Hugo Chavez: Love Him or Loathe Him?
Last week an incendiary press release exploded into the global headlines. A man by the name of Hugo Chavez ventured the claim that he had become an important target of assassination. Even more alarming, he proceeded to identify his assassin. It was none other than George W. Bush. "We have enough evidence," said Chavez, "that if anything happens to me, the person responsible will be the President of the United States" (“Defying U.S., Venezuela’s Chavez Embrace Socialism”).
Who is Hugo Chavez? And why would he have the audacity to regard himself as a threat -- indeed, a lethal threat -- to the most powerful country on earth? And does he really believe he is so dangerous in the eyes of the United States that he would be viewed as a candidate for extermination?
Hugo Chavez is the duly elected leader of a relatively small country on the northern coast of South America called Venezuela. It is a nation whose regional stature has, in the last twenty years, grown in influence in total disproportion to its size. The reason for Venezuela's increasing political clout is simple. It is the owner of vast reservoirs of liquid gold. It is perched on an enormous supply of oil.
To a country like America, which is the world's largest consumer of fossil fuels by far, nothing could be more encouraging than to share geographical proximity with a nation so abundantly endowed with oil. Increasingly, however, a common neighborhood is all the U. S. shares in common with Venezuela. The two nations are clearly drifting apart, and at an alarming pace. The lightening rod in America's relationship with its South American neighbor is Hugo Chavez. In many recent pronouncements, the President o...
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Chávez’s leadership was based on an unshakable commitment to nonviolence, personal sacrifice and a strict work ethic. He emphasized the necessity of adhering to nonviolence, even when faced with violence from employers and growers, because he knew if the strikers used violence to further their goals, the growers and police would not hesitate to respond with even greater vehemence. Despite his commitment to nonviolence, many of the movement’s ‘enemies’, so to speak, made efforts to paint the mo...
Plato’s “Defense of Socrates” follows the trial of Socrates for charges of corruption of the youth. His accuser, Meletus, claims he is doing so by teaching the youth of Athens of a separate spirituality from that which was widely accepted.
White, Robert E. 2013. "After Chávez, a Chance to Rethink Relations With Cuba". The New
Throughout the novel, Steinbeck portrays the Joads and other exiled "Okies" as animalistic. They often talk about their dilemma in simplistic terms that hint that they are not initially aware of the specific conditions that force them to abandon their home. For example, Muley Graves tells Tom Joad and Jim Casy that the rest of the Joads, with their house destroyed, are "piled in John's house like gophers in a winter burrow” (63). This illustrates a family of animals that are bundled together, hoping to fend off a predator with their superior numbers. They see the societal problems around them in terms of a predator as well. For example, Casy asks a worker at a gas station, "You ever seen one a t...
Often in life, people take their freedoms, a gift that allows them to express their individuality, for granted. However, in the dystopian societies of The Handmaid’s Tale by Margaret Atwood and Never Let Me Go by Kazuo Ishiguro, people are reminded of just how easily their freedoms and humanity can be stripped away. Attwood and Ishiguro urge people to never lose sight of the core values that define who they are. The compelling novels chronicle the life journey of two protagonists as they fight to define their own existence and worth in life. Offred, the central character in The Handmaid’s Tale is exploited as a baby making machine, while Kathy, the leading role in Never Let Me Go, is degraded as a lifeless android in a sea of clones. From Atwood and Ishiguro’s provocative coming-of-age novels emerge two beautiful and inspiring heroines. Whether it is through their remembrance of the past, their loss of innocence, their capability to hope, or their ability to establish relationships, Offred and Kathy prove that they are every bit as human as the rest of society. Ultimately, despite the many differences in their distinct masterpieces, Atwood and Ishiguro share the same intent in their haunting portrayal of the protagonists’ dehumanizabtion—to shed light on the true essence of what it is to be human.
America is dependent on other nations for their ability to create energy. The United States is the world’s largest consumer of oil at 18.49 million barrels of oil per day. And it will continue to be that way for the foreseeable future considering the next largest customer of oil only consumes about 60% of what the U.S. does. This makes the U.S. vulnerable to any instability that may arise in the energy industry. In 2011, the world’s top three oil companies were Saudi Aramco (12%), National Iranian Oil Company (5%), and China National Petroleum Corp (4%). The risk associated with these countries being the top oil producers is twofold. One, they are located half way around the world making it an expensive to transport the product logistically to a desired destination. And two, the U.S. has weak, if not contentious,...
Lockheed Martin is an organization that heavily relies on its defense contracts in order to generate revenue. In 2005, 95% of Lockheed Martin’s revenue came from the US Department of Defense, other US Federal government agencies and foreign military customers (Defense News, 2007). Lockheed Martin earns this revenue by winning government contracts. As previously noted, Lockheed Martin has a large customer base with the US Department of Defense. The company is the largest provider of IT services, systems integration, and training to the government (Lockheed Martin, 2008). Other customers that provide revenue for Lockheed Martin are international governments and some commercial sales of products and services (Lockheed Martin, 2008).
