The Bottom Line, a student run newspaper at UCSB, has been short on funds, because the school refused to pay for it. The UC tuition is increasing, but its school is picking more and more international applicants who have to pay more for school. 

Why are our UC campuses so running low on funds? It's because all the money is going into the state's military.  The definition of militarism is as such:

Militarism is a complex, system that organizaes the military. prioritizes the preservation of military above everything else. preserve and expand itself. even if no one attacks us, we go and constantly engage in wars to preserve itself. 

The United States is the only country that is militaristic.

What does that mean? A new movie just released in the theaters is about a veteran who "loves his country", and "loves freedom". The movie explores his life as someone who is a patriot, and a model to follow for all Americans. The Michelle Obama speech was introduced by a mother of five, who has four of her kids in the American military. I remember her saying how proud she is of her family.

If the US is doing SO much good for all the other countries, then why are 21 countries rebelling the American presence right now?! Why are the Muslim community in rage burning the American flag and destroying the American embassy?

Think about this. 

The three American soldiers who were killed in the incidents have had many news coverages, and a whole couple hours dedicated to them on the TV. 

What about the lives the military kills everywhere else? The US military is there for security measures, they say.  Whether others like it or not, the United States military bases in other countries are not only for the U.S's protection, but also for the protection of the countries around the base. Basically, the whole world. 

Who is to say that US has the best system? Who is to say that they have to protect themselves? Who is to say that they can have nuclear bombs but Iran can't? Who is to say that democracy is better than other countries? Who is to say that WE are BETTER than THEM?

Think about these questions.

Americans have been led to believe by the media that we are the BEST. Freedom is GOOD. Democracy is GOOD. It is the basic principles of Lincoln's Gettysburg address and the American consitution today. 

Is it really all that good? All the students I've met over the summer from all different worlds say OTHERWISE.

"Americans are inefficient. They are lazy. They are trying to take over the world."

I have been suffering with chronic allergies to California for seven weeks. I have not been treated because my insurance won't cover for it, they said. After hours of waiting and a few phone calls, my insurance apparently does cover for it. The woman lied to me to talk to different departments over the past seven weeks, because she did not want to deal with me. I'm not getting emotional here. She APOLOGIZED for lying to me.

Those who have watched the "Insider's Job" should know about this. The financial meltdown began when the Reagan Administration began a thirty-year-period of deregulation by the legislators in the financial system. It allowed the financial sector more freedom and less discipline, which provided more opportunity for profit and risk.  Further deregulation, a new method of mortgage lending was developed in the financial system that allowed for excessive betting without immediate risk and incentives to sabotage the system for personal profit.

Is the system of departments and democracy is giving us too much freedom that the system is crumbling down? Is this even the right way to do this? What is it causing us to do?

America is driving to control other countries, on the blind belief that we are responsible for them, or that democracy will do them good. What is the result of all of this? After Bush's huge waste of money and resources into the Middle Eastern countries, and the death of Osama bin Laden, the middle eastern people have become enemies in our minds. People praised all over the world for a death of this man. It is highly WRONG to praise for anyone's death first of all. John L. Esposito wrote in Muslim true/false in LA times that "The results showed plainly taht much of the conventional wisdom about Muslims - views touted by US policymakers and pundits and accepted by votes - is simply false."

All of us are driven by what the media tells us.The media tells us that the middle eastern people are DANGEROUS. We have to control them through guns and army. That's the only way we can be safe!

Well that's not what the 21 other countires are saying now. We as Americans, who are infatuated with the American TV, do not have enough sociological imagination to realize that the middle eastern population may not be bad people after all. 

How about taking it in an intercultural understanding that we are all different people with different physical features and experiences? The differences of race and ethnicity are all ILLUSIONS. There is no dividing line between white and black, as people have always said on diversity days. Why can't we say that about us and the people in the middle east?

Instead of lamenting the loss of three American people, why can't we think about countless lives being lost out in 21 other countries by the American military? 

I am not being against my own country, as a citizen of the United States. However, we need to realize that they are the same people as us. They must have valid reasons for protesting the American presence in their countries.

First of all, US exhausts all of its parasite countries. Economy today can be characterized by a trend that stems from the US's effort in help the “less developed” countries. The United States was unhesitant in its effort to democratize other nations, with a blind belief that the “American” way of life was the most ideal.

However, because of global inequality, or systematic differences in wealth and power between those nations, the West used them as parasites. It kept the countries at a financially and politically convenient state as a source of cheap labor and raw material for their industries. In effect, these countries that established relations with the West are exploited as Western industries exhaust its economy of labor and natural resources.

The United States enforced democracy and capitalism on other countries on the false belief that it is “better”.  This belief was ultimately used to justify exploitation of other nations to keep things cheaper. 

Perhaps the fundamental building of the United States was based on dominating other things. How is the idea of democracy and freedom is having control over other things? Well to start with, the very people who built the foundations of our nations from other countries came into the United States, took over the lands and resources of the Natives. We are doing essentially the same thing now to other countries. We USED them to be free ourselves. 

What about all the vegetarians? Are they not eating meat, simply because they feel "bad" for the animals? No! We are abusing our animals and our environment to feed ourselves.

The animals are kept in tight in very poor conditions in factories so they are sick. They are eating corn, which is not what animals are supposed to eat, and getting sick. The herbol doctors tell their patients to not eat meat from the US, because it contains bacteria that can cause us so much harm to our own bodies. Our greed to feed ourselves is demonstrated through eating meat. Raising these animals create more carbon than all transportation devices in the world combined. Raising them also caused for elimination of 90% of the rainforests in the past forty years!

When I studied the East Asian Cultural Studies, one quote I remember distinctly is that the West tries to manipulate their plants in the garden, whereas in Asia we try to fit in with the nature. 

Humans are genetically programmed to love and share. The societies in which we related to, and based on our identities upon have distorted our view of the world, and led us to believe that competition and domination was the way to survival.

However, the word “survival” only appears twice in Darwin’s book. In fact, elitists have distorted the Darwinism perspective and made us believe that only the strongest and fittest should survive and flourish in society.

This idea drives us to improve ourselves. Whether it may be wealth, beauty, or whiteness, we not only strive to embody all the qualities, but also try to be better than everyone else. So how do we overcome these societal pressures? Is it even possible to rebel against such preva1ent ideas in our lives? Even Martin Luther King comments, “We are caught in an inescapable network of mutuality, tied in a single destiny.”

But we have the ability to do otherwise. We can be confident that we are all beautiful creatures on this earth with a mission to live with compassion and love. Whether it is different people, plants, or animals, we all share the same ecological system and if we continue to abuse the privilege, we are driving ourselves to our own dom.

I think that makes sense! It's fulfilling what God wants us to do. Love each other. Take care of other lives. Just like eating lots of raw veggies and fruits is what is the best for our bodies. We are born to love.