Pax Gaea Human Rights World Post

Get To Know Your World Part One: The United States

Geography and geopolitics have been my passions since childhood. I consider myself fortunate that, despite criticisms to the contrary, I can credit an excellent public school education. Maybe it was my good fortune to be the product of a small suburban California school district of the 70's but even now I think back to those excellent teachers who inspired me to study history and to be endlessly fascinated with foreign and unfamiliar places. To this day I still have to read the paper to start my day and check Reuters and CNN constantly throughout the day to stay informed.

As I've mentioned previously, I count myself among the few who actually enjoys reading the steady stream of government reports that are generated by our federal government. While it can be tedious to sift through multi-hundreds of pages from a standard government study, at times you stumble across real nuggets of information that put political or social issues into context that no one in the media bothers to report. This has often been to my advantage in my weekly radio show, currently on hiatus as I venture off to write this novel. It is amazing to me that we pay billions of dollars a year to have dedicated professionals analyze countless aspects of life and report their findings that few people will read yet are critical aspects of our constitutional form of government.

It is also amazing how often statements by our elected and appointed representatives are in complete contradiction to published facts from their own departments suggesting that they either don't bother reading their own data or have confidence that any misinformation they put forth as fact will never be verfied or called into question by a passive media. It is an important statement on the state of modern politics and media. When the framers devised our unique "experimental" form of government, it was obvious how skeptical they were of power and how meticulously they crafted a system of checks and balances to assure that none of the three formal branches of government would ever amass a monopoloy of power. Even more interesting was how skeptical we, the people were of those framers by insisting in our first amendment that the assurance of a free and independent press always be at the ready to call into question the actions of our government. Since the John Adams administration, the executive and the congress have attempted to rein in the media, starting with the passage, and eventual repeal, of the Alien and Sedition Act of 1798. Throughout the 225 years of our history, the government has made repeated attempts to put the "fourth estate" in its place with mixed results. But the most successful of these was the Communications Act of 1934 which placed the electronic media under the auspices of the Federal Government. The government argues that the airwaves, at that time specifically radio, belongs to the public and thus fell under the authority of the federal government. It gave itself the power to put forth an
"ACT To provide for the regulation of interstate and foreign communication by wire or
radio, and for other purposes". This act eventually led to the creation of the Federal Communications Commission whose purpose was to guarantee "a rapid, efficient, Nationwide,
and world-wide wire and radio communication service with adequate facilities at reasonable
charges, for the purpose of the national defense, for the purpose of promoting safety of life and
property through the use of wire and radio communication, and for the purpose of securing a more effective execution of this policy by centralizing authority heretofore granted by law to several a gencies and by granting additional authority with respect to interstate and foreign commerce in wire and radio communication." While benign in wording, in truth, the FCC was empowered with choosing who would be legally acceptable to broadcast messages over the air. Through licensure, broadcasters underwent the scrutiny of the government every few years to detemine if whether or not their right to broadcast was in the "public interest." This power over the media assured that only the most compliant and mainstream of individuals and companies would withstand the application process and be granted a license to broadcast.

What the federal government was able to assure was that electronic media would continually censor itself so as to not fall out of favor with the government. To broadcasters it was a trade off. The government would give them limitless access to make billions of dollars in advertising revenue provided that the airwaves did not put the government under too poweful of a microscope. Yes, they could criticize but, were they to get to close to reporting the "sausage making process" of government, and, in the process, incur the wrath of the executive. legislative or judicial branch that provides various mechanisms of oversight, those commissioners who periodically review those licenses to broadcast... and, literally, print money... could have licenses revoked. This Damacles Sword of regulation assured that license holders would be highly unlikely to broadcast or airwave access to broadcasters who would provide too close of scrutiny to the governmental process. Rather, the electronic media invests the vast amount of its broadcast time to "entertainment." While political statements and positions may leak out periodically masked in music and entertainment themes, while news may report actions of the government that may not give the most positive reflection and while pundits and commentators may spout positions on both the left and the right, for the most part, little that is imparted ever casts so critical of a shadow as to be perceived as a threat to those who have the power of licensure. As the electronic media has, for the most part, been treated as a business, broadcasters have throughout the decades opted to use this vast power to do little more than entertain their audiences. Thus, through successive generations, the average viewer or listener of television and radio have an expectation of entertainment versus education or enlightenment. What passes for "news" more often than not are short, easy to digest segments that give little analysis so as to not overwhelm the short attention span of the audience. And, in an era of instant ratings and endless analysis of the viewing and listening habits of Americans, anything that resonates as incomprehensible or unentertaining by the target is an immediate red flag to change content or direction.

