opinion
Opinion pieces from the left, right, and everyone in between.
9/11: How Long Scars Can Hurt
Warning: This piece discusses the traumatic events of September 11th 2001 from the perspective of someone who did not live through the trauma but recounts many images and events from the period. If you are sensitive to this material proceed with caution or not read at all. Take care.
By Lucy Richardson4 years ago in The Swamp
A Shock to the Heart of the West
It's coming up to the 20th anniversary of the September 11th attacks, the worst terrorist incident in world history, and, together with the withdrawal of troops from Afghanistan, it's got me thinking about a lot of comments people frequently make about terrorism, the War on Terror and Western overseas intervention as a whole.
By Matty Long4 years ago in The Swamp
Texas Abortion Law Not Just About Abortion
Abortion is not the real issue in the pitched battle between the prolife folks and the proabortion contingent. No one is forced to have an abortion. Roe v Wade does not make abortions mandatory. This is a fight about morality. This is an attempt to legislate morality for every woman in a nation that has always professed to be about freedom of religion, separation of church and state. This is also a fight about the role of women in the world.
By Nancy Brisson4 years ago in The Swamp
Can We Disarm, Should We Disarm?
In this essay I will explore two very important questions, is nuclear disarmament feasible and is it necessary? I will begin by discussing the recent attempts by the Obama administration to move towards the goal of reducing the nuclear arsenals of the nuclear powers around the world. Here I will look at the many different policy areas in which the administration attempted to create the conditions for a safer nuclear world, but also the challenges and failures that it encountered. I then move on to examine the recommendations of the Nuclear Security project, and the conditions they present as, in their opinion, necessary for creating an international environment that is united in the aim of achieving nuclear disarmament. I then explore the necessity of disarming, here I will examine the inherent risks of the current system and how prone it is to mishaps and failures in judgement. I also look at the moral issues of threatening death and destruction on innocent people of another nation to achieve stability.
By Alexander Seling4 years ago in The Swamp
11 Lies About Millionaires
Photo by Giorgio Trovato on UnsplashThis may surprise you, but I love watching Fox News. I love hearing from people I disagree with. I'm enthralled by things I'm opposed to. This is for many reasons; diversify opinions I'm exposed to, strengthen my defences, nurture empathy. There's many reason but one comes to mind in particular, a reason I wish more people would consider.
By Conor Matthews4 years ago in The Swamp
No Blood for Dope
NO WAR FOR OIL. Were you alive and watching the news in the years following September 11, 2001? I was, and I remember this slogan well. The anti-war crowd insisted America’s dual wars in the Muslim world—in Iraq and Afghanistan—were about “oil.” The War on Terror had nothing to do with the Taliban or terrorism, only oil and America’s access to it. Even Nancy Pelosi called George W. Bush and Dick Cheney “two oilmen” who were dragging American troops to the Middle East in shameless financial self-interest. Bush’s name became “Bu$h.”
By Ashley Herzog4 years ago in The Swamp
The Kool-aid We Willingly Drink
I've never fancied myself an activist - or "attacktivist" as I have often called them. I've never known a self-labeled activist that was pleasant. They were passionate to the point of combativeness. They were consumed with their cause and they struck down anything in their way - not with pretty words of persuasion, but with words wielded like swords, felling anyone or anything that stood between them and their goal. I was both appalled and in awe. I am outspoken. Sometimes very much so. But I've never fancied that anyone cared what I had to say. That anything I could voice would carry on the winds of change and make any difference at all. And where do you sow these seeds of opinion sent out to change the world? On social media? That seems most common because people can raise armies of followers. But I have grown weary, battle fatigued I suppose.
By Pam Reeder4 years ago in The Swamp
Willingness to follow
Conspiracy theories are the most significant way to clickbait me. I admit it I am a self-proclaimed junkie for the latest time traveler or political plot. I have my own theories about how long it will take a country to invade America. I think I am really on to something. It all started with a prince and an ex-president, but that is all I can say. And just like that, a chemtrail of ideas fall from the sky, see what I did there? I took my hunch and turned it into not one, but two unrelated theories wound together by words and thoughts. Are conspiracy theories a way humans bond with each other even if detrimental to their own fate? I asked this question to myself as I designed my theory about the takeover of America. Here are some things I found during my journey into the conspiracy world of theories.
By Page Neihoff4 years ago in The Swamp
World Embassy Speech
World Embassy Speech The world is witnessing a crisis in Afghanistan that is the result of an illegal and disastrous war in Iraq which was instigated 20 years ago under the invented war on terrorism. The aftermath of this war has left us with defenseless global nationals and de-humanized citizens who face political terrorism locally as we all, at the same time, face both corporate and political terrorism globally.
By John Bowen5 years ago in The Swamp
