GPHC 2018-2019

In this world, conflict is unfortunately one of our norms. Countries struggle with conflict between them all the time, but we cannot forget the conflicts that go on within countries. The Mexican Drug Cartel is the biggest group of cartels in the world. Mexico has the highest concentration of smuggled drugs and this continues to be a very dangerous part of the Mexican culture. Over the last 12 years, since Felipe Calderon was elected as their new president, the dangers of drug cartels have intensified. There have been mass shootings, as well as killings of cartel leaders, government personnel, as well as, unfortunately, many civilians. On August 25, 2010, 72 migrant bodies were found on a ranch. It was later discovered that they were murdered for refusing to traffic drugs. The Mexican drug cartels came about when people began to realize how corrupt the Mexican government was and how easily it could be manipulated. Now, marijuana, cocaine, heroin, and other drugs are sold almost like...

George Larach 12/18/18 GPHC The Mighty Potato I have had multiple conversations with my friends on what was the most influential or important food to affect humanity, and common names that were brought up were “bread” or “apples”. I always thought the potato was the most important food, and this article only confirmed my belief. From feeding all of Europe for hundreds of years to being able to vary in size and taste depending on how it’s cooked, the potato is certainly the most important food on the planet. The article talks about how it boosted populations, fed cities, and provided necessary nutritional elements. However, it also increased the amount of conflict between states, considering how people were spending less time hunting and more time recreationally, or doing things they wanted to do. The question was what was the most influential , not what was the best. It’s funny to imagine that thousands of years ago, we were making the change from nomadic hunter-gatherers to ...

     The United States has three major power grids: one for the eastern states, one for the western states, and one for the state of Texas. As a result, Texas's government enjoys an unmatched ability to determine how energy is provided to its residents. Up until the turn of the millennium, electricity was provided to Texans by public utilities; local monopolies that generated, transported, and sold power to consumers under the regulatory watch of the state. In the year 2002, Texas's congress finally succeeded in passing deregulatory reforms, privatizing most of the energy market in the hopes that competition between private suppliers would result in lower prices and greater efficiency. In addition, each part of the supply chain was separated and turned into an individual market, meaning the people generating power were not the same as the people selling it.             Sixteen years later, it is clear that this privatization was ...

European countries have been taking steps to limit greenhouse gasses in order to slow down climate change, and as such, French president Emmanuel Macron enacted a gasoline tax. This sparked an intense wave of protests that gripped the attention of the west. At the core of the protestors are the working people who commute long distances to the cities of France, many of them cannot afford to live in the city due to small wages. As a result of the rioting, president Macron canceled the gas tax and made many concessions to the working people, yet, the riots continue. Imposing a gas tax on the low wage earning workers may not be the best way to combat climate change in terms of economics. The riots show that the working people in France are already dealing with many difficulties economically. Macron cancelling the gas tax has not had the impact he hoped, the riots continue, even taking some lives.   In my view, Macron would be much better off imposing a tax on large industrial co...

According to the Global peace Index by the Institute for Economics and peace in 2017, Yemen is the fourth least peaceful country in the world right after Afghanistan, Iraq and South Sudan. Since 2008 Yemen has slipped 28 places in the ranking due to an increase in the level of violent crime, intensity of internal organized conflicts, and the impact of terrorism. Yemen is one of the five countries that accounted for approximately 75 percent of total deaths to terrorism in 2015.   The conflict in Yemen is primarily part of Saudi-influenced regional instability, a result of the intense rivalry between Shia Iran and the Sunni Arab Gulf monarchies. The conflict has also led to Saudi Arabia’s costly military intervention in Yemen. In Yemen, Saudi Arabia is specifically fighting to drive the Iranian-backed Houthi movement out of the country.   According to the Borgen Project, in September 2017, 75% of Yemen’s population, or about 22 million people, were in need of humanita...

Active peace is a term used for when individuals and local and global organizations dedicate their work to advancing peace. Often, these organizations carry out grassroots level projects in the war-torn areas with the purpose of giving direct support to local peacebuilding organizations, projects, activities and individuals. One particularly notable international organization with an extensive history in active peace work is, of course, the UN, known for its international focus and dedication to preserving peace. United Nations is also a leader in promoting peace by way of many different engagements, such as negotiating ceasefires, preserving human rights, and helping out citizens in conflicts where they are often significantly endangered.   Active peace is being fostered in Yemen. Organizations such as Peace Direct help local organizations in Yemen with projects that aim to foster peace. For example, in 2017, Peace Direct helped a number of pilot projects in Yemen, the purpose...

       Canada is often seen as a place full of polite, peaceful people. In fact, in 2016 the Global Peace Index called Canada one of the most peaceful countries in the world. There could be many factors contributing to this, one of the more interesting theories is that it is because Canada is so close to the US, which is far less peaceful. The more realistic theory seems to be that it is a very large country, around the same size in land as the US, but with a much smaller population. (Canada: 36.71 Million; US: 325.7 Million). The idea is that through having more space and a more homogenous, kind society, Canadians have more resources and less to worry about. They have better education as there are less people to educate, and for the most part it's easy to move to another province if you don't like the one you're living in. The citizens of Canada themselves have a high number of immigrants and since they have such a spacious country, they can afford to have the extr...