Joshua Cosme

5/17/16

American Government Final Essay Exam

Part 1

Part 1a.) Separation of Powers

With the lack of unity amongst the original 13 colonies shortly after the Revolutionary war
against Britain, the colonists sought to reform the ineffective Articles of Confederation.
Originating from the ideas and inquisitive nature of early Greek philosophers, and later
developed further by prominent enlightenment figures such as Montesquieu, the Separation of
Powers or often referred to by its interchangeable term, Checks and Balances, is a plan
constructed by Americas founding fathers in the constitutional convention. Its purpose is to
create a 3-part federal body whose powers derive solely from the people. The government
branch division, in order to form a more balanced and unified federal government, is divided
into the executive, judicial and legislative brancheach with its own designated powers and
function.

History has shown that man corrupts power and that power corrupts man. History has
shown time and time again that power concentrated amongst the hand of one or the hands of
a few, in most cases, leads to oppressive and repressive regimes, strictly violating the natural,
unalienable rights of life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness of the governed as is stated in
United States Declaration of Independence. Therefore, the idea of spreading and distributing
power amongst the central government, and further distribution amongst state and local
governments, with Checks and Balances intact, keeps one branch from overtaking another
whilst maintaining a coherent central authority. Each of the 3 branches has assigned tasks
designed in such a way that keeps all 3 often checking each other so that not one could become
more powerful than the other. For instance, the executive can veto a bill passed by the
legislature. Conversely, the legislature can refuse to pass a bill that the executive wants. The
judicial branch, on the other hand, can declare any law under congress or declare any actions
made by the executive and affiliates to be unconstitutional; thus, may render them void. This
provides for a more democratic stance by not allocating too strong of a central body that could
overpower individual state governments. This system of Checks and Balances applies to the
relationships between Federal, local and state governments so that the people may have some
semblance of control or rather, voice, in their government.

1b.) Freedom of the Press

I for one know that the Freedom of the Press is one of the powers guaranteed to the
people regardless of citizenship status, race, gender or color by the first amendment of the
United States Constitution. It is the first entry to the bill of rights. Press by the sense of the
word is basically media. That is to say that it is any form of communication and expression of
ones own opinion regardless of any factual display that it may have or not have. Some
exceptions do apply given that Freedom of the Press is not an absolute freedom as it should not
be. Exceptions include defamation of another person by another person through slander,
spoken tongue to hurt a persons reputation without factual evidence; and libel, written
slander. Moreover, there is also an exception to this exception, persons who thrust themselves
into the public limelight such as celebrities and public officials have little grounds to fight for
when it comes to libel and slander.

Furthermore, the freedom of press also entails the peoples right to be informed in a more
democratic manner rather than those living under a more authoritarian regime where
government propaganda is the media. So, the press is not controlled by the US government, but
by rather private individuals or corporation. It can be said that anyone can own a media outlet
and express their beliefs so as long it does not constitute to libel or slander. The mass controls
the media, therefore the media prints what it deems as true and what is false.

Overall, I do support our government of todays stance in tackling the issue of the freedom
of the press. A freedom guaranteed but with limitations so as to not cause a breach on other
citizens rights. I believe in the freedom of the Press so as long as there are restrictions to this
freedom that guards the safety of the citizens as a whole by blocking slander, libel, false
accusations in order to hurt someone, inciting violence and endangering public safety. Freedom
of the press to me is the ability to criticize governments, share videos through facebook and
write an article supporting minority rightsall done of my own accord.

1c.)Peace Corps

The Peace Corps is an Institution initiated by erstwhile US president, John F. Kennedy, and
is run by the United States. It is known for its philanthropy, global relief efforts and
humanitarian aid missions. Its philanthropic efforts operate mainly in poverty-stricken and
politically unstable nations or any nation in a dire state of unrest such as Armenia during WWI,
and the Philippines in the 1960s.

The institution is a means by the US to establish foreign diplomatic relations and to

strengthen the nations image abroad. It is also a path for personal fulfillment through
charitable acts run by volunteers, unpaid individuals or groups partaking in various volunteering
positions. Originally, the Peace Corps was marketed to recent College Graduates, suggesting
that young people would find gratification in helping those less fortunate.