Hugo Chavez was the president of Venezuela from 1999 to 2013. He had an interesting way of running the country during his presidency. His political position or ideology could be best defined as Bolivarianism for many reasons. Bolivarianism can be described as a set of doctrines that was popular in South America. It is named after the famous liberator Simon Bolivar. Hugo Chavez’s ideology involved ideas from others he had come to admire. Of course one of those that he admired was Simon Bolivar. The ideas for his ideology all began at a young age when he fell in love with history (Jones 23). During this age Hugo Chavez would often times read about a general named Ezequiel Zamora whom his great great grandfather had served (Marcano, Tyszka 11). Ezequiel Zamora will become a major influence in his ideology later on in his life. Besides Zamora, Chavez would also read about many other theorists. Hugo Chavez not only lived in poverty but also witnessed how bad the poverty around him was (Jones 25-26). Chavez did not like this poverty and wanted to change that any way he could. As he grew up he continued reading about the different theorists and ideologies that they made up (Jones 40). So since a young age Chavez had always been a leftist. As mentioned earlier it continued throughout his life and it intensified during his days at the military academy (Wilpert 07) Eventually Chavez became the president and his political position progressed further left (Wilpert 07). In other words he rejected both far left ideologies such as communism or Marxism-Leninism and moderate ideologies such as social democracy or the third way. However Chavez was aware of these different ideologies but did not consider being part of it. Hugo Chavez instead began t...
Aside from causing a major shift in geopolitical power, WWII also solidified the integral role oil played politically in national security. However, following the war the United States was no longer the world’s largest oil producer and was unable to maintain self-sufficiency as it had in the past. As a national security imperative oil was more important at this point than ever before. America’s war machine needed to be well oiled in case the new Cold War suddenly turned hot.
Contracting private military companies and private security contractors are not without their issues. Management of these companies and contractors are a crucial issue for the government. One of the most significant challenges in d...
It takes one person to begin expanding a thought, eventually dilating over a city, gaining power through perceived power. This is why Socrates would be able to eventually benefit everyone, those indifferent to philosophy, criminals, and even those who do not like him. Socrates, through his knowledge of self, was able to understand others. He was emotionally intelligent, and this enabled him to live as a “gadfly,” speaking out of curiosity and asking honest questions. For someone who possesses this emotional intelligence, a conversation with Socrates should not have been an issue-people such as Crito, Nicostratus, and Plato who he calls out during his speech. (37) The problem is that many of the citizens of Athens who wanted Socrates dead, lacked that emotional intelligence and thought highly of themselves. So of course they become defensive when Socrates sheds light on the idea that they may be wrong. As someone who cared most about the improvement of the soul, Socrates would have made a constructive role model to the criminals of Athens, as he would go on saying, “virtue is not given by money, but that from virtue comes money and every other good of man…”(35) Socrates was able to benefit everyone alike as he had human wisdom- something that all the Athenians could relate
Hugo Chavez was a powerful and positive force in addressing social issues, however, his singular focus on social issues at the expense of other matters of the country left the Venezuelan economy in tatters. In 1998, 50.4% of the Venezuelan population was living below the poverty line, where as in 2006 the numbers dropped to 36.3% (Chavez leaves). Although he aggressively confronted the issue of poverty in Venezuela, many other problems were worsened. Some Chavez critics say he used the state oil company like a piggy bank for projects: funding homes, and healthcare while neglecting oil infrastructure and production. Without growth in the oil ind...
Socrates ,a great philosopher, is not a corruptor of the youth of Athens or atheist, but an educator and guide. He believes that truth and reasoning can only be gained through dialogue and therefore he formulates a political philosophy established on the idea of forming a city on principles of reason. He sees the search for truth as a process of examining claims. Socrates encourages his audience and leads them to follow his course of thought by asking them questions. He leads discussions with youth to help them find the distinction between justice and injustice, which can lead to a better life. Socrates is accused of corrupting the youth and not believing in the Gods of the state. However ,he is a lover of wisdom ,a seeker of truth and his essential mission is to teach. He wants only to discover what is true and good about human nature.
If one sets his goals high, it will help him discover what he is really capable of doing. If one’s goals are low, he will never know what he is capable of doing. For example, Bill Gates is the founder of Microsoft, and he earns copious amount of money every day. If he stops working and completely shuts down his company, he can still spend one million dollars a day and continue that for 735 years without running out of money; however, he still chooses to work every day. He could have stopped years ago thinking I have done enough, but he chose to keep working; now, the result is in front of us. Because of his high goals, he has made the world an easier and a faster place with his amazing technology. Another example is Alexander the Great, a man who had very high goals, and his goals made him the great leader that people know today. He was from a small place which was known as Macedonia, but his goals helped him conquer most of the known world. If he had not dreamt of such goals, we would have never had such a great leader. In fact, Alexander the Great once said, “There is nothing impossible to him who will try,” meaning that there is no such thing as an “impossible goal.”
Socrates was a philosopher who set out to prove, to the gods, that he wasn't the wisest man. Since he could not afford a "good" Sophist teacher, surely a student of one had to be smarter than he. He decides to converse with the youth of Athens, but concludes that he actually is wiser than everyone he speaks with. He then realizes that their lack of intelligence is the fault of their teachers. Socrates understands that the practice of "sophism" leads to a lack of self-knowledge and moral values. Socrates was later accused of corrupting the youth of Athens and put on trial. In The Apology of Socrates he sta...