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Creative Commons License
Enigmatic Journal by Yoeman is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivs 3.0 Unported License.

Social media as the engine of revolution

The concept of social media started when humans begin to communicate. They express their ideas in cave paintings and ancient stone scripts.

The Plight of Modern Family; Gender Equality and contemporary changes

The human society is comprised of men and women. The society has given specific roles based on the gender which has now changed dramatically.

Sri Lankan Education System Needs an Overhaul

Education is a basic need for a human being. The right to education is recognized in the Universal Declaration of Human Rights. We get education until we die.

Climate Change and the Future of Mankind

Since the beginning of mankind, humans tried to master the environment around them. Now thousands of years later in the 21st century it seems that the humans have finally conquered the Mother Nature

Online Life; Is it safe?

Information and communication technology helps man to connect to one another in every aspect of life today from financial transactions to meeting friends. This interlinked world may appear to be fast and convenient but have we ever wondered whether our privacy and safety is ensured in it?

Thursday, November 10, 2016

US Election; What happened?


America has decided. It is Donald Trump to rule the United States of America for the next 4 years. The presidential election has turned into something we have never seen before in US history. The result caught most of the people off-guard. Roots of a deeply divided and insecure society emerge beneath the tolerant and progressive ‘super-democracy’ which everyone expects the USA to be. Are people being delusional or have they forgotten to understand the underlying forces of human nature when they are at crossroads.   

The main factor

As there are many reasons why Donald Trump has won by a significant margin, in my opinion, the main factor should be that Trump being able to address the insecurities in the minds of the majority of American People, the white, middle and working-class ordinary Americans. The insecurities being threefold; national security being compromised, collapsing economy and employment related issues and finally the shattering of the so-called ‘American way of life’. The latter can be described as a shift in demography, cultural norms, and national values. Even though some of these issues are prevailing and pose an immediate threat, the others have little to no real effects. For example, issues such as demographic shifts and cultural norms being undervalued have no immediate effects to the USA as immigration has in Europe.

Trump has triumphantly exploited those insecurities of the majority. The analysis of the opinion polls has suggested that while the Asian, Hispanic and African Americans have loathed Trump, the majority of white Americans vouched for him. Trump appealed for the working class, to secure their employment. He also appealed for the general public to strengthen the national security and stopping the adverse effects of immigration. The means of doing that was outrageous and sometimes dangerous and hilarious and terrifying at the same time. The border wall to keep the Mexicans out of USA and banning immigration from certain countries categorized by him as ‘Muslim’ are few of his ‘brilliant’ solutions to the above problems. There are some progressive factors like tax reforms and infrastructure development and creating job opportunities. However, his election campaign is dominated by ISIS, Mexico, and Iran, the things which ordinary American fears and being insecure about.

American election has many similarities to the Brexit vote held in June this year. Both had the similar characteristic of the belligerents are the same. Both have similar issues such as national security, weakening the national economy and immigration and the outcome and winners have the similar qualities. Not to mention the ‘bromance’ between Trump and the alleged winner of the Brexit, Nigel Farage which made Farage openly supporting Trump; by even speaking at a Trump rally.
The outcomes of Brexit and US Election have made two realizations; one is that even a supposed liberal society has deep rooted traditionalist ‘non-progressive’ values and they will play a huge part in making decisions and the second and the most importance one is that it is always important to look at the growing fears and expectations of the silenced majority. In this case the, insecurities of the ordinary American psyche. It is not that Trump’s rival Hillary would do anything that undermines the national security and putting the economy in a downward spiral and Hillary being the president doesn’t make the life easier for Blacks, Hispanics, and Muslims in the USA but the outcome of this election is the result of Trump being successfully manipulating the insecurities while Hillary failing to address them properly and getting the confidence of the majority. It is not the fact that Trump is better but that Hillary is worse that made America opt for Trump.

Has Obama contributed to this?        

Some blame President Obama for making the republicans weak and making Hillary’s defeat at the election. But in my opinion, Obama is a better president than anyone who was nominated and ran for this year’s election. Given the history and politics of USA, it was a bold and progressive move that American people have endorsed a candidate like Obama. He came to power in a crisis period, the Debt crisis had weakened the USA and economy haven't seen a catastrophe of this magnitude since the Great Depression in the 1930s not to mention the international criticism for sending troops to Iraq and Afghanistan. It is the sheer desire for a change that made Americans choose Obama over John McCain.

