After that speech, I would like to present this blog in two subheadings: 1. This Ship is Obviously Sinking, and 2. Radio Free Europe. To start, a quick update and then we’ll move onto some discussion points. The trips are on! I leave for Berlin on Friday morning, and therefore this will be the last blog of the week. Rest assured that you might all look forward to an excitement packed blog on Monday as well as pictures on Facebook. The next weekend is Halloween. I hope you all have very spooky plans and clever costumes. I demand pictures! I'll be going to Amsterdam costumed as a citizen of the ever-prestigious United States of America. Then the 6th of November we go to Krakow! I'm excited to get on the list because they plan the trip for you and they usually get a tour guide to take you around. Jessica Huffman, you had better pay close attention after that weekend because that is when you'll get your Auschwitz information. Everyone else please send me a picture of people doing nice things for each other so I don't go to a dark place. Without further adieu...
This Ship is Obviously Sinking:
Since most of the people I speak to usually tell me about how great college is and how much they miss it; I thought that I would just involve you in some of my class discussions and personal thoughts. This is the first time that I have been able to sign up for classes just because I thought they would be interesting. Previously, of course, I had requirements to fill, but those days are over.
You know what else is over? Working for a grade. I actually requested extra reading assignments today because they keep reducing their work load which was laughable in the first place. I didn't tell you this (because I didn't think you'd care and you probably still don't), but I signed up for an extra class. That's right, a class I don't even need. Which just goes to show that a person who aims at nothing is sure to hit it. I digress, and so this subheading poses the question: What do you think is necessary for global and regional governance (with concern for contemporary war)?
This comes from my class...wait for it...Global and Regional Governance. It was posed to my fellow classmates and myself on Monday. Now, I have no background in these things, but I did just fine presenting a list of my ideas to the class of people who specifically study international relations. I’m sure most of you could come up with at least one thing if not more. These lists might include, but are not limited to, clean water, energy management, environmental regulations, industrial regulations, education, etc. After each person in class had presented their ideas it was a very large list. So large in fact it looks like an impossible problem. Each of these problems is so tightly interwoven that it would be impossible to knock them out one at a time like an itemized list. Furthermore, there is no way to balance out these problems because there are far too many of them, and, again, they are all heavily interconnected. Thus, balance is inevitably impossible and if survival of the inevitable is the only conceivable solution then what are we trying to do? Why do we ship aid to Indonesia for Tsunami relief when we know that another tsunami is going to hit them? Why do we disperse economic aid when it puts the countries further in debt? Is it this idea of survival of the inevitable? Is this why we globalize our markets and create other country's dependency on us so that we can further exploit them through their dependence? Is that the freedom that the U.S. so fanatically shoves down the rest of the world's throats?
I know that I'm in college and that means I'm going to find passion in every little thing I figure out (stereotypically). However, I'm not trying to do that. I'm just questioning the opinions of my friends and family to see what they think. I don't really know a lot about this, like I said earlier, but I thought maybe someone would have an opinion (sarcastic or serious). Please email me and let me know your thoughts in general on this topic. Just because I'm in Poland doesn't meant that we can't have interesting conversations.
Radio Free Europe:
A.k.a. Watch out the K.G.B. is right behind you!
The Polish videos that I am watching as a class are actually documentaries about Poland. I thought it would be good for me to share with you what I learn from them for two reasons. The first being that it’s interesting, and the second is I’ve got to take a test on what I learn at the end of the semester. This week’s video was about Radio Free Europe/ Radio Liberty (RFE).From the beginning of the 1950s up until 1990, RFE was the radio and communication organization of Poland. Deprived of freedoms of speech from the oppressive Soviets. The U.S. funded the station in an attempt to spread anti-communist sentiment. The Polish people used it as an outlet for their creativity. The station gave them a way to establish an underground movement of nonviolent protest to win back their freedom and confidence from Mother Russia.
For 40 years (Stalin was only alive for a few of those) RFE jammed Russian radio waves to deliver information into the homes of the Polish people. Aware of the frequency and time of broadcasts, the Polish people would stop their duties and listen to the valuable information being delivered over the radio waves. Keep in mind that the people that ran these stations were simply journalists delivering the real news instead of Soviet propaganda. Obviously, these things didn’t run smoothly. As a matter of fact, many of these journalists were taken to court to be tried as U.S. spies [Just like me, shh! (or as the Germans say it, psst!)].
Over the years, as power changed hands and inspiration grew throughout Eastern Europe. RFE continued to deliver news to the Eastern Block. Eventually, history wrote itself, and obviously Poland is working on improving its economy, but this all ended just around 17-20 years ago, and here I am sitting in the middle of it (which is bananas). Wrocław was the first broadcast in Poland, and RFE continues to deliver news in areas where uncensored news is hard to find.
That concludes my intelligence of the day. As a special treat, I have left links to explore since I will be away for so long. I love and miss you all! If inspired, go forth and inspire!
http://www.sonnyradio.com/hongkong.htm
http://www.misternicehands.com/
http://www.johnsadowski.com/big_spanish_castle.php
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mary_Toft
No comments:
Post a Comment