Leadership Styles of Baby boomers and Millennials

The economic recession that has in the last few years come to affect the United States has had a huge impact in the lives of many Americans today. This impact has not only been on the economy, but it has also come to affect the working environment of people all over the nation. The economic recession hit the United States at a time when the Baby Boomer generation was on its way to retirement. Many of the members of this generation were not prepared for such an occurrence and this left them without any savings or a means to support themselves after retirement. This created a situation where many baby boomers had no choice other than to continue on with their current employment, and for those who had retired, to look for jobs in order to make a living. The workplace therefore came to be filled with people who would, under normal circumstances, have retired, creating a potential for conflict with the younger generation of employees. The fact that many baby boomers are currently still in the job market has created plenty of competition between them and the current young generation, the millennials. The millennials are those who are currently between the ages of eighteen and their early thirties, and as the most youthful generation, they are finding it much harder than their predecessors to either find jobs and to keep them. In addition, even after they get these jobs, their style of doing their work is much different from the way the baby boomers did things. This has come to raise questions concerning the attitudes towards work that is displayed by the baby boomer and the millennial generations.

It is a fact that the leadership styles of the baby boomers and the millennials in the workplace are quite different from each other. Each of these generations tends to have different ways of dealing with situations which enable them to achieve the goals set by the organization for which they work. The baby boomer generation tends to be completely obsessed with the achievement of results no matter the cost incurred. Since most organizations are headed by baby boomers, the main drive of these institutions tends to be the making of a profit and this has led to conflict with the millennial generation, which is more conscious of the social responsibilities of the organizations for which they work. In matters of leadership, the baby boomers and the millennials tend to have a conflict when it comes to matters concerning integrity and ethics at the workplace. Many millennials believe that when the leadership of an organization ceases to implement the original goals of an organization and instead concentrates only at making a profit at any cost, then this leadership has ceased to be ethical and steps should be take to have such leadership removed. In order to be effective, the leadership of an organization has to have integrity and this means that they have to stick by what they regard to be ethically necessary or worthwhile. It is therefore necessary for an organization’s leadership to have certain coherence in matters of ethics, either between ethical values over time or between values and behavior. Millennials believe that leaders should ensure that their goals or objectives are harmonious with those of the organizations that they lead so that matters concerning ethics do not arise in the day to day running of the organization. Without leadership integrity in an organization, there can be no ethical leadership and this is because integrity and ethics are things which are inseparable especially when one is considering the running of an organization whose reputation depends on how its leadership is running it. While this is a fact, many millennials often find that their workplace is frustrating because many of the baby boomer managers tend not to show any sort of integrity at the workplace, often keeping the millennials in the background where they cannot be able to make their ideas heard or implemented.

Most organizations tend to have a corporate culture whose purpose is to govern the ways through which the people who work within the organization work, interact with one another, and work together towards the achievement of its goals. Furthermore, this culture is heavily influenced by the signs and symbols which an organization is recognized by and this determines the way the people who work within this organization behave, thus they are the embodiment of the organization’s culture. While this is the case, there has been a swift shift in the corporate culture of many organizations as the millennial generation has started going up the ranks of leadership in different organizations. While in the baby boomer generation, corporate culture was based on the formal interaction between employees, the millennial generation has influenced the introduction of a more informal atmosphere at the workplace. While there is still a shared language in many organizations, which is very important in the development of a corporate culture because language is the adhesive that holds a society together and without a common means of communication within the organization, then it would collapse, the way this language is communicated seem to have changed. It is a fact that each generation has its way of expressing itself and this is true of the baby boomer and millennial generations at the workplace, where the latter tend to express themselves in a way that many of the latter do not understand, and the reverse is also true. Furthermore, while the corporate culture in many organizations run by bloomers tends to separate work from their personal lives, in those run by millennials, the opposite is often the case. Millennials prefer working in an informal environment and this has enabled them to bring their work and personal lives together. It is therefore not a strange thing to find that most millennials prefer working from home than at the office. In most instances one will find that it is the baby boomers that prefer working at the office, since this favor keeping their work away from home. Although it is a very difficult thing to happen, the culture of a particular organization is subject to change and this has often come about because of the generational conflict between the millennial and the baby boomer generation. While this change does not come easily, it comes about when more of the latter generation retires and more of the millennial generation takes its place. This has caused the development of a culture where individuals are more attached to their work than previous generations. Millennials, despite their high attachment to their work are also quite strict concerning having time to themselves. Unlike the baby boomers, who would work long hours without going for breaks, millennials prefer working for a certain time and then afterwards do something else which is not work related.

All workplaces have many subcultures which interact with one another for the sake of the running of the achievement of the goals that have been set for the employees. Despite the fact that baby boomers and the millennials sometimes work within the same environment, these two generations do not always see eye to eye on many issues concerning work. Although this is the case in most instances, the two generations have been, out of necessity, forced to work together. Each of these generations have created its own characteristics and sense of identity and an example of this is within the workplace where employees can easily classify themselves socially according to their areas of specialization, membership in a particular union, and age. Although these generations may be diverse, each of them is developed for the purpose of furthering the goals of the organization through different means. In the baby boomer generation, people tended to have mentors in the workplace that would inspire and guide them through their careers. The millennial generation, on the other hand, tends to be extremely independent, preferring to navigate their own way through their career paths. They often see any advice from their bosses, who are more often than not, baby boomers, as being too paternalistic and unwanted. The workplace culture is slowly changing as the baby boomer generation is giving way, grudgingly, to the millennial generation and this is ensuring that the formal workplace environment is becoming informal. While many millennials, just like the baby boomers take their work extremely seriously, this seriousness tends to be accompanied by an informality which many baby boomers would find uncomfortable to work in. Baby boomers tend to take their work so seriously that everything that they do has to be done formally. In such instances where meetings are needed to clarify different things at the workplace, while baby boomers would prefer meeting in a boardroom for a fact to fact consultation, millennials prefer the use of technology to achieve the same goal. The latter have adopted new means of communication, such as social networking, and adapted to them so well that they have become a permanent part of their lives.

The baby boomers are a generation who were taught to function more as individuals than as teams at the workplace. They prefer working in a strictly structured environment with as little feedback as possible coming to them. This is in direct contrast to the millennial generations, who not only prefers working in teams, for greater efficiency, but also has a need for constant consultation with their managers. In order to better manage their workplaces, many of the baby boomer generation, to their credit, have come to adopt teamwork in order to be able to interact more with the millennial generation. This ensures that the employees are able to function as a team to achieve the aims of the organization. Working in teams is a means through which closer ties can be developed between the top management of an organization, who are often bay boomers, with its employees of the millennial generation. The close ties that are developed between these teams help in the reinforcement of the skills of the workforce in such areas as attitude, and knowledge. While previously, many baby boomers and millennials were wary of each other in the workplace, with the former feeling threatened by the possibility of being replaced, while the latter felt resentful because they felt that the baby boomers were not allowing them to advance at a pace which was suitable. It has come to be found that for the two generations to be able to work together there are certain factors, such as corporate culture and policy, the working environment and professional activities, which should not be seen as justifiable in the determination of the effectiveness of the task and responsibility. This has created the need for team building to ensure that the gap between the two generations has been bridged, so that each of them can be able to teach the other about what they know, to the benefit of both of them in doing their work. Team building between members of the baby boomer and the millennial generations at the workplace should be enforced entirely so that it can be incorporated as one of the compulsory norms and values of the institution's corporate culture. Furthermore, there has been the revelation that the skills such as communication skills, the ability to handle crisis and problems in the workplace, the traits of information sharing and motivation amongst workers between the two generations can be extremely helpful in making the workplace more efficient.

