Fame is something she’s just really good at, and we can’t blame her for it.
Her exotic beauty, risky style choices, well connected family and extremely successful husband doesn’t even begin to explain why she seems to always make it on the headlines of every news publication.
She’s simply iconic in every way, she knows exactly what people want to see and how to keep herself relevant even after all these years.
Her name seems to never disappear from the tabloids and it’s because she knows how to do fame the right way.
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She is the “sex symbol” of our generation just as Marilyn Monroe was in the 1950s.
Pretty much everything she does from taking selfies to designing new kimoji merchandise has always been one of the first things you see when you open Twitter or Facebook.
She slays in almost every aspect, and this is why people love to hear what’s new in her life.
Her life is interesting to say the least, she’s always traveling, hanging out with the most elite celebrities, going to the fanciest restaurants and clubs the list goes on.
Sometimes we live vicariously through Kim Kardashian because who wouldn’t want to be her?
RISE NEWS is a grassroots journalism news organization that is working to change the way young people become informed and engaged in the world. You can write for us.
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What Do I Tell My Daughter After Trump’s Win?
By Caroline Galloway
What just happened in America is beyond anything I could have ever imagined.
The soul of this country was torn apart at the very moment when we had a chance to rise above the hateful rhetoric we have been forced to listen to for months and to unite with a compassion for those who are different, a love for our country beyond measure and an acceptance of opinion and ideals that makes this country great….Not Great Again … GREAT!
Instead we watched a wild witch-hunt supported by a predominantly white male force incessantly run after our first female candidate as if she was the most horrendous human being alive. The emails, the emails, and the emails….must I say more.
We have allowed a man to escape the same trials beset on a woman and skate free through a remarkable path of no consequence for things that otherwise make us gasp in disbelief.
Corruption?
Has anyone, including the media, dared to bring out the stories of Donald Trump’s association with a convicted sexual predator who he has called “a decent man?”
Has anyone, especially the media, given any of the women who accused Donald Trump of mishandling them more than a story or two, or a conversation sparking protests and demands for the truth within their own circles?
Does anyone who voted for Donald Trump even understand how many lies he told during the campaign and how many facts he got wrong, all proven in written form by fact-checkers, historians and other leaders?
Does anyone who voted for Donald Trump really think he is going to be honest with anyone when he takes the Oval Office?
What do I tell my teenage daughter when she asks why a man who has obviously done so much wrong in his life doesn’t get held to the same standard as a woman?
In this case, one who devoted her life to public service and the betterment of the lives of children and women?
What do I tell my teenage daughter when she asks me how an election can be won by a man who has proven to be unfit?
Donald Trump fed into the weaknesses of this group just like the schoolyard bully.
He surrounded himself with people who feed negative and unfair propaganda to the masses each and every day.
He has been fed by a silver spoon all his life and has never known what it feels like to mine for coal, live in rural America on a fixed income or work all day every day for minimum wage barely making ends meet.
I do. How can anyone expect him to understand? What do I tell my daughter?
This president-elect has admittedly, and in his own words, grabbed women by their “pussy” and let’s not forget had extra-marital affairs.
A man who has bankrupted companies more than I like to count at the risk it puts such great fear in my heart for our country that I can’t even keep my head up.
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A man who openly made fun of a disabled person on national television with the world watching. A man who couldn’t even bring his ego in long enough to pay respect to a four-star father who lost his son fighting for our country.
A man who has no military experience whatsoever and had the fortune of money behind him when he escaped serving our country because of a spur in his foot, a spur he cannot even remember correctly.
A man who has made clear he has no tolerance for immigrants, minorities, gay people and the like. Is this really what my America looks like? What do I tell my daughter?
I am old enough to remember several elections and while my candidate of choice didn’t always win, I don’t remember our country protesting with such fervor at the prospect of an individual not fit to run our country ever before.
How can this be? Why didn’t the majority of people who voted for this man understand this? How can a narcissistic egomaniacal liar make it to the oval office? How can bad behavior continue to be awarded in a country that was to represent “strength, power and honesty?” What do I tell my daughter?
He fed into the uneducated and the displaced, allowing them to believe he will save them. That’s what bullies do.
They find the most disenfranchised weak individual on the playground and pick on them. Does anyone not see this and how this played out for someone who has the world in dismay and our allies bewildered?
Does anyone not notice that headlines across the globe are using such words as “W.T.F” and “Are you Kidding Me?. While those headlines circulate, can we not sit here and really ask ourselves if that is OK, if it is OK for a man to allow our country to now be a joke, a misfit, a low-lying power that doesn’t take all the risks involved with letting this man through the front door seriously. What do I tell my daughter?
I worked for someone who bears the exact same traits and behavior of Donald Trump.
