THE SCHOOL OF WASHINGTON

And Al l This For The Com m on G ood

Volume I No. 3

A Non-profit, GW Student Magazine SchoolofWashington.org

- Table of Contents Business & Finance

Quantitative Easing: One Last Hurrah from the Fed............................................................................... 3 Reasons why Golds Value Can Increase................................................................................................... Are We Competing? The U.S.-Korea Free Trade Agreement.................................................................. 3 3 4

Culture & Arts

Beware the Social Media................................................................................................................................. Cold Weather Essentials: Sustenance for the Season................................................................................. Uncovering the Districts Musical Secret: U Streets Jazz Clubs.............................................................. Exhibit Review of Picturing the Victorians: British Photographs and Reproductive Prints from the Department of Image Collections.............. 5 6 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15

Lyceum: Philosophy
The Right Hierarchy......................................................................................................................................... P.E.T.A.: People Eating Tasty Animals........................................................................................................ The Ties that Bind: Hegelian Master-Slave Dialectic and the US/Saudi Relationship.......................

Politics & Policy

The Two Party System is Broken.................................................................................................................... Chinas Latent Role in North Koreas Nuclear Crisis................................................................................

Sports
South Beach Struggle: The Miami Heat Are Not Among the NBA Elite............................................ Dare I Say the Knicks be Patient for Another Year?.................................................................................. Why We Watch Sports....................................................................................................................................

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B u si n e ss & Fi n a n ce
Quantitative Easing: One Last Hurrah from the Fed
financial crisis. Two characteristics of the economic outlook that the Fed stresses are the unemployment rate and the inflation rate. The Fed believes that the inflation By By Joseph Cordi rate of 1 percent is too low to promote Chief Financial Officer economic growth and is trying to Two years after the recession, increase to the ideal inflation rate of Americans from New York to 1.7 2 percent. Some economists California are wondering the same feel that the current inflation rate is thing: when is this recession going to too low and may eventually turn into stop? The economy is still sputtering deflation. The Fed is hoping that the and the unemployment rate seems second round of quantitative easing stagnant at 10 percent. How could results in higher inflation rates. a super power like the United States struggle to jump-start their economy Many argue that buying a mass over two years after the meltdown? amount of Treasury bonds will leave Citizens look at emerging markets less on the market and drive demand such as those of Brazil and China up. Once the demand is up, bonds with utter confusion. Of course those will be more expensive and the countries production has slipped yields will subsequently be less, thus since 2008, but they are still growing making them less attractive. The Fed is hoping that investors would then and creating jobs. invest their money into other asset Ben Bernanke, current Chairman of classes like real estate. the Federal Reserve, has exhausted all options available to stimulate the On the other side, there are plenty economy since the 2008 collapse. of people who feel that the second His latest action was purchasing $600 round of quantitative easing will billion worth of Treasury Bonds. He inhibit growth within the economy. plans to buy roughly $75 billion each They fear this policy could cause month through the middle of 2011. too much inflation or create asset The purchasing of treasury bonds by bubbles, which ironically caused the the Fed is referred to as quantitative 2008 financial crisis. easing. This marks the second quantitative easing that the Fed has Japan was the first nation to try initiated recently. The first was when quantitative easing in an attempt they bought $1.7 billion worth of to spark their economy and raise securities while trying to combat the inflation levels. The similarities between the economies of Japan between 1990-2005 and the United States are eerie. Japan suffered from deflation and lack of economic growth throughout the 1990s. Similar to the United States, Japan cut interest rates close to zero but had to search for a new solution years later. The Bank of Japan later created the policy now known as quantitative easing in 2001. The experiment lasted 5 years. At first, prices stopped falling and the policy worked. However, deflation crept back and negated the positive effects, thus ending the quantitative easing trial. Japan and the United States economies were and are different. The United States has not been fighting deflation for the past decade. In addition, the Federal Reserve should learn from the Bank of Japans mistake of not being aggressive enough. The Bank of Japan also failed to inform Japanese citizens about plans in advance. This is where Ben Bernanke has already succeeded. He has carefully outlined all of his steps to the quantitative earning and the intended repercussions. The Fed has the luxury of looking at the events that took place in Japan and learning from their shortcomings. Bad fiscal policy can set the United States economy back months or even years. Heres another prosaic message to Mr. Bernanke and his staff down the street: tread carefully.

3 Reasons why Golds Value Can Increase

By Jonathan Cohen
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Business & Finance Editor

the phrase not since the Great Depression, applied to our current economic climate? Its fitting, given 1. Economy that the United States has endured How many times have you heard the deepest and longest economic
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with golds price up to over 1350$. After all, golds value does not arise from its industrial applications but from its worldwide acceptance as a safe store of value. As the public loses faith in debased paper currencies, the flight to gold could increase exponentially. Also fueling demand are the worlds central banks, which in a major trend reversal have now become net buyers of gold instead of sellers. Central banks in China, India and Russia could fuel a greater demand for gold. Beijing not only is stocking up on gold as it divests itself of its dollar holdings but also is encouraging its increasingly affluent 3. Demand The Federal Reserve has kept U.S. billions of citizens to buy gold. The interest rates at basically zero, with creation of exchanged traded funds no sign of a hike in the near future, (ETFs) of gold has caused greater therefore lowering the opportunity investment demand in paper gold, cost of buying gold. Investors have which has increased the price of gold 2. Fear Investors are abandoning anything responded with astonishing eagerness, as well. correction since the 1930s. Much of the U.S.s manufacturing base has been outsourced. The few jobs being created are in mostly for government initiatives such as the Census Bureau. The unemployment rate hovers near 10%, and about 13% of Americans are on food stamps. Volatility plagues the equity markets. The 2008 economic recession decreased real-estate values drastically, sent foreclosures soaring and required a nearly $1 trillion bailout of investment banks that were too big to fail. The U.S. government has a huge problem of multi-trilliondollar deficits, and its not going to emerge from that hole without higher taxes and painful austerity measures. Meanwhile, our states also have had severe debt problems. with a minimal amount of risk. The sovereign-debt crisis is affecting many countries like Ireland, Portugal, and Spain, and is spreading across the globe. Fearful investors are moving their assets from the the Euro and other weaker currencies into gold. The stock market rebounded from its 2008-09 depths, but some analysts say its overbought and due for painful correction. Meanwhile, there are threats of war across the Middle East, Asia, and most recently Korea. These will cause more problems and more movement towards gold.