Leadership in the workplace is one of the areas where the baby boomers and the millennials have both major differences and similarities about. Both of these generations believe in strong leadership in the workplace to ensure that all the employees are able to effectively implement what their leader wants. This enables the employees within an organization to know exactly what their leader wants and exactly how that leader wants it done and these employees are able to completely focus on the achievement of their leader’s vision. It is a common belief among workers of both generations that the leader that shows integrity in his work and in his vision will definitely inspire his subordinates to follow his example in their own work and this will ensure that a high level of ethics are practiced within an organization because of the ethical leadership inspired by the integrity of the organization’s leader. However, the difference comes not on the area of strength but on how the leader is to present himself to the workers. Baby boomers believe that for a leader to be more effective, he or she has to not only show strength of character towards the workers, but should also remain aloof so that the latter can have the opportunity to do their own work properly. Furthermore, baby boomers in the workplace today believe that they are being overworked and are shown very little appreciation by their leaders. This has created a situation where many have become disgruntled and only continue to work not because they love the job, but because they need an income to maintain themselves. Millennials on the other hand believe in more interaction between the leader and the other workers in the workplace. Millennials have been raised in a culture where there is need to have employment which has meaning to an individual and this has encouraged them to seek more interaction with their supervisors at work. The need to have meaning in work has ensured that many millennials do not stay on one job for too long because of their endeavor to seek meaning and fulfillment, something that is often elusive if one is not determined to find it. It has therefore become a culture among millennials to be constantly learning from their superiors in the workplace in a bid to not only create a path for their own advancement, but also for the purpose of creating space for themselves in the management positions which are currently dominated by the baby boomer generation.

In conclusion, it can be said that while the baby boomers and the millennials may have different attitudes concerning work and the workplace, both of these generations’ attitudes have been formed from the environment within which they were raised. In fact, while the baby boomers may feel differently from the millennials, when it comes to work, it is a fact that a large majority of the millennials was raised by the baby boomers, and it is this environment which has formed their attitudes. Moreover, one would say that these two generations are not as different as many think because of the fact that one generation raised the other. This means that the attitude towards work that is displayed by the millennials, is in fact, the very same attitude that is held by many of the baby boomer generation, only the former are more open about these ideas than the latter. One would further go on to say that the only major difference between these generations is age, and the other differences would not be there had there not been an economic recession which forced both generations to compete for work.

Eddie Mabo

Eddie Mabo was an Australian man who played a crucial role in the recognition of the right of the indigenous people to own the land in the country. He was born in the Torres Strait Islands in 1936 and it was one of his fundamental beliefs that the land upon which he was born belonged to him and his people. An indigenous Australian, he displayed an astute knowledge of the fact that the land upon which he was born was rightfully indigenous, and that the laws that had been instituted by the colonial settlers and their government did the indigenous people a great injustice. For almost a decade, this man fought for the rights of his people by taking a case to court with the intention of having it overturn the terra nullius land system in Australia which alienated the indigenous people from their land. The sheer determination of this man, against all odds, ensured that he had one of the greatest wins in Australian history for an indigenous person, because the ruling made, overturning the terra nullius system, ensured that over three hundred years of injustice had almost come to an end. The overturning of this system further granted the indigenous people the confidence of identifying themselves with the land of their ancestors and ensured that their right to it was recognized beyond doubt. Eddie Mabo was a man who rose from humble origins as a gardener to becoming one of the national icons of Australia because of the fact that he was deeply involved in fighting for the rights of his people.

While he was born in the Torres Strait Islands, Mabo spent most of his life in Queensland, and was in fact not a well known figure in his home island until after he took his case on indigenous land rights to court. It was only after his death from cancer as well as the court victory over the land issue five months later that his fellow indigenous people on the island welcomed his as one of their own. His victory did not only affect the people of his home island but also all the indigenous people of Australia and this is the reason why Mabo has become one of the most respected men among them. The idea that an indigenous person could almost singlehandedly challenge the Australian status quo and gain a great victory from it was one of those instances which were unheard of in the history of this country. The indigenous people had long been suppressed by the colonial government, and later by the white settlers who dominated and continue to dominate almost every aspect of life in Australia. Mabo’s posthumous court victory ensured that the indigenous people were recognized as a legitimate part of the Australian population with the same rights as those who dominated the society. Furthermore, it may have played a role in the recognition of indigenous people as reasoning human beings who had, throughout the history of the colonization of Australia had been treated unfairly; the court case was therefore the first step in correcting the injustice done to them.

The overturning of the terra nullius policy can be said to be, in reality, a policy of inclusion whose purpose is to ensure that all the Australian people have an equal chance to compete in making their dreams and aspirations come true. Previously, indigenous groups were completely excluded from the majority of economic activities in Australia except for those which were considered to be labor intensive. Moreover these groups were rarely ever accepted in the mainstream Australian life, therefore, Mabo’s court victory can be said to have been a step towards the inclusion of the indigenous people into the center of Australian society. From the very beginning of the Mabo’s case in court, there has been opposition towards it with those against it stating that it is giving an unfair advantage to minority groups over other people in Australia. Those who are opposed to the overturning of the terra nullius system further state that this action went against the proper way of Australian life because of the belief that did not treat all people equally, and instead it gives unfair privileges to those people who would otherwise not have deserved them. These arguments are not very logical considering the injustices which were committed against the indigenous Australian groups in the past. The white population in Australia has been, for a long time, dominant, and Mabo’s court victory was a direct challenge to this status. This may help to explain why Mabo’s grave was vandalized and racist terms painted all over it. This vandalism forced the exhumation of his body and its reburial in his ancestral home in the Torres Strait; a place for whose people he had fought for and won the right to own the land upon which they had lived from time immemorial.

Mabo’s court victory has over the last two decades come to have a significant impact on the people of the islands where he was born. Among the most significant aspects of this has been the recognition that the indigenous people were greatly marginalized in matters concerning health when compared to the mainstream Australian population. This has led to the improvement of the healthcare facilities which are available for them, ensuring a higher life expectancy than in previous years. The declining child death rates has led to a decline in the birth rates, because parents are now more secure because they know that there are enough resources available today to ensure that their children survive. Another reason for this is the fact that the economic conditions prevalent in the indigenous Australian society today do not allow parents to have more than a few children at a time because they cannot afford to have more even if they wanted to. This results in not only fewer children, but it also means that there are fewer ties to the extended family and this in turn means that in subsequent generations, there will be fewer uncles, aunts and cousins, on whom to rely, than in previous generations.

The life expectation of native Australians between the years 1991 and 1996 was projected to be fifty six and sixty one years for men and women in that order. This was found to be considerably lower than that of the mainstream population which was estimated to be between 75 and 91 years for men and women respectively. Furthermore, it was found that the death rate among many indigenous people was at a much higher rate than those of the mainstream Australian population. In fact, the death rate was so high that that they exceeded the general Australian population in every age group that was analyzed. Most of the people from indigenous populations died before reaching the age of fifty, and this was attributed to the lack of the proper healthcare facilities that other Australians have access to. The indigenous population has been completely marginalized in all matters concerning health and this has contributed a great deal in the high mortality rates among them, just when they are at their prime. It has been found that one of the leading causes of death among this population are cardiovascular disease, cancer, and diabetes, and these made up 75% of all the deaths that were reported within this population. The rates of hospitalization was much higher among the indigenous people than that of the general Australian public, with these being much higher in all the age groups that were assessed.