They don’t change my friends, but they keep on winning despite their arrogance, lies and ugly behavioral traits.
I worked for a narcissistic man who treats women horribly, depletes the human spirit as a game of fun and thrives on power he exerts to make the “little person” feel even smaller.
The day I was able to leave that horrendous work situation was the best day of my professional life.
It is because of that and why I anxiously wait for four years to fly by faster than anything imaginable.
I am ashamed our country has gotten to the point where decency didn’t outweigh ignorance.
When I woke this morning I was hopeful to feel a bit of anxiety leaving my body, a sense of “we shall overcome” and a certain bit of optimism that would take me through the next four years.
It didn’t happen.
The tears keep flowing and the idea of uncertainty and embarrassment override any sense of understanding I can possibly relate to what just happened in this country…my country.
We have an Electoral College system that I believe is flawed and antiquated.
We have a process that doesn’t allow for certain standards of conduct to be upheld for the highest office in the world.
We have people who still believe that black Americans and women have only defined places in their lives.
Yet none of that thought process, none of that diabolical way of life compares to the remarkable and unprecedented statement on humanity in which the election of Donald J. Trump leads to.
And that is the purpose of why I write today.
Photo Credit: Ted Eytan/ Flickr (CC By 2.0)
As of this morning Hillary Clinton continues to win the popular vote. I now know how Al Gore felt.
Our electoral college process which Donald Trump, in his own words and in his own tweet said “our electoral college process is a disaster, it is not democracy” proves once again to not honor the real power of our people.
I am hopeful that enough Americans join in to petition for this process to be reviewed, refined and changed so the people do speak in our next election and that the process is changed.
I know that I will do what I can to encourage and persuade those I come in contact with or know to support this change. “We the People” is exactly what we should be thinking!
I will close with recognizing that people wanted change. They wanted change in Washington and they wanted change in policy and for this, I can agree.
There were so many better choices for change throughout the entire election process. There were so many candidates who could have brought about change while keeping our country’s reputation alive with our allies, protected our country from the threat of all kinds of evil, changed our education, health system and environment for the good and protected our children.
But yet the hate-filled people who couldn’t get past their own simple way of thinking that someone who has billions will also make them billions have a very rude awakening coming their way.
It is hard to try to determine how change will be brought on by someone contemplating putting the same “old white men” in his cabinet and some who have questionable pasts…Giuliani, Gingrich, Christie. Is that an example of the change this country was looking for?
When the DOW drops 7,000 points in one night everyone needs to pay attention. When social media trends with #notmypresident in a democratic society, everyone needs to pay attention.
When women are asking “why have we not come any further?” everyone needs to pay attention. When immigrants who are the very fabric of our nation, and black Americans who gave more than they should have ever had to so we could build this country, ask am I safe, everyone needs to pay attention and when gays and transgender people ask if they can walk the streets and be free anymore, everyone needs to pay attention.
I simply ask “What will I tell my daughter?” And what will my daughter tell her daughter?
Open your eyes and ears America.
Be a voice stronger than you ever expected.
Please bring about change and force yourself to not tire in this fight and trying to make a difference, blocking hatred in any way or form possible. Be proud of who you are and for who will become.
Take a stand and be a force for those who need to be held up.
Don’t let this get away from you over time, don’t become complacent and don’t ever stop making sure your path to greatness is an important opportunity for all of us!
This is what you can tell your daughter.
Caroline Galloway is a PR specialist with 23 years experience in Entertainment and Consumer Brand Marketing & PR. She is based in Cleveland, Ohio and is a working mother of two, who has published numerous announcements and articles on a variety of topics.
RISE NEWS is a grassroots journalism news organization that is working to change the way young people become informed and engaged in the world. You can write for us.
Cover Photo Credit: Ted Eytan/ Flickr (CC By 2.0)
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Is American Hegemony Moral? It Can Be
Ever since the collapse of the Soviet Union, the United States has been considered the sole superpower in international affairs.
It has taken advantage of this status many times over, particularly through what many have maligned as its “wars of democratization” in Yugoslavia, Afghanistan, Iraq, and Libya, as well as so-called “proxy wars of democratization” in Syria and Ukraine.
These military and pseudo-military adventures have, unsurprisingly, led to much resentment of the United States and its perceived hegemony over global affairs.
So much resentment, that as of 2014, 24% of the entire world views the United States as the greatest threat to peace.
It is easy to understand the basis behind the grievances that this 24% possesses.
It can be laid out in layman’s terms as follows:
“The United States, through its irresponsible, if not malicious foreign policy, has caused death and destruction wherever it goes. The foundation of its power lies entirely on the assumption that moral values must be thrown out the window, if they exist at all. This is unacceptable in the eyes of the international community, which must work to change it.”
