Respond to the Quote

"All that it takes for evil to triumph is for good people to do nothing." - Sir Edmund Burke, 1769.

           In my opinion I think this quote is saying to us that if we just stand by and do nothing, bad things will keep happening and will make the world worse and that things will not get fixed. An example of this is everyday bullying. It is an issue because many people are bullied and the bystanders don't do anything to stop the bully. 

To Act or Not To Act

             An opportunity I was given was just this past summer and it was to volunteer my time as a counsellor at the humane society to help kids become aware how to handle and take care of animals. I decided to take this opportunity and I am glad I did. I helped these kids know that not all experiences with animals have to be bad and how to treat an animal properly. It gave me a sense of what it is like to take initiative and teach others about a subject. I enjoyed this experience and am glad that I got this opportunity and that there was such a positive feedback from the kids going to the camp.

Human Rights

          The Famous Five as they are known really interest me because they were really the first women to band together and fight for women's rights. This group was made up of five women from different parts of Canada and England but all were living in Alberta at the time fighting for the right that women become a legal 'person' of Canada. In the late '20s Emily Murphy, Irene Parlby, Nellie McClung, Louise McKinney, and Henrietta Edwards fought for the right that women should have equal rights and fought that women should be allowed to run for Senate. This case is famously known as the Persons Case.
          After taking this case to the Supreme Court of Canada and a lengthy trial did it become legalized that women were allowed to run for Senate even though the first woman appointed to senate was Cairine Wilson and it did not happen until around 1930. But this case and these women did bring a lot of media on the fact that women needed more rights and should be equal to men.
          After reading about these women it shows me that unfortunately not every women in the world has these same rights. It makes me realize that being a Canadian Citizen is a privilege and that I am lucky to live in a country where men and women are almost equal but we are still recognized. It inspires me to learn more about other countries that don't have these same rights and see what has been done to try and make it happen.

Interdependence

" We have learned that we cannot live alone, at peace; that our own well-being is dependent on the well-being of other nations, far away.... We have learned to be citizens of the world, members of the human community." 

- Franklin D. Roosevelt, Former US President, 1945.

           In my own opinion this quote means that everyone is connected and never alone and that everyone depends on one another. I think when Roosevelt says "We have learned to be citizens of the world" he is saying we have learned that it is not just our country or our community but that we are a whole with the world and that everyone has to think of each other.
           In todays world it represents everything and everyone. This quote strongly demonstrates interdependence. It proves that globally we are connected and that one persons action will effect someone in another part of the world. It agrees with the theory of interdependence of how we used to be fragments of of puzzle but now act as a whole, or were many communities and are now one big community. 
           In the first part of the quote it explains how once we were independent creates walking the earth alone and being peaceful that way. But now every small thing is somehow connected we would not be able to exist without one another and how we are dependent on each other. Every country is co-dependent on another, everyone is successful because of someone else and that person is successful because of us. You can see this co-dependency in world trading because each nation provides a different resource that is highly needed in todays world.
           In the second part of the quote he says how everyone is aware of one another and how we have learned to live with each other and co-exist. We are citizens of the world because technology is so advanced that we are able to make long journeys to see other parts of the world and understand the different ethnicities and cultures to be able to understand other people way of life. 

AIC Reflection and European Debt Crisis

           In the AIC I am Tayyip Erdogan representing Turkey and throughout the AIC Turkey has been sending out emails and a press release stating why we should be a part of the United Nations. I can say we are very close to accomplishing this goal.
            I have been emailing back and forth Seyyed Ali Khamenei representing Iran and have become  quite close allies. I have also had conversations with David Cameron representing Britain about becoming allies and them supporting us to become permanent members of the United Nations. Unfortunately I also had a conflict with Hassan Nasrallah representing the Lebanon Hezbollah Coalition due to the fact that our alliance was misunderstood and they did not go in to detail that they were looking to start a war and were supporting terrorism.

            The European Debt Crisis has effected the world economy and has made many countries wary of trading and making deals with Europe. When Greece made national news with the possibility of defaulting on its loans the world was in an uproar and the European Union was left to deliberate on whether or not they should rescue Greece. For weeks this was the focus of the world, meanwhile Italy was in just as much trouble.
           Italy is now the star of everyones focus and not in a good way. Italy's debt is almost 120% of their GDP and economic growth. On November 14th, 2011 Italy's Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi stepped down, and many were happy with this decision. Italy was implementing that by 2026 the retirement age would raise to 67 and were planning to raise over 15 billion euros over the next three years from real estate sales. These are near impossible goals because with the economic recession not many people will be interested in spending lots of money on a house and many people will want to retire early and some are not able to work at age 67 in their own professions.

My Summer

During July I volunteered at summer day camps with young kids and in August I went to Florida for 3 weeks. The one week that I volunteered at the Humane Society camp, I think it was connected to helping with the issue of cruelty to animals. Throughout the week we taught the kids behaviour of different animals, how to approach them, and that they don't need to be afraid. At the end of the week I felt that we helped them gain the knowledge that animals are a privilege and not to be taken for granted. When I went to Florida I think that an issue I contributed to was the economy because when I went out I didn't have to worry about money the same way some people who lived there did. I think that I didn't help matters necessarily because I was spending money on things when the people working there either got minimum wage or less and the money did not go to help the people in need.