Stressed Elections

Will my family eat tomorrow?  Will I still have my house tomorrow?  Who will lead our country?  Who will be the voice of America?  Will my opinion affect the outcome of the election and thus answer my questions?  These questions are pushing people to their limit and Romney and Obama are playing on their fears while attempting to ease their stress.  People are stressed and nothing is going to change until after the election, but to be frank, it will be a while until people feel comfortable again, which will only occur as a result of the economy regaining momentum.  Even the prospect of a growing economy is not a certainty, yet two men feel they have the answer.

From the perspective of the American people, their lives rest with these two men and their ability to improve the economy.  The foremost thought on people’s minds is how this election will affect them and their family.  Thus, the focus is not on foreign policy, but rather domestic policy.  Eight out of ten people are stressed by today’s economy. (http://articles.cnn.com/2009-03-20/health/economic.stress_1_economy-and-finances-survey-personal-finances?_s=PM:HEALTH)  The economy is in essence, the lives of Americans.  Domestic issues (the economy mainly) covers the bottom of Maslow’s hierarchy of needs.  Food, water, and shelter are the basic needs to survive and all are tied to the economy.  Thus, this is what is most important to people.  Foreign policy falls under the second step of safety; to feel safe in America from foreign threat.

Especially for already decided voters, this is a time of high anxiety.  They want their favorite to win and they feel that if the other guy wins then their economic future will darken.  When they feel that their opinion is expressed in a candidate, then the thought of having their opinion silenced for four years is disheartening.  Freedom of speech is a right in the US, but for your speech to actually hold true power, it must be expressed through a person who actually holds a position of power.

                        

Stress with China and Japan

­            What is stress?  How does one define this overwhelming feeling?  The dictionary definition is “a specific response by the body to a stimulus, as fear or pain, that disturbs or interferes with the normal physiological equilibrium of an organism.”  (Dictionary.com http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/stress?s=t )  Now substitute the word “organism” with “country” and stress takes on an enormous burden.  Recently, stressed countries have been falling deeper into tense states of upheaval.  A quintessential example of this is the conflict between Japan and China which are currently dealing with a dispute over the Diaoyu (Chinese name)/Senkaku (Japanese) islands in the East China Sea.  Both countries claim ownership of these islands and neither side is willing to loosen their grasp.  Japan and China have not seen eye to eye for centuries but this conflict has led to political, economic, and social stress and tension that has not been felt in both countries for decades.  Japan’s 12.6 billion dollars of investments in China puts both countries in an awkward situation.  China cannot afford to continue burning down Japanese factories and kick Japan out of their country because that will cripple the Chinese economy.  Equally, Japan cannot just leave China and all it has invested there.  Both economies are no longer on a peaceful, easy rise.  Their political chess game is causing economic instability in both countries.

            Socially, especially in China, these countries are beyond tense.  At first large anti-Japanese riots broke out in China, but they have begun turning against China and some are even protesting anti-communism sentiments.  For China to maintain their government, they need to have the people pleased and silent.  Initially, it seemed good that the Chinese could rally together under a common cause against an old foe, but when the common Chinese man is given a voice, it starts to backfire and the stress of the citizens’ daily lives are seen for others to witness. This becomes dangerous for China. 

            The official communications between China and Japan are strained and overtly rude.  They are each ignoring envoys and ambassadors at various meetings and canceling many pre-made plans between the countries.  There have been political shifts in both countries so each government needs to portray itself as powerful and in control.  It is safe to say that the “normal physiological equilibrium” of China and Japan has been “disturbed” and “interfered” with.  Unfortunately, national stress affects a wide spectrum of people and spans the globe.  This conflict over a few islands in the East China Sea is not aiding the economic recovery the world needs. 

"Please choose the way of peace. ... In the short term there may be winners and losers in this war that we all dread. But that never can, nor never will justify the suffering, pain and loss of life your weapons will cause. " ~Mother Theresa

Introductory Blog

­­            So, lets see what’s on the agenda for today: seven hour school day, three hour practice, college applications, mandatory two hour presidential debate, and homework in every class.  Well, that seems like a horrible, exhausting typical day with its typical level of stress.  People talk about their stressful day, everyday, like it’s a normal day, but it really isn’t normal to endure Atlas’s burden of stress day in and day out.

            Stress is a universal feeling. It can encompass the world and span the ages.  A baby is stressed because it defecated in its diaper, a teenager is stressed because of school and what surrounds it, adults are stressed because of money and work, and the elderly are stressed because of sickness.  It’s inevitable, everyone will feel stressed.  There is always some aspect of life about which to be stressed.  Now stress is not necessarily a bad thing.  People need stress in their life to motivate, organize themselves, and challenge themselves so they can achieve their goals.  However, there is a line that frequently gets crossed where stress envelopes someone’s life and negative consequences occur.  This is unhealthy stress.  Fortunately, you don’t have to let stress suck the life out of you, like a leech, you can manage it and control it.  Every stressful situation and time is different though, and I am excited to explore these realms of stress. 

            I will start by looking at stress on a large scale, meaning stress that affects a population, for example, a country and the economy.  If a population is stressed, it is bound to transfer to a national level, and from there, to an international sphere.  The Arab Spring is a quintessential example of stressed nations and it continues today in countries such as Syria.  America went through a time period deemed “The Great Recession”, where it is safe to say that our economy was very stressed.  Hurricane Katrina stressed the city of New Orleans, something it still hasn’t fully recovered from though it has been many years. There is a feeling of anxiety that comes with stress that affects everyone, and it isn’t until we can take a deep breath and slow down to answer the question, “why are we stressed?”, that we can truly lift this encumbrance and return to a peaceful life.  

"There is more to life than increasing its speed."~Mohandas Gandhi