Thought for the Day

note: this is an "intro project" that i have written for my ethics and public policy class. it appears unfinished because it is. "intro projects" are just what they say they are: possible intros and outlines of thought that will be used later in the year to compile our final term paper. this one was too interesting to leave off of the blog, so have at it.

In the dwindling weeks of the campaign trail, name calling and accusations have been flying more liberally than normal. Last week, the New York Times reported that the Association of Community Organization for Reform Now (ACORN) was “under fire” from Republicans due to the suspected voter registration fraud that possibly occurred under its umbrella of responsibilities (Falcone, Michael. New York Times. 10/16/08). Some, mostly those of liberal political beliefs, hold that these allegations are only taking the public’s attention away from massive voter suppression (acorn.org. 10/10/08). Others, mostly those of conservative political beliefs, want to continue to shed light on the accusations and force admission or reform. Aside from this being a purely ethical dilemma, I believe that it is also one of harm. Every American citizen 18 years of age or older (yes, barring some criminal circumstances) has the right to vote. When people like the above mentioned ACORN workers take it upon themselves to lessen the right of other citizens to vote by registering deceased or underage voters or by registering others multiple times, my right is harmed. Therefore, according to the basics of the harm principle, it is the government’s duty to intervene in the crisis because every citizen’s right to vote has been infringed upon. In this paper, I will argue for the need of a government investigation into the ACORN scandal because it is exuding a harm onto the American people, people who have been given an equal say when choosing our government because every qualified person has the right to one, and only one, vote.

In the following paragraph, I will identify the context of this issue, the place of philosophers’ writings on the harm principle in this argument, causes for possible disagreement, and reasons for agreement with my thesis. This issue has no better context than the present election year, for which elections should be fair and equal to all parties involved. Philosophers like John Stuart Mill, author of the harm principle, would agree that this is in fact a breach of the common good, for it is obviously not affecting one person alone but the entire population of Americans eligible to vote. As stated above, liberals might disagree with my thesis by stating that this is voter suppression; if anything, the news coverage of the circumstances is shedding light on these minority and low-income voters and their status as such. Lastly, every American should be in support of my thesis because these illegally registered voters are encroaching on their right to vote just as much as they are on mine. This is not a partisan issue, but one of the common good.

One for One

i first heard of toms shoes on oprah. normally, i'm not a fan; however, she was right on target about this company. and they are the new obsession of our campus. the company's slogan is "one for one" because for every pair of shoes that you purchase, toms will give one to a child in need around the world. their website (tomsshoes.com-check it out and buy a pair) says that they have given over 10,000 pairs to children in argentina and over 50,000 pairs to children in south africa. founder blake mycoskie has even planned so-called "shoe drops" in domestic, poverty stricken areas such as the mississippi delta. i'm so on board with that. mycoskie developed the idea for toms on a trip to argentina, when he noticed that the children there did not have shoes and were suffering from hookworm and infections. the classic toms shoe is modeled after the traditional argentinian shoe.

today, the ole miss student organization hope for africa and toms held an event outside of the union at which students were able to purchase and paint their own toms. while the website and stores sell solid colored or printed shoes, most of these were white. i was even able to get my hands on a red pair. on it i painted romans 10:15, "how beautiful are the feet of those who bring good news." this was toms second trip to our campus, and i hope they'll return. i'll be lined up waiting for them.