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And more!

The military-industrial complex
doesn't help to protect our freedoms

> Hypocrisy and bloodshed in remembering the fallen

Cazzy Lewchuk
Opinions Editor

 

his past weekend, we remembered

the veterans who made sacrifices
to protect civilians. I have absolutely
nothing but admiration and respect for
the men and women who work at great
expense—including giving their lives—
so that we may live in a freer world.

However, there is a particular,
troubling illusion about war that has
dominated North America for the past
fifty years. It is that many wars are not
only entirely justified, but necessary
and continuous for a “free” society. War
is no longer always a global conflict
against absolute evil. It is an industry
that provokes and necessitates invasions
of other countries, killing soldiers and
civilians on both sides. Frequently,
the civilians are not Canadian or
American. So hey, none of our people’s
blood is being spilt, right? North
America lives to fight another day!
This is not the case. We are killing

our own soldiers and many more
civilians in other countries for reasons

of “freedom.” We r
are pouring billions
of dollars into
corporations that
import bombs sold
to other countries,
who then use them to
massacre children.
The military’s
budget, troop count,
and international
presence have gone
up exponentially in
the last few decades.
War is big business
and a huge portion
of the economy,
both nationally and
internationally.
We, as a people.
have a right to
determine where our tax dollars go
and how our country should behave
in peacekeeping or war missions.
There are many cases in which
invasion is justified. Organizations
like ISIS really are enslaving towns
and beheading innocents, and having
soldiers holding them at bay is

Haliburton
charged you
fifty bucks
for this

 

  
   
   

ee TN) ats

Is

Hey, somebody’s got to profit!

important. There are

specific scenarios

like Boko Haram

kidnapping 300
young girls. Maybe
we need to send the
troops in to reclaim
those lives, and to
stop chapters like
this from forming.
The military will
not get smaller, and
their duties are no
less needed. But their
presence must be
justified, not sent for
economic reasons.

Military affairs
are a complicated
factor in international
relations. There
will always be a necessary component
to it. There will always be the morally
grey sense of responsibility that world
leaders feel when they sign orders that
will lead to the deaths of civilians.
New president-elect Donald Trump

has repeatedly shown he does not
understand foreign military affairs.

Image via whowhatwhy.org

  

 

Interestingly, he is less of a warmonger
than his opponent, Hillary Clinton. He
has argued for American isolationism.
In doing so, he may actually reduce
the military-industrial complex within
his nation. On the other hand, he also
argued for more countries to have
nuclear bombs. Perhaps building
weapons capable of vaporizing millions
of people would benefit an economy in
the short term. The US has spent a lot of
money transporting and storing nukes.
We as a population need to demand
better. Every year, we discuss how awful
it is that veterans die in terrible wars. But
we don't discuss why these wars happen,
or the awful truth that they pump
billions of dollars into economies. The
Canadian government made $10 billion
off selling tanks to Saudi Arabia, which
were used against their insurgents,
as well as innocent Yemen citizens.
Was it an easy choice for Trudeau to
allow? No. Was it ultimately beneficial
for Canada? In many ways, yes. Did
the construction of these expensive
tanks in Canada and the blood they
spilled help protect us in living our
free lives? That’s for you to decide.

The problems students face today

> What I learned from ‘This is High School’

Jerrison Oracion
Senior Columnist

 

igh school is a place that everyone

has to go to. You learn a lot of things,
and create memories. Depending on
what year you went to high school, it
may not be the same today. This is High
School follows the daily happenings of the
students and teachers of South Kamloops
Secondary School. While the show might
look like a high school version of Big
Brother, it merely shows the various types
of things that happen in high school.

It is interesting that high school is
so different today than when I went to
high school. The students can use their
cellphones during class. Back then, we
were not allowed to do that. Also, they
have a new curriculum, which means that
they learn things in a new way. One of
the things that is still the same is that the
students have the resource of teachers
and counsellors when they need help.

When students get into trouble and
they see the principal or vice principal,
you may think that they will be punished.
Instead, they all work with their teachers
and counsellor to figure out the problem
and solve it. For example, when a student
was misbehaving and one of the vice
principals, found out, they saw that he

was not being involved in the school’s
lacrosse team very much, and they agreed
that he should be more involved with

the team. Another example is when a
student had a dispute with a friend and
their classmates talked about it on social
media; they settled it with a counsellor.

There is also a time when Gage, a
student, is going back and forth between
working and playing the guitar. So,
while the principal encouraged him to
go to his classes, his teachers allowed
him to enjoy the lessons in his class
by using music to encourage him.

Next, when Austin (who has autism)
had to do an essay that talks about an
important moment in his life, had his
literature teacher, Laura Richter, help him
write it and read it in front of the class.

They also have support workers to
help students out in personal situations.
For example, Karsen has low grades in
math because she has panic attacks that
cause her to be distracted, and some of her
teachers do not know about that. When
she sees a support worker, she tells her
to tell those teachers that she has panic
attacks, and it helped her pass math.

Teachers can also help students
to meet new friends, like when a new
student named Ryan tried to meet new
people, his literature teacher, Teri Thorp,
moved him around the class to meet his

 

classmates. This led to him meeting a
classmate that he would spend a lot of
time with, and later, she would become
his girlfriend. While high school seems
to be different from what we remember,
learning things, having friends and
getting help from teachers is still the
same. While it is unknown if the show

Image via cbc.ca

will be back next season, they may show

what a high school in Ontario looks like.
Now that a show that talks about

high school is done, a show that talks

about the things that you learned

in high school begins with Canada’s

Smartest Person. You might even see

me in the audience of episode three.