Author: Danielle Levy

We’re convinced that solving the stem of illegal immigrants is with walls, troops, deportation and as is the case in Arizona, arrest. New Jersey is trying another approach. The city of Trenton is issuing ID cards to undocumented immigrants. The photo ID cards come from a coalition of community groups who include churches, civic associations, the Fire Department and public schools. Although they are not government issued, they have the endorsement of the Trenton police and the Mercer County sheriff and prosecutor’s office and have been accepted by many check cashing companies, libraries, stores, medical clinics, public parks and pools. It is felt that the cards are important in fighting crime, treating those injured, and making the community function more smoothly as a community.
This approach may not be best for every state or every city in the nation, but it does show that there are viable alternatives to treating undocumented immigrants like criminals.

There are those who feel virtuous going out of their way not to buy gas at stations supplied by BP oil. That in the end may not be where our energies could do the most good. We’re so busy blaming BP we’re blinding ourselves to facts we need to be conscious of. We’re forgetting that offshore drilling is legal, that the administration reaffirmed it not long ago before it declared a moratorium due to the accident. We’re forgetting the power of the oil lobby, and the fact that big and dangerous oil spills happen in other countries, the Niger Delta for one. We’re also forgetting that the last few Presidents of both parties have talked about not being dependent on foreign oil, but no energy policy is in place. We as consumers have no real choice, no real alternatives. Let us not be blinded to our responsibility, for solutions can only come if we see clearly and press for them. And if we do, we can insist that whatever administration is in power passes viable legislation, a bill that will, among other key provisions, foster our having cars that run on clean, energy efficient oil alternatives, and that will prevent this kind of tragic accident from ever happening not only on our shores but on others as well.

We’re accustomed to thinking that our system of free enterprise is embedded in capitalism and fed by democracy. We naturally deduce that this would apply to other nations as well. But what about China? China has robust free enterprise and is neither democratic nor capitalistic in the way the West is. China’s economic success and the growing number of its millionaires ought to lead us to rethink our assumptions and priorities. Given the issues we face, about terrorism, first amendments right, the role of government, the lack of voter’s participation, the sway of corporations, we shouldn’t fool ourselves, for underlying many of these issues is a tacit question, which is more important democracy or free enterprise? Free enterprise, as many already know, is the phrase currently used by the Texas school board to replace the word capitalism. If we had free enterprise without democracy, as the Chinese do, then it wouldn’t be a relevant question. But not only is that not our system, a system without democracy is not what we want. If one believes in the openness that preserves the exercise of freedom and guarantees the development of one’s spirit, the values upon which a given society is erected and what those values mean for the quality of life of ordinary citizens, then democracy is paramount. And if democracy is paramount we ought to at least acknowledge it and start putting it ahead of free enterprise, capitalism and all the other isms that could undermine it.

Remembering Arms Spending
Most of us have never heard of SIPRI, the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute, a Swedish think tank whose annual yearbook tracks military spending across the world. Their latest edition tells us that worldwide, arms spending has risen %5.9 for 2008-2009 and almost doubled in the past decade. We now spend $1.6 trillion. The U.S. spent the most, followed by China, with France in third place.
Arms spending is a very old story. While the arms race may now have different players, the U.S. and China instead of the U.S and the Soviet Union, that too is an old story. The SIPRI yearbook is not new either. What is important besides the ever present increase is the fact that this spending exists. Behind every day news, behind the tidbits that occupy our attention on the Web or elsewhere, besides the ups and downs of existing wars, arms spending is an ever present reality. And while it may sometimes be necessary, it is not something we can glide over as easily as most of us normally do. If there’s ever going to be a step towards our swords being turned into ploughshares, it is a reality we owe ourselves to remember.