Are We Competing? The U.S.-Korea Free Trade Agreement

By Chloe Colbert IASs Informer Columnist The U.S. has worked diligently to make sure that by the November 2010 G-20 Summit, President Obama would be ready to sign off on a free trade agreement with South Korea. When push came to shove, however, the U.S. returned home empty-handed without a free trade agreement. What happened? The United States, with a powerful trade policy that emphasizes more exports and accessing the markets of potential trade partners like the Asian tigers
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market, but was also detrimental to the U.S.s ability to aggressively interact with the Asian tigers. The U.S. is seeking to include more of its Asian economic counterparts in its pending Trans-Pacific Partnership. U.S. trade officials attended the Asia Pacific Economic Cooperation The White House signed a trade Forum (APEC) in Japan this past agreement with the Republic of Korea week -- but can the U.S. really garner in 2007 during the Bush presidency, the strength it needs to engage with but Congress did not move forward these Asian economic powers? in passing it. For the past three years, the Office of the United States In the next 20 years, the U.S. will Trade Representative (USTR) has see a rise in Asian countries that worked diligently in trying to pass not only will have become stronger a version of the U.S.-Korea Free economically, but also better educated Trade Agreement (KORUS), but than in the past. To engage in trade irreconcilable differences in the auto agreements would demonstrate and beef industries prevented this how the U.S. seeks to boost its own passage. economy as well as create a brighter future for the employees and the The failed attempt to pass KORUS families that export-based jobs not only proved to be a loss for the support. The United States cannot U.S. in terms of accessing the Korean just sit on the sidelines while the (Hong Kong, Singapore, South Korea, and Taiwan), claimed that restrictions on the auto industry for American automobile workers and in the beef industry prevented the trade agreements passage, according to Japans Asahi Shimbun newspaper.
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Asian tigers continue to grow.

solely based on military strength but on economic output, a nation must The European Union will enact its diversify its economy to incorporate free trade agreement with Korea in international trade if it truly wishes July. There is no time to waste -- in to compete. The passing of the an age where competition is no longer KORUS agreement is still a hurdle

for the U.S. to overcome, and it could be an overarching predictor for the future of U.S. trade relations and international economic competition. Lets move forward, America, lest we fall behind.

Cu l t u re & Ar ts
Beware the Social Media
By Victoria Lee Columnist While your average college student may not make a PowerPoint depicting their hookups like now-infamous Duke University student Karen Owen, Facebook, Twitter, YouTube and other forms of social media are still usurping the day-to-day lives of students. Through the popular film, The Social Network, which is based on the creation of Facebook, we see an accurate portrayal of just how dependent college students are when it comes to the website. The film shows how the now-popular phrase Facebook me began and how it developed into meaning the ability to bring people together. With over 500 million members worldwide, the power of Facebook is revealed. Entertainment Weekly described Facebook perfectly when it ranked the site on its end-of-the-decade best-of list, saying, how on earth did we stalk our exes, remember our co-workers birthdays, bug our friends, and play a rousing game of Scrabulous before Facebook? Whether its your new sorority sister, classmate, or the cute boy you met on Saturday, Facebook is increasingly
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used to get in touch with others in a might send the wrong message to range of communities. companies and even cost them a job. I think it is very important to Businesses are jumping on the social be mindful of what you put on your media train as well. According to a social media account because it is blog by Adam Hartung on Forbes. public and it does tend to come back com, businesses use Facebook for and haunt students, sophomore marketing and advertising purposes Gabrielle Friedman said. My advice and even for communication with is to use privacy settings and never customer suppliers. Hartung writes, post anything you wouldnt want Social media is the next big thing your parents seeing. to improve productivity. You can find out everything remarkably fast, As the social media trend grows, the often quite accurately, at practically issue of privacy grows alongside it. no cost. He stresses that you dont The inclusion of personal information even need a server, a PC or software on social networking profiles leaves to be social media-savvy. Businesses some wondering who really has access can connect to anyone and everyone to this information. A clip from CBS including customers, supply chain News featuring John Quain, an Up to partners, reviews, detractors and their the Minute Technology consultant, rival companies. reveals that Facebook has the ability to collect information on their users However, there is a distinct difference interests and products through the between promoting a conference for Like feature. If someone Likes the organization that you intern for a brand or a TV show on Facebook, on Facebook and posting pictures then Facebook will show all of their of the debauchery that you dont friends who also liked it. The site remember from the night before. gains more information on what you Many college students do not think are interested in by keeping track of about potential consequences before the pages that you liked. The site posting a picture of them and uses this information to cater specific their friends drinking or partying. advertisements to each user. According to CBS News, 20% of employers now scan the Facebook While social media has its perks, such profiles of potential applicants before as helping you reconnect with your conducting interviews. They can also old high school friend or promoting access profiles that are supposed to be your company to the world, it still has private. Many people do not realize risks that cant be ignored. The next that what they post on Facebook time you are thinking of updating
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your status to Ready for some Four saw it? Social media is great, but there Loko, ask yourself this: What would are parts of peoples lives that should the State Department think if they be kept private and not streamed

online for the entire world and potential employers to see.

