Aliens for President

Since America's beginning, being a natural-born citizen has always been a requirement for our Presidents. The natural-born-citizen clause states that only US citizens born in one of our States can run for President. This was originally meant to protect America against foreign influence, and this argument is still justifiable today. Who would want a the person running our country to be someone who wasn't even born in it? How could they possibly understand what it's like to live as an American? They can if they were adopted from a foreign country and should be allowed to run for President.

This law is meant to exclude foreigners who have an inferior experience as an American citizen. I've lived in America my entire life. English is my native language and I struggle to understand Chinese despite spending the first eleven months of my life in China. Don't get me wrong, though; my Chinese heritage is something I value very much. But I cannot imagine myself as a Chinese citizen. Including the times I went back to visit China, I've spent barely a year in China, and was only a baby when I was a citizen. My parents are American and I have been raised as an American. I say the pledge every morning during advisory. There is no way that I can imagine myself as anything but an American citizen. So why can't I run for President? Because my American experience has been tainted due to the first eleven months of my life?

I decided to see what the arguments are for keeping the natural-born-citizen clause. The argument seemed to be fear of our President becoming some unrelatable European or Mexican. However, I was relieved to find that I am not the only person addressing the adopted kids conundrum. According to the New York Times in 2004, "the number of foreign-born children adopted by Americans rose to more than 21,000 last year. Adoption groups estimate that over that past 15 years, about 190,000 children have been adopted into American homes" and should be given the same rights as biological American children. It's not a request to obliterate the natural-born-citizen clause. Even if it was, who would vote for a 'foreigner' who is clearly uneducated about America? Making an exception to the natural-born-citizen clause for adopted kids must be made. As one of the "190,000" foreign adoptions, I believe that it is unfair to discriminate adopted Americans against biological Americans. They may have a different heritage than biological Americans, but they grew up in America just like everyone else.

Miss Representation is Very Proud Right Now!

The 2012 Elections sure have been interesting! We have the first Asian-American female Senator, the first openly gay Senator, the first all-female delegation, and 20 female Senators, a new record! These are important gains because they are advancing women's rights in America.
What makes these gains so interesting is their relationship to Miss Representation, a documentary that was shown at the Northfield campus Tuesday night with Mr. Bolos. In this film, America's embarrassing lack of female representation in the government was revealed. According to the film, "67 countries have had female presidents or prime ministers" and America has yet to join this progressive group. In 2010, only 17% of Congress was female, and there was no increase in this percent for the first time in 30 years! Based of 2012's results, we now have 20 women in the Senate and at least 81 women in Congress. This makes the Senate 20% female and Congress is 18.6% female. Women are getting a bigger role in America's government thanks to the results of the election and will have a bigger voice as a result.
And the victories weren't just an increase in the amount of females in the government. Male candidates who expressed harsh views regarding abortion rights and rape that are clearly bigoted were defeated, further preventing a misogynist pro-life agenda from hurting America. Todd Akin caused quite a controversy when he stated that "if women experience a 'legitimate rape,' their bodies can avert unwanted pregnancies" in Missouri and Richard Mourdock of Indiana "said pregnancies from rape are something 'God intended.' ” The defeat of these men will help discourage what is possibly the most insensitive pro-life argument in America. 
Overall, 2012 has been a big year for politics and an excellent year for female progress. What do you think of the election? Please comment. Please, I know you're out there and I'm lonely.

Some Thoughts on Abortion: The Arguments

I was chatting with some friends on Skype earlier in the week. Given that Election Day is on Tuesday, our conversation became very political and became centered on abortion. This conversation made me very uncomfortable and also made me realize a few things. Whether or not abortion will be made illegal is not an argument; the Roy V. Wade case has made abortion's current legal status all but permanent (this, however, is another post). Even the morality of abortions is not my main focus. Rather, I want to point out some things that disturbed me during the Skype conversation and provide some of my own ideas. In no way do I mean to infringe upon your morals. 

My friends believe that it's hilarious that anyone should consider a fetus a life. The status of a fetus is heavily debated as to whether it's human life or whether it's just a mass of special cells in a woman. I understand this, but several fetus jokes came about. Also, the sheer intolerance for the idea that a fetus is some form of life (not necessarily a baby) was rude. Cells are alive, and the fetus contains fertilized cells that are certainly different from a normal cell. It may not be a full baby, but it should still be respected as something a little above an average, expendable cell. 

My friends also made assumptions about pro-lifers, saying that those who are pro life are misogynists with little respect for women and are in it for religious reasons. While this is the majority and a revolting idea, it's not the sole reason and shouldn't be treated like it. Just as there are different reasons to have an abortion beside taking care of the baby, there are different reasons to be pro life. Of course, this is not to deny the copious amounts of biased or illogical pro-life arguments or deny that this is the majority of opinions, but assuming that every pro-lifer is like this is also blind. My own friends were mercilessly assuming things about pro-life in order to condemn it as insensitive and ignorant. But they were far from open. 

I tried to state an opinion against their arguments regarding fetuses and pro-lifers. I was met with jokes about fetuses and decided to debate with a friend privately, as the group was clearly not mature enough to handle the subject. My friend brought up some good points and revealed that her beliefs were not nearly as intense as I thought. I shared my own opinions and we both felt very happy that we were able to talk about politics. Our group is large and shares mostly the same political views, so expressing personal opinions is difficult. I think that all arguments regarding abortion should be well-rounded with consideration of all viewpoints and accepted as a legitimate idea, however disagreeable. I also believe that all arguments should be listened to, as abortion is a very personal and serious issue.