Tag: politics

How did the COVID-19 pandemic impact the economy?

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Sharing an insightful article that was written in 2020 during the height of the COVID-19 pandemic about the economy! It’s amazing how far we’ve come!

COVID-19 and the Global Economic Recession

We constantly hear about how COVID-19 has or will destroy the economy all the time. Terms like “global economic recession” and “industry shut-downs” are being used more and more as this pandemic continues to wreak havoc across the globe. Even if a large majority of society may not understand exactly what these terms mean, they’ve been used enough times to gather that it doesn’t indicate the situation is getting better, and they are terms you don’t generally want to hear every day on the television. But what much of society doesn’t know, is why these terms are being used. This is imperative to understand in order to identify how to make the situation better.

Mass Media vs Local Journalism: A Pillar of American Democracy

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In recent years, the labels of “fake news” and “the enemy of the people” have been prevalent when talking about the media, especially from the White House. The hostile rhetoric from Washington has had a considerable impact on the public: Americans’ trust in mass media is at 41%, a significant 4% drop from the previous year. Additionally, partisanship has dramatically increased as many Americans opt to solely consume news media that perpetuate their beliefs, leading news companies to produce blatantly partisan content, and thus, further promoting partisanship among their readers. This cycle creates an echo chamber that results in a sharply divided and often misinformed population.

Margaret Chase Smith’s Speech of a Lifetime

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The American experiment was founded on the idea of a democracy where the people hold the ultimate power over the government. But when the government oversteps its power; when it threatens to endanger individual rights, it takes someone with true courage to stand up for the America public. Some of the most striking examples of blatant abuse of power in the last century occurred during the Cold War. From 1947 to 1991, the Capitalist United States (US) and the Communist Union of Soviet Socialist Republics (USSR) clashed in a series of escalating economic and political tensions. In the midst of this tumultuous period, US government officials became concerned that communist sympathizer would collude with Soviet spies and endanger national security. The most vocal advocate for the “Red Scare” was Republican Senator Joseph McCarthy of Wisconsin. McCarthy came under the national spotlight during his speech in Wheeling, West Virginia, when he claimed that 205 State Department employees were known communist infiltrators (Achter). Although he lacked definitive evidence to back his claim, McCarthy continued a long string of accusations against celebrities, politicians, and nearly anyone who disagreed with him. McCarthy’s campaign to “expose” communist infiltrators caused innocent Americans to lose their careers and reputations, and fueled McCarthy’s rise to power. This period of mass, unsubstantiated paranoia eventually became known as “McCarthyism” (Achter). Few dared to challenge him, for fear of becoming his next target; At least not until a woman by the name of Margaret Chase Smith stepped into the political fray.