While Mabo’s court victory may have been the first step towards the improvement of the lives of the indigenous people, there is still a lot to be done to achieve this objective. Racism is still as prevalent as it was before the ruling, as seen when Mabo’s grave was vandalized just one day after his funeral with racist terms being painted all over his headstone. In addition, the health status of indigenous people, for whom Mabo fought, while it has improved somewhat, still has a long way to go before it can reach the status that the other Australians enjoy. Life expectancy is still low, with many indigenous people not living to be more than fifty years old, an occurrence which is a great tragedy in a country which prides itself in being one of the most developed in the world. The fact that an indigenous person had to go to court in order to get basic land rights for its people shows just how ironic Australian democracy is because it favors those people of Caucasian descent more than the natives of the land. This has created a situation where the latter are dominated completely and they have little say in their own destiny. It is to either bow to the status quo or risk the continued marginalization of their society. This is something which should not be accepted, not only by the indigenous people themselves, but also by the government because the latter should be at the forefront of protecting the rights of the indigenous people. The indigenous people should also fight for their own rights because not to do so would mean that their situation will not be recognized, hence a solution will not be attained. It such a thing was to happen, then the legacy of such indigenous men as Eddie Mabo would be forever tarnished.

Performance Appraisal

Performance Appraisal is the estimation of how the employees of an organization have performed over a certain period as well as to gain an understanding of how these employees work. It is a process through which an organization’s employees are assessed to ensure that they work in conformity with its goals. The appraisal is conducted as part of the performance management process of the organization because how it is handled is what determines whether the organization is able to achieve its goals or not. It can further be said that a performance appraisal is an assessment and discussion of how an employee has performed in his or her work and this assessment is based purely on performance and not on the characteristics that a re displayed by the individual employee. This process helps in the measurement of the skills that have been displayed and the things which an employee has accomplished with as much accuracy and uniformity as possible.

The understanding that is developed by the employee’s supervisor enables him to determine the abilities of individual employees and this ensures that they are placed in positions within the organization which will further its growth and achievement of its goals. Furthermore, it is designed to help the employers determine the areas whose performance needs to be enhanced as well as ensuring that the employees are provided with the opportunities that are necessary for the promotion of their professional growth. This process is done in methodical ways which gives the supervisors the opportunity to measure the payments that are made to their employees in comparison to the aims and objectives of the organization. Performance appraisal also gives the supervisors the opportunity to make an analysis of the factors that determine how the employees perform over a certain period. It is a system which helps the management of an organization to be in a position where it is able to provide guidance to its employees towards a path which will lead to their performing better in their jobs.

While performance appraisal can be considered to be an immensely important tool for that can be used by supervisors to gain an understanding of the people who work under them, it is not necessarily the only one. This process has to be augmented by the supervisors ensuring that there are open lines of communication available to employees throughout that ensure that there is an understanding which helps in the determination of a good and effective working relationship. When conducting a performance appraisal, the supervisor must ensure that each employee is given an appraisal that is thoughtful and careful so that an accurate assessment can be made. In order for a performance appraisal to be successful, the supervisor must display a willingness to conduct an appraisal that is both constructive and objective. In addition, the employee must display a willingness to take positively all the suggestions that are made to him or her, and to be able to work with the supervisor to achieve the goals of their organization.

A performance appraisal is a process that is conducted once every year by a supervisor to evaluate the performance of all the employees that work under him. There might arise cases where an employee may have changed jobs within the period before the appraisal and in such cases, both of the supervisors of this employee during his period have to make a submission of his or her performance so that a fair appraisal can be made. During this process, the most up to date job description of the employee on file is evaluated by the employee and their supervisor and if it is found to be necessary, this description can be revised. The process also involves a review of the salary increase to which each employee is entitled and this tends to be subject to the approval of the administration. The basis upon which this increment is allocated is that of the merit of the employee’s performance and its aim is to reward the top performers within the organization as a match for their contributions. 

In many organizations, the performance appraisal is part of the annual activities that have to be conducted. However, in many cases, the role that is given to the supervisor as judge tends not to be taken lightly and it is in fact heartily disliked by many supervisors. This is due to the fact that many of the supervisors involved tend to hold the fate of their employees in their hands during this process, something which can be disastrous for both parties involved. Many of the supervisors who conduct the performance appraisal tend to be influenced more by the recent actions of the employees than that of the entire period of the appraisal. Since most of the information gathered by the supervisor is based on recent memory, it is often difficult to create a true picture of an employee’s performance. One would go as far as to say that the appraisal process is flawed because it lacks the objectivity needed to judge the employees fairly.

It is common practice in many organizations for the supervisors to put off conducting performance appraisals for their employees because of their discomfort over being the judge of the level of their employees’ performance. This, in the process, ensures that many of the performance appraisals are often long overdue and this creates a situation where the employees become resentful of their supervisors. Many employees often feel that their supervisors are denying them the right of receiving a well deserved pay increment since the annual pay rises of the employees tend to be tied to how well they performed in their appraisals. The performance appraisal is subject to many complications some of which include inaccuracy of the information concerning employees. This is because of the fact that many of the decisions made by the supervisors as judges is often from recent memory and it fails to put into account the performance of individual employees throughout the period, usually a year. To avoid any conflict with the employees, supervisors end up assessing them favorably and not according to their real performance, ensuring that there is a flaw in the day to day running of the organization.

Oka Conflict in Canada

The Oka conflict which took place in Quebec in 1990 is considered to be among the most prominent show of Native fight for their land rights in Canada. This is mainly because of the fact that it was a protest against the government of Oka’s decision to expand a golf course into land claimed by the Mohawk people without even consulting the latter and ignoring their pleas. The members of the Mohawk community who led the protests and established barricades barring any form of construction from taking place were labeled as being savages and individuals who spread chaos in the town by a significant population of the town of Oka. The racist remarks, which were made towards these individuals, who were only protecting their environment and land rights from destruction, led to the realization that despite the advancement of the Canadian society, racism was still prevalent within a significant portion of its white population. The media also played a role in downplaying the events which took place during the Oka conflict and he suggests that the media did so mainly because it was an issue involving the natives of the land. The lack of importance that was normally given to the concerns and issues involving the First Nations of Canada may have prompted the media to act the way it did because it was believed to be just another skirmish which would be quickly be resolved. However, he concludes that despite everything, the media also worked towards exposing the crisis on the world stage and this enabled the Canadian government to come to a peaceful resolution of the conflict with the Mohawk people whose rights had been violated.

Had the government been more diligent in its duties towards the First Peoples and the conservation of their environment as well as the protection of their land rights, this confrontation would never have happened. In addition, he states that the actions taken by the mayor of Oka from calling in the police and military forces to deal the situation created a situation where the government turned its military forces towards fighting domestic protestors instead of its main duty of dealing with external threats. The Oka conflict proved to be a turning point in the relationship between the Natives and the Canadian government because the latter came to recognize the importance of having native support before embarking on any projects that were to be conducted on land and reserves claimed by them. The confrontation at Oka marked a turning point in the relationship between the native and non-native people of Canada and this is mainly because it acted as a prelude to further conflicts of their kind in the rest of the country over native land rights and usage. Most of the places where these confrontations took place were not only burial grounds for the native people, but also pristine natural environments which had lain undisturbed for generations. The fight by native people to conserve these areas were the reason for the confrontations which took place because the Canadian government only considered the economic gains from developing these areas and not the deprivation of native rights and degradation of the environment.