There was a time when, despite the overwhelming amount of "entertainment" content on the air, there was a certain amount of assurance that, in an era of 500 channel cable television, tens of thousands of radio stations, both commercial and non-commercial, thousands of broadcast television stations and hundreds of satellite radio channels. there would always be at least one source or another of real, content based, hard news. Yet, as an experiment, scoll through the channel listings of your cable source, or page through the channels of XM or Sirius or scan through the countless FM and AM signals that reach your radio and try to find just one station that focuses on real international news. Granted, during a time of tragedy, be it war or natural disaster, the "news" media may do wall-to-wall coverage of the event for a few days but, as it drags on and ratings analysis reflects viewer fatigue, you can rest assured that in short order, the "news" returns to its reguarly scheduled programming of missing teens, sex scandals, pop iconography and talking head, back-and forth punditry full of opinion and short on substance.

Is it any wonder that we are so devoid of awareness of worldwide suffering that goes on every single day? Is it any surprise that the typical American can't identifyIraq, Afghanistan, Israel or Sudan on a map? And is it any wonder that America, with all its power, with all its economic might, with all its potential and, at times, inspirational capacity of compassion, is so mocked and reviled around the world ? Almost a year ago, our Gulf Coast was devasted by the most powerful natural disaster in the nation's recent history that shocked, horrified and angered us in ways few expected. And yet, in just a few weeks, the biggest stories in the news were Natalee Hollaway and Cindy Sheehan and not the hundred and thousands of decomposing bodies still being pulled from the rubble of New Orleans or the tens of thousands who STILL don't have a permanent place to call home. While bodies were still being plucked from the waterlogged devastation of the 9th Ward, tens of millions of us were on pins and needles as to who would be the ultimate champion of American Idol.

Is this the best we can expect from the fourth estate and the democracy it is supposed to serve?

One of the cornerstones of the Pax Gaea philosophy is to increase the awareness of the people and places that make this world of ours such a fascinating place. While highlighting the unique aspects of nations and cultures it is a hope that, by showing our diversity, what really rings true is our commonality. Ours may be a world of strife, conflict and suffering, but none of this occurs in a vacuum and those struggles and yearnings of others greatly and directly affect those of us who may not understand how our privileged lives make a dramatic and traumatic impact on others. The human instinct to survive and thrive often makes those who have endured extreme suffering seek out the actual or perceived source of their pain. At their best, those who have endured communicate in ways that make us rethink our actions that may have contributed to that great misfortune. At their worst, those survivors seek out vengence and retribution on those who they perceive as their source of torment with the determination to respond in kind.

Our hope is that we can consciously seek out the former so that we do not have to one day face the latter.

In an effort to accomplish this lofty ambition, it will be one of the goals of this blog to cull the vast resources of the internet and the aforementioned tax payer generated reports to tell our readers a little more about the world beyond your horizon. The format of there entries will be in a quick to read question and answer structure that will focus on a few key points about each nation:

Who are these people?
This section will be a short and concise snapshot of the nation as it is today. Its people, its language, its structure.

What's their story?
We'll concentrate on the history of this nation and how they got to be where they are today. Think of this as a one minute (okay, maybe two or three) run down of their known existence up to now.

Okay... I can find them, where, on a map?
Geography... the one thing so many suffer from. We'll attempt to make this easy to remember so when anybody asks, you can say, oh yes, just south of.. wherever.

What makes them so interesting?
Where we are in the world affects how we look at things. Each nation is a whole only by the sum of its parts. By understanding how each group of people encountered and interacted with the other explains the current fusion that makes that nation distinct.

