Mock Death – Is this for real? (Varun Sarna)

Article Source: http://www.cnn.com/2008/LIVING/01/13/mock.funerals.ap/index.html?iref=mpstoryview 

          Mock funerals, what a concept. What a joke! As I read through this article I found myself wondering what the world has come to. In a day and age when war plagues our society and soldiers risk their lives overseas, one of the top 10 most read articles on CNN is titled “Mock funerals give ‘dearly departed’ new outlook on life.” Quite frankly, I find it hard to believe that getting nailed into a coffin is going to give anyone a new outlook on life. Sure, it might scare the shit out of you and make you want to attempt a Kill Bill-like stunt where Uma Thurman somehow manages to dig through her grave, but it’s not going to do anything but scare you.  

          Now don’t get me wrong, I’m questioning the idea of personal reevaluation – I think that it’s noble. But I most certainly do not believe that the method of carrying out this “rebirth” is reasonable at all. I think that critics are probably correct in saying that it’s just another money-making idea by companies who are willing to do anything to make profits and earn respect from partners.

          I feel like the followers of this idea are being fooled into believing what I think is a bunch of bullshit. Sure, live every day like it’s your last, but don’t get nailed into a coffin. Enjoy life for what it is and take action to fix your past wrongs or correct what you may feel are any imperfections in your life. I think that getting yourself nailed in a coffin and pretending to be dead and reading a fake will makes a mockery out of death. It’s just hard for me to believe that people are willing to go through with this kind of stuff with any real expectations. I can see how a brush with death might change your outlook on life and force you to re-evaluate what you’ve done in the past, but is it really realistic to imagine being dead and expect that to help you? I certainly don’t think so, but feel free to refute and enlighten my limited perspective.

Nikhil Sharma – America’s Political System

http://www.cnn.com/ELECTION/2008/money/gop.html

http://www.cnn.com/ELECTION/2008/money/dems.html

Throughout history, politicians have always spent money on their campaigns and getting voters to come to the polls and vote for them. This practice occurs in many other fields such as sports where coaches campaign for their players to win awards such as the Heismann, and in society where many social activists will campaign for reform. However, the practice of campaigning in politics is essentially ruining our countries political system and holding our country back.

CNN.com ran this interesting feature where they showed side by side how much money each candidate has received, spent, and currently has. I honestly was shocked when I read the amount of money involved in these “campaigns.” Mitt Romney has received about $63 million while Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama have received about $91 million and $80 million, respectively. Raising this kind of money for a campaign is ridiculous. There has to be a line between where an individual is simply raising money and when it turns into a business. I think that the process of “campaigning” for presidency has truly become the business of running for president. What is wrong with this is that candidates who do not receive the kind of money that the top money makers do are not heard of. They have no real way to let the American people know about what they have to offer. How many people have even heard of candidates such as Mike Gravel or Duncan Hunter? These candidates could be the best but nobody would even know. Many potential candidates and their ideas are not even being heard or recognized due to this discrepancy in money. These candidates have not received enough money to put out ad campaigns on the TV and radio like Romney and Clinton can. In fact this lack of exposure has led many candidates to simply drop out of the race such as Sam Brownback, Joe Bidden and Chris Dodd.

Another major disadvantage to our current system is that it supports lobbyists. Candidates, while running for presidency, will take large sums of money from lobbyists and special interest groups in order to win because as I mentioned before, if a candidate does not have the money they are unable to garner support and exposure. When they win the candidacy then they are tied to these lobbyists and are in essence forced to support bills that they know they shouldn’t. One example of this is the oil company lobbyists that have successfully lobbied Washington and till this day suppressed major innovation in cleaner, environmentally safe technology. Lobbyists have also been able to suppress universal health care that many other countries such as Canada, France, and Britain have very successfully implemented and this has caused our countries health care system to fall to 37^th in the world.

This whole political system is holding our country back and stalling our country’s potential.