The Electoral College

As far as The Electoral College goes, I don't necessarily think this is a fair way to elect our president. Some states are represented unfairly and I believe the fairest way to do things is to just use the votes of each individual person. Every person eligible to vote should have equal representation when votes are being tallied. I think this would avoid the process of gerrymandering since each individual person counts. I also think it would give a better representation of what the country really wants and not what the government wants them to do. Since this will probably never happen, they should at least let some states have a more fair representation. Wyoming is a good example of unfair representation. The population of Wyoming is around 500,000 while Texas is around 26,000,000 (according to the US census bureau estimates for 2012). Although there are clearly more people in Texas, the voting power of Wyoming is much stronger. Essentially, some citizens' votes don't even matter. I don't think that is fair to anyone and in my opinion, popular vote should be used.

Who should vote?

Who should vote? I don't think there will ever be a correct answer to this question. We try and put certain limitations on voting such as age and citizenship. I do think this is appropriate, but there are still many citizens that are of age that shouldn't be anywhere near the voting ballots. Yes, I do think citizens should have the right to vote, but some just don't educate themselves enough before voting. Some don't even know the correct way to fill out a ballot! If someone doesn't even know how to correctly fill out a voting ballot, I don't think they should be electing the officials to run our country or even the state. This may be wrong to say but in some places maybe a competence test should be required before citizens can get to the polls? Our country is a reflection of the people in it and if they aren't demonstrating that they are educated before they vote then eventually other countries are not going to take us seriously.

Supranationalism

When looking at the Universal Declaration of Human Rights during class... There were a few that I thought we do not uphold to. Take article one for example, we don't exactly treat all human beings with equal dignity and rights. Whether we want to believe it or not, there is still a great deal of racism and inequality in the world, not just in the United States. The part that bothers me the most is article 16. Although it does not specifically state that men and women have the right to marry whatever sex they prefer, it does say without limitations due to religion. In some religions it is not illegal for the same sex to marry and I do not think it should be illegal anywhere. I believe that all humans should have the right to marry whoever they want and I think it's wrong to deny anyone of that. I think government officials and leader will try and find any loopholes they can to make it so they have more control over the people. I don't think all these rights will ever truly be upheld.

The Impact of Borders

Borders shape the the world is made, both physically and politically. Borders may define whether a state is republican or democratic, there may be language borders or even ethnic borders. Borders don't always mean physical boundaries. There are borders for almost everything! One part of a state might strictly be supporting a certain sports team, while another part of the state supports the rival team. This forms a border and a difference of opinion among the people of the state. Religious borders also exist too and form a difference of opinion.
Sometimes these borders don't coincide and conflict can arise. Conflict between sports team supporters, political disputes, and especially religious disputes can arise. Another example is gang borders. This creates lots of problems when gangs don't get along and almost always results in conflict. In conclusion, borders don't always have to be physical. They can have a huge impact on an area as as well.

Intro to Political Geography

So far, Political Geography is shaping up to be one of my favorite classes this semester. I am new to this major and have never taken any classes like this one before. The discussions and critical thinking questions engage my brain more than just answering a multiple choice question on a test or plugging numbers into an equation. I don't find myself bored in this class because of the amount of interaction and involvement. The "Individual in Society" assignment was very intriguing to me because I read the play, Les Miserables, in high school and thoroughly enjoyed it. I had not seen the new movie before this class (mostly because none of my friends would tag along) and it was amazing! I am usually not a fan of watching musicals but this is one I could definitely watch again. 

As far as politics go, I am interested to see how it connects with geography in different ways since this subject is fairly new to me. So far, the material catches my interest and I am excited for the remainder of my last semester at FSU.