How does knowing this make any difference in my life?
Everything you eat, wear, drive, believe and use as a source of entertainment, information and sustenance is like a nation's people, the sum of its parts. The things we take for granted in our everyday lives most likely can be traced back to the toil and trouble of some far off distant place. By understanding how someplace else affects our lives makes each of us more conscious of the map point and brings it home to us.

Okay... so how do I find out more?
Once upon a time, the only way you ever learned about a distant place was to either wile away your day in a dusty library poring over some scholarly tome or mustering up the money and courage to go there and find out for yourself. Then modern science brought us the internet and now, with a click, you can have links for government websites, opposition parties, maps, travel and tourism information and that day's daily press. We'll put in as many relevent links as we can to give you an overview of that nation and, hopefully, inspire you to break out the passport and find out more.

With over 200 nations, choosing the order to present is a challenge. So, we have opten to follow the pangeaic pattern, starting with America and radiating out to our most distant neighbors. We will also provide periodic updates of previously profiled nations when significant events occur that may dramatically alter the present view from the past and provide a continuity to this exploration of our fellow humans.

We hope you will enjoy these profiles and join us on this journey of national exploration. Likewise, as we are only human, please feel free to contribute your own impressions or personal experiences and to correct us should we err. While we will certainly be relying on public data, our personal opinions or observations and, yes, periodic hopes, aspirations and biases may creep in every now and again. We will make every effort to discern between the two.

And with that, let us begin.



WHO ARE THESE PEOPLE?



The United States of America is a constitution-based federal republic with strong democratic institution, representing 2998,444, 215 people (est. July 2006), comprised of 50 self governing states, 14 self-governing overseas dependent states and 1 self-government administrative capital in Washington D.C. The Federal Government is comprised of three co-equal branches of government; the executive headed by President George W. Bush, The Legislative, a bi-cameral Congress comprised of a 100 Seat Senate and 435 Seat House of Representatives and a Judicial, headed by a nine-mmeber Supreme Court and lower level Federal and State Courts. The President is elected to a four year term with no more than two terms in office. The Senate is comprised of two representatives per states elected in six year terms and the House of Representatives who members are reprresentative of a proportionate population of each state and directly elected for two years. Two major parties, the Republican and Democratic Party, make up the vast number of elected offices with the Libertarian and Green Party recognized but unrepresented in either the Executive or Legislative Branches. The Supreme Court members are appointed by the President for life with confirmation by the Senate. The nation has a long standing tradition of immigration primarily of European origin, owing to their majority status of 81.7% of the population, however small remnant numbers of indigenous people (1.2%) , a 400 year history of slavery and indentured servitude (12.9% African and 4.2% Asian) and absorption of former Spanish and French territories account for the largest percentage of minority population. While English is the most widely spoken language of the population (82.1%) government and commerce, there is no official language. As an immigrant nation, virtually every language can be heard spoken in America however Spanish (10.7%) Indo-European (3.8%) and Asian and Pacific Island (2.7%) are the most common. While the United States has no official religion, the vast majority of citizens are Christian (Protestant 52%, Roman Catholic 24%, Mormon 2%) with approximately equal Jewish and Muslim adherents (1%) a panoply of world religions (10%) and a sizeable portion of non-religious (10%). The United States enjoys a 99% literacy rate, universal suffrage, and the largest, most technologically powerful economy in the world but with it a developing economic disparity. The onrush of technology largely explains the gradual development of a "two-tier labor market" in which those at the bottom lack the education and the professional/technical skills of those at the top and, more and more, fail to get comparable pay raises, health insurance coverage, and other benefits. Since 1975, practically all the gains in household income have gone to the top 20% of households. Long-term problems include inadequate investment in economic infrastructure, rapidly rising medical and pension costs of an aging population, sizable trade and budget deficits, and stagnation of family income in the lower economic groups.

What's Their Story?

