HW30: "What Kind OF Democracy Do We Want?"

Today, I attended a presentation that was a part of the Keene State College Citizenship Symposium week. Three guest speakers came to preach about the problems that are occurring in our government. "What kind of Democracy do we want?", was the name of the presentation. Provost Emile Netzhammer started the event introducing and summarizing some events that are happening today. He mentioned that here in Keene, New Hampshire us citizens have the right to participation of the government by attending town meetings and different political events that are happening locally. He also discussed how people in the U.S. are lucky and are able to express themselves. As his speech ended he cam forward and announced the Mayor of Keene, Michael Blastos. Michael is reported to be Keene's longest serving mayor in Keene's history. He conversed mainly about the constitution and how it is a living document. He presented Keene State College with a proclamation containing his signature. Next, was the most significant speaker of the event Nancy Tobi. She is a New Hampshire resident, and is the founder of "Democracy for New Hampshire". She began speaking about how voting is a big part of our government and presented us with a power point "Citizen's Gone Wild: Taking Control Of Our Democracy". She provided a background of herself, she was raised in Lexington, MA (a.k.a. Birthplace of America). Introducing her PowerPoint she claimed "We are going to talk about a lot of dirty stuff, but once we get through the politics the sun will shine through". This meant that the politics are the causes of all of the crazy catastrophes that are happening today in society. The voting process became a big part of the speech, learning much new devastating information. 80% of national votes are counted by programmed computers, meaning that the votes are either getting altered or completely changed. This became very interesting to me and it made me think of what a mess society really is. She used much concrete detail in her speech, one including sunshine is the best disinfectant in the government. This was to be translated as, look positively at all situations that may arise.