Were I to take part in the Peace Corps, I would prefer a type of work that doesnt suggest a
zero-sum arrangement, but rather more beneficial to the recipient of my aid whilst maintaining
a gradual learning experience for me as well. I would prefer to work in community economic
development, education, agriculture and finding sustainable means of energy sensible to the
topographical features of the nation Im serving in. Im also interested in building infrastructure
such as highways, houses and airports to learn more about the construction trade while doing
meaningful work towards the people. I am committed to serving so as long as I find meaningful,
gratifying, self-rewarding work for a worthy cause. But not more than 10 years if Im young, but
if Im retired I could commit for decades longer.
 Part 2-Immigration

Patriotism is a lovely trait one is expected of by the government in their place of origin,
indoctrination is another, but is rather much accepted in my native land, my real home, the
Philippines. My country is a nation founded by the union of eastern and western ideals. From
its Austronesian, Malay and Spanish colonial roots establishing the catholic faith to the
Philippines fight for independence through nationalism against the Americans, events
throughout the course of history have changed the peoples hearts and minds. Back home,
education and the fruits of ones labor through education was, more often than not,
uneventful, due to government corruption, lack of career opportunities and the great wealth
disparity amongst the classes. I thought that was just life, but not until now that I realized how
my home hasnt burned into ash because here, the government is fruitful and allows its people
to reap the fruits of their labor and the people gladly follow their own path to prosperity to an
extent. 6 years after I departed home, I found myself to be quite resilient, often adapting at
times like coming to terms with the strange 4 stage ever-changingyet somewhat
predictableweather. But, my mindset, has yet to adapt. I was lead to believe that life on earth
is but a precursor to a much greater and happy life in the next. That all the trials I may face in
this life is judged by the creator above, that I need to focus on my spiritual being by going to
church 1-3x or more a weekdepends on catholic holidaysand pray every day so that Saint
Peter of heavens gate would show me the way.The Philippines is different in many ways
compared to Pre-westernized Japan, China, Indonesia and countries bearing laborious signs of
poverty and ignorance, but the one defining trait that encompasses my country and those of
Pre-westernized Japan, China etc. are complacency and mysticism. That to be born in poverty is
a life not worth living, that no matter what one does, there is no heaven and earth to lift to get
a better life for the individual nor for future generations to come. But that is not American way,
as Bill Gates once said, If you are born poor its not your mistake, but if you die poor its your
mistake.

The United States of America, a nation cultivated, enamored of and founded by people
whose origins, from distant seas abroad and at home isin this day in age at war with
immigration as it does, I reckon, pose a problem in the United States. Cultural differences and
simple economic understanding indicates that if demandan unlimited human want exceeds
supply such as the case in Venezuela where the gap between the haves and have nots is at its
greatest,(at the time of this writing) a civilization crumbles. The Roman Empire, a civilization
championing diversity, encompassing vast lands surrounding the Mediterranean Sea and
beyond, spanning 3 continents, was just one of many cases where immigration became the
start and death of a great civilization due to clashes of cultures, loose foreign policy stigma and
the wealth inequality gap. As they say in the times of the Romans: When in Rome, do as
Romans do. This could not have been ever more relevant than it is today given how peoples of
various cultures move to the US, bringing and often consolidating their culture in their place of
stay in the US. While there is no problem in being authentic, authenticity without reason or
without some adherence to US customs and traditions of progress, change and achieving the
American dream of life of prosperity through dedication and effort is the root of the problem.
Amongst others, increasing population due to immigration brought by the perception of wealth
of America by the outside world, is another factor that contributed to the anti-immigration
stance America has adopted in recent times. California, a state more populous than Canada, is
having its fair share of disparity amongst the poor and the rich. Clash of cultures and the
inability to accommodate the forever increasing population gave immigration a bad reputation
amongst the established US populace, a problem that needs to be recognized and addressed.

In tackling immigration laws and customs and solving the problem, one must take into
account and differentiate those of illegal, legal, citizen and non-citizen statuses in order to take
another step in solving the problem of containing the inflow of immigrants. First, let us define
that a legal immigrant is a person whose existence, citizenship status, other necessary personal
information and length of stay is registered in the US government. An illegal is a person whose
existence is not registered in the US government or whose duration of stay exceeds that of the
time allotted by visa, a document on a passport that indicates that the holder is allowed to
enter, leave or stay for a specified period of time in a given country. A citizen is usually one who
is born on US soil or is naturalized through marriage to a US citizen, military, adoption by US
citizens or is a child of a US citizen etc. All others not meeting any of these criteria amongst
others are illegal. From experience through a relative living here, a green card is one of many
ways and the most common initiative to become naturalized. The card permits a foreigner to
live and work permanently in the US. My uncle overstayed his visa at one point in his life, he
was labeled as is custom by my fellow countrymen as a T-N-T, tago ng tago, roughly translates
to filipinos overstaying their visa. This is the most difficult problem to solve in regards to
immigration given that it is hard to enforce migrants to abide by visa stay duration limits.