The Oka conflict and its aftermath was the beginning of the reconciliation between the rights of the natives and those of the non-natives of Canada. It led to the development of a national dialogue concerning the rights of natives and the need to preserve these rights against any form of economic considerations which might be harmful not only to them but also to their environment. The fact that this and other events took place because of the threat to their land rights and usage ensured that all the parties involved had to come to terms concerning the best way through which the land issue in Canada would be solved. This has come to significantly affect the formulation of government policies towards the environment as well as the native people. Martin declares that the native people of Canada, as a result of these conflicts, have come to be more involved in their own government, with a reduction in their isolation in government, and an increase in programs intended for their empowerment. The fact that these people are being brought into active political life is a clear picture of a change in the Canadian government policy where the process of assimilation is reduced in favor of one of acceptance. The government has come to the realization that the integration of the native peoples in the entire country is important since they represent the cultural heritage of the nation.

After the Oka protests took place, the government came to reverse its methods of dealing with the native people within the country. She considers the fact that while in the past, the government often pursued a policy based on assimilation among the native communities, because of the belief that the latter’s way of life was inferior, this has slowly changed. This is because it has come to be realized that the native are an integral part of the country and that through the Canadian government’s protecting of their rights, interests, as well as their way of life, it is also playing a role in ensuring that its interests in the entire country where natives are present, are protected. In addition,  the Canadian government has set out to work in partnership with the native communities in an attempt to ensure that its position among them is strengthened through the lessening of any antagonism between it and these communities; instead embracing a new spirit of cooperation between them. This has ensured that the land and environmental rights of the native people of Canada have come to be respected and protected by the government.

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Gran Torino (2008)

Gran Torino is a film that depicts the relationship between Walt Kowalski, a Korean War veteran who has been recently widowed, and Thao Vang Lor, a young neighbor of Hmong origins. The anger and bitterness that Walt feels towards the world and his family dives him towards living a lonely life alienated from almost everyone else. Thao is a young man who seeks to join a gang led by his cousin with the latter encouraging him to steal Walt’s Ford Gran Torino as an initiation ritual into the gang. When Walt foils his attempt, he and Thao end up developing a wary friendship with the former acting as a mentor for the young man. This is a story that shows the life that ethnic minorities in the United States have to live because they have very few opportunities to ensure that they improve the circumstances in their lives. Gran Torino is a film that seeks to ensure that there is recognition of the cultural diversity that exists in the United States and the need for there to be cultural understanding in order for social cohesion to take place. The multicultural relationship between Walt and Thao can be considered to be an illustration of what can be achieved through cultural understanding while Walt’s family’s seeming disapproval of the Hmong’s community attending Walt’s funeral can be considered to be a sign of the cultural alienation that Hmong in the United States have experienced since their arrival. Gran Torinoallows for a unique view of the Hmong community in the United States as well as advocates for a need for the development of cultural cohesion in the nation.

One of the most important cultural relationships that are depicted in Grand Torino is that between Walt, Thao and Thao’s Hmong family. Walt, a recently widowed white American, ends up striking a friendship with Thao’s family and becomes a mentor for Thao and his sister Sue. Sue also helps Walt learn Hmong culture and this cultural understanding brings him even closer to the Vang Lor family as well as to the rest of the Hmong community in the neighborhood. Furthermore, it should be noted that Sue goes against cultural isolation through her choosing to date Trey; a young white man. Walt becomes so involved with the Vang Lor family to such an extent that they become closer to him than his own family: the latter who he considers to be emotionally detached from him with their only interest being on his estate. Walt’s involvement with the Hmong community also opens his eyes to the cultural diversity that is present in his neighborhood and this allows him to ensure that he not only feels like a part of this community, but also seeks to protect them from Spider’s gang.

The process of acculturation is one where communities, mainly migrant, adapt to the culture of their new countries in order to fit in with the rest of society. This is normally done in a diverse number of ways from matters concerning diet to such aspects as language and names. In Gran Torino, it should be noted that a significant number of individuals in the Hmong community have come to adopt diverse aspects of American culture. Among these, as seen in this film, is that of dating, where both Thao and his sister Sue date; a situation which is not common in Hmong culture. Another aspect of culture that is seen in this film is enculturation, which is a situation where individuals learn the requirements of a new culture and adapt to aspects of its language and rituals to ensure social acceptance. This is the case with Walt who, with Sue’s help, seeks to ensure that he learns aspects of Hmong culture in order to better interact with the community.

Cultural relativism is the judging of an alien culture through its own understanding of its practices rather than one’s own. This is opposed to ethnocentrism which is the judgment of a different culture based on one’s own cultural perspective. Subcultures are the practices conducted by a small group of individuals in a bid to ensure that they differentiate themselves from the larger cultural grouping. In Gran Torino, all these aspects of culture are dealt with, as seen through cultural relativism where Sue encourages Walt to develop and understanding of Hmong culture. This is in contrast with Walt’s previous opinion of his Hmong neighbors where he often judged them based on his own culture and cared nothing for them. A sub-cultural perspective is where Spider’s gang conducts its own rites of initiation into the group and acts to punish those it believes are turning away from its culture. This is especially the case with the gang’s attempt to punish Thao for failing in stealing the Ford Gran Torino that would have allowed him to join the gang.

In conclusion, the discussion above has sought to show that Gran Torino is a film that portrays the diverse aspects of culture in the United States. Most of the instances that take place within this film are based on culture and its aspects such as ethnocentrism, acculturation, enculturation, as well as subculture. All of the latter are shown in the film through the interactions that take place between Walt, the Vang Lor family, and Spider’s gang and this ensures that there is greater cultural understanding; especially in relation to Hmong American culture. The film shows that cultural isolation is detrimental to individual development, as seen in the hostile attitude that Walt has towards his neighbors before the beginning of his interaction with the Vang Lor family and Hmong culture. Therefore, one would suggest that Gran Torino is a film that seeks to show how greater cultural interaction between the mainstream and minority cultures in the United States would allow for greater social development. Not only would it bring out the best of these cultures, but it would also lead to a situation where there is an advancement of social cohesion which is a desirable trait in any nation.

The Hunger Games (2012)

The Hunger Games is a film directed by Gary Ross and is based on the novel of the same name by Suzanne Collins, and it should be on the top ten list for movies of the year for any reader of Critical Thinker magazine because it deals with many themes, such as hunger and poverty, which are pertinent in modern society. The success of The Hunger Games and the wave of interest it has generated has inspired the development of two sequels. Before its official release, this film generated a lot of interest among the prospective audience because of the difference in concept to the other films that had recently come from Hollywood. It can be said that the concept, upon which the film is based, is highly unique and extraordinarily few films have been created using the same concept. This film employs a vibrating abruptness that is hardly ever found in the work of Hollywood directors, and this can be said to bring the film closer to the realities of life. It has some cold bloodedness that is hard to find in many contemporary films, and this makes it one of a kind. When the film was released, it did not disappoint those who had expected it to have the qualities that were unique and fun, and at the same time made the film a serious picture to watch. It looks at the relationship between an authoritarian state and its citizens in a new perspective that many would consider impossible. This film is, therefore, worthy of the adoration that many of its fans have had, and continue to have, for it.

