October/November 2020 Archive
Editor's Note
The months of October and November were turbulent months, with events ranging from the US Election to growing expectations to get a vaccine for COVID-19. Therefore, The Gen Z Times submitters did not hesitate to address the issues appealed to them the most, whether it was through literature or journalism. The writing submitted this edition are too rich to be limited to a word, so the theme for the months of October and November is a quote by Desmond Tutu: "If you are neutral in situations of injustice, you have chosen the side of the oppressor." The submitters for this edition of The Gen Z Times have not hesitated to stay silent in the face of injustices happening around this month, and for that, they have my and your total admiration.
Happy reading,
Catarina.
Editorial
The Two-Party System, Why it Happens, and its Flaws
Catarina Vita
As phones ding and feeds reload during the US election period, many ponder about what will happen to the world if either of the candidates wins. Democrat and Republican policies are always being discussed and presidential debates only have two candidates. When both candidates have faulty policies, nonetheless, some citizens tend to vote for non-Democrats and Republicans without acknowledging that it is often better to settle for the best of two evils. Therefore, an even bigger question comes to mind: why does the US only have two parties to choose from?
The Two-Party System
To understand the two-party system, it is important to also understand the US voting system. Presidents in the United States are elected indirectly: not only the number of votes are taken into consideration when choosing a president. Each state has a different number of electors according to their population size, and when a citizen votes for one of the two parties, the elector of that party will vote for the President in that state. There are 538 electors in total, and a candidate needs 270 electoral votes to win.
Why it Happens
One common misconception about the US two-party system is that only members of the Democratic or Republican parties can run for the presidency, and that is not true. However, third-party candidates receive a smaller number of votes because their party are not as popular as the Democratic and Republican. This is one of the reasons the two-party system occurs in the first place: the Democratic and Republican parties are the most popular among US citizens since the country was founded as a Republic. Due to its popularity, the seats in Congress are predominantly Democrat or Republican, with a few third-party exceptions. With less third-party representation in the Congress, more Democratic or Republican laws will be passed and the influence of both of these parties will increase. Another reason why the two-party system in the US exists is the "winner takes all" policy in the Electoral College. As stated, when a citizen votes for a candidate, they are voting for electors, and the number of electoral votes determines who will win the election. If the majority of electoral votes in a certain state is Democratic and the rest is Republican, all of the electoral votes of the state will go to the Democratic candidate despite the number of electoral votes the Republican candidate received. For example, if 33 out of the 55 electoral votes in California are Democratic and 22 votes are Republican, all 55 votes will go to the Democratic party. This leads to the polarisation of one of the parties, and the more popular parties have a greater chance to win.
Why it is Flawed
One of the most obvious reasons why the two-party system is flawed is that no other parties have the chance of making their ideas known. Due to this system, debates and campaigns are often invested in only these two parties, making US citizens think only two of these parties exist. It is no secret that the Democratic and Republican Party have very few differences, and some see that as a pro: people often consider the Democratic and Republican parties to be centrist and only having these two as alternatives prevent extremism. However, these two parties are not centrist. In fact, both of them can be considered alt-right.
The alt-right movement abides by far-right movements, such as white supremacy, anti-immigration policies, xenophobia, antisemitism, and Islamophobia. The Republican Party has already abided to these far-right movements: the Trump Wall is a drastic anti-immigration policy, and postponing declaring the Ku Klux Klan as a terrorist organization while various others were declared is a white supremacist action. One can argue that the Democratic Party is more left-leaning than the other so they cannot be considered alt-right, however, many factors about this party's actions are disregarded. President Barack Obama conducted repeated drone strikes in the Middle East and East Africa (non-war zone areas), showing no regard to human rights and state sovereignty.
It is clear that when a president of the United States comes to power, the US is not the only one affected. This country is the greatest military and economic power in the world, and its next leader determines how developing countries will be. When in the two-party system, none of the two alternatives will help developing countries because none of them addresses their previous war crimes or conduct effective peace deals between countries involved in warfare. Some argue that Donald Trump, from the Republican Party, normalised relations in the Middle East after some agreements he brokered. One of these agreements is between Israel and Sudan so their relations can be more tranquilized. However, this peace deal does not help the real conflict at hand, the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. Israel has been stealing land from Palestine and needs to suffer consequences for their mistakes; the peace deal that Mr Trump mediated will not bring back Palestinian land and, therefore, will not bring peace to the people. The Democratic Party, as stated beforehand with the example of Barack Obama, has no interest in helping the Middle East. Therefore, none of these parties will repair what the United States did to developing countries.