While it is common sense to recognize that with great power comes great responsibility, and while it is always wise to look back on past policies and take note on what is a responsible policy and what isn’t, is it accurate to call American hegemony immoral?
Not if you are a realist.
Read More: Why We Shouldn’t Fear A China Hegemony
Take note that when I make reference to “realists” or “realism,” I am not writing in the context of the arts, where realism is a described as a “realistic portrayal” of a person or object.
Rather, I am writing in the context of geopolitics, where realism is described as a philosophy that places emphasis on national interests.
Geopolitical realists view international relations as a competition for power between various nation-states.
They also assume that all nation-states aside from their own to be seeking power by taking it from others, and that their nation-state must, out of defensive impulses, play along.
It must eat in order to avoid being eaten.
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This philosophy has been discussed, in one form or another, for millennia.
It had appeared in the works of Thucydides, Machiavelli, Hobbes, Spinoza, Rosseau, and even Shakespeare, before taking off as a solid political theory in the nineteenth century following the rise of nationalism in Europe.
That being said, there is now an important question that needs to be answered.
Why would the United States, the world’s sole superpower, feel threatened by tenth-tier nations such as Yugoslavia, Afghanistan, Iraq, Libya, Syria, and Ukraine, to where it would be necessary to overthrow their governments to “spread democracy?”
Well, if you apply one theory that is sometimes discussed by American realists when attempting to formulate future policy, which I call “regional hegemon theory,” the United States has very good cause to see these countries as threats.
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Why? Because they are, in one way or another, capable of being used as tools to prop up a regional hegemon on the Eurasian supercontinent.
Now, why is a regional hegemon on the Eurasian supercontinent bad? For this answer, we ought to turn to John Mearsheimer, one of the most well-known (and most notorious) contemporary American geopolitical realists.
He sums up the threat of regional hegemons well in a 2015 interview with The National Interest:
“Regional hegemons are dangerous to the United States, because dominating their own neighborhood would give them freedom to intervene elsewhere, just as the American military is free to roam the planet today. The great danger is that a distant hegemon would eventually start to meddle in the Western Hemisphere, which could present a serious threat to the United States.”
Read More: Militarism Is Back In Vogue Around The World And It Should Scare The Hell Out Of Us
According to Mearsheimer, this idea was used to justify American policies against the Soviet Union during the Cold War, and the Axis powers during World War II.
And according to Joseph Parent, who was one of my International Studies professors at the University of Miami, this idea was also applied, abeit to a much smaller extent extent, prior to World War II (particularly towards France, which, between the end of World War I and the rise of Hitler, was seen by some American political scientists as a, if not the, main potential hegemonic threat against American interests).
Although which countries could pose a potential threat to the United States via “regional hegemon theory” is often hotly disputed (for example, Mearsheimer, who sees China as the only country that currently has the potential to become a regional hegemon, would get into an interesting debate with someone who would portray Iran as a regional hegemon due to its alleged ability to project influence into South America via Hezbollah), that is a different debate that is beside the point I’m trying to make.
That point is that because even a weak country (such as Syria relative to Iran and Ukraine relative to Russia) can play a role in propping up a regional hegemon that can project power into the United States’ neighborhood, even a weak country can be a serious threat to American national security.
Therefore, it is at best moral (because you are acting to protect your citizens, which is the chief duty of all governments), and at worst amoral (because you are justifying your means with your ends and are, presumably, not acting out of sadism, malice, or greed, but out of defense) to make sure that friendly governments are in power in other countries, if you wish to protect your own nation-state from being changed by outside forces.
It’s eat or be eaten.
It doesn’t have to be this way, but other countries have made it this way. Is that our fault?
RISE NEWS is a grassroots journalism news organization that is working to change the way young people become informed and engaged in public affairs. You can write for us.
Cover Photo Credit: Robert Couse-Baker/ Flickr (CC By 2.0)
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How Can A High School Democrat Resist Trump’s Agenda?
President Donald Trump has wasted little time in trying to get his ambitious agenda enacted into law.
Responding to fierce anti-globalism sentiments, he railed against the Trans-Pacific Partnership on the campaign trail, a deal lobbied for by former president Obama that would significantly lower barriers to trade.
As one of his first executive actions on the job, he officially pulled the U.S out of the deal.
A Carrier air-conditioner production plant, which was in danger of being closed and moved to Mexico at a cheaper cost to the company, remained in Indiana.
Trump, who had been criticizing Carrier’s decision and lobbied the company to the contrary, took credit for the decision, which saved hundreds of jobs.
Most leaders and Americans of varying political ideologies would be supportive of these new, tangible changes.
The TPP received criticism from all sides of the aisle for the economic sacrifices it made, and without the Carrier plant, a community would be in economic catastrophe.