Cold Weather Essentials: Sustenance for the Season

By Zachary Gorelick Columnist As maroon leaves cling to their branches by a single strand, the temperature drops and indicates the general passing of the warmer months. Goodbye, sunshine. Now, as the wintry months approach, we can look forward to a bevy of seasonal experiences: the annual holiday gift frenzy, the brisk bite of wind against our cheeks and, undoubtedly, the significant changes to our diet. Each year, the onset of the colder seasons signals a vast array of shifts in both our bodies and within societys calorie consuming habits. Heres a short list of food and drink suggestions for the upcoming holiday season that are sure to make the oft chilly transition that much warmer. Dark Beer: As the colder months approach, so do our animal instincts. With each degree of temperature goes one last vestige of civility. Drink

up. Our bodies crave thicker, more caloric foods as they struggle to provide energy and heat on a day-today basis. Kick start your metabolism and get ahead of the game. While your waistline may hate you for it, youll be too warm, toasty and flatout drunk to realize it.

year, from greenhouse rhubarbs to field-grown rutabaga, plants that grow in the earth are ripe for consumption. Kept warm by the soil during the harshest of conditions, these veggies are often highly caloric and especially tasty during the coming winter months. A healthy counterweight against the previously mentioned Starbucks Specialty Lattes: Mine is items, potatoes, leeks, squash and Gingerbread. Yours may be Pumpkin beets are but a few gifts of the winter Spice, or perhaps Peppermint. As the bounty. holiday season approaches, you may find yourself ordering the Eggnog Street hot dogs: You read correctly; Im latte. Regardless, as temperatures talking about carted vendors hawking drop, I expect to see the Starbucks at passerbys to sell at $2 a pork-skin line wrap around Gelman Library tube of re-heated animal guts. Yum. (though Ive noticed already that Its not often that I advocate towards even a 5 a.m. visit means waiting such unnatural items. Im incredibly behind at least three people). Sure, prone to unhealthy foods, but at least the drinks themselves arent the most you know whats in chocolate cake sophisticated: the sweet artificial (chocolate and cake, right?). No, Im sugars provide the slightest sting to not advocating the heinous McRib, the throat, packed with nearly 350 an apparent medley of barbecue sauce calories per medium (ahem, grande) and ground pig anus, but instead an cup. That said, theres no reason why all-American classic. The delicious the warm (and more importantly, street hotdog is a perfect treat when caffeinated) drinks cant cheer you up served steaming as snow falls gently or keep you awake for another day at to the ground. It may not be the the library or an overcrowded lecture healthiest, and its certainly most hall. mysterious, but theres not much that beats a meaty dog on a bleak, Root vegetables: In season for this unforgiving afternoon. Simply stated, jazz music is an art form underappreciated by the current generation. Icons like Miles Davis, Thelonius Monk and Dizzy Gillespie have gone from household names of the bebop and cool jazz eras to geniuses unknown to the modern young music listener. The improvisational style that makes jazz so great has been lost. As residents of D.C., however, we have the ability to rediscover the value of jazz and experience it in its purest form, not simply through recordings or the memories of previous generations, but rather through live performance. The Districts U Street is home to a host of jazz venues that allow all, from the jazz novice to the enthusiast, to revel in the music and hear
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Uncovering the Districts Musical Secret: U Streets Jazz Clubs

By Alicia Farina Columnist

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some of the worlds finest pianists, percussionists, guitarists, and wind instrument players. A personal experience at U Streets Twins Jazz epitomizes the Districts jazz scene. The space was dimly lit and narrow, with tables closely aligned. People sat casually, sipping on drinks and savoring the Ethiopian themed fare. At the front was the band, composed of a drummer, saxophonist, bassist, and pianist. The sound of the tenor saxophone resonated throughout the space and into the street, supported by a strong

drumbeat and a repetitious piano riff. The fingers of the pianist flew across the keys as the bassist walked his fingers up and down his instrument. Crescendos and decrescendos added emotion to the pieces while the drummer swayed and bounced to the beat. Throughout the evening the band transformed the original masterpieces of Charlie Parker, Cab Calloway and others into their own creations, improvising on the established music and collaborating with one another to construct lengthy expressions of emotion. Each artist had his chance in the spotlight, his

chance to add to the piece and mold it in his own way. These performers may not be household names, but they are the essence of jazz. They perform in a way many artists today simply cannot. They make music on the spot, demonstrating a mastery of the craft and a sincere, genuine passion. For this reason, we must take advantage of our location among some of the best jazz venues and experience music in one of its most natural forms.

Exhibit Review of Picturing the Victorians: British Photographs and Reproductive Prints from the Department of Image Collections