After looking back at the terrorist attacks of 9/11, even though I believe its a hoax to
expand corporate American ambitions abroad, my convictions and stance in immigration
remains resolute. I support immigration on all areas of the globe so as long as the host has the
means to contain it. Meaning that there is a thing as too much immigration. But judging by the
9/11 attacks just for what it is conveyed by mainstream media as an attack on democracy, my
right wing stance against illegal immigration hasnt changed. Thus, I do not believe that granting
amnesty to illegal persons in the US would be righteous because it would not be unjust and
unfair to others who had waited years to be petitioned and worked hard to provide financial
support to the migrant to get to the US through legal means. But, in adherence to humanitarian
rights, I could not see how the government could deport millions of migrants already in the US
as it could lead to violence and a stain on democracy. So, I support the 1986 amnesty by
congress so as long as it would be enforced. Much to my dismay, todays immigration policy of
amnesty but with looser regulations such as long term illegal residents immediately getting
legalized status as oppose to the 1986 amnesty where illegal immigrants go to the back of the
line and meet certain requirements such as employment and criminal record criteria, are and
were not enforced. Under the Obama and Bush administration as it was during the reign of
President Reagan, the same immigration debate is yet to be solved.

I suggest that to alleviate the problem, the government would have to allocate spending
towards making more jobs available for the immigrants already here and give them a path to
citizenship, for it is impractical to deport them. Instead the govt. should learn from its mistakes
and strengthen its borders by building an actual wall, use sanctions against employers that
exploit illegal immigrants and adopt Reagans pilot program for temporary workers.
 Part 3 2 issues

Part 3a.) Education

The one size fits all federal system of education that applies to the state and local level
is a detriment to students learning. Education stems from the Latin root word, Educare, which
means to draw out. In this day in age, in the era of information, the USs students are being
drilled and subjected to copious amounts of information to be retained, but that is not the way
to train this generation for the information age because we all learn differently. Some acquire
knowledge through doing, some rely on visual prowess to observe and understand a certain
topic, and others learn by reading and writing. The latter, is imposed on all the students
regardless of the type of learner. It is not the amount of information one takes in, but how one
uses it. Todays world of helicopter parenting( which the education system suggests) will not be
effective indefinitely, for in the near future it is not the ones who cannot read or write that
would be considered illiterate, but the ones who do not know how to think for themselves
and those who do not know how to learn are the ones that would be illiterate. Todays
generation cannot be spoon fed for long. It would be better for teachers to teach students how
to catch the fish instead of giving them a fish, for teaching them how, would feed them for a
lifetime. So I say get rid of common core, localize education, let individual communities choose
whatever components of education befits their children in todays world. Compare success
rates amongst individual communities when compared to the rest of the world, change and
adapt or fall prey to the test of time.

3b.)Chinese Incursions in the Spratly Islands

Russia is to Europe, China is to the rest of Asia, as the United States is to the Americas.
The latter being the most benevolent of the 3. China, a centuries old civilization, never did
change. Back then even before the Europeans dominated the globe, the Chinese mired itself in
this golden shimmering mirage of superiority. Even up until to this day, while China is a fairly
strong nation, its arrogance never ceased. Pride, the root of all evil, is the problem. Heightening
disputes against its Asian neighbors, the Chineses transgressions are akin to the Nazis
incursions in the Rhineland which lead to WWII. Some ways to alleviate the problem is to have
ASEANassociation of south east Asian nations similar to NATOmust consolidate its stance
against China and enact affordable sanctions on China with the help of foreign allies such as the
US, who of all the western world is most displeased with Chinese incursions into disputed
waters. Diplomatic relations through mutually beneficial trade must be maintained, but to
combat unauthorized newly established Chinese military bases on the seas, drastic measures
might be necessary.