The motion picture gives the viewer a glance into the life of Katniss Everdeen, who lives in the post-apocalyptic state of Panem. In this state, because of a past rebellion, its twelve districts have to provide two tributes, a boy and a girl aged between 12 and 18 annually to fight to the death in an arena, with the sole survivor being declared the winner. Katniss takes the place of her younger sister in the games and because of her skill in archery is able to survive some of the worst attacks by her fellow competitors. In addition, she has a love interest in the form of Peeta, who before they get into the arena declares his love for her in an interview. The plot revolves around the relationships that Katniss develops throughout the film, from the one where she seems to love Peeta to her friendship with Rue, a girl from a different district who saves her life. Katniss looks upon Rue as a little sister and form a partnership with her, but this does not last for long as Rue is killed by a member of another district. It is from this point that we seen a change in the character of Katniss as she becomes more assertive and dares to challenge the authority of the government of Panem through various actions. It is through these actions that Katniss is able to force the hand of the government, to change the rules of the game so that individuals can work as teams. It is as a result of this that Katniss and Peeta emerge as winners, and the film ends with the president of Panem pondering on how best to deal with the emergence of defiance in the games.

There is a sense, around the main characters of the film, of being disconnected and alienated by the government and this helps to increase the excitement that one feels when watching it. This feeling keeps one wondering what is going to happen next, ensuring that one fully concentrates on the film, so the later scenes are not missed out. The characters are, unknowingly, brought together at the beginning of the film, each not having a hint of how interconnected their lives truly are. The participants in the games have to deal with not getting too close to the people around them for fear that they might find it harder to kill them when the time comes, since there must only be one winner. This situation keeps them alien in their new environment as they are not able to form the bonds of friendship, with the people around them, as would happen had they been in a normal situation. This film dares its audience to decide who the hero or the villain is because even those individuals who form partnerships, such as Peeta and Katniss, do not know exactly what the other is about. Despite the fact that they work together hand in hand to keep them alive, there seems to be no hint, especially from Katniss, that she does not have any feelings for Peeta until almost at the end of the film. From the beginning, these two characters are accepted as they are with no questions being asked, their behavior being taken for granted.

What makes this film special is not its plot, but the way the various actors starring in it portray the characters. Katniss is shown to be a woman who would have made a different choice in life had the responsibility of saving her younger sister by participating in the hunger games had not been thrust upon her. She is seen as a tortured woman whose life has been chosen for her, and there is no way for her to get out of this purgatory except as the winner. The lives of some of those involved in the games, such as Peeta, Rue, and Katniss are seen as a form of torture for them, and it is this shared torture that makes them come together to ensure their survival. Their motivation is to do the best they can in order to survive in situations which the fates have thrust upon them. Both Peeta and Katniss, through their acting up their love for each other do extremely well in the situations within which they are placed. Both of them go through the fights, killing all their rivals until they eventually become the joint winners of the hunger games. Therefore, neither of these characters can be described as being either good or evil, and instead, they can be said to be working for their own survival.

This is indeed a bold film which deals with the lives of individuals whose lives are going in a way which they did not expect. It focuses on Katniss’ desire to break away from the chains that are holding her and her society back, and this is despite the fact that if she manages to do so, then it might lead to her destruction. One can also say that the film is a tragedy because characters such as Rue end up dying and these results in a lot of grief for Katniss, with whom she had developed a close friendship. It can, therefore, be said that this film manages to capture the different aspects of human life. It shows the audience the futility of some of the actions that people take in their lives, teaching that one does not always get what they want. It is a film of revelation, as the characters get to assess their lives in different situations and come to find what it is they desire in their lives. The plot, as well as the skills displayed by the actors, has made the film one of the best to be made in recent years. The movie also has emotional twist, as seen where Katniss seems to be confused about her feelings for Peeta, and when the latter realizes that Katniss has been faking her affection for him throughout the games, he is terribly disappointed. Their seeming love affair is played out throughout the film and this receives high ratings from the audience, who are in full support of the couple.

Game of Thrones: The Beginning of the End

Winter is here. It's actually here!

After six years of mild weather, the snowstorm is on our beloved and hated characters. Facing the challenges from within and beyond the Wall, there is no doubt not everyone will survive.

We have been waiting for more than a year since last season. Again, this pesky winter setting was dictated when production could film these bubble scenes - there is only so much a snowmaker can simulate.

But now is the time for season 7 on us. No word yet when George RR Martin will publish his next book. Our bet is never, or the week after never.

Here is what you need to know about Game of Thrones Season Seven.

WHO

The DBs - David Benioff and DB Weiss - remain showrunner of the show, which they created after reading the secrets of George RR Martin, which he so stubbornly refuses to share with his fans by completing the next book. The DBs have known the end game for a while, and we expect a faster dynamic as there are only 13 episodes left over two seasons.

Frequent game of throne director Jeremy Podeswa will play the season opener and the final, while Alan Taylor (who has not led an episode since second season) will be back for the penultimate chapter.

New actors this season are Jim Broadbent and Tom Hopper, while the regular guests and recurring guests who have made it through the bloodbaths of the last two episodes of season six should be back.

Especially the core pieces - Peter Dinklage, Kit Harrington, Lena Headey, Emilia Clarke and Nikolaj Coster-Waldeau - whose salaries have pushed up to a reported $ 3 million per episode (thanks to the sweet, sweet syndicate shops).

OK, now we dare in the seasons one to six spoiler territory. And some discussions about what could be in store for season seven - the trailers were very generous to provide clues.So, if you'd rather be as blind as Maester Aemon, we suggest you return now.

WHERE WE ARE EVERYONE

Since it was so long since we saw the Westeros team last, let's take a stock where we've all left:

Starks: Arya walks away from the Riverlands after beating Walder Frey out of her list. Sansa is not in Winterfell Queen of the North, while Littlefinger whispers sweet things into her ear (what could he possibly?). Jon is King of the North, though he is only a strong through the Matriline line, after the series has confirmed the prevailing fan theory in this vision. Bran and Meera slowly enter the wall after the vivid adventures.

Lannisters: Lastly, we saw Cersei ascending the Iron Throne and looking at Jaime with horror as he recognizes his sister / mistress is now the wild queen. What is a King Slayer to do? Tyrion, who wore the insignia of the hand, stood next to Daenerys, when their fleet made way for Westeros.

Targaryens: After six years of meandering from one side of Essos to the other and then back again and back and back again - you get the point - Dany is finally sailing for Westeros, ready to conquer her ancestral land and take the power back from her crazy Papa abducted. Meanwhile Jon Snow is waiting ... is it too early to include Jon?

Greyjoys: Theon and Yara have joined Dany. The mother of the dragons liked to take the breakaway Greyjoy siblings "wood horses". Her murderous Uncle Euron, also known as Grizzly Pacey, tries to marry for an alliance and has vowed to chase his treacherous kinship.

Tyrells / Sandpipes: Well, almost the entire Tyrell line has been killed thanks to Cerseis fireworks, but Olenna is still there and she is plotting, this time with Ellaria Sand and Varys at a Confab in thorns with speech of revenge, fire and blood. Delicious.

Cleganes: The Hound has become under the brotherhood without banners in the riverlands and the mountain, or the reanimierte corpse of the mountain, Frankenstein-ing is around the Red Keep with Cersei.

Tarly: Sam and Gilly certainly made it to the Citadel, where he foams over the bound tones that form the walls. So many books.

WHAT WE CAN DO

Jon / Sansa: Both Sophie Turner and Kit Harrington in interviews have depended on a showdown or at least the tension between the half-siblings as the jostle for the power in Winterfell remains unstable. Sansa is the one who is really responsible for Jons triumph in the Battle of the Bastards, and she is the legitimate heir of the Winterfell throne, but Jon has proclaimed the King of the North. Expect this rivalry to play in the coming season, especially with Littlefinger seeds seeds of suspicion.

