Michael Moore: Continued

After finishing watching  Michael Moore's satiric documentary, Where to Invade Next, it was clear to me that there are so many things the United States could improve on with the power of our government. Wether it be paid vacations, sex education classes, no standardized tests, free college, shorter work weeks, no death penalty, equal gender rights, or female leadership, Michael Moore's points that he makes in his film are only a handful of the tons of ways that America could improve.

Seeing how other countries followed through with their laws opened my eyes to worlds I never knew about or even imagined. What gets me the most, is that each of these laws that Moore introduced us to originated from ideas that were created in the United States. For example, in Portugal there are no laws against using drugs. It blows my mind that the idea to legalize the recreational use of all drugs came form America; I cannot even begin to imagine how that would effect Americans if it were to be in place now.

However, as we look back on the history of the United States and the reasoning as to why we even administered the laws on recreational drugs, we must keep in mind the effects these laws had on the lives of black Americans. Since the laws were originally created because the government felt that they needed to "catch" black Americans for doing something bad so that they could prosecute them. As a result of this law, black people have faced horrible punishments for their irrational acts and as Moore states in the movie, "one in every three black men is not allowed to vote in the United States". Today, these back lashes have started movements like Black Lives Matter. With this in mind, I think that this movement is a start to a way that the United States would be able to go back to legalizing the use of recreational drugs.

Michael Moore's Where to Invade Next

After watching a portion of Michael Moore's satiric documentary, Where to Invade Next, I was astounded by the incredible laws that the different countries have. In my opinion, the first segment of the documentary, when Michael Moore invades Italy, was the most important. In Italy, there is a law enforcing each company to give all of their employees eight weeks of paid vacation time, including five months of maternity leave.

As the Italian citizens discussed, eight weeks of paid vacation allows for employees to take breaks from the stressfulness of their work lives. I think that this law is important because vacations have been important to myself and my family as I have grown up. I believe this law should be implemented within businesses in the United States. Because my Dad is the owner of a furniture business, he has been able to make his own work schedule and incorporate his own time off. This has allowed our family to spend quality time together and for him to relax throughout many stressful years.

Here's a picture of my sisters and I when my family took a cross country road trip when we were younger!

In the United States we lack this law, which causes many employees to overwork themselves. After watching a portion of this documentary, I discussed this law with one of my friends. In response, she told me that her older sister was recently complaining about these laws because she is getting hounded for even taking a ten minute lunch. When she returns from lunch she is getting yelled at for leaving for ten minutes, while in Italy the employees are given two hours for lunch breaks to go home, relax, and eat with their families.

Donald Trump's Proposed EPA Budget Cut

Monday, April 10, 2017
The Honorable Bernie Sanders
1 Church St, 3rd Floor
United State Senate
Burlington, VT 05401


Dear Senator Bernie Sanders,

I am writing you a letter in regards to the Trump Administration's proposed budget cuts. Although I believe there are several issues that should be acknowledged, I would like to focus specifically on the decrease in funds for the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA). As a resident of Enosburg Falls, Vermont and a current student of Saint Michael's College, I am concerned about what will happen to our state's natural resource protection without the EPA. I think our state's plans on making Burlington a city with renewable energy is very important to our state as a whole. Because Burlington is the largest city in Vermont, the change to renewable energy would significantly support Vermont's title as a leader in sustainably running a state.
One of the most important aspects of the EPA is their clean power plan. The contributions of the clean power plan do not only support Vermont, but all of the states too. The clean power plan will help states develop and deploy clean energy alternatives. If the proposed budget by the Trump Administration is passed, then people across the country would lose their jobs and the hard work that Vermonters have put forth in creating this environmental name for ourselves would be lost.
As you are a member of congress, I am asking you to vote in support of funds that will help the Environmental Protection Agency in sustaining our state and country as a whole.

Thank you for taking this letter into your consideration.

Sincerely,

Natalie Jackson
Saint Michael's College '19
SMC Box 2907
One Winooski Park
Colchester, VT 05439

What is "Too Much Technology"?

I recently watched an episode of the British television series Black Mirror. In the first episode of season three, Nosedive, I was overwhelmed by the profuse amount of technology and the effects that it had on every single character in the show. Lacie, played by Bryce Dallas Howard, played the lead role in the episode and, in my opinion, cared too much about what others thought of her. However, as the show continued, I began to realize that sometimes she had a good reason to care what people thought and "rated" her. For example, her cost of rent and status to get in line at different places were affected based upon the ratings that people gave her.

This concept of allowing others' opinions of who we are determine important aspect of our lives is completely mind-blowing to me. Although I think that this would never happen to our reality, it isn't exactly a wild thought to occur since most people today rely on technology for everything they do, just as the characters in the show did too. Because we're constantly using technology and posting pictures to gain the satisfaction that somebody "liked" our posts, I don't think this episode is completely irrelevant. 

Geek Heresy, a book written by Kentaro Toyama, discusses the affects that technology can have on our lives. Kentaro states in the book that he worked at Microsoft for 12 years. After being around technology so immensely, to the point where everything you do, all day long, is focused upon and driven by technology, Kentaro said he "unconsciously embraced a peculiar paradox". When you work in a technology industry, you're more apt to spend your days being consumed in the technological world. 

Upon leaving Microsoft, Kentaro realized how much his life revolved around technology. In fact, he even said, "I am a recovering technoholic. I was once addicted to a technological way of solving problems," (xiii, Toyama). After reading this bit, my immediate reaction was to go back and think about the episode of Black Mirror. If the people in our society continue to use technology as frequently and consumingly as they are right now, then I'm worried that it won't be long before everyone will soon be a "technoholic".