The Mutual Aid to UBI Pipeline

In my hometown, mutual aid is commonplace (likely because of the proximity to a liberal arts university). What defines mutual aid? Well, I like to think of it as giving without having regulations on who deserves it, when they can have it, or what they can use it for. Mutual…

Being a Conscious Consumer is Not Enough

I think that conscious consumerism is currently ineffective in solving global conditions. An argument for this position that I think is strong is that only the rich and educated are participating in this movement; the majority of Americans cannot afford and…

The Myth of Conscious Consumerism

As a once avid consumer of zero-waste YouTube videos, I entered this debate somewhat in favor of conscious consumerism. I equated buying ethically with living morally and helping, in some almost insignificant part, to minimize one’s own share of the blame for climate…

First Thoughts on the Debate About Reparations

I am honestly still torn on which way to go when it comes to restitution for descendants of slaves. Both of The Atlantic articles that I read made solid points. It is undeniable that slaves were treated horribly and defrauded out of their rights…

The Implications of a Universal Basic Income

When it comes to universal basic income (UBI), a concept where the government “would give each person a minimum monthly sum regardless of circumstances or need,” it may seem impractical but really is dependent on the scale at which this is implemented…

Conscious Consumerism First Thoughts

After reading the articles, my opinion has shifted from believing that conscious consumerism can genuinely help stop climate change to acknowledging that tiny steps made by single individuals will not impact the world as much as big corporations. Simply buying…

The ineffectiveness of conscious consumerism

While I chose the topic of conscious consumerism with the plan of arguing in favor of it, after going through the assigned readings I found myself agreeing with the other side. I would like to think that even the smallest acts of conscious consumerism…

Populism Debate

During the populism debate, many interesting ideas were being discussed, including calls for climate change, free healthcare, and restructuring the government. However, one of the more important topics raised was the history of populism and its inability to be properly implemented. For example, the…

Ancillary #4

After reading Charles Wallace’s CQ Researcher and the other two articles by David Farris and Richard Fontaine, I am still undecided as to whether COVID-19 will end the trend toward increasing globalization. In all the articles, the main argument is that the overall trend of globalization is decreasing…

Conscious Consumption WP1

I still haven’t taken a side in this debate, even after reading all of the articles. I found the 2nd article titled ‘Conscious Consumerism is a ’more convincing than the first, because I felt like it brought up better and more realistic points. With that being said, I found the…

ancillary 4

Will the Pandemic end the trend towards increasing globalisation?

The pandemic has resulted in a significant amount of fear and therefore a deterrent towards travel in the recent months. This is as travelling in planes etc. make you far more susceptible to contracting the covid-19…

Can Global Capitalism Really Crack Climate Change?

Climate change occurs when there is a change in weather patterns. This can be caused by many things, such as the excessive amount of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere, which increases annually. There have been small changes to help reduce the…

Does UBI benefit the U.S. or will it lead to inflation ?

The debate I chose is “Would a Universal Basic Income Help Global Poverty?”. After reading the articles I have some concerns and questions about UBI. I’m not sure which side I will take yet because I need to analyze the pros and…

Defending Populism

I still haven’t nailed down a specific angle to focus on, but the broad idea I’m going to be looking into is populism. My leanings before going through this process are very much populist. I honestly think one of the aspects of this WP I’ll need to focus on will be empathizing with someone who…

Populism: shortcut or timed bomb for democracy

Populism-a political argument that tries to take the power from the elites back to the people is on the rise as shown in many political movements ranging from left to white, BLM to Trump’s success in the 2016 election. Some scholars argue the…

Is Being a Conscious Consumer Worth it?

Before reading these articles, I had been in support of being a conscious consumer. None of the general arguments that I read were particularly new to me, however I think that some of the examples used in the writing has broadened my perspective on the…