Cersei / Jaime: The injuries of the Inkestuous pair could come in this season with a Cersei-Morphing in the Mad Queen, which does not really coincide with the joyful character of Jaime. We also know what Jaime has done in the past with insane monarchs. Can he really be the one who stops Cersei? Could be. But not before he defends the Lannister House, as we've seen in the trailer with him and Bronn, who led the defense in the fight against Dany's Dothraki warriors.

Daenerys: She is on the charge, she and her dragons and the uninvited and the Dothraki and the Grayyys, Tyrells, the Sand Snakes and Tyrion and Varys. OK, she has almost all on her side. The trailers show Daenerys, who touch their hand on Westerosi ground, what Dragonstone looks like, the home of the Targaryens. There are also insights into another landing party at Dragonstone with suggestions that it might be Jon or Davos to make a deal for the real war - the one against the white hikers.

White Walkers: The supernatural threat is only escalating and the trailers have shown us a battle in which Jon and the brotherhood without a banner looks, are largely under the whitewalkers and their zombie minions. We're pretty sure it's the Brotherhood because you can clearly see Beric Dondarrion and his flaming sword. The human group is secured into a circle as they are surrounded, not unlike the movement of Ramsey's forces drawn on Jon at the Battle of the Bastards - how do they get out of this?

Gendry: No clear view of the Baratheon bastard, last seen, row, row, rowing away in this little boat at the end of the third season. He has a strong claim to the Iron Throne and the fans have expected him to recharge. But really, the story has been moving so far since the Baratheon era, and there is a matter of urgency in dealing with the White Walker threat, any Gendry return seems like an unnecessary complication right now. Especially if there are only 13 episodes to finish the series. Leave him out there.

Fahrenheit 9/11 (2004)

Fahrenheit 9/11 is a 2004 documentary directed by Michael Moore in a bid to create awareness concerning the events leading to the 9/11 attacks and their aftermath. It is specifically intended for the American public especially when one considers that it was released during an election year. The audience of this documentary is treated to massive revelations concerning the manner through which the Bush administration has been compromised through the President’s looking after his personal interests instead of those of the American people. This documentary was intended to steer public anger against president Bush to such an extent that he was not reelected but this turned out not to be the case since he won the elections.

This documentary was developed for the purpose of ensuring that the American public as well as the rest of the world was made aware of events leading to the 9/11 attacks as well as its having occurred because of the connections between the Bush, Saud and Bin Laden families. This can be considered to be a political documentary whose main reason was to ensure the President Bush was not reelected for another term as president of the United States. The main message that this film attempts to get to its audience is that the Bush administration had lost all credibility to lead the nation and had to be voted out of office. Furthermore, the documentary attempts to show that the 9/11 attacks were a conspiracy developed to ensure that an environment of fear was developed in the country to such an extent that the Bush administration was able to pursue its political agenda in the global arena. The war on terror is presented as a cover for a sinister plot between the Bush family and its allies to ensure that they have control over resources in the Middle East at the cost of the lives of numerous American servicemen and women.

I knew nothing concerning the subject of the documentary prior to viewing it and what I found out was quite interesting. The issue of the 9/11 attacks having been a conspiracy was the farthest thing from my mind because of my constant belief that they were merely terrorist attacks perpetrated by the al Qaeda network. When I first went to see the documentary, I expected it to elaborate on the events leading to the 9/11 attacks as well as a background of the perpetrators. Furthermore, I expected it to document the progress made by the government in the war on terror and how it was gathering information concerning the eventual capture of Osama bin Laden. However, once I saw the documentary, I was surprised at the different subject matter that it covered and it brought to the fore many questions among which was whether the people of the United States are as free as they believe they are. Furthermore, my curiosity concerning the controversies surrounding the 9/11 attacks was aroused because I came to view them from a very different perspective from what I had gotten used to.

The main subject of Fahrenheit 9/11 are the 9/11 attacks and the events which took place prior, during, and after they happened. This documentary show that the Bush, Bin Laden, and Saud families had a long business relationship spanning decades and because of this, they had developed fast friendships. There is an implication that these three families were responsible for staging the 9/11 attacks to create an excuse for the American military machine to be used in attaining their political and economic interests in the Middle East. The documentary makes a display of the realities of the war on terror and how recruiters are used by military to bring in individuals from poor backgrounds to fight in Iraq and Afghanistan. Moore shows that despite its being widely touted as a war on terror, the main intention of this war is to ensure that there are further limitations to the freedoms of American people while at the same time working for the economic interests of a limited number of people. The documentary is filmed in the United States while there is footage from other parts of the world in an attempt to put flesh on its subject matter.

Moore makes constructive uses of sound effects in order to make the audience feel the sinister nature of the documentary’s subject. When he describes the manner through which a conspiracy is hatched to deprive Americans of their freedoms, the sound effects in the background enhance this and make the audience fear for their freedoms. In cases where interviews are being conducted, the lighting is quite sharp and this is used as a means of showing the audience the seriousness of what the interviewees are saying. However, when sinister connections between individuals are displayed, the images are darkened and this evokes an eerie feeling within the person watching the documentary. Important images throughout the documentary are brought into sharp focus especially where Moore is attempting to display such instances as where he is denied access to certain places. The interviews are quite interesting because Moore deals with individuals in a more or less informal manner, making them more comfortable and resulting in their saying more than they normally would have.

The part which I liked the most was that which showed President Bush at a classroom in an elementary school after being told that the World Trade Center had been hit by a plane. The moments that he sat still without taking any action seem to suggest that he may have been party to the attacks taking place. In addition, the documentary provides very important lessons one of which is that there is no need for certain legislation, such as the Patriot Act to be passed out of fear rather than being though through carefully. One of the issues which surprised me in the documentary was the association between the Bush and Bin Laden families which had spanned decades; a fact which I did not know before watching Fahrenheit 9/11. However, a drawback occurs where individuals such as President Bush, who are its subjects, are not interviewed in order to give their side of the story and this creates a situation where the documentary can be considered to be one-sided. Despite this, Fahrenheit 9/11 is a documentary which I would be glad to recommend from my friends because it is one which will open their eyes to the workings of the world and show them that not everything is what it seems.

Infernal Affairs (2002)

Infernal Affairs is one of the best films to have come out of Hong Kong in recent times, and its success has been so well noted that it has helped to revive the Chinese film industry, which until the making of this film, was considered to have been lacking in creativity. The production of Infernal Affairs proved the critics of the Hong Kong film industry wrong, and illustrated the fact that China does indeed have what it takes to produce successful films. The success of Infernal Affairs and the wave of interest it generated inspired the creation of a prequel and a sequel to the film. Before its official release, this film generated a lot of interest among the prospective audience because of the difference in concept to the other films that had recently come from Hong Kong. It can be said that the concept, upon which the film is based, is highly unique and extraordinarily few films have been created using the same concept. This film employs a vibrating abruptness that is usually found in the work of the writer and director Michael Mann. The theme of this film uses the techniques which Mann used in the film Heat and this theme can be seen almost to the last detail. It has the same cold bloodedness that was displayed in the latter film and this, indeed, makes it one of a kind. When the film was released, it did not disappoint those who had expected it to have the qualities that were unique, fun, and at the same time made the film a serious picture to watch. It looks at the relationship between the police and the criminal underworld in a new perspective that many would consider impossible. It set a new record which many Hong Kong films of the same genre from that time on have been trying to reach. This film is, therefore, worthy of the adoration that many of its fans have had, and continue to have, for it.