Beginning in the 1850s, advanced printmaking and photography techniques made the mass distribution of images, the rights of which previously the upper classes held exclusively, were made available to the entirety of the public. This sentiment is captured perfectly by the wood engraving of A Sunday Afternoon in a Picture Gallery, recognizable from the National Gallerys exhibition posters. The By Andrew Hor engraving shows members of the Columnist Sunday Society, a lobby organization that pushed for the emancipation The exhibit may be viewed at the of art from the realm of wealthy National Gallery. collectors on Sundays, crowding the opening of the Grosvenor Gallery. Picturing the Victorians: British Among the crowd are men consulting Photographs and Reproductive Prints guidebooks and women hunching from the Department of Image over a protective railing to get a closer Collections, an exhibit at the National look at paintings they are presumably Gallery, features a sampling of viewing for the first time. photographs, etchings and prints used primarily in advertisements and However, these print reproductions art publications in mid 19th century did not exist simply for the betterment England. Despite its stuffy title, of public knowledge this was largely themes of mass production and equal a profit driven movement. With the access to art throughout the works are growth of the middle classes, exposure surprisingly simple and increasingly to art meant increased interest in the relevant to our current social media art market. culture.
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This was a development that John Ruskin, the noted 19th century gothic architect, clashed with on a philosophical level. Ruskin advocated the use of hand construction within Gothic architecture in an effort to assert his aversion to capitalism and the machine. In his mind, industrialism contributed to the demise of modern society, and the only way to break free of the downward spiral was to push for dominance of the Gothic style over the easily massed produced classical. Ironically, Ruskins dread of a mechanical, profit driven society was caught off guard in a photograph by William Downey, reproduced in publications throughout London. You ought not to have introduced me to a man not to be depended on, said Ruskin of Downey. Other interesting highlights of the exhibit include Valentine Cameron Prinsep by Frank Dudman, a photograph taken for a publication called Artists at Home (1884). Prinsep and his mother were highly involved in artistic and literary circles, which remained closed to a small club of salon-going members. The photograph shows Prinsep in his
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study, surrounded by his works of art a setting that would have otherwise been sealed to plebian society. As a book, Artists at Home embodies the movement of high art and high culture unlocked for the rest of the culture to enjoy. Regardless of the motivation, whether it be the pure, sincere desire to break the inequality of knowledge or the practical profit-driven model to reap the benefits of an art-aware middle

class, these prints document the the conversation. There certainly is movement of art ideals to the masses. something to be gained in perspective by seeing the precursors to the While walking through the exhibit, modern digital image: the special it is important to keep in mind the value art holds for all people, in all relevance of these ideas to modern places, in all times. society. These images represent a transitional period from which Picturing the Victorians: British enjoyment of arts remained restricted. Photographs and Reproductive Prints Growing up in a generation that from the Department of Image shares art and fashion freely and Collections runs until January 28th in instantly through the internet, it is the East Building Study Center. hard to imagine being excluded from

Lyce u m: Phi l osophy

The Right Hierarchy
By Raj Patel Columnist In every society, in every culture, indeed, every time human beings have come together on Earth to form the community, a hierarchy has developed. What does this mean? The fundamental belief in the inequality of things, the need for the separation of things, and the acceptance of the imparity between things should characterize the more honest and harmonious Weltanschauung of a people. Let us consider one successful and terrifying moral code for the differentiating between ranks of human beings: the Hindu caste system. The system includes different castes prescribed different correlating social roles held together by an abstract metaphysical principle that places the Brahmins, the philosophers, at the top of the hierarchy. The Brahmins were placed on top, of course, because the entire system was conceived by them. The forms of oppression needed to maintain the structure of such a
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system of relationships were explicitly put forward in a series of inhumane edicts and instructions designed to fix the essentialist properties of those in the different castes: the feat was simultaneously as astounding as it was atrocious. Provisions in the laws for the lower castes were set out: a sudra [a person from the lowest caste] who insults a man from any caste above him will have his tongue cut out, for he is of a low origin (Laws of Manu, 270); if [a sudra] mentions the names and castes of the those above him insultingly, an iron nail, ten fingers long, shall be thrust redhot into his mouth (Laws of Manu, 271). The Brahmins even asserted authority over kings: therefore, even if the king attains supremacy at the end of it, he resorts to the Brahmin as his source. Therefore he who injures the Brahmin strikes at his own source. He [the king] becomes more evil as he injures one who is superior (BAU.I.4.11, my emphasis). Other provisions regarding the kinds of nourishment different castes could have access to were also prescribed and enforced. Socially constructed behavior (constructed with the use of a religious principle, which could

be aptly characterized as a Platonic noble lie) was posited to be the nature nature of those exhibiting such behaviors through a spiritually constructed metaphysical authority. Viewed through a romantic lens, it was with this severity, this evil, that the Brahmins violently asserted their right to think in peace, without the menial duties or obligation that go along with having to earn a living for themselves. It was through this gruesome but powerful spirituality that they earned a meaning for themselves. For Nietzsche, this represented one of the most organic and authentic social orders that had ever been created. One breathes a sigh of relief at leaving the Christian atmosphere of disease and dungeons for this healthier, higher, and wider world. How wretched is the New Testament compared to Manu, how foul it smells! (TI.8.3). The imposition of horrid conditions by the higher castes upon the lower castes, the exertion and discharge of power, and the fundamental thirst for rank, is simply part and parcel of the ontological make-up of the world This is the healthiest state of affairs
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given the way the world works. It is in this kind of world where great human beings can arise (and sometimes, these great human beings represent the most elegant reaction to such a system, such as Buddha). Now let us consider the kind of hierarchy erected in our modern day society. That is, a society that has a hierarchical structure that glorifies a bourgeois value system and has a derivative principle of capital that creates the divisions between ranks. Perhaps this system would, prima facie, look more humane: (1) it would have the soothing lure of bourgeois comfort for even those at the bottom end of the system (e.g. The American Dream); (2) such a hierarchy would perhaps have liberal ideological tools that theoretically created fantastic mechanisms through which provisions for the lower classes were taken care of, in order to maintain its systemic stability as opposed to an actual ideological commitment to the welfare of those with wretched lives (e.g. the Rawlsian difference principle); (3) finally, it would perhaps be characterized by the ascension of one of the most disgracefully decadent human beings that any society has ever created (e.g. the quintessential GW student: yes, our very own GW, academias bourgeois wet-dream, has given rise to what is perhaps one of the most despicable forms of human being yet).

