Week 7: Impact of the Telephone

When researching th History of Phones I found it interesting how a device could change people's lives so much. Seeing the phone completley go from a rare item to something everone has is truly remarkebale. This is due to the fact that in essensce a phone at face value didn't bring anything new. It was an evolution of the telegraph meaning it wasn't the first piece of technology to facilitate instant high-speed communication The aspect of the phone that made it unique was it part of someone by bringing their voices which is something far more valuable than just long-distance communication.

It is very revolutionary because it made communication interpersonal by allowing people to have conversations from anywhere. This was the first time in history people could be together while separated due to the phone an example of it. This is seen with its success, withing half a century of their creation you could find a payphone on every block. Their success was completely unexpected due to them originally just being thought of as a tool for businesses but they have grown not only to be something everyone owns but that everyone is expected to be using. Most jobs wouldn't hire someone without a phone which shows how mandated they are.

Their impact on society has been debated on weather it is positive or negative. Most say positive because it benefitted people and businesses in our society. The main way it has been negative is by making people reliant on it too much. Overall it has for good or bad changed our society.

Week 6: Mad World

The Mad World video showed a partially exaggerated version of our world where everyone is literally fixated on their phones. This may be overexaggerated but still has truth with how much our society is obsessed with our phones. Every week your iPhone will tell your average screen time per day and it is normal to see 4 hours or more of screen time as a person average. Being on your screen 4 hours a day is already a sixth of your day before factoring in the idea that another third of your day you are sleeping.

Seeing this video did make a point about how we are obsessed with our technologies.  The character tries to do many different actions to get people's attention yet he never succeeds. This is true with current addiction to our phones being a real thing. Recently big tech companies have started coming under fire for being monopolies but one thing they haven't been criticized for yet are their manipulative practices. Facebook is known to actively have all its social media platforms work as dopamine release mechanisms. This is so that people get a small rush by being on which is in a way addicting for people. This was very strongly reflected in the video by showing everyone's addiction.

Social Media and phones are in a way a new type of drug. They have been shown to be addictive due to their designs. This is something that politicians such as Missouri Senator Josh Howley, who has submitted legislation trying to regulate these addictive practices used by tech companies. As a young person who has grown up around things such as phones and social media my whole life I firmly believe that these need to be regulated to force these companies to stop trying to get people addicted to their apps.

Week 5: Anti-War.Com, American Conservative, and Iran.

When looking at the websites nti-War.Com and The American Conservative noticed how even though both their main goals were different they both shared strong rhetoric regarding limited government. Anti-war was straight forward with it not wanting the U.S, government to go overseas and continue the wars we currently are in. The American Conservative mentioned being a main-stream conservative media outlet. When going over what it supported it specifically mentioned being against unchecked government power which is similar to Anti-War in the way that it opposes imperialism and war which arguably fall under "unchecked" power.

When hearing about unchecked power one must consider the situation going on with Iran. When looking at the situation the U.S. is arguably being unchecked with its power. It has imposed secondary tariffs on Iran meaning that in certain situation the sanctions we put on Iran can be extended to other states and businesses who work with Iran. This is one of the most aggressive forms of economic pressure out there which many have an issue with. When drawing back to the websites, it does make one question why our government is trying to monitor these countries across the world.

In our course, there was a quote by George Washington, "America does not go finding monsters to slay." This quote really resonates with this situation due to the fact that the U.S. government has gone abroad for the last several decades to the Middle East trying to slay monsters. I always thought U.S. intervention was normal but from this course, I have learned it isn't which makes me wonder why we are in these wars such as the abstract "War on Terrorism" which hasn't ended and now possibly looking to go to war with Iran. After learning the U.S. hasn't always been this way really makes me wonder why we don't go back at all.

Week 4: How Google Abuses its Power

Google has become arguably the most influential company on the planet. In an CNN Article they listed how due to this several states and the EU are trying to counter Google due to their growth making them into a monopoly. This is not only due to them being a massive internet browser but comes up in their other aspects of business. The article claimed that this year 31% of the money in internet ads will be theirs. This shows how Google has a scary amount of control over information.

Google due to its control of information is also unique because it can choose what to promote or hide as mentioned in the article. They use this control to help promote their own interests which is something both new and old. Major companies have always used their influence to help themselves but none have been able to do it to googles extent. Google is able to pick what ads to air along with also being most people, including my own, main source of information.

Due to this many states are trying to address this issue which is just amplified now by some presidential candidates such as Elizabeth Warren stating they will break up Google if they get elected. I believe this is something that should happen to force google to have true competition sense it has shown it will abuse its place at the top of the market otherwise.

Week 2 Post: Trump primary challenges

Recently, Trump had another Republican declare against him in the primary. This time being former Rep. Joe Walsh. This has led to the idea that there is a growing sentiment in the GOP against the President. As mentioned by Five-Thirty-Eight, most of these challenges are considered non-real threats including other competitors such as Mark Sanford. This is interesting due to the fact that his challengers aren't ones you would expect due to the fact that challengers in non-competitive primaries typically run for increased name credibility but these two challengers are well recognized in their party. These challenges know they won't win as FiveThirtyEight mentioned, Trump has one of the highest approval ratings of the modern era. The more interesting part is that they largely are challenging him to try to spread a message and revert the republican party to more traditional conservatism instead of Trump's populist conservative message that is extremely popular with the current GOP.

Looking at what challengers could mean for Trump's reelection is a different idea. Even if they aren't true contenders they could still cost Trump on election day. Republicans have historically won due to being able to appeal to independent and moderate voters. This is due to their being less registered republicans than democrats but republicans make up for this with high turnout and independent support where democrats win by numbers but have typically lower turn out ratings.

Additionally, these challenges could cost Trump because they represent areas, especially Walsh, where they are "white-collared" conservatives who have typically disliked the President especially in the recent terms where he was overwhelmingly rebuked by this republican voting block in areas such as Orange County which was previously a GOP stronghold for 25 years. Overall it will be interesting to see how this cycle turns out due to its unique conditions.

Week 3: Dehumanization in the Supreme Court

Vox Article
The supreme court has risen to be one of the most respected institutions in the U.S. which the judges are often seen as above other politicians. At the beginning of the video, they mentioned how the judges are both human and how there is a "3-year rule" were to really get to work it takes three years. This made me ponder how the human aspect of the justices factored into the supreme court. Justices are arguably the most revered figures in the U.S. political system. When examining this their seemed to be them lacking elections thus not having that linkage institution the public that other politicians have.

Supreme Court Justices not having elections isn't something that applies to the states nessacarily. In North Carolina, Supreme Court Justices are voted in which at first was a great surprise to me since I never knew that judges were voted in. Last semester I had the opportunity to hear Justice Paul Newby Speak who is a member of the North Carolina Supreme Court and is currently running for Chief Justice. Seeing him mention running for a Chief Justice really highlighted how much them not having elections changed their image. Justice Newby seemed like any politician due to seeing him talk about his campaign while every time a Federal Supreme Court nomination happens the judges seem to be these exaltedly high being, excluding our most former nomination, but as mentioned in this weeks video they still are human.

The idea of them being human often gets washed out by them being categorized as either conservative or liberal judges by the media which was seen with Justice Kavanaugh who many media outlets claimed was extremely conservative. This obsession with ideologies seems to dehumanize them even though most people including myself don't really understand what it means. Overall, this week's video, even if only part of it, really made me think about how much Justices are forgotten as humans instead of being seen as these all-knowing oracles by the public.