Do I Vote Third-Party? No!
To think that the most prominent economic and military power in the world will not change their attitudes due to the two-party system is disheartening; however, it is important to recognise this system in US politics and use your voice for what is better now. Lives of people are at risk if Donald Trump gets reelected; his attitude towards COVID-19 has impacted the United States and the world. Therefore, it is important to recognize the "best of two evils": in this case, the Democratic candidate running against Donald Trump, Joe Biden. Often, the Democratic vote guarantees the American people more accessible healthcare and more reproductive rights, alongside stricter gun policies that can assure them safety. That is why US citizens that have acknowledged the damages the Trump administration has done and will do to the world if Donald Trump has reelected started "settling for Biden:" voting for Biden even though he might not be the best candidate ever. "Settling" for the best candidate while in the two-party system scenario is the most plausible thing to do, especially because a vote for a third-party is one less vote for the Democratic or Republican candidate that aligns with your policies and social compass. Regardless of who you want to vote for, it is pivotal to do your research and engage in diplomatic debates so that your vote is a prudent, honest vote.
Politics
Two Flyers About the US Election
@demsvote
The Creating Allies Project
Gen Z For Justice, or @genzforjustice
I used to not know much. Did not know about the corrupt criminal justice system and mass incarceration. Did not know about the horrendous amount of police brutality that black communities face, but when I saw the video, Derek Chauvin's knee on George Floyd’s neck for nearly 9 minutes. A man who's profession I thought was supposed to protect us. I knew we had to do something about it. I knew I couldn’t just stand idol anymore watching racism happen, couldn’t shut up anymore and ignore the facts.This is the reason I wanted to join/start the blog with my co-founder.
Over the last month of this blog launching I have learned so much and through the power of social media and all of you who have submitted your work. We’ve also been able to share with our following as well, wether on our blog or on instagram.
One thing I've learned recently is the power of words. Some people say that words mean nothing. It's just markings on a paper, but they’re so much more. Words can spark ideas, change and more. Anyone and everyone has the power of words, you included. This is why we are launching the Creating Allies Project.
We know that there are many people who feel the urge to break the silence, but are not comfortable doing much in the middle of the pandemic. With the recent shooting of Jacob Blake and the continued police brutality black people face, we ask you to stand with us in making the "uncomfortable conversations" less uncomfortable from the comfort of your won home.
The Project "Creating Allies" in 3 Steps
1. Learn About Police Brutality and Privilege
On the Creating Allies tab on our website, we have a section called Knowledge Is Power, here we have documentaries, books, podcasts, songs, and more for you to use to better understand racial privilege and police brutality.
2. Have a Conversation with Someone
Call someone you know! It can be a family member, friend, or classmate. We are trying to call at least three people. Our hope is everyone who we call will then call three more people to keep the conversations going. At the end of your conversation, tell them to visit our website for more information about how they can contribute.
We want to make it easier to have these conversations by providing a conversation structures for you. There are two different types of dialogues that we’ve created. One about racism and police brutality and the other about racial privilege. These sheets have 4-5 questions that you discuss with the person. Underneath the questions we have provided statistics and facts that you can use to talk about. This sheet can be found in the Creating Allies tab on our website. The conversation structures are there if you need them but not necessary.
We are not looking to start a fight, we are trying to educate and break the level of discomfort in talking about race. In the end, just having someone realize that racism exists is a huge stride. Most of the time one conversation will not change a person’s mind, we are simply trying to get people to look deeper into how injustice exists in our society.
3. Share with Others
Once you have had a conversation with three people, then post about it on instagram (if you have an account). You can either take a picture of you and your friend having the (socially distanced) conversation. Or you can repost on your story or feed the post that will be up on our feed that says “I’m participating in the #CreatingAllies project and you can too.” When your posting about it make sure to use one or all of the following hashtags: #CreatingAllies #BreakTheSilence or #GenZ4Justice. Also make sure to tag us @genz_for_justice! When you tag us we will shout you out on our story and on our highlights. Finally, before pressing post make sure to nominate 2-3 other people to have a conversation.