Aspects (1) and (3) of bourgeois society, listed above, certainly represent one of the biggest dangers faced by us more reflective people today. Anybody who has experience with the average GW student, provided that one isnt the average GW student, surely felt that all-toofamiliar sickness immediately after. That I do not belong here feeling probably then set in, or in Nietzschean terms, one realized that one is sitting at a table where one doesnt belong. The reprehensibility of a society where the most decadent and despicable kind of human being is placed at the highest is derived from the judgment of reprehensibility one makes regarding the individual we are generalizing about here. This is my methodological individualism: the ascension of this particular human being as the highest also raises his values and ideals to the highest and brings them to the fore. This has terrible societal consequences. For example, the arts are ravaged: all kinds of sicknesses masquerade themselves as art (would the Jersey Shore be possible without a specifically destitute value system that would praise such a monstrosity as art? The same applies for Twilight!) A high premium is placed upon the approval of others, that is, the external affirmation of this kind of person is necessary to his overall

health. Incidentally, this is why this kind of human being strives for the protection of farcical associations of brotherhood and sisterhood (you understand by this I mean fraternities and sororities). A lot can be inferred about the character of someone if they find their natural place in such a crowd. Brand culture is also put upon a pedestal because power is posited exclusively in terms of capital and those raised with the goal of petty bourgeois comfort as their end become possessed by possessions. Accordingly, possessions become an instrument for the expression of power (e.g. the kind of car one drives) and thus those with the most or best material possessions become themselves the highest expression of power in the society. I wage war upon such a hierarchy and the human being who tops such an excrementitiously defined hierarchy. Bourgeois comforts simply cannot be the final end or proper task of life! What is needed is a new and more powerful metaphysical principle to replace capital as the determinant of the order of rank: a new hierarchy, a more organic structure, in other words, one that gives rise to stronger and more independent human beings. Then perhaps we will look back on this period with a sufficient amount of distaste and embarrassment as to ask why it took us so long to get over this bourgeoisie accident of history. a righteous manifestation of good, they are in fact hypocritical, support terrorist acts, and have a total lack of value for human life. PETA is an organization that advocates, as PETA founder Ingrid Newkirk describes it, total animal liberation. Total animal liberation
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P.E.T.A.: People Eating Tasty Animals

rights have to been pushed to the forefront of our consciousnessdue in large part to the Michael Vick dog-fighting trial a few years ago By Christian Geoghegan there has been one group that has Columnist been the de facto faade of the overall movement: P.E.T.A, or People for In an age when veganism, the Ethical Treatment of Animals. vegetarianism and overall animal While PETA may be perceived to be
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is the philosophic belief that all animals, everywhere, should be released from their bondage from zoos, or being owned as pets, in order to roam freely in the world based on the concept of animal rights. Because PETA feels that humans and animals are equal, animals should have the same rights that we have such as not being murdered, used, or abused, especially in the case of using animals for medical tests. In PETAs ideal world, they would outlaw fishing, circuses, dog shows, horseback riding and zoos. They even oppose service animals like guide dogs for the blind. Pet ownership, which is described by Newkirk in the August 1, 1988 issue of Harpers as an absolutely abysmal situation brought about by human manipulation, is forbidden too, so pet owners may want to reconsider donating to PETA. However, with PETAs notion of free animals with equal rights comes the idea of responsibilities. If animals are equal to humans in terms of not being killed or abused, soon liberated animals will have to go back to cages for killing their fellow animals (no one animal is more important than another, according to PETA)! PETA is not just confined to ludicrous, ironic philosophical beliefs; they stretch their idiocy to their advertisements as well. At one point, PETA issued a campaign on their website called the Holocaust on your plate in which they juxtaposed images of Nazi concentration camps with images of livestock farms in

order to equate the treatment of Jewish people with that of chickens. Granted, if all PETA was involved in was promoting twisted philosophical views, and immoral advertisements, they may be defensible. However, PETA is deeply involved in with eco-terrorists, including groups like Animal Liberation Front (a group of anonymous activists who go to extreme measures to promote views like firebombing animal testing labs to destroy research, and free animals). Rodney Coronado, one such activist, firebombed a Michigan State University Research Lab in the name of animal rights. He also publically admitted to six other arsons. He went to jail. In the governments sentencing memorandum, the US attorney wrote that there was evidence that Ingrid Newkirk was connected to the crime. In fact, PETA donated $45,200 to the Rodney Coronado Support Committee. PETA also made a $25,000 loan to Rodneys father, Ray Coronado, but in truth, according to Center for Consumer Freedom, Ray said he never had to pay that money back.

PETA vehemently opposes using animals for medical research as equally evil. However, without animal testing there is no biomedical science and public health. Numerous vaccines, like those for Anthrax, Chicken Pox, Cholera, Diphtheria and Flu, and medications have been developed due to animal testing. Insulin, one such medication, is used by approximately ten million diabetic Americans daily. Mary Beth Sweetland, one such American, has type A diabetes and to stay alive she injects herself everyday with Insulin, which was developed using medical testing on dogs. However, Mary Beth Sweetland is PETAs senior vice president. She admits that her medicine still contains some animal products but then said I dont see myself as a hypocrite. I need my life to fight for the rights of animals.

Though it might appear that PETA couldnt be anymore hypocritical, the organization has put down numerous animals since its creation (including 97% of all the animals they took in last year) because, as Newkirk says, sometimes the only kind option for some animals is to put them to sleep PETA also supports Gary Yourofsky, forever. who has been arrested thirteen times, spent time in maximum PETA, while seemingly moral and security prisons for ALF crimes, and wholesome, is in fact as unethical as compared himself to Dr. Martin Hamas or Hezbollah. They should be Luther King Jr., Mohandas Gandhi, ignored, treated with contempt, and Nelson Mandela and Jesus. Yourofsky should be regarded as what they are: is on PETAs payroll as their official a group that supports terrorism and orator. has a blatant disregard for human life.

