09 Nov 2010, Posted by Ben Brostoff in Backpages, 0 Comments
The term “political apathy” was thrown around quite a bit last week as a mix of faculty and students piled on as Dukies uninterested on politics. The Chronicle’s print edition ran a number of good commentaries, including an insightful guest column by professor Gunther Peck. In order to make my bias clear, I must admit I did not vote. My explanation for inaction is relatively simple: I believe most politicians have at best an elementary understanding of America’s debt woes, and consequently don’t deserve my time.
While I won’t bore you with details, let me be clear in saying America’s budget deficit is far worse than most people care to believe. S&P openly discussed downgrading the United States’ prized AAA credit rating several months ago. Since the housing crisis, the government has spent much, saved little and absorbed billions of private sector debt. Lest anyone forget, the Federal Reserve bought up $1.25 trillion of toxic mortgage backed securities (MBS) in a misguided attempt to lower interest rates and save the big banks. Now, the Fed is again buying debt in the form of US treasuries, a strategy that you’ll hear referred to as “Quantitative Easing II” (QEII) on CNBC and other news outlets.
Other than Rand Paul, it seems very few politicians are concerned about Ben Bernanke and co., much less voters. I’ve heard many professors and students speak extensively about midterm elections and offer long-winded analysis; in contrast, few seemed to notice or care when the Fed announced last Wednesday that they would purchase roughly $600 billion of Treasuries over the next year. This decision alone will likely affect the future of this country more so than any Congressional decision in the next year. The Fed’s actions could massively devalue the dollar, push equity markets and asset prices to dangerously new post-recession highs and upset our neighbors, who resent us debasing our own currency and throwing capital at developing nations trying to control their own units of exchange.
It seems politicians have been the object of America’s ire and concern moreso than the Fed in recent week.
It might be time to reevaluate how we cast blame.
04 Nov 2010, Posted by Ben Brostoff in Backpages, 0 Comments
I receive dozens of e-mails every week more or less written in this format: “I feel very upset about _________. It amazes me students on this campus are capable of ______. This is a reflection of deeper cultural issues like __________.” Most are well written and fairly insightful. Many run in the paper, and deservedly so.
I do wonder, from time to time, what the authors of said letters hope to gain by writing. It is no doubt a great feeling to have your words publicized on the web or physical paper. And it’s always admirable to initiate discussion about important issues.
That said, altering student conduct—be it minimizing inappropriate fraternity authored emails or reforming attitudes around gender or sexuality—is difficult, if impossible. Students tend to forget that offensive behavior from the college aged has been an issue for several centuries. It’s a fixture of campuses across the nation. Most of it generally is kept under wraps, but every once and a while, as has been the case at Duke recently, several issues swell up at once, and suddenly we have a problem.
Colleges have struggled with the same issues for years, and the problems won’t be any different into perpetuity. It belies an understanding of history to claim that the recent controversies surrounding Duke reveal something larger about the University.
As Joan Didion noted several decades ago in an essay about the Central Park Incident, we conveniently use news stories to plead the relevance of our own causes.
And the cycle continues.
Ben Brostoff is the Editorial Pages Editor.
03 Nov 2010, Posted by Chris Taylor in Backpages, 0 Comments
The 2010 Midterm Elections have passed. For myself and many of my fellow freshmen, Nov. 2 was the first opportunity we had to vote in a meaningful election. Tuesday represented a large change for our nation, but it seems more than just a change in dominant party. Think about what just happened: Republicans added at least sixty seats in the House of Representative, the largest swing since 1948 (CNN). Remember, however, in the 2006 and 2008 elections combined, the Democrats gained over 50 seats in the House. For someone of our generation, coming to voting age while seeing such enormous shifts between party control within the span of two to four years, it seems that the face of politics is not the steady pendulum analogy we were taught in American history but a violent metronome, moving rapidly back and forth, too quickly to make any lasting progress.
In this election I found myself backing primarily Republican candidates. While I am happy to see most of the candidates I voted for achieve victory in my home state of Ohio, I cannot help but feel slightly pessimistic about the rapid shift which has taken place. After hearing negative campaign advertisements for the last few months and witness candidates attempt to distance themselves from Washington and the Obama administration, it does not seem likely that compromise will be reached. The Republican House will remain obstinate on their views, while the Democratic Senate and President reject their proposals. Although this election marks a significant change in the political composition of our nation, I foresee no great change in my day-to-day life or my individual relationship with the government. I fully expect that, within two to four years, the balance of power will once again change hands.
02 Nov 2010, Posted by Ciaran OConnor in Backpages, 0 Comments
“If we amplify everything, we hear nothing.”
That seemed to be Jon Stewart’s primary message to the masses gathered Saturday afternoon on the National Mall for the “Rally to Restore Sanity,” a three-hour festival that seemed conceived above all else to quell—through the ridiculing of its media mongerers— the fear that has poisoned our political discourse.
While he appreciated the message and enjoyed the atmosphere, this correspondent feels that Stewart and his faux conservative arch-nemesis Stephen Colbert could have done better to amplify their own rally.
Packed like a sardine into the middle of a throng estimated at more than 200,000 strong, I found myself unable to hear much of anything emanating from the stage or the too-few speakers positioned within the larger-than-anticipated crowd. With my vision compromised as well (I declined my roommate Connor’s invitation to join him atop the 20-foot sycamore he had conquered for a better view), I settled on simply basking in the rally’s energy, which seemed to be most creatively manifested in the plethora of signs carried by its overwhelmingly liberal and white attendees.
They ranged from the witty—“All people who use hyperbole should be shot!”—to the debatably off-topic: “Can’t we all just get a bong?”
The award for cutest sign-holder goes to a baby boy that I observed in a restaurant sitting in a stroller and sporting a sign that read, “Sarah Palin’s vocabulary is smaller than mine!”
My own piece of satire—hastily conceived and drunkenly assembled on a white board in a parking lot in a D.C. suburb—read, “Get yo’ gov’t hands off my Medicare!” and this correspondent derived great pleasure from the reactions it engendered among rally-goers with varying degrees of political awareness. They ranged from the confused stare to the knowing smile to my personal favorite: the patronizing, “You know Medicare is a government program right??”
21 Oct 2010, Posted by Chris Taylor in Backpages, 0 Comments
Are you undecided on your major? Unsure which classes you should pursue next semester? Uncertain whether you want to pursue a minor or a certificate? If the answer to any of these questions is yes, then Tuesday’s Majors Fair would have been perfect for you. Unfortunately, many of my fellow first year students did not seem to know about this wonderful opportunity. Although the event could have perhaps been publicized better on East, it was well worth the midday trek to West Campus.
For those of us who had noticed the sign promoting the event in the Bryan Center—personally, I have to thank midnight McDonald’s craving for this—the Majors Fair turned out to be a fairly helpful event. Immediately upon entering the Bryan Center, I was offered a free shirt—the mark of any truly successful Duke event.
Representatives from all departments were present, answering questions and offering advice on choosing a major and deciding next semester’s courses. For the first time in my Duke career, I received a concrete explanation as to the difference between Public Policy and Political Science (for those of you who also wonder this, Political Science is theory, Public Policy Studies is the practice. You would think that distinction would appear in the descriptions).
Students who did not make it out to the Majors Fair this year, I recommend paying attention for next year’s replication. Whether you have no idea what course of study you want to take or have already planned every class you will take between now and graduation, the Fair can offer you guidance, information, advice, and free candy.
