Rise of Fascism

The Golden Dawn is a political party in Greece that is trying to push its way to the top and take control of Greece’s government. Due to the economic crisis that is happening in Greece right now, the Greeks are starting to lose support of their government because they have done nothing to control the destruction done by the Golden Dawn.

The Germans also faced a lot of economic crisis due to how harsh the Treaty of Versailles was towards them. The Weimar Republic was not strong enough to handle the economic crisis so the people of Germany started looking at Adolf Hitler to be their saviour from the economic crisis. Mussolini also came into power in the fascist state of Italy in a very different way. Mussolini threatened to take control by force, which scared the king since he was afraid of a civic war, giving him no option other than to give power to Mussolini.

The Golden Dawn is a rising power in Greece and is showing similarities to the German Nazi Party. Members of the Golden Dawns are engaging in organized crimes by beating up random people in the streets, stealing from people and shops, and also killing people who go against what they believed. Beating up random people on the streets has its similarities with Hitlers Brown shirts because the Brown shirts would also harass and assault people in the streets. Also another similarity is that BOTH Golden Dawns and Hitlers Nazi Party both believed that their race was more superior then every other race. They believed that so much that they actually tried to “exterminating” the other race. Hitler tried to end the Jewish race because Hitler believed that the Jews was the reason that Germany lost in World War 1. So Hitler set up concentration camps to gather Jews and other undesirable people so he could kill them by the masses.

One difference shown by the parties are that the Golden Dawn just wants to take over Greece by causing a civil war but Hitler and Mussolini both wanted way more by expanding their empire and trying to become the biggest countries in Europe. Another difference is that both Mussolini and Hitler legally came into power, while the Golden Dawn party is putting fear into the people by assaulting and murdering people. They put the fear in people so those people would vote for them.

In the future i see that golden dawn will come into power because Greece’s government has done nothing so far and when they decide to do something its going to be to late.

Nationalism: China and Japan

As countries were desperately trying to expand their empires, grow their economies, and flaunt their military strength there was no shortage of nationalism leading up to World War 1.  The actions taken by countries before WWI can be compared to policies and behaviors undertaken by China and Japan in recent years. The two nations have had there fair share in history together. Japan occupied the northern Chinese region of Manchuria in 1931, and by the end of the war, millions of Chinese had died. The textbooks in Japan do not go over what happens during this time which has resulted to a generation of people who don’t know about their own past. Japanese people who try to clear the misconceptions are labeled as being disloyal. Japan isn’t the only ones doing some censoring. China has done its own censoring.Apologies by Japanese leaders for war crimes have not been covered by Chinese media, or taught to children  at school. This again results in people not knowing about their own pasts and the past of their nations.

  Just like Germany, China wanted to show the world that no one can mess with them. Tired of being second, China wanted to “flex its muscles” just like Germany was doing. China and Germany do have one interesting similarity, Both governments were feeling the pressure from their own people. The three top powerhouses are The United States, China and Japan so you can see why competition between the two Asian nations is such a dominant factor in global financial markets. Japan is pursuing for control of many small islands that are off their coast but there is a problem. The problem is that China claims ownership over them, as do a few other Asian countries. This can start a military conflict as they are surrounded by natural resources. Natural resources now are gas and oil but back then it was all about territory.  Japan wants to keep these resources for them selves and wants to show China that they are not backing down. China does not want to show weakness, as it could send the message that countries are free to take over “their” territory. This situation can cause war but both Japan and China would not want war because it would be devastating for them.

Remembering Stallin

           Remembering Stallin can be a very touchy subject for most people. Stalin is an example of someone who believed that the end justified the means. Some people in Russia see Stallin as a cruel tyrant who murdered millions of people and the other half see Stallin as the wise statesman who led the Soviet Union to prosperity.

       

  In Western Russia Stallin is seen as a cruel tyrant for forcing the collectivization of farming which lead to famine and deaths of millions of people. The people who see Stallin as a murderer are not wrong. Stalin was the cause of millions of people dying. Stalin introduced the collectivization of farming because he believed that it would increase the efficiency of farming. Stalin killed who ever would disagree with him also known as “enemies of the nation”. Millions of people were also sent to slave labour camps, known as gulags. Gulags were where political prisoners and perceived traitors were sent to rot. To  eliminate his enemies Stalin set up mock trials to convict former heroes of the revolution. Those who were being convicted had no other choice of confessing to the crimes they were being charged with. They had no voice against Stalin had so much power. Stalin did not do this all alone, the secret police would be on to you like a flea on a dog. Even if you showed loyalty to Stalin he would still have you killed. Stalin was a psychopathic dictator and also a paranoid sociopath. However, because of his paranoia helped him achieve his position of influence; which was to get rid of his main rival Leon Trotsky. Trotsky wanted to spark revolutions all around the world which would take a lot of work that no one actually wanted to do, Stalin kept his idea more about Russia. Stalin promised to make Russia powerful once again. This is why the Five Year Plan was very important to make Russia as powerful it was once before.

 

   Stalin is also seen as a hero in Russia to some people. He turned the Soviet Union from a war torn, impoverished and backward nation into the most powerful country in the world. Some people say that Stalin did what he did to make Russia into a better nation and making it a powerhouse in the world ranking. Stalin created the Five Year Plan which, I think was a form of propaganda for communism and to the beliefs of stalin. The Five Year Plan helped turn Soviet Union into a modern state. Stalin’s Five Year Plan created new cities and created dams to create energy. He revitalized the industrial sector, raising production levels to pre-war highs thanks to his Five Year Plans, and collectivized agriculture, radically modernizing farming and harvesting. Without Stalin guiding the country and demanding increased levels of manufacturing and production, Russia would not have been prepared for World War 2.  Stalin was the reason that Russia became a powerhouse but we can not forget the way he made Russia this way. Does the ends justify the means ? I think that Stalin did turn Russia completely around but the way of killing millions just to make people fear him and follow the way he thinks does make him almost as worst as Hitler.

Electronic Voting in Canada: The Future of Voting

Electronic voting in Canada can be an opportunity to make voting easier and make more people want to vote. Even though electronic voting does have its challenges and problems, over time the government can make electronic voting better and more efficient. Currently Canada is still using paper ballots in federal elections, which are great but you have to do so many things just to put your vote in.

During the last federal election in 2008 only 59.1% of the eligible population voted. Some municipalities and provincial governments have experimented successfully with online voting including Markham, Ontario and Halifax. When Markham,Ontario introduced electronic voting, there voter turnout went up 10%. Voting electronically should not be a substitute for voting the old school way using a paper ballot but, electronic voting should be an option.    

    Even if many experts say that low voter turnout could dramatically rise if voting electronically, there is still many problems in voting electronically.There are many benefits and risks in electronic voting.  By making electronic voting available one of the biggest problem is going to be people hacking the server. It doesn’t matter how much protection the server has someone or a group of hackers may hack the server. One big benefit is for people who are 18 or older the have a disability or who are not able to leave their homes, they can open up a website or an app on mobile devices and vote as people would at the ballots.

      Electronic voting in Canada can be an opportunity for many people including government but, they must find a way to make sure everything is safe and no one can get information put into the website. Once those problems are fixed Canada can change how the whole world votes. Markham, Ontario was the first municipal government in canada to introduce electronic voting. Since the city of Markham introduced electronic voting more young people started to vote. Also 99% of people who voted via the internet said they would use electronic voting in the next election.

Electronic voting would is a great opportunity to make voting more popular with a new generation that is becoming old enough to vote.