The Ties that Bind: Hegelian Master-Slave Dialectic and the US/ Saudi Relationship
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By Madison Noble Columnist

Master-Slave Dialectic from his work, The Phenomenology of Spirit. Hegel argues that self-consciousness Georg Wilhelm Friedrich Hegel, is achieved through recognition of a nineteenth century German another self-consciousness through philosopher, is famous for his his story of a master-slave relationship.
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In this relationship, the slave ends up as the master, the master as the slave, and when this is recognized, the pair is free. This relationship is not literal; it is evident in political and economic relationships, especially between the United States and Saudi Arabia. Hegel posits that human beings look for recognition by others, by another self-consciousness. In a master-slave relationship, there is a struggle for recognition between the two self-consciousnesses, with the slave conceding, out of a value of life over honor or recognition. It should be noted that recognition is contingent on life, so it is in the best interest of the master to keep the slave alive and relatively content. When the struggle ends, the slave is forced to do the masters will; it is this imbalance that makes recognition impossible. The master relates to the slave through the products of the slave, while the slave is able to relate to the natural world through his own products. It is through this ability to create that the slave is not helplessly dependent on the master. The master, in turn, becomes dependent on the slave for the product of labor. At this point, the pair recognizes their mutual dependency, and according to Hegel, this when recognition occurs. According to Hegel, the more the master tries to assert his power and will over the slave, the more he

reveals his dependency. After mutual recognition occurs, Hegel argues that the relationship is balanced, thus the master-slave relationship dissolves and the former participants are merely self-consciousnesses. During the 1950s and 1960s, the Saudi Arabian economy and infrastructure was developed in large part by the United States. The Saudi petroleum industry was fostered and built by the Arabian American Oil Company, or as it is known today, Saudi ARAMCO. Other large U.S. corporations contributed to the further development and modernization of Saudi Arabia. Bechtel, a U.S. construction company was tasked with infrastructure, the Saudi government was modernized by the Ford Foundation, and the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers built not only Saudis media industries, but also oversaw the development of the defense industry. The United States was interested in helping Saudi Arabia because of the oil reserves, but also because the United States needed a stable and reliable partner in the Middle East. After 9/11, relations between the U.S. and Saudi Arabia became strained as fifteen out of the nineteen participants of the attacks were Saudis. Tensions rose and many Saudi citizens boycotted American goods, while the government invested billions of dollars that usually went

into the U.S. market. Currently the U.S. is Saudi Arabias largest trading partner, and Saudi Arabia is the largest U.S. export market in the Middle East. Saudi Arabia was the proverbial slave in that it was dependent on the help of the United States to modernize, just as Hegels slave is dependent on his master for the necessities. The United States was able to assert its will during the midtwentieth century for Saudi Arabia was at a weakened state, lacking the infrastructure to be completely independent of aid. As time went on, Saudi Arabia discovered that the United States was highly dependent on both its product, oil, and on its market. The United States came to recognize its need for Saudi Arabia on a diplomatic level and on an economic level, thus the two nations achieve the Hegelian mutual recognition. The interdependency of the two nations is evident in the current, for the United States need for Saudi oil has not faltered and Saudis need for American weaponry and imports is still strong. The relationship between Saudi Arabia and the United States is strained for human rights reasons as well as cultural and religious reasons, but it will continue relatively amicably because neither is capable of a successful existence independent of the other.

Pol i ti c s & Pol i c y

The Two Party System is Broken
one that the current problems in Washington arise from the fact that our political system is broken. There are many aspects of our government By Harris Davidson that could be considered broken, but Politics & Policy Editor by far the most overarching problem is the current two party system. In the It should come as a surprise to no most basic sense, the two party system
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has lost its functionality and instead of facilitating political discourse, it is now impeding it. The first true success of the two party system was in 1800 when John Adams, a Federalist, lost to Thomas Jefferson, a Democratic-Republican,
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in the first contested presidential election in US history. The election, sometimes referred to as the Revolution of 1800, was a messy affair that helped prove the usefulness of a two party system. For the first time in our nations history, politicians and voters were able to organize themselves into two distinct and separate political groups. Ever since 1800 we have had two major political parties that have generally done a good job of encompassing a large amount of people under what has become known as the big tent. The era of big tent politics has worked in the US because we have always been able to compromise with each other and look at our similarities as opposed to our differences. Still, it seems that in the past two election cycles, the process of working together towards collective party goals has fallen by the wayside. As the recent surge of the Tea Party movement demonstrates, people have become frustrated with the structure of the parties. Instead of rallying around the core tenets of the Republican Party, the Tea Partiers are trying to move the party further to the right while simultaneously ostracizing those in its more moderate wing. Liberal Democrats are no different in their discontent with the Democratic Party. Many have taken stances further to the left of Obama, such as moving faster on

DADT, implementing a cap-andtrade regime and not compromising on the Bush tax cut extensions. There were those on the left who were angry that Obama didnt push for a single payer health care system and felt that his administration didnt push for hard enough for stricter regulations in the recent finance industry bill. It can be argued that there have always been those on the edges of their respective parties who wish to move them further to the extreme, and what we are seeing now is no different from previous times. Unfortunately, this time the public frustration is compounded by the fact that it has become politically expedient for the minority party to hold up as much legislation in Congress as possible. By working against whatever is on the docket, the Republicans have essentially set up a legislative roadblock and have promised to never compromise. Once one is no longer willing to compromise and negotiate, the act of legislating stops, and one is left in a standstill. So what are we to do? Some argue for small reforms like removing the filibuster or adding seats to the House. Some, like New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg, have made hints at the fact that a third party politician would make a good candidate for president. But the overall problem

is that fact that our broad based two party system no longer works for the public or for those who we elect to send to Washington. I propose the creation of two new parties, a Conservative party and a Liberal party. Much in the way that Parliament in Great Britain works, the two major parties would each be split into two smaller, more ideologically compact parties that would be more focused and have fewer tenets than the two major parties. The Republican Party would continue to exist as a home for moderate Republicans and the Democratic Party would continue to exist as a home for moderate Democrats. In Congress, the four parties would be forced to work together because they wouldnt be able to all simultaneously hold out against each other. For the presidency, the electoral system would have to be abolished and the candidate with the most votes would be elected president. The system would take several election cycles to sort out, but once voters are able to join closer-knit political parties and those in Washington are forced to work with each other, the new system would begin to take shape and firm up. Clearly, a four party political system is the best way to fix the broken ways of Washington.