But the methods to achieve these ends were not without sacrifices themselves.
Without a strong trade deal, and especially with the strong tariffs that Trump has continued to support, America may fall behind in international competition.
And the Carrier plant success, which was purportedly achieved with a mix of tax incentives and contract threats, may be the beginning in a long line of crony capitalism in essence, money is given to already wealthy corporations rather than put to creating more efficient jobs.
Instead of working to strengthen communities, it seems as though some of President Trump’s first presidential actions have simply been poor economic choices.
In fact, however, the full picture of his time so far in office does not stop there.
Through a series of economic and social decisions he has weakened the power of communities in the face of capitalism.
Immigration raids have been ordered to increase, aggressively, not to mention the implementation of plans to build a border wall.
The ban on immigrants and refugees from 7 predominantly muslim countries, while reversed by the courts, also target to target and minimize important, American, communities.
The de-regulation of infrastructure projects like the Dakota Access and Keystone Pipeline open up vulnerable areas to potential environmental damage, and the freezing of federal workforce hirings is especially destructive for communities with minorities or people of color, both of which groups make up a large portion of the federal workforce.
The continued repeal process of the Affordable Care Act only serves to limit the medical care of working-class Americans, including the many men and women who voted for him. But all of these harmful executive actions also serve to overshadow what could be done, like working to strengthen labor laws, broaden environmental protections, fight climate change, invest in better job training, reform the justice system, all of which would build, rebuild, or protect communities in danger of flooding, subject to unjust sentencing, and still recovering from the economic recession.
President Trump criticizes America’s involvement in the world, claiming that his administration’s policies, in the classically simple slogan, support America First.
But even if closing America off to the rest of the world, and giving American businesses free rein strengthens rigid borders and gives the stock market a momentary boost, those policies also serve to destroy the communities that have, and will, define our country as a whole.
Facing this terrifying moment in U.S history as someone who considers themselves an activist, I am scared.
My state government is progressive and powerful, as are my elected officials on the national stage, and I know that organized political voices, in marches or letter writing campaigns, can make a difference.
But the election was in November, and in this country, that’s when democracy is in action- unless you’re donating money, the opportunity to make a direct, visible difference in your government before and during elections, through grassroots organizing and the simple act of voting.
Passionate leaders in congress may be able to resist the worst of Trump’s nominees and initiatives, and state leaders will have some room to resist, and enact strong legislation of their own.
But for the most past, Trump is in the driver’s seat at the federal level, and will be for the next two years, at the least.
So what do I do?
The concept of the American community is being attacked, and from the highest of levels. Even when unified, successful resistance pushes back against what must not be done, it fails to accomplish what must.
For the next year and a half, leading up to midterms and my graduation of high school, I’ve decided that I’m going to try and fight for my community.
Political organizing will be a crucial part of my community work.
Registering and pre-registering voters, the latter possible only recently in Massachusetts, is one of the best ways to get people involved and prepare for the strongest possible electoral impact.
Engagement in other ways, too, even networking, finds and retains potential activists who become more and more important as election day nears.
Local advocacy, manifested for my state group of young activists, the Massachusetts High School Democrats in letter writing campaigns, gets citizens and students excited about political issues and engaged with their representatives.
All of this political activity has the ability to make actual differences in local, state and even national government, when elections roll around.
But I’ve been thinking about settlement houses, too, the progressive-era community centers which sought to fit the community’s needs, from alleviating poverty, to education, to political mobilization.
Not only were they successful in giving aid to the people who needed it, but they unified neighborhood voices to fight for political issues when the moment demanded it.
In the face of a hostile, incompetent, unjust administration, my goal is not just to organize a political resistance, but to try and help fit my community’s needs.
It will be nowhere near simple, and the projects that I’ve envisioned and begun to work on, like a composting project and a school program advocating historical awareness, are also fairly small in scale.
I know that in the midst of our present political turmoil, I didn’t attend a single GSA meeting at my school.
The scale of the club is minor, but the power that even a single person can bring to the group is incredible. Instead, I organized.
That, too, was meaningful- giving politically passionate people an outlet is gratifying and made a small political difference.
But after Massachusetts High School Democrats canvassed and organized, making trips up to New Hampshire for Senator Hassan and through the phone lines to senators advocating against Senator DeVos, and my community is still threatened or limited by a lack of political change, I’m altering my strategy.
Political revolutions are good, but they don’t just come when we get angry.
Tangible community initiatives will help to fix the problems that we’re advocating about, and will help prepare our communities when it’s time to mobilize politically.
Before we can expect political change, we have to make community change.
RISE NEWS is a grassroots journalism news organization that is working to change the way young people become informed and engaged in the world. You can write for us.
Cover Photo Credit: High School Democrats of America/ Facebook
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