Our Election Matters Blog - Eleazar Perez

 

Our Election Matters

           Having midterm elections around the corner means that Americans will have to decide on who they want to elect as members of congress and governors. As the day approaches on the 8th of November, many Americans will cast their vote for their candidates of preference. Importantly, many issues such as health care, education, law and order, immigration, racial divide, and the economy are amongst the topics of interest for most. One issue of interest to most Americans in this time of year is inflation, with fears that we may head into a recession. Another issue most Americans are concerned and worried about is the open border policy that President Joe Biden has been in favor for since being appointed president. Often times we have heard of the movement of 'defunding the police,' and while many support it, a great amount of other Americans are against it. Having crime also be an important factor in this midterm election is one of the reasons as to why people are speculating that republicans are going to win in both the senate and house of representatives. Issues like the ones mentioned is why so many Americans will be heading to the polls to vote, it is only a matter of time to know where the path of America's future is heading towards based on the decisions made by many Americans. 

Group 3 Presentation - Health Care and Education 

    Group three gave a great great presentation on health care and education. Both of these topics are amongst the topics of interest for many Americans in this midterm election. Many Americans wish for a free health care program where many Americans would have access to healthcare while others simply do not want such a mandate. I liked how they did provide  information about the two different political parties' view on free health care. Also, the presentation also demonstrated the countries that are in favor of such health care programs. What group three had to present about prescription drug prices, homeschooling, abortion, and gun control was also very well organized and structured. Although personally, their points are not in concordance to how I may view certain issues, they were certainly very informative to us. 

    My attention was caught specifically by the pros and cons that certain health care programs have. It was something that was not really brought to my attention for much importance but definitely gave a great opening. They also provided pictures in demonstrating why such an act could be beneficiary to many Americans. They then went to talk about how psychological therapy became very important especially in the peak of the pandemic which was certainly very depressing for many Americans. Many Americans suffered from anxiety and depression due to lockdowns that were taking place during the pandemic, and honestly many people did need psychological help to cope with their problems. They also mentioned how the current Biden administration has tackled big pharmaceutical companies by lowering prescription drug prices by taking part of the inflation reduction act. 

    Group three also mentioned home schooling, teacher shortage, student loan forgiveness, gun control which has also captured the attention of many along with abortion. As many Americans saw the decision that the supreme court decided to do in overturning Roe v. Wade, many Americans became furious claiming their right was taken. Conservatives backed the overturn because they believe a child has a legal right to live and shouldn't be taken in vain, while democrats stress that a woman's body is her own, and the decisions made by women should be respected. 

Finally, I think this presentation was well presented, very informative, and straight to the point. The points mentioned are really some of the bigger issues many Americans are casting their votes for certain people. It will be a very important election which will shape the trajectory of America as a whole. 

Group 2 - Law and Order and Immigration 

    

      

       Group 2 presented two of the most controversial yet important issues that many Americans are worried about. Immigration has been a long-going issue with the present handling of the Biden administration. Having also researched the topic of immigration, I also saw how many southerners from the states of Texas, Arizona, and Nevada are very frustrated with the handling of illegal immigration. Not only does illegal immigration come to most Americans' minds, but also the dangers and upsetting stories that surround such an event. Many bring children that make extreme life-risking sacrifices such as crossing the Rio Grande that separates the United States from Mexico in the look for hope in living a better life. We also spoke about law and order which is very important to many people, but controversial as well for many when discussing. 

    Group 2 however started to speak about crime rates. We went to discuss how different cities around the nation experience more violence and also saw the connection in higher crime rates being reported in lower income communities. This topic is certainly true and very important because it shows why some communities are safer or more dangerous than others. We then shifted our attention to immigration which in my personal opinion was my favorite issue to research and learn about. We spoke about border control and how dangerous of a path migrants have to go in order to seek a better life. In my personal opinion, it is very interesting how we as a country are allowing anyone that wants to come to simply enter. It is very dangerous to us Americans. Interestingly, 100 exact people out of the 5 million people that have entered into the United States are on the terrorist list. To us Floridians, it may not mean much, but for people in the border states, having unknown people from anywhere in the glob can turn to be alarming. As most Americans tend to think, it is not only Mexico where illegal immigrants are coming from. Places such as the middle east, Africa, Asia, and Europe come in. 

    In addition, group 2 went to present on the shipment of illegal immigrant to democrat-run cities. This movement of shipping illegal immigrants in busses throughout the states is a call for action by several republican governors to capture the Biden Administration's attention. They do such events to demand border protection and claim that a country without borders is simply not a country. The reason why governors like Abbot from Texas and Desantis from Florida have done this is to simply have the democrat cities feel the 'invasion' (as they call) that the southern border is facing. I also went to discuss the economic effects that illegal immigration has on the U.S. economy. In addition, I also mentioned how there could be certain dangerous for illegal immigrants such as exploitation and reduced medical services because of their undocumented status. 

    In conclusion, my group presented an extremely controversial topic but extremely important one. It is to the best of my hopes that our classmates understood the dangers of illegal immigration. I personally enjoyed researching this topic because long before even having interest in politics or immigration, I never realized until looking deep enough how dangerous illegal immigration can be for both the migrants and us citizens at home. 

Group 1 - Racial Divide and the Economy  

    Group one presented racial divide and the economy. Sadly, we live in a world were multiple people discriminate against a person based on their color or ethnic background. To some people, it is violent-hateful crimes that take place, but for others many different forms of discrimination is present. Group 2 started presenting about the economy. Group 2 mentioned the industries that support Miami's economy. Some of the industries that support our own economy in south Florida are, financial services, telecommunications, international trade, and tourism. They also mentioned how in Miami more jobs were created than not. That is significant for us as Floridians because we have a thriving economy down here at the south with a prosperous local government.   

    They also went to discuss how income inequality is also being seen in Miami. One of the remarks mentioned was how the wealthy are getting richer while the poor are becoming poorer. They also went to provide certain details as to white people's earnings in comparison to African American people and the differences were great. They also showed a video as to why there still exists segregation in South Africa. Sadly this still exists and will continue to exist in the years to come. Hopefully more people become aware that hate is not the way to go. I learned a lot from all three presentations and was very much informed on certain issues facing the nation. To everyone that presented, you did an amazing job and thank you for the information.