Chinas Latent Role in North Koreas Nuclear Crisis

based on national interests, and because each country evades sacrificing its national interests for a greater cause, it is difficult for various bodies to cooperate in tackling international issues. On By Min Kyu Kim a positive note, it is important to IASs Informer Columnist realize that countries are willing to take indirect action towards a cause Every country prioritizes its agenda via the diplomatic interrelations that
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exist among nations. This situation is observed in the present North Korean nuclear crisis. Among the six countries deeply involved in North Koreas nuclear threat (North Korea, South Korea, China, Japan, the United States, and Russia), none outwardly voices objections to North Koreas nuclear disarmament. Perhaps this homogenous sentiment from the
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towards liberal democracy and the spread of Christianity that emanates from U.S.-Korea alliance. During the Korean War, China and North Koreas alliance was described as the relationship of the lips and teeth, which implies that the teeth will suffer from the cold if lips are not present to protect the them. Chinas position regarding the issue of North Korea has never changed since the Around the time of the first six-party Korean War. talks, the international community became suspicious of North Koreas What China fears is not North ability to develop nuclear weapons Koreas nuclear weapons and their because it questioned whether North use, but the disturbance or collapse of Korea had the necessary technology the stability on the Korean peninsula and resources to produce them. as North Korea attempts to acquire Proven dangerously wrong, the more nuclear weapons. For China, international community witnessed North Korea stands as a breakwater, North Korea successfully develop and protecting it from strong waves of diplomatic and military powerin test nuclear weapons twice. this case, the United States. Chinas true intentions in supporting nuclear disarmament in North Korea Even though China has the capacity have manifested clearly during the to disarm North Koreas nuclear process of cooperation among the key weapons (by discontinuing the food supply, for example) China has players. never taken such a decisive action, China considers North Korea to concluding that North Korean be a shield, blocking favoritism possession of nuclear weapons is six parties seems reasonably innocent, but it is important to understand the ulterior motives each country has based on its own national interests. Of the six, Chinas intentions regarding North Koreas nuclear issue are most critical to analyze because of the disparity between Chinas intentions and beliefs regarding this international dilemma

more advantageous to its national interests than the collapse of North Korea through disarmament. Chinas foreign policy prevents the collapse of North Korea, and does not seem to welcome adjustments or change in the near future. Nuclear weapon engineers Thomas Reed and Danny Stillman published The Nuclear Express: A Political History of the Bomb and Its Proliferation in 2009. According to Stillman, who recounts the unusual access he gained to both the Soviet and Chinese nuclear programs during the 1990s, China helped North Korea build nuclear weapons. Stillman asserted that China had supported North Koreas nuclear problem by training the scientists and providing important technology since the year of 1982. During the time of Deng Xiaoping, China has been an accomplice in the current North Korean crisis. Therefore, it is absurd to expect China to make efforts towards North Korean nuclear disarmament when China was, in fact, a key contributor to North Koreas nuclear weapons program.

S po r ts
South Beach Struggle: The Miami Heat Are Not Among the NBA Elite
By Arjun Seth Sports Editor Its been a 144 days. 144 days since the basketball community was torn disputing how to hate LeBron James. As the city of Cleveland burned his
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jerseys, New Yorkers cursed their luck, rap star, business mogul, and New Jersey Nets part owner Jay-Z severed ties with the NBA star, and various other courters turned their back in disgrace, South Beach continued to party. 144 days later, Miami has sobered up and ESPNs Decisionmaker has led the Heat to a shocking and struggling start.

of blatant. A powerful Los Angeles Lakers team was ready to three-peat, and the star-studded Miami Heat was ready to give LeBron James his first ring. What was the point of watching a season where the finale was so easily discernible? Nobody likes reading the last pages of a new book before reading the first few. Oh, how the tide has changed.

144 days ago, the country halfheartedly A year ago from today, the Cleveland agreed that the forthcoming NBA Cavaliers with LeBron James were season was going to be nothing short atop the Eastern Conference, only
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second to the Boston Celtics. Presently, only 1/5th of a season in, the Heat are half a game above the .500 Knicks. In the past few weeks, it seems clear that coaches around the league are reviewing tapes of the Miami Heat defense and breaking through Erik Spoelstras code. The 3rd quarter explosion that became customary for the Heat through the beginning of November has simmered down. The Utah Jazz, who played the Cavs on November 9tth were down 51-32 at halftime. Still, the veteran coach and his harmonized team found a way to chip away at the Heats lead, douse the fire with a 42 point fourth quarter, and eventually

overpower the team in Overtime. To inundate you with statistics would not be fair, but to overlook them would not do the other 29 teams justice. The Heat are consistently ranking below the Lakers, Spurs, Mavericks, and Celtics in scoring, field-goal percentage, free-throw percentage, and rebounds. Although statistics dont always tell the whole truth, the Lakerss stats dont lie. Without a weakness thus far in the season, a three-peat does not seem far off, but whether the Heat join them at the NBA Finals is still to be seen. The Big Three, who stood tall and of the marquee free agents to New York. However, the patience of the fans didnt pay off, as the top three free agents decided to sign for the Miami Heat, leaving the Knicks with the services of Amare Stoudemire and Raymond Felton. Even though young and reasonably talented, the Knicks are far from being an elite team able to compete for the NBA title. After waiting two plus years for the chance to see LeBron James in a Knick jersey, fans of New York are now left with more mediocrity and a team that has started 3-6 in 2010. New signees Felton and Stoudemire have played well, but the team is struggling to find consistency in their play. The loss of David Lee has hurt the Knicks in the rebounding department, and they often struggle against bigger and more physical teams.

proud 143 days ago in South Beach, waving and grinning to a roaring crowd, have had their Miami Heat smothered. With Bosh playing small, averaging a shocking six rebounds through 16 games, an injury prone Dwyane Wade, not firing on all cylinders, and no answer to the Point Guard position problem, the Heat are spiraling down into an abyss of humiliation where there is no return. It seems, not even a Head Coach replacement or Pat Riley stepping back into the light can save this Heat team if some blatant changes are not made, and made fast!

