Citizens in a Global Society
United States and its allies are to blame for the difficulties with Russia, including the current war with Georgia. The West excluded Russia:
Draft "Declaration of Citizenship in the 21st Century," in association with Dialogues in Democracy: Life, Liberty, and the Pursuit of Happiness.
Presented for Debate in the House of Burgesses, Williamsburg, Va., November 11, 2007.
We, the delegates of Powell Group D, resolve to reclaim the ideal of a citizen with both rights and responsibilities. These include:
Draft "Declaration of Citizenship in the 21st Century," in association with Dialogues in Democracy: Life, Liberty, and the Pursuit of Happiness.
Presented for Debate in the House of Burgesses, Williamsburg, Va., November 11, 2007.
Draft "Declaration of Citizenship in the 21st Century," in association with Dialogues in Democracy: Life, Liberty, and the Pursuit of Happiness.
Presented for Debate in the House of Burgesses, Williamsburg, Va., November 11, 2007.
1. A strong educational system that is competitive and has equal access is critical to the sustainability and prosperity of America.
Draft "Declaration of Citizenship in the 21st Century," in association with Dialogues in Democracy: Life, Liberty, and the Pursuit of Happiness.
Presented for Debate in the House of Burgesses, Williamsburg, Va., November 11, 2007.
Hey, we really believe in helping people figure out how media is evolving; any democracy needs good, honest info to survive and succeed.
Speaking as a nerd, I have lots to learn about different experiences and beliefs.
At the convocation, I was exposed to people with lots of different experiences, that have caused me to take action and/or helped me better understand very different perspectives.
This includes meeting people serving in the armed forces in the mideast. One result is that I've started modestly supporting the Iraq and Afghanistan Veterans of America. They're doing a lot of heavy lifting, providing real support for the troops, not the usual lip service.
Also, I was able to chat a bit with Yahya Hendi, an imam. He was just portrayed in an article in the Frederick News Post:
Hendi is the first full-time Muslim chaplain at the university, and possibly the first in the nation. Hendi is also the Imam of the Islamic Society of Frederick and the Muslim chaplain at the National Naval Medical Center in Bethesda. ... Nations, religious groups, political parties and neighbors are in conflict around the world, Hendi said, because they cannot listen. Everyone has blood on their hands, Hendi said. However, the belief in one creator, along with the shared values of justice and peace are what unites these, at times, disparate groups.
I think I learned a lot at the convocation, still trying to figure out just what I learned.
The crackdown on pro-democracy protesters in Myanmar last week has given rise to the idea of sanctioning a regime.
Imposing sanctions on a country will affect its economy, which in turn affects its citizens. Some officials believe that progress toward democracy can actually be reversed by sanctions. Fareed Zakaria, writing in today's Washington Post, said that one of the lessons that we should have learned from Iraq was that "decades of sanctions destroy civil society and empower the worst elements of the country."
The World Forum on the Future of Democracy panel on globalization, “Are America’s Founding Principles Relevant in a Global Age,” was moderated by Walter Isaacson, president and CEO of the Aspen Institute. The panelists were: Choi Young-Jin, the South Korean ambassador to the UN; Stephen Heintz, president of the Rockefeller Brothers Fund; and Kumi Naidoo, secretary general of CIVICUS, a global coalition of civil society organizations based out of South Africa.
Members of the iCitizenForum have been sitting in on the “World Forum on the Future of Democracy,” a three-day conference about the key issues of rights and citizenship in the contemporary world. The event brings together some of the heavy hitters in the business of scholarship and policy making. The honorary chairs of the event are Bill Clinton, Tony Blair, George H.W. Bush, and Margaret Thatcher. The opening speaker was Sandra Day O’Connor. Many other dignitaries, scholars, political leaders, and activists from the around the world are in attendance.