The film gives the viewer a glance into the criminal underworld, that is dominated by the Triad, where criminal mastermind Hon Sam believes that he can make his gang live outside the law. To achieve this feat, he sends a group of young men to join the police academy so that when they become police officers, they will be able to keep any attention from his activities from the police. The main aim is to keep ahead of the police, by getting to know what moves the police are planning against him before those plans can be executed. In this way, he will be able to run his operations safely without any fear of getting caught. Unknown to Hon, the police are planning almost the exact thing against him. They want to place a mole within his organization so that the mole can tell them the moves that Hon makes, hence ensuring that he is caught red-handed. Under the supervision of Superintendent Wong, Chan is chosen to become the mole in Hon’s triad organization, and to achieve this, there is a public demonstration where Chan gets kicked out of the Academy despite being the best student. This leads him to enter the criminal underworld as an undercover cop, with only two people in the police department knowing his true identity. The duty, which has been assigned to Chan, is a perilous one indeed because he is tasked to remain with the triads until such a time as they are brought down, no matter how long it takes. Within the same academy as Chan is one Lau, who is a Triad mole tasked with keeping Hon up to date about the police movement against him.

The entire movie is based on the parallel lives which Lau and Chan live as moles in each other’s organizations and how these lives come to profoundly affect them personally. There is a sense, around the main characters of the film, of being disconnected and alienated and this helps to increase the excitement that one feels when watching it. This feeling keeps one wondering what is going to happen next, ensuring that one fully concentrates on the film, so the latter scenes are not missed out. These two characters are, unknowingly, brought together at the beginning of the film, each not having a hint of how interconnected their lives truly are. Both of these men have to deal with not getting too close to the people around them for fear that they might be found out for who they actually are. This situation keeps them alien in their new environment as they are not able to form the bonds of friendship, with the people around them, as would happen had they been in a normal situation. The mental torture these two men undergo in their adopted environments is further examined in the film through the study of the women who have been in their lives, both in the past and present. One woman, Lau’s girlfriend is a novelist who is not able to decide whether a character she is writing about and has modeled on her boyfriend should be good or evil. She does not realize how close to the truth her fictional character is to the reality of her boyfriend’s life. On the other hand, there is an ex-girlfriend who chooses to hide the existence of her daughter from her father for fear that he might be a destructive influence. Finally, there is a therapist, who has conflicting emotions concerning her patient, on one hand desiring him while, on the other, she knows that he might not be the man for her on account of his being a gangster. Chan also has feelings for his therapists, and it is only in her presence that he feels secure enough to be able to sleep. When not in her presence, Chan has insomnia, due to the burden which he has had to carry in the ten years in which he has been a mole within the Triad organization. The use of these three women in the film is done to show the various complications which the two main characters have to go through in their daily lives. They further provide an insight on the individual characters of these two men, and what inspires these women to behave towards them as they do.

This film dares its audience to decide who the hero and the villain is because even those women, with whom these men are involved, do not know exactly what they are about. Despite the fact that they work hand in hand with their coworkers on a daily basis, none of these coworkers even has an inkling that these men are moles in their respective organizations. They accept these two characters as they are with no questions being asked, their enigmatic behavior being taken for granted. The film helps to show just how alluring the life of the underworld can be, and how one can be tempted to go in and never want to leave it again. What makes this film special is not its plot, but the way the two leads starring in it portray the characters. Lau is shown to be a man who would have made a different choice in life had the responsibility of being a mole for the Triads, among the police, not been thrust upon him when he was younger. Lau is seen as a tortured man whose life has been chosen for him, and there is no way for him to get out of this purgatory. The character of Chan, on the other hand, is made to be the mirror reflection of Lau, whose duties as a mole among the Triads have been placed on him at a young age. Chan is also shown to undergo mental torture as he struggles with the temptation of forgetting himself and getting absorbed into the underworld. The lives of these two moles are seen as a form of torture for both of them, and it is this shared torture that makes them so similar. Their motivation is to do the best they can in order to survive in situations which the fates have thrust upon them. Both of these men have done extremely well in the situations within which they have been placed. Lau quickly rises through the ranks of the police, while Chan also rises among the Triads to become one of the most trusted lieutenants of Hon, the Triad boss. Therefore, neither of these men can be described as being either good or evil, and instead, they can be said to be surviving.

Since the film is in Cantonese with English subtitles, there are certain aspects of the film which are lost in translation. This is because it is difficult to translate certain idioms, which are humorous in one language, to another language, as in most cases, the humor tends to be lost. Despite this fact, however, the movie can be said to be excellent, and perhaps may encourage those who would like to get the whole picture of the movie to want to learn Cantonese, the language in which it was made. This is indeed a bold film which deals with the lives of two men whose lives are going in a way which they did not expect. It focuses on their desire to break away from the chains that are holding them back, despite the fact that if they do so, then it might lead to their destruction. One can also say that the film is a tragedy because when the truth about the two men comes to light, it is too late for either to redeem himself. Although Chan accomplishes his mission within the Triad organization by helping in the destruction of Hon, he still ends up getting killed by one of the moles planted by Hon in the police. Moreover, despite the fact that both men strive to redeem themselves through the destruction of the Triad organization, none of them gets the redemption because Chan gets killed while Lau ends up getting arrested when it is found out that he was the mole among the police for all the years that Chan was undercover. It can, therefore, be said that this film manages to capture the different aspects of human life. It shows the audience the futility of some of the actions that people take in their lives, teaching that one does not always get what they want. It is a film of revelation, as the two characters get to assess their lives in different situations and come to find what it is they desire in their lives. The plot, as well as the skills displayed by the actors, has made the film one of the best to come out of Hong Kong.

The U.S. Military should shift its focus from Terrorism

There has recently developed the argument that the time has come for military of the United States to shift its focus from terrorism to other matters which are designed to promote international peace. It is for this reason that many policy makers have increasingly started shifting their attention from the war on terror to other initiatives that involve less military involvement in combat and more on peacekeeping and diplomatic initiatives. According to McAllister (2007), the United States in recent years has come to develop some very close relationships with its former adversaries such as Russia, with which it has developed increasing cooperation in matters concerning nonproliferation and counterterrorism. The main reason for the increased cooperation between these countries, according to McAllister is mainly because of the increasing threats to international security through the proliferation of weapons of mass destruction by rogue states as well as the development of religious radicalism which further increases international insecurity. As world leaders, both the United States and Russia have come to realize that they have a common interest in the containment of security threats and these have been exemplified through the increasing risk of terrorist attacks against the United States as well as the radicalization that is taking place in the Caucasus region of Russia. It is mainly through military cooperation between these states, as seen through bilateral, unilateral, and multilateral initiatives, which have ensured that there is proper distribution of international power in ensuring security. McAllister concludes that while the American and Russian militaries have in recent years seen some level of cooperation, the fact remains that these two countries still have a long way to go before they can be able to fully cooperate in all matters concerning international security. It is for this reason that cases that deal directly with national security are dealt with informally, on a case-by-case starting point.

The military-led war on terror has led to a situation where a large number of suspected terrorists have been detained at the Guantanamo Bay detention facility and it is for this reason that there has been plenty of agitation for the release of some of them, because they are deemed to be innocent. Foley (2007) states that the supporters of the policy of detaining individuals for long periods of time without trial justify their support by declaring that it provides the president with the capacity to contain terrorists and through vigorous interrogation are able to provide details of planned attacks. According to Foley, this plan has been widely criticized from its beginnings because it is a direct violation of human rights and lacks in any moral grounds making in illegal. This use of the military in the interrogation and detention of suspected terrorists, Foley states, has been a complete failure because it has led to the imprisonment of some innocent people who have only confessed to crimes they did not commit because of the fear of torture. The fact that the military is used in the development of indiscriminate dragnets, incarceration as well as the use of coercive interrogations who have not been proven to be terrorists has led to the discrediting of the American military, which many believed is a tool of American injustice. There has developed the risk of intelligence agencies being provided with false information through the false confessions of individuals who do not know anything about what they are talking about and this has led to the increasing misinformation that has hampered the progress of the war on terror. Because of the abject failure of coercive interrogations, the United States government has come to fail to comprehend the connection between detention, interrogation, and detentions and this has led to the failure to sort those individuals who are terrorists from non-terrorists through the judicial process.