Dare I Say the Knicks be Patient for Another Year?

By Zuhair Malik Columnist One thing in the NBA has been constant over the past decade or so: the Knicks are a running joke year in and year out, an abysmal basketball team with a terribly run front office. It starts with the owner, James Dolan, who has full authority and has made terrible organizational moves that have run the Knicks straight to the ground. Where to begin? The Patrick Ewing trade, Allan Houstons illadvised contract, and the mess made in the hiring of Isiah Thomas are all likely contenders. In came Donnie Walsh, a respected name in the NBA, to help the team recover just in time to be in contention to lure big time free agents like LeBron James, Dwyane Wade, and Chris Bosh. With virtually no substantial draft picks and minimal talent, the Knicks had bet their money on bringing two
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the prolific scorer. Fans are desperate for a trade to build a competitive, if not a winning team. Any possible trade with the Nuggets would require trading away, at the very least, two young talents on the Knicks: Danilo Gallinari and Toney Douglas. What should the Knicks do? Once again be impatient and trade two rising stars, or wait one more year at the end of which Melo will be a free agent and come walking through the door at Madison Square Garden? The sensible answer is the second option. The facts of the situation regarding Melo are such: Melo has made clear he wants to play in New York, and that it is by far his preferred team. He has not and will not sign an extension, which is the major obstacle in any trade; no team will agree to trade for a star player for half a season and lose talent and picks at the same time. This appeared to be the reason the rumored four team trade with the Nets, Bobcats, and Jazz fell through.

The new hope and savior of the Knicks now appears to be Carmelo Anthony, who will be a free agent in the summer of 2011. Rumors are From the Knicks point of view, aplenty regarding making a trade for capitalizing on Anthonys desire to
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play in New York is crucial. The ball is in Anthonys court, and if he has made clear he wants to leave Denver for New York, the Knicks should use this to their advantage. Being impatient and losing a sharpshooting scoring talent like Gallinari would be a huge loss, as he has shown signs of being a very important player for the team. Same goes for Douglas, an energetic

defender and excellent shooter, skills that the Knicks will require to be successful at the point guard position. Despite the 3-6 record this season, the Knicks have shown signs of being a solid team that can compete for a playoff spot. However, consistency is lacking, though it should develop with time. As chemistry intensifies, the team creates an identity. The is loosing. It means understanding the commitment that the players have made to themselves, their team and their fan base. As the great Herman Edwards once said, You play to win the game. It is mans eternal drive to compete and win that drives those who play sports. The same urge that we feel in regular life to succeed at our jobs and succeed in school and to do better than our peers in magnified in the ring, the field or ballpark. Watching people compete, and it doesnt matter which team you are rooting for, is exhilarating because you understand that sports is so much more than a game. For the athletes it is their job to win and when they dont, there is a crushing sense of defeat and ineptitude. Tis the essence of evolution: a quite literal survival of the fittest, and all honor bound to that connotation.

Knicks can use this year to build a solid base of their team, and thus the best solution for the Knicks is to wait yet another year (sorry Knicks fans, blame LeBron), keep and develop all their talent, and welcome Melo with open arms as a free agent in the summer of 2011.

Why We Watch Sports

By Harris Davidson Politics & Policy Editor

A casual reader of the School of Washington might question the necessity of our newly introduced sports section. Some will argue that a magazine devoted to discussing the intellectual topics of our day might not be the appropriate place to discuss the sporting news and topics involving athletics. But I would argue that sports have a natural place in our society and the role that they serve is both one of entertainment and of a competitive nature. Sports are so much more than one person kicking a ball or another person running down a field that I find myself determined to defend them. There is an aspect of sports, whether team or individual, that excites the viewer at home, even Because we love to see people and if that person has never played. teams compete with everything on The stereotypical image of a sports the line, sports fans naturally love fan is someone from Wisconsin with the underdog. A team that goes into a foam cheese-head on, beer in one a game where everyone expects them hand, and the Packers game on TV. to loose has a certain fire in them that While there are certainly people who a team who is favored to win doesnt watch sports with an empty mind have. Watching a game where the and a full stomach, there are also underdog is winning is one of the those sports fans that watch the game most exhilarating feelings in sports. And if they are able to pull off an on a much deeper level. upset, those who watched the game, Being a sports fan is more than even if they werent fans, come away screaming at the TV when your team with a feeling of awe and admiration.
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Cheering for the underdog is quintessentially American, just as we root for the Horatio Alger character and those who have been wronged by society. While there are some teams whom I blindly root for no matter what, I am able to follow any game if I ascertain why it is important to the players and the fans of those teams. Next time you see a sporting event on TV that you arent interested in, before you change the channel, take a few minutes to find out why the game is being played and why it is important. It could turn out that you are watching the most important game is history of the state of Oklahoma. It may not be important to you, but when you realize that the losers will go home crying and the winners will be showered with champagne and be remembered forever, you will understand that the game means more than two teams moving a ball down a field. Sports are the wars of peace.

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