Writing is like...

For me writing is like taking out the trash. I always let it build it up until at the last minute its so full you have to go and drag it out to the trash. However, the feeling after taking it is great. Your kitchen doesn’t have that weird smell and you feel like you can start all over again. That’s how I feel about writing. I know I have to do it and I always wait till the last minute to do it. The feeling after completing a paper is amazing and how I feel accomplished with a task I started off not wanting to do at all. 

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Research Log #5

Research Log #5

Eigen, Peter. "The Role of Civil Society." Corruption and Integrity Movement Initiatives in Developing Countries. Web. 3 Apr. 2011. <http://mirror.undp.org/magnet/Docs/efa/corruption/Chapter05.pdf>.

            I found this article to be a good one to end on. Not only does it give a great explanation on what role civil society plays in our life, but it is also an organization to help fight against corruption and to keep civil society together. They believe there is three pillars that make a non-corrupted society, the government, a private sector and of course civil society in general. It also talks about how where the government lack, civil society would come into play and take over. We also have ethical standards and without those we would be counter-productive and also be hypocritical at certain things. The article also goes on to say that with the freedom of the press we are able to speak our minds, let our voices be heard. With this valuable right we can maintain order in society and keep it anti-corrupted. The government must also not neglect the people in the society, for then everything will be corrupted and we wouldn’t trust the government anymore. I really liked this quote in the article, “Civil society will indeed be needed everywhere; it is the key for access to that cultural diversity.” Pg 87. The article then says that it would be impossible for the government to take over the role of civil society for it is what we all fight to not have.

            I really like how it talked about how we should be culturally diverse and that it is one of the main factors in holding a civil society. Without it we all would not be happy and wouldn’t be able to function or be civil towards one each other at all. I also liked that this article was based on a non-governmental organization that is trying to promote anti-corruption. Its nice to know that there are groups out there trying to make a difference in our society and helping us understand why it matters so much. The government does play a huge role in our life but we also need to stay together and not let it over run everything. We live in a free country and have rights to do certain things that are personal to us.

            After reading about all these different things about a civil society, I have found that the government almost tries to take it away. Although they may seem like they want us all to stay civil, just more in a political society.  I also would like to learn more about other organizations that are out there and see what they are trying to do to make our society stay civil. Now I can do some more research and see if there is possibly anything I can do to help out as well. 

Research Log #5

Research Log #5

Eigen, Peter. "The Role of Civil Society." Corruption and Integrity Movement Initiatives in Developing Countries. Web. 3 Apr. 2011. <http://mirror.undp.org/magnet/Docs/efa/corruption/Chapter05.pdf>.

            I found this article to be a good one to end on. Not only does it give a great explanation on what role civil society plays in our life, but it is also an organization to help fight against corruption and to keep civil society together. They believe there is three pillars that make a non-corrupted society, the government, a private sector and of course civil society in general. It also talks about how where the government lack, civil society would come into play and take over. We also have ethical standards and without those we would be counter-productive and also be hypocritical at certain things. The article also goes on to say that with the freedom of the press we are able to speak our minds, let our voices be heard. With this valuable right we can maintain order in society and keep it anti-corrupted. The government must also not neglect the people in the society, for then everything will be corrupted and we wouldn’t trust the government anymore. I really liked this quote in the article, “Civil society will indeed be needed everywhere; it is the key for access to that cultural diversity.” Pg 87. The article then says that it would be impossible for the government to take over the role of civil society for it is what we all fight to not have.

            I really like how it talked about how we should be culturally diverse and that it is one of the main factors in holding a civil society. Without it we all would not be happy and wouldn’t be able to function or be civil towards one each other at all. I also liked that this article was based on a non-governmental organization that is trying to promote anti-corruption. Its nice to know that there are groups out there trying to make a difference in our society and helping us understand why it matters so much. The government does play a huge role in our life but we also need to stay together and not let it over run everything. We live in a free country and have rights to do certain things that are personal to us.

            After reading about all these different things about a civil society, I have found that the government almost tries to take it away. Although they may seem like they want us all to stay civil, just more in a political society.  I also would like to learn more about other organizations that are out there and see what they are trying to do to make our society stay civil. Now I can do some more research and see if there is possibly anything I can do to help out as well. 

Research Log #4

Podcast by CATO Institute
Civil Society vs Political Society
Edward H. Crain
Napples, Florida Febraury 9th

Research Log #4

            Edward Crain did a speech through a podcast about a civil society versus a political society. Crain says “A civil society is where you can make decisions about your life, money, where your kids go to school and how to plan for your retirement.” Then he also states, “A political society is where someone else will make those decisions for you.” I found that to be a very powerful statement, but it is true. Crain believes that the government does have respect for the dignity of the people and we do follow what the constitution holds for us: life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness.  He says we follow the constitution so closely that we, the American people, will even argue wither things are constitutional or unconstitutional. As in there is a rule of law rather than rule of man. He believes that we have a lawless society. The congress and the president have plenty of power to do what they want and that they believe they also have no limitations. Crain quoted congressman Pete Stark, who has recently been reelected to the house for the 20^th time in California. Stark said, “The federal government can do almost anything in the country.” Crain thinks this outrageous and no one should have that kind of power in our society. Might as well have a dictatorship. Crain also mentioned that our country always turns to the constitution when we fall out of control, as if to think we need the constitution to help us stay in order. This would make sense because we are a country framed on documents made from the founding fathers.