It is a fact that many of the individuals who, through military action, have been detained are not accorded any of the constitutional rights that are commonplace among most Americans. This has led to the increasing disillusionment of the families of the individuals that have been detained that they will receive justice by proving their innocence. According to Jenkins (2006), in the 2004 case of Hamdi v. Rumsfeld, the Supreme Court ruled that the individuals who had been detained by the government on suspicion of being terrorists only had limited rights and that because of this; they had no ability to challenge their status as enemy combatants. Jenkins further states that it was in response to this case that the Bush government formed the Combatant Status Review Tribunal (CSRT), although this tribunal proved not to be effective because it functioned as the propagator of the government’s case against the detainees. This tribunal has proven to apply a broad definition to all of those individuals who have been categorized as enemy combatants and because the detainees are prohibited from having lawyers, they are not able to argue against the tribunal’s decision to detain them indefinitely. The military commissions which were developed by the Bush government to try detainees on charges of terrorism and war crimes have, according to Jenkins, been rigged against the accused. This is mainly because of the fact that these commissions rely completely on the confessions coerced from the detainees through torture, the use of hearsay, as well as the use of soldiers as jurors. Because military commissions have the power of passing the death sentence to those who are brought before them has created a situation where it is extremely difficult for the individuals who have been falsely accused to get out of the situation alive. This is the reason why some innocent detainees, in their attempt to stay alive end up falsely accusing others and confessing to crimes they did not commit as a way of avoiding the death sentence. In addition, Jenkins states that because of the rigged rules that have been put in place in the trials of detainees, it has become the norm for investigators to remain confident that they will win all the cases that are brought before them. This is mainly because investigators have come to see little need to infiltrate terrorist organizations to gain tangible or credible details for their cases, relying on the mostly false confessions of their detainees. Kim and Allard (2008) state that since its development, there have been many challenges faced by the Department of Homeland Security in its attempt to create a common culture within the intelligence agencies under its jurisdiction. It is the development of a common culture between these disparate agencies that, in addition to the military, is essential for the development of a comprehensive antiterrorism strategy. This has not been the case and has led to the failure of intelligence agencies to develop accurate databases, and this has resulted in the failure of some military operations meant to deal with terrorist threats.

The 9/11 attacks on the United States has led to the development of a new American approach to foreign policy which is intimately tied to the security of the nation. According to Miles (2012), the American foreign policy towards Africa has been based on ensuring its security and this has come to rival development as the main reason behind American involvement in this continent. All development programs and projects that are of American origin have attached to them a security dimension, developed by the department of defense, which works hand in hand with such institutions as USAID. Miles argues that the high potential for acts of terrorism to be committed in the United States has led it to adopt policies towards Africa which serve to undermine its development. This is the reason, he states, why it is important for the United States to adopt counterterrorism measures towards Africa which are fairly mild to ensure that it becomes a strategic as well as developmental defense activity. Miles, in the writing of his article uses records as well as a study of the American policies towards the Maghreb region from the Bush through to the Obama administrations. The result of this study is that since the 9/11 attacks, the American policy towards this region has seriously shifted, ensuring that the previously diverse developmental and security initiatives in the region have become converged into one initiative. The result of this has been that there has developed a wide range of sympathetic public opinion throughout Africa towards the American military involvement in their countries, with many believing that they are the best option for deterring terrorism. This, however, has not been the case in American public, where there is a large number of people who question the validity of the military being actively involved in the developmental and security programs of African nations when they can do more in fighting terrorism.

The American military involvement in the war on terror has had an adverse effect on the internal stability of some countries such as Pakistan, which has since the beginning of this initiative, been a staunch American ally. According to Khan (2010), Pakistan’s military alliance with the United States has led to a situation where it is currently facing an internal crisis. This crisis stems from the fact that the government which recently came to power has had to contend with the commitments made by the previous government to the American cause as well as maintaining a stable relationship with its neighbors that has been soured by the war on terror. Khan further states that it is because of Pakistan’s involvement in the war on terror that its security has come under threat not only from India, its longtime rival, but also Afghanistan. Khan therefore offers the opinion that the only solution for this situation is for the United States to restrain the activities of India along the border close to Pakistan and Afghanistan. Moreover, according to Mohamadian (2012), there has been numerous debates among scholars concerning the unilateral military actions that the United States has taken in the Middle East which have come to affect diplomacy and international relations. While the intentions of some of these interventions might have been sound, the result has been arise in sectarian violence, especially in Iraq, as well as the prevalence of terrorist attacks, and these have come to threaten the American-led initiative to rebuild the Iraqi state. Furthermore, Ahmad (2010) states that there has developed some friction between the United States’ counterterrorism initiative and the one of Pakistan and this have created a situation where there is conflict between their national interests. Pakistan’s reliance on irregular warfare in its region is one of its instruments of national security and this has come to be challenged by the United States government which seeks to bring these activities to an end, therefore not serving Pakistan’s national interests.

African Americans and Japanese Americans During WWII and its Aftermath

African Americans and Japanese Americans had a long history of discrimination in the country and this became worse during and after the Second World War when many of them came to be segregated along racial lines. The history of discrimination against these two communities tended to be extreme because they were treated as lesser human beings who had no rights. Therefore, despite having been in America for several generations already, these groups came to face many challenges especially during the war and post-war period.

When the African Americans who had been to the war returned home, they came with new ideas acquired from their experiences in the warzone in Europe. While they were in Europe, they had been treated on an equal basis by the white people of that continent and this made them realise their rights as human beings. Those from the south had a new mindset which would eventually lead them to ensuring that their rights as human beings were respected and that the Jim Crow South did not remain as it had been previously.

The fact that African Americans came to realise their rights and demanded them did not go down well within the white dominated society. This period came to see heavy attacks on the African Americans by the white establishment, especially in the south where many were attacked in broad daylight in full view of the police who did nothing to protect these people (Hobson, 356). It was the escalation of these attacks as well as the discrimination in other sectors of the social and economic life of the United States that there developed the Civil Rights Movement whose main purpose was to fight for the rights of the African Americans.

After the Pearl Harbour attacks in the United States, where the Imperial Japanese navy attacked the United States on its own soil, it was the Japanese Americans who came to face the brunt of the public anger that developed. The Japanese Americans were innocent of any involvement in these attacks yet they were increasingly viewed with suspicion by the mainstream American society. This situation became worse once the United States entered the war on the side of the Allies, since the Japanese Americans were made to leave their homes and moved into detention camps because of the suspicion that there were Japanese spies among them (Staub 1238).

The fact that they were detained by their own government despite having lived in the United States for generations and having broken all ties with Japan was a sign that they had not been fully accepted into American society. Those who were detained in these camps, when eventually set free, were much traumatised because they failed to see the reason why they had been detained in the first place. Just because they looked different form the rest of the American people and that their ancestors originally came from a country which had attacked the United States was not a valid reason for their discrimination and this they came to realise as a violation of their fundamental rights as Americans.