Research paper: topic proposal

Claim:

Cherokee trust funds, a solution prone to debate.   

Support:

-Explain how trust funds work, what they are.

-History of Native American trust funds. What led to their creation?

-Where does the money come from?

-How are funds distributed among young Cherokee? Does everyone get assets of equal worth? Are Cherokees living outside the county entitled?

-How are investments chosen? Who, what authority manages the trust funds?

-What placements are made? Have some been controversial within the Cherokee nation?

-Pros and cons in the community

Warrant:

-Assess the supposed “reparative power” of trust funds

-Contrast with other “compensative” measures such as education grants.

                

Dear Mr. President

Dear President Obama,

I am writing you today to express my concerns over our country’s financial policies. As your first term is ending, I believe the current situation is far from satisfactory.

            It is clear that the recession we know today is a more result of the previous administration than yours. The economical crisis culminated in 2008 shortly after you were sworn into office. For 8 years, George W. Bush led policies of deregulation in Wall Street accompanied by excessive spending and tax cuts. As vice president Joe Biden reminded us in his speech at the Justice Center: “Federal debt doubled in just 8 years”. Although I do not believe in the responsibility of the government elected in 2008, I am disappointed to realize how you made some of the same mistakes as the previous administration.

In 2008, you campaigned under the slogan of “Change”. Your promises to reform Wall Street and Washington appealed to me, my family as well as many around us. We are part of the middle class you sought to reach. After you won the presidential elections in November, voters impatiently waited for the new administration to take action. However, little change has been made among the people responsible for the United States’ financial policies. For example, I wonder why you chose Timothy Geithner as Secretary of Treasury. Geithner had been president of the New York Federal Reserve for 5 years in 2008. Nevertheless, when he testified to be confirmed Secretary of Treasury, Geithner claimed: “I have never been a regulator”. Geithner’s failure to understand the task previously assigned to him, as President of the New York Fed, should have been seen as proof of his incompetence. The new head of the New York Federal Reserve is the former chief economist of Goldman Sachs, William C. Dudley.

I know a republican House of Representatives can be held responsible for the undermining of certain reforms under your first term. This said, if reelected, I urge your administration to pursue the promises you made in 2008. As an integral part of your campaign for financial reform, you should promote the creation of independent regulatory agencies. In Washington, laws should prohibit any form of financial lobbying. Corporate fortunes should not be allowed to govern the country by corrupting representatives and congressmen. Banks’ control over Washington led us to the economical crisis in 2008. This is why I believe that today, the separation between banks and state has become as important as the separation between church and state.

Manufactured Landscapes

The first 5 minutes of Jennifer Baichwal’s Manufactured Landscapes truly amazed me. As through out the film, I believe the director succeeded both in delivering a meaningful work of art and keeping her audience captivated.

Manufactured Landscapes begins with a long travel showing rows of workers in a Chinese factory. No music is added; only the sounds made by laborers and their machines can be heard. This immerses the spectator into the factory’s activity. I almost felt like I was there, among the assembly lines. 

The first shots also served an informative purpose. I found it interesting to be simply shown what goes on in a Chinese factory. The absence of comments allows the viewer to reach his own reflections. Jennifer Baichwal doesn’t show the assembly lines under a particular light, her opinions and biases are left aside. 

I think the choice of a relatively distant camera also succeeds in capturing the workers’ emotions. The camera doesn’t interfere with their work; only occasionally do laborers even notice its presence.  

Images of the factory and the unnatural sounds made by machinery introduce the focus of the documentary: humanity’s transformation of its environment. The viewer wonders whether the western world’s material comfort is worth such sacrifices in developing countries. How has our society created the need for mass production? Is this Chinese factory a sign of progress or unreasonable consumerism?