Within the spectrum of most social issues, I fall into the moderate-left or the firm-left camps. But there is one very salient issue of our time to which I often waver: affirmative action.
It often takes a big man (or woman) to apologize, even if he or she is clearly in the wrong. People are simply not inclined to admit they have erred. If someone is not in the wrong, but apologizes only to mend a broken relationship, this plainly demonstrates maturity. Last semester, I wrote an opinion piece arguing Israel’s Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is a baby. While I won’t admit that I was wrong to say that—for I am never really wrong—I would like to assert the fact that he is certainly acting like a mature adult on the world stage at the moment.
I once heard a quote that the most sensible stance toward organized religion is to remain agnostic. No one on Earth today stood at Mount Sinai while the Torah was given or saw Jesus turn water into wine. Simultaneously, it is impossible to prove a negative, namely that God does not exist. No matter how much tragedy and hardship exists in the world, no matter how much senseless hatred and violence remain extant in our world, not a single human being will ever be able to prove God does not exist. It is foolish to try.
Because of the advanced nature of its nuclear weapons infrastructure, The Democratic People’s Republic of Korea is the western world’s public enemy number one at the moment. North Korea recently launched its third successful nuclear explosion. North Korea, a country that doesn’t shy away from unvarnished rhetoric, has repeatedly said the aim of its nuclear program is to have the capability to hit the continental United States. It has also threatened the Republic of Korea with what it calls “final destruction.”
After ruminating on the issue for quite some time, I have come to the conclusion that the United States of America should annex Canada. As America’s hat, Canada has provided centuries of fashion and warmth to Alaska and Maine, our vulnerable ears, and has offered millions of American youth a sanctum for underage drinking and ice fishing. But as long Canada is a sovereign nation, we cannot fully exhaust its utility. Therefore, it would be in the interest of all parties involved to render Canada part of the United States. Here is why:
I often think that I am a 1-percenter, perhaps not in the fiscal sense, but in the notion that I am probably more blessed than 99 percent of people in the world. Without going into great detail, I have just about everything I could possibly want in this world: a loving family, a wonderful and supportive group of friends, an incredible academic institution, sound financial backing and so on and so forth.
It is all but impossible to conceive of a Middle East bereft of violence and bloodshed. The Arab Spring, which has stormed through Tunisia, Egypt and Libya, has now claimed over 60,000 Syrian lives and displaced hundreds of thousands of civilians in an increasingly gory Syrian Civil War. Supposedly, removing Bashar al-Assad, the ruthless Syrian dictator, from his authoritative post is the highest priority of the U.S. State Department, as quotidian remarks of the necessity of his departure by outgoing Secretary of State Hillary Clinton are ubiquitous in newspaper headlines. However, as we approach the two-year anniversary of Syria’s struggle to emancipate itself from Assad, all predictions as to when the war may conclude are dubitable.
In 1917, when it became clear that Britain was to take temporary control of the land known as Palestine, which had previously been ruled over by the Ottoman Empire, British Foreign Secretary Lord Arthur James Balfour immediately issued a statement in favor of the construction of a Jewish state, which had already been conceived of many decades beforehand.
If I am having a bad hair day, or I’m really not rockin’ that sweater that I sincerely believe looks awesome on me, I genuinely want my true friends to kindly—or harshly, depending on my intransigence—to explain to me that my appearance is not as positive as I may quixotically hope it to be. Similarly, if the United States is in the wrong in international affairs, I would hope that our friends in the world would give us a compelling, well-thought-out argument for why we should change our current trajectory. Israel is one of our best friends in the whole wide world, and so when it is in the wrong, as it sometimes is, I do not think it is a big deal to kindly and gently tap it on the shoulder and say, “Hey, pal, maybe there is a better route.”
Growing up on the works of Shel Silverstein, I quickly developed an affinity for rhyme schemes and wordplay. This preadolescent experience with language games later evolved into a deeper adoration of the English language when, as a 9-year-old, I received my first rap album, The Marshall Mathers LP. I am now a hip-hop head, and proud of it.
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Solutions by The State News
