Witness to Evil

We have recently watched the documentary Shake Hands with the Devil chronicling Romeo Dallaire's experience in Rwanda as commander of U.N. Forces. Respond to the documentary considering the following questions.

Romeo discussed images, what images stood out for him? Which images stood out for you? Why did these images stand out? How can images be powerful? What emotions did Romeo experience? What events lead to these emotions? What emotions did you feel while watching this documentary? What events lead to your emotions? How can your emotions be translated into actions? Should Canada make its involvement in these types of conflict more of a priority and send more troops and resources?

For more information on the genocide in Rwanda and Romeo Dallaire's experience visit
http://archives.cbc.ca/IDD-1-74-1686/people/romeo_dallaire/
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/africa/1288230.stm

To Spend or Not to Spend.....

At the beginning of World War II Canada's military forces were undermanned, ill prepared and poorly equiped. This resulted in a massive effort on the part of the Canadian government to get our forces "up to speed" in order to meet our committments to the other allied forces. Many people today feel Canada's military is in much the same state as government military spending has been severly cut and Canadian citizens put more emphasis on domestic issues such as health care and education.

Do you think it is important for Canada to have a strong military force? Would you support additional tax money being spent on the military and if so where do you think that funding should come from? If you do not think military spending should be a priority where do think government should spend its money?

Remember to sign your post with your initials and period.

Testing your political views

Read the following instructions and complete the two activities. These were developed by a friend of mine, Mr. Thielmann, over at DP Todd.

Activity One
Purpose: find out what kind of political views you have and how they compare with world figures and political parties

Instructions:
go to http://www.politicalcompass.org/
read the instructions and complete the quiz
read through your results page to learn about your views
summarize what you learned from the quiz by commenting in response to this posting on the course blog -- http://www.soc11eh.blogspot.com

Tips:
left vs right: left-wing usually means more government control over industry and economy; right-ring usually means less government regulation and intervention (laissez-faire)
authoritarian vs libertarian: authoritarian means powerful government which controls rights and freedoms, sometimes it can be a dictatorship; libertarian means less government control of rights, sometimes less government in general

Activity Two
Purpose: learn about different ways of organizing nations by politics, economy, and values

Instructions:
go to http://www.nationstates.net
read the introduction and sign up to “build” your nation
experiment with the simulation for as long as you need to see how it works, more if you have the time (warning: NationStates can be addictive!)
summarize what you learned from the simulation by commenting on this posting on the course blog -- http://www.soc11eh.blogspot.com

Tips:
See how the choices you make at the beginning affect the kind of country which is generated by the simulator. Look at other countries and issues around the “world” to see what others have done.

Dealing with Poverty

During the 1930s in Canada people were putting increasing pressure on the Prime Minster and the government to come up with solutions to the economic depression and resulting widespread poverty. While today in Canada, and specifically British Columbia, we have are experiencing a strong economy with low levels of unemployment we also see many of our citizens living in poverty with little or no hope for the future. This brings up the questions how much responsibility should the government take in providing people in poverty the basic necessities of life and how should we as a society care for our fellow citizens?

Your blog response this week is to comment on what you would do if you were in a position of power in the government (federal or provincial) to address the question of poverty in Canada?

Canadian Art and Entertainment

This weeks Blog discussion has two parts:

Part A: The 1920's say the coming of age of Canadian artists with the Group of Seven gaining international recognition for their images of the rugged Canadian landscapes. Since this time Canadian artists, musicians, writers and performers of all types have continued to gain international recognition for their work. Today Canadians such as The Tragically Hip, Mike Myers, Leonard Cohen and Jim Carrey are household names throughout the world for their work in the arts and entertainment industries.

Who is your favorite Canadian artist (this includes musicians, actors etc) and how do you think their work gives Canadians a sense of national pride?

Part B: The twenties in Canada saw an upswing in the economy that meant Canadians were searching for was to spend their "extra" money and fill their leisure time. As a result the 1920's gave birth to a number of "fads" that became wildly popular only to pretty much disappear in a few short years. Take a look at the following video to get a better sense of 20's entertainment.
The Flappers
The Jazz Age

What types of popular activities today do you think may turn out to be just "fads. Personally, while they called the 1920's the Roaring Twenties, I think they may end up calling the 2000's the iPod 2000's.

Do not forget to finish your post with your initials and the period of your socials class or else I cannot give your credit for your response.

Propaganda as a Tool

Propaganda posters like the one above are common tools used in time of war by all countries to persuade people to act or think a certain way. Propaganda posters were used not only to justify involvement in the war but also to procure men and resources to sustain military campaign. Along with recruitment posters commonly urged wartime saving and openly called for funds through War Bonds.

Visit the link below, view several of the posters and comment on the following. What are the emotions and ideals the poster's try to evoke in the audience? Do you think the manipulation of information for this purpose is justified during war? What is the difference, if any, between propaganda and advertising? Can you think of any examples of current propaganda?
http://www.firstworldwar.com/posters/canada.htm

I am Canadian!

Read (text below) view or listen (http://canada4life.ca/videos.php?video=1) to the Joe Canadian Molson rant (text below), and some other spoofs. How do you define being Canadian? Add your own comment to this post with your thoughts on what it means to be Canadian. Remember to include your initials and the period of your socials class.


MOLSON RANT

Hey,
I'm not a lumberjack, or a Fur trader.
I don't live in an igloo,
or eat blubber
or own a dogsled.
And I don't know Jimmy, Sally or Suzy from Canada,
although I'm certain they're really, really nice.

I have a prime minister... not a president,
I speak English and French, not American
and I pronounce it About, not A-boot.

I can proudly sew my country's flag on my backpack,
I believe in peacekeeping, not policing,
diversity not assimilation,
and that the beaver is a truly proud and noble animal.

A toque is a hat,
a chesterfield is a couch,
and it is pronounced Zed,
not Zee... ZED!!
Canada is the 2nd largest land mass,
the 1st nation of hockey,
and the best part of North America.

My name is Joe...
And I am Canadian!