Obama either succeeded delivering the change he promised or he was damn lucky for the passing of the adverse effects of the 2008 crisis. The crisis slowed, companies stayed afloat and the country survived if not thrived. Troops have pulled out from Iraq and Afghanistan. Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (AKA the Obamacare) was another progressive step taken by Obama even though it was criticized heavily.  It was the fact that ‘The GM was alive and Osama Bin Laden was dead’ made Obama win his second term. That means the recovery of the economy, pulling troops out and killing Osama had generally elevated him to one of the best presidents the US ever had.

Events that unfolded in his second term made some effect in the power swing from Democrat to a Republican in this election.  The rise of ISIS which depicted the flows of US foreign policy, unemployment or under-employment in among Americans, racism and most importantly recent attacks by radicalized home-grown terrorists have made his leadership weak and questionable which in-turn become the Achilles heel of Hillary Clinton. In my opinion, the USA was in a better position economically than when Obama took over in 2008 and he reversed some, not all of the damage that George Bush had done. If Obama could and had run for the third term, I believe that he could and should have won as he is better than Hillary, Trump and certainly Bush.  

Shattering expectation of the USA being progressive?

Is the USA a progressive and liberal society? The answer would be a Yes and a No. It depends on how we define progressiveness. We are expecting too much from the USA, wanting it to become an example for all of us who strive for a liberal utopia. Sorry to have hurt your feelings fellas! But you have to realize that as every country is a depiction of its society and the American society is not as progressive and liberal as you want it to be. It has the deep-rooted conservatism (at least among the majority of the people) to be portrayed making political choices. We tend to look at the mainstream media and a few of the progressives and liberals and assume that the common American had the same values the minority is portraying but it is not the reality. Even though the USA is a multicultural society and has values of religious freedom, when it comes to national security, economy, and employment, nothing was allowed to compromise it.

Was democracy to blame in the first place?

Now some people also have speculations about the USA being a democratic society. It also depends on how we portray how democracy should be. The reality is so much different and unsettling. The foundation of democracy is the will of the majority. As long as that will of the people is accurately presented (in US election, there are speculation of that have really happened because of the Electoral College system begin criticized for not displaying the will of the people) their choice should be the valid choice regardless of how hard to swallow it and come to terms with it for the rest of the world.
The next lesson of democracy to learn is that the unpredictability of human nature and the fact that it can be changed. Both in Brexit vote and US election, the opinion polls predicted the opposite result in huge margins. Regardless of how strong the democratic institutions are we should realize that as a chain is as strong as its weakest link, the democracy is totally depending on the unpredictable and manipulative human consciousness. It is the political force which understands and makes most of it goes for the win.

What would to future be like for the USA and for the world?

When Barack Obama becomes the president in 2008, the world had expected miraculous utopia from him. Some even hope for a better future not only for African-Americans but for the whole society. He couldn’t deliver any of it except the relative economic stability. America is still hated by the millions of people; African-American youth are getting shot by the police by the dozens, American still live in fear of ISIS attacks.

We should not expect anything drastic from Trump also. It will not be surprising that Trump if struggles to stop the influx of migrants from Mexico, to crush ISIS to the ground or to make the American dream a reality again. The people who opted for Hillary especially minorities should not be worried of a prosecution as well as all the presidents did, Trump will not stick to his plans for sure. What we can expect is the political stability as Republicans have both the senate and House of Representatives. There may be minor house-keeping jobs such as infrastructure projects and job creations and a few legislations. Internationally, the status-quo will likely to remain even with someone as charismatic and hectic as Trump.

Conclusion


Now the election is over. Still, Obama Has Reins until 2017 January. It is still no time to make a complete prediction of what Trump will become. However, this election has given some important life lessons for everyone and helped to realize the human nature when faced with insecurities. For all the liberals and so-called progressives, there is some soul searching to left to do. They expect too much from the USA and try to justify their ideas through the process called democracy which is made to depict the ideas of the majority. They should realize when their world starts crumbling beneath their feet that they are the minority and to never under-estimate the human nature. 

