Deep Thoughts (Blog)

Whatever the faults and failings of our nation, democracy has always triumphed. Nevertheless, it is currently being challenged like never before. Subsequently, those who are not in tuned to what’s happening in our nation and the world around us can easily find themselves ill-informed, disillusioned or bamboozled. As such, complacency is not an option, nor is depending on others to govern ones path or articulate ones story.

Why is it that corporate welfare is defensible and social programs are deemed indefensible? Why does “massive” corporate profits exclude worker wage equality? When did we begin focusing more on red versus blue? When did alternative facts become the new normal? When did corruption become laissez-faire and justice cease to prevail (or so it appears)?

On the hills of the startling results of the 2016 presidential election many Americans were left overwhelmingly mystified and began doubting that their vote counted? After all it was Hillary Rodham Clinton who won the Popular Vote by 2.6 million, yet woefully lost the election to Donald Trump by 97 Electoral College votes (304 to 227). Moreover, it’s important to note the primary difference between the Popular Vote and the Electoral College is that the Popular Vote represents the actual votes received by a candidate and the other represents the votes cast by a state. Typically whoever wins the popular vote wins the Electoral College vote. However, astonishingly this is not always the case, which has led many Americans to begin questioning the relevancy the Electoral College has in our presidential elections specifically in the twenty-first century. The notion that Electors officially represent our states and cast our votes appear to undermine the “collective” nationwide votes of the American people. How is this possible? To answer this question it is necessary to understand how the Electoral College works and how it came to be:
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One Nation or a nation divided? How you perceive this question to be deeply hinges on what you envision for yourself and for generations to come. Nevertheless, one thing is for certain, the consensus is all Americans yearn for change, but differ in terms of what that actually means or even looks like. We call that a democracy. Similarly, in terms of the recent presidential election, democracy was based on two very different ideologies, unify and build up and dismantle and revert back.

It is not only our obligation to vote, but our constitutional right: The 14th Amendment states– All persons born within the U.S. are citizens and guaranteed rights and privileges (1868); 15th Amendment– No citizen denied the right to vote based on race, color, or previous condition of servitude (1870); 19th Amendment No citizen shall be abridged of their right to vote based on sex (1920); 24th Amendment – No poll tax is allowed or failure to pay any other tax shall prevent a person from voting (1964); 26th Amendment – All persons 18 or older shall not be abridged of their right to vote (1971); Voting Rights Act of 1965 –Applied a nationwide prohibition against the denial or abridgment of the right to vote on the literacy tests on a nationwide basis

The million-dollar question after the British decided to leave the European Union (EU) was, what is the EU? According to Euintheus.org, it’s not a government, an association of states, or an international organization. Rather, it is made up of 28 Member States who have relinquished part of their sovereignty to EU institutions, with many decisions made at the European level. The 28 (now 27) member states include: Austria, Belgium, Bulgaria, Croatia, Cyprus, Czech Republic, Denmark, Estonia, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Hungary, Italy, Ireland, Latvia, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Malta, the Netherlands, Poland, Portugal, Romania, Spain, Slovakia, Slovenia, Sweden and the United Kingdom. In essence, all actions taken by the EU is founded on treaties that have been approved voluntarily and democratically by all EU member countries (Europa EU). There are more than 40,000 legal acts in the EU, but according to Europa EU, the main treaties are: Treaty of Lisbon, Treaty of Nice, Treaty of Amsterdam, Treaty on European Union – Maastricht Treaty, Single European Act, Merger Treaty – Brussels Treaty, Treaties of Rome: EEC and EURATOM treaties, Treaty establishing the European Coal and Steel Community. To learn more about each of these treaties click here

Black Lives Matter is a chapter-based national organization working for the validity of Black life (blacklivesmatter.com). According to the organization, “Black Lives Matter means broadening the conversation around state violence to include all of the ways in which Black people are intentionally left powerless at the hands of the state. The Black lives matter brings to the forefront the ways in which they believe Black lives are deprived of their basic human rights and dignity”.
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President Obama delivered his final State Of the Union Speech yesterday, January 12, 2016 and I thought it was of the best! Say what you will about this president, but I don’t have to wait for history to tell me that he is one the greatest presidents that has held office. When I look at all he’s accomplished despite all the obstacles, opposition and pure hate set before him I am inspired and humbled beyond words. He is a true testimony of what God can do.