            I really enjoyed this podcast and what Crain had to say in his speech. There were a few things that sort have ventured off topic, but overall a great podcast. I thought that it was interesting to hear someone say that we do always look for the constitution for what is right and what is wrong, but I do not find that to be a bad thing. We are a country based off rules and regulations and we all have standards we try to make. To keep us all in order I think that we do need a higher power government, that doesn’t take fully control, but help us regulate some rules that we all agree on and have the right to appeal it. We will always have government involved wither we like it or not. Realistically, we need them to help us maintain a civil society or else we will have disorder.

            I choose this source because I found it interesting to see how we use a civil society and how a political society is different. Apparently a political society takes more control over what we can and cannot do. What I would like to research more about now after listening to this is how if we didn’t have a government to tell us what to do, wouldn’t we have disorder and no one would follow any rules. 

Research Log #3

Research Log #3

Chandler, David. "Race, Culture and Civil Society: Peacebuilding Discourse and the Understanding of Difference." Security Dialogue 41.4 (2010): 370-90. Sage Journals Online. Aug. 2010. Web. 1 Apr. 2011. <http://sdi.sagepub.com/content/41/4/369.full.pdf+html>.

            The main focus on this article is to help us understand how civil society is framed and how in nature, it changes consistently.  The author also is giving examples on how peace building and civil society are almost based of the same aspects. Our structure of civil society and peace building has been made up on our different races, cultures, and how we tie them all together to build a stable civil society.  We all have an understanding on how we should act, and we have a nature of knowing what the problem is and how we must go about it to solve it. The author tries to help us understand the way our society is framed and that there are some that really stand out. We frame civil society around our government and the political side of our society. Without the Politian’s to shape our government and tell us what to do and what we should do, we would be a wreck. We also have rights and interests that our Politian’s must see and work to make everyone happy. This quote I believe helps me understand what civil society truly is, “Civil society will only have been achieved when this subject makes the ‘right’ or ‘civil’ choices, revealing a rationality and maturity with regard to collective interests.” Pg 379.  With this said, we will have a society that is able to live around each other, make our own good choices, and still have great outcomes. Another quote said, “The focus upon civil society maintains the role of race or culture in rationalizing difference and inequality.” Pg. 387. I believe that with the way our society is set up, that this quote would make sense and we can all live in a world where we co-exist.

            I found this article to be very interesting on revealing how we frame a civil society. I also liked how it introduced its own research on peace building and how it ties into civil societies. The article also said that they were not doing research on people, but more with people. I thought this was interesting because we always tend to do research projects on things, instead of dealing with the actual project. Another idea that stood out to me was how there are different sections in peace building including race, culture and a civil society and how they all tie in with each other. Its almost like without all three, we wouldn’t have a well understanding of each other and wouldn’t know how to live in the same society.

            I thought this journal would show me a new aspect or idea of how you can look at civil society. I never really thought of a civil society to be apart of race and culture, however we deal with those topics almost everyday. I would enjoy learning more about how politicians view civil society and how can they come up with new ways to make it possible to have no conflict and to provide rights and interests for everyone. Researching this, I believe I will go and look for more politicians’ speeches or even some of their books to see if and how they talk about a civil society.

Research Log #2

Research log #2

Bahatti, Shumaila Javah. "Civil Society to Bring Positive Change." Http://www.MarkTheTruth.com. Web. 24 Mar. 2011. <http://www.markthetruth.com/articles/1500-civil-society-to-bring-positive.html>.

I decided to search more outside of my question, and looked for more of how different countries deal with their own civil society. While doing my research, I stumbled into a man named Shumaila Javed Bhatti who wrote an article on the fact that if Pakistan had no civil society, the place would be a wreck. He also says that civil society is a war against the government and the state. If the two does not get along then the country will run into many problems. Bhatti also said, “When components of a civil society are not conscientious and active enough, then the society is like a flock of sheep. Bad governance always causes deterioration in a society.” I would agree with his statement, if we do have a terrible government that was disorganized, then that would reflect on how our country would act and go about living our day-to-day lives. Another thing Bhatti points out is that in time of need, like natural disasters, everyone in the country comes together and helps out. This makes the country have a positive civil society by everyone agreeing and working with each other to make the matter right and fixes it. Basically what his main point is, without government controlling us and keeping us in order, we would be in a state of chaos and civil society would fail miserably.

Bhatti says in his article, “The power of civil society in shaping and mobilizing public opinion is unquestioned. In many countries of the world I have seen how civil society, through its proactive role, has brought about revolutionary changes in national thinking.” I found this quote to be a strong one for I do believe that the way civil society is, it makes us change what we believe in. different countries will have different mind sets on how the society should act because of their own culture. Bhatti also mentions that when we do see something minor that we don’t like, we report it immediately to the police, or someone who can change it and make what that person is doing wrong in trouble, so they learn to never do it again.

My next step in my research project will now be to look more into how other countries deal with their civil society, and maybe if they have a different kind of governing if that would make a difference onto how civil society is viewed as. What is civil and what isn’t? Once I start looking into more details on how other countries handle their society, it might give me an idea how ours handles it as well. But most importantly how we can address uncivil manners as well.