Until Columbus' discovery of the New World, The area now known as the United States was, like the rest of North and South America,peopled solely by hundreds of indigenous tribes numbering anywhere from 8.4 million to 112.5 million people who had migrated from Asiaas nomadic hunter across a land bridge of ice across the Bering Sea approximately 10,000 B.C. or earlier. They had developed extensive agriculture and civilization prior to the arrival of the first Columbian era explorers. While Spain explored and laid claim to the Caribbean area and Pacific Coast, England, France and Holland launched their own expeditions in the northern regions fo the continent. A series of conflicts between the French and their Indian allies left England as the principle settlers of the easter rigion of the north American Continent. Further exploration by Russia led to their claims of the Pacific Coast region as far south as Northern California. The English Crown and House of Lords commissioned corporations and individuals to settle the Atlantic region, creating self-governing colonies. With the growth of European immigration and the introduction of Western weaponry and diseases, the native populations originally pressed into service began to reduce to near extinction within the first 100 years of European contact. Recent exploration and conquering of indigenous African populations provided a much needed and lucrative slave labor trade. Britain's American colonies broke with the mother country in 1776 and were recognized as the new nation of the United States of America following the Treaty of Paris in 1783. During the 19th and 20th centuries, 37 new states were added to the original 13 as the nation expanded across the North American continent and acquired a number of overseas possessions through conquest of Spanish lands and purchase of French and Russian territories. The two most traumatic experiences in the nation's history were the Civil War (1861-65) , which brought an end to slavery and the Great Depression of the 1930s. Buoyed by victories in World Wars I and II and the end of the Cold War in 1991, the US remains the world's most powerful nation state. The economy is marked by steady growth, low unemployment and inflation, and rapid advances in technology.

Okay... I can find them, where, on the map?


The United States is located in North America, bordered by the Pacific and Atlantic Oceans and the Gulf of Mexico. 48 of the 50 states andthe District of Columbia are contiguous and situated between Canada to the north and Mexico to the south. Alaska is situated on the Northwest border of Canada and Hawaii is situated in the Central Pacific Ocan approximately 2,500 miles off the United States west coast.

How does knowing this make any difference in my life?

As the world's largest economy and the sole ramaining superpower, the influence of the United States in world affairs is immeasurable. While much criticism is levied on its interventionist policies, influences in entertainment and popular culture, ignorance or insensitivity of foreign cultures and domestic issues of race, poverty, crime and healthcare that reflect poorly on its stated policies abroad, America has arguably been the most influential nation of the last 200 years. Prior to its war for independence, few nations had successfully achieved and maintained democratic structures prior to its war for independence. Many of the progressive movements of the last 200 years, from free speech to a free press, to religious freedom to temperance to abolition, to universal suffrage to civil rights to human rights can all trace their origins to U.S. policies and activism. While America may dedicate a proportionately smaller percentage of its Gross Domestic Product to aid then most western and developed nations, likewise no other nation can lay claim to the sheer amounts of aid and assistance, particularly in time of tragedy. The very structure of the American political system provides for a natural and predictable ebb and flo in policies and priorities which, good or bad, send ripples worldwide with every fluctuation. America's preeminence may one day suffer the same fate as all previous great powers but, in it's short existence few nations have made such a dramatic impact on human events and will continue to do so for much time to come.

Okay... so how do I find out more?

There are tens of millions of potential links to dig into the intricacies of American life, government and culture but the following are a few that cover some of the most prominent aspects of American life:

Government and Politics:
http://www.firstgov.gov The U.S. Government's Official Web Portal
http://www.democrats.org/ Democratic Party
http://www.gp.org/ Green Party
http://www.republicans.org Republican Party
http://www.whitehouse.gov/ Official Web Site of the President of the United States
http://www.senate.gov/ U.S. Senate
http://www.house.gov/ House of Representatives
http://www.supremecourtus.gov/ Supreme Court

News and Information:
http://www.wsj.com/ Wall Street Journal
http://www.nytimes.com/ New York Times
http://www.cnn.com/ CNN
http://www.foxnews.com/ Fox News
http://www.cia.gov/cia/publications/factbook/ CIA World Factbook 2006

posted by Dave Carroll @ 7/16/2006 02:48:00 PM