(photo courtesy : http://www.mapsofworld.com/) 

Thursday, November 3, 2016

The Battle Against Booze


Man always seeks pleasure and a way to hide from fear, sorrow, and misery of life. Unlike other animals, human needs are complex. The man has a lot of concerns other than finding food and mating. He invented the concept of recreation. Finding pleasure has become the lifelong quest of mankind. The man has a verity of ways to get pleasure in which drinking alcohol plays a prominent role. Consuming alcohol or in other words “Drinking” is not only a recreational habit but also a part and parcel of the culture.

The root of drinking goes back to the prehistoric era. Before man settled down for farming in valleys they lived a nomadic life doing from place to place seeking shelter and food.  Alcohol was introduced when man accidently discovered fermentation when they drink wild barley fermented water. They surely started falling love with it because it has the “feel good effect”. That fermented drink resembled beer. Barley was one of the first crops to be domesticated thus introducing agriculture which shaped the human civilization. People no longer needed to roam from one place to another to gather food instead they grow them. In medieval times, Europe was literally drunk because the only drink safe to consume was liquor. Drinking water was mostly polluted but alcohol brewing process requires boiling so unknowingly Europeans kill the bacteria in the water used. Drinking has been evolved from generation to generation along with the culture.

Why people like alcohol this much? We all like to get pleasure and forget our worries. Alcohol precisely does that. When someone consumes alcohol, it goes to the small intestine through the stomach. Walls of small intestine quickly absorb the alcohol and add them to the blood stream through which it goes to all of the organs in our body while the Liver tries to remove alcohol from the bloodstream. However, it takes very little time for the alcohol to reach the brain. Alcohol decreases the activity in brain’s some neuroreceptors and increases activity in others. It also increases the chemical dopamine in the brain’s pleasure center causing the “feel good effect” that occurs after taking a drink. Dopamine is called the “Pleasure hormone” because of this effect. According to a report published by World Health Organization, world average alcohol consumption is 6.1 liters of pure alcohol [1]. Alcohol also results in 2.5 million deaths per year [2] surprisingly more than the number of deaths from AIDS

Temporary effects of alcohol will be gone after several hours and the drinker will be back to the normal sober stage. Alcohol makes a person’s mind free, his animalistic nature is somewhat revealed. A drunken person seems to be open and fearless. Drinking makes social gatherings possible, people tend to meet up others over a round of drinks at a pub or bar. Even in ancient times, pubs have become a center of human interaction and sometimes intellectual discussion forums for great philosophers, artists, and revolutionists. Even today alcohol plays the main role in social occasions and becomes a tool helping to get socialized.

Although alcohol consumption opens up a person for good, it has many adverse effects; physical and psychological.


There are safe limits for alcohol consumption for both men and women. Pregnant women are advised to retain from alcohol consumption. Weekly maximum alcohol dose for men is 21 units. For women, it is no more than 14 units. A unit of alcohol is 10ml of pure alcohol (100% proof). It is also recommended to have at least two alcohol-free days per week for both sexes [3]. Alcohol is highly addictive. It affects not only the drinker but also his family, friends, and community. Psychological trauma caused by him on his family especially children can be very harmful in the future.
Alcohol is the cheapest method to get the “feel good effect”. Alcohol production, distribution, and consumption are highly regulated by governments but illicit liquor production which is highly dangerous and black-market trade is rapidly growing. Taxation on liquor is highly profitable for the government. Generally, alcohol taxes and ultimately liquor prices are going up every year but those price hikes didn’t help to reduce consumption. An addicted person may find money by whatever means to pay for drinks.

Liquor companies maintain close ties with the authorities and the government. Most of these ties are serving a more sinister purpose. By political lobbying, sponsoring and bribing liquor companies to protest against progressive steps to inform the public the harmful effects of alcohol. People are getting wasted every day while profit margins of liquor companies grow.

Some religions such as Buddhism and Islam forbids alcohol consumption while Christianity usually tolerates, nevertheless regardless of the race or religion, people get drunk. The only practical thing to do is to educate the masses about the adverse effects of alcohol and retain our young people from becoming alcohol addicts. Telling the people to drink not more than their limits is effective than telling them to stop consuming alcohol at once. Gradually anyone with a strong willingness can come out of alcohol addiction easily.

Drinking is bound with one’s culture. Separating people from drinking completely seems impossible. Although drinking helps us to be socialized, to temporary forget hardships in life and to feel joy it has always been a silent killer. Since all out war against liquor is improbable, the best thing left is to tell others to drink responsibly according to safe limits

Photo courtesy : http://imgarcade.com/