To start this movement we will be announcing who we are nominating on our instagram, be sure to be on the lookout for that. You do not need to be nominated to contribute to this project, so tell your friends and family! If you have any questions or concerns about this project please feel free to either dm us or email us genz4justice@gmail.com.
Join us to be part of the conversation, One. Word. At. A. Time.
For a better future,
Gen Z For Justice
Art and Culture
The Importance of Movies Based on Real Life Situations
Maria Clara Britto
Our reality has become very different from our ancestors. There are Civil Wars, conflict, earthquakes, tsunamis, natural disasters, and so many catastrophes happening every single month, mostly due to man's selfishness. We were able to develop a very advanced technology system to register these moments, such as pictures and videos, however, they are other references that are also extremely important to take into consideration, the primary sources. Primary sources provide a first-hand account of an event or time period, such as diaries, speeches, letters, interviews, eyewitness accounts, and autobiographies. It is so important for us to be able to document and have different perspectives on one event and show it to future generations. This way, with various points of view, they will be able to see what we went through and what real-life situations happened during these catastrophes.
An amazing example of that is a movie called The Impossible, directed by Juan Antonio Bayona. The movie was released in 2012, meaning 8 years after the actual disaster. It tells the story of a family of five, who were spending their holidays in a resort in Thailand, and then suddenly a huge tsunami came in and ended it all for them and for other millions of lives. The entire movie was written by Maria Belón herself, the survivor, she shares all the most traumatizing moments of her life that she spent looking desperately for her family, She tells how the five members were separates for many days when the water came and their frantic hunt for resources, such as shelter, medical help, food, and clean water. While only having each other to rely on, this family was able to really see the value of life and that having each other is the most important thing they would have wished for. With such a good cast, including Naomi Watts playing Maria and the young Tom Holland playing Lucas, they were to represent the fear of the unknown in the pain of a mother while fighting for life and searching for her family.
We are also able to see that even in the worst kind of scenarios, such as an entire city completely destroyed by the water, there are still people willing to help. The locals were being extremely humble and giving to the others, mainly the visitors. There is a scene that we can see a small village helping Maria out, right after when they took her out of the three, they gave her new clothes and some bandages for her wounds, they also took her and Lucas to the closest hospital trying to get some help. We could clearly see that they did not have enough for themselves but still they were open to give it to a complete stranger. These types of actions are the ones that bring societies together. This story was only 1 out of millions of people affected by this tsunami and gladly they made out well to tell us.
Prose and Poetry
The Art of the Skin
Hiba Karim
As tears drip across the supple canvas
Dampening the surface
The owner of the canvas is ashamed
Their canvas has bumps throughout
Consisting of scratches and marks
The side is wrinkled
The corners are unproportional
Patches of pigments cover the canvas
While residues of past scars remain
Leaving the owner to be disappointed
As the tears start to dry
The canvas is flushed out
However, it remains to be:
Unique, colorful, diverse and beautiful
Regardless of its journey
It still is used to make something beautiful: art
Three Poems
Keira from @a.bit_of_this_and_that
Blame
Everyone has used this word before.
Blame it on me,
I've heard it all before,
But it's you and I
I want to hear that more.
Your reasoning is pathetic
Erase your attitude,
You should have just left it
As it puts the world in a mood.
Nobody's perfect,
That's right, you too,
We have not met the end yet,
So let's change: yes, even you!
Nothing
Everyone has responded to a question by saying "nothing"
It's such a useful word,
Like a free range bird,
It means everything,
Or nothing, just... nothing.
You use it all the time
Even in mime,
A new born child even knows
The word, nothing, is the way to go.
Friendship
It isn't about who you've known the longest
But about who proved it,
Just like music and lyrics,
It's a bond with no limits.
True friendship is like a wolf pack,
By your side, always got your back,
There are fake friends of many,
Also people you take in any.
It should last forever,
And will come whenever,
Even when you think you're alone,
Friendship is like your second home.
I don't know what I would do without
friendship, everyone deserves a friend, or at least a helping hand.