they're "illegal" I don't believe they'll disappear for all eternity. They're just too convenient for a multitude of tasks!
City officials discuss ban on plastic bags in Austin stores
By: Syeda Hasan
Published: 7/25/11
http://www.dailytexanonline.com/
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