The Fog of War

Being a Secretary of Defense in any state doesn’t only mean being someone who sometimes consider as principal assistant to the President in all matters and has an authority, direction and control over the Department of Defense. It is not just a duty, but a mere obligation for the welfare of state. Being appointed in that particular position is being the person in charge in the chain of command, both for operational and administrative purposes.

War can be defined as a state of armed conflict between different nations or states or different groups within a nation or state, in the film, fog of war is considered as complex and it’s beyond the ability of the human mind to comprehend all the variables.

What does it feel to be the Secretary of Defense under John F. Kennedy and Lyndon B. Johnson who were the two former president of United States of America?

Well, Robert S. McNamara, who is best known for helping lead the U.S. into the Vietnam War is the highlight of the film. The life of R.S. McNamara is not a typical life of a government servant, for him it is the period of moral consequences on how to defend the state where he belongs.

 Human Nature is a behavioral traits of humankind and it is regarded as shared by all humans. “Not being rational”, as McNamara said.

Nobody’s perfect, in this world full of circumstances, we all make decisions that are not acceptable by the people around us. We all make mistakes, and even the highest and most respected official makes it.

All things are possible, anything can happen within a day, an hour, minute or even in a smack of second. Giving your best toward difficulties is a good sign of perseverance which I learned in the portion of never say never.

Norman Morrison who is known as a Quaker, at first I had a glimpse of consciousness of why he is known for that term, as I listen further I was like “oh God!” am I hearing it right or maybe the sounds are cracked up. But then, what I heard was real.

Morrison doused himself in kerosene and set himself on fire below Secretary of Defense Robert McNamara's Pentagon office which leads to his death. Morrison’s wife issued a statement or shall I say a moving statement that “Human beings must stop killing other human beings”, which McNamara shared as his belief for many times.

War is cruel. War is cruelty, and in order to do well, you have to engage in evil. In liberalist’s point of view war and aggression are inevitable but can be moderated.

International level of analysis is very close to this topic where McNamara and LeMay focus on their strategy for the goals of their state.

Responsibilities are vested to any officials like McNamara and LeMay who was then trying to save their nation and prepared to do whatever killing was necessary. For others, it is inhuman and difficult to understand. Omniscient or understanding is important in connection with neighboring countries. Preparation is needed for it changes every time.

Belief and seeing are both often wrong, sometimes we tend to believe on what we want see which is wrong which makes us blind that covers the reality.

International Relations lies near in the heart of many matters such as public concerns, as well as in the business world where competition is high.

Profit is an essential thing for marketers, it is the fruit of their labors. Getting the data are important for economic matters, in a study made by the manager of Ford Company,

it can be concluded that people who can afford more but spend their money on cheaper things are professionals such as doctors, professors and lawyers etc., they are wise enough when it comes to consumption. Many people won’t believe that Americans wanted cheaper cars.

Robert S. McNamara became the first president of Ford Company who is not part of the Ford family, unfortunately after five weeks he quit, not because he wasn’t capable of the field but because he has something to do which is a great responsibility after all.

Someone introduced himself named Robert Kennedy (brother-in-law of Jack Kennedy) who was authorized, offered to McNamara the position of Secretary of Treasury, out of surprise he said that he knows little about finance, after a while R. Kennedy asked him the position of Secretary of Defense. It was a great opportunity for McNamara as being one of the highest paid executives in the world. Many things will change. McNamara insisted that he was not qualified for that position but Kennedy asked McNamara to assume the responsibilities of Secretary of Defense right away.

The U.S. - Japanese War can be classified as the most brutal wars in human history, many cases of suicide were recorded.

Curtis LeMay who was the finest combat of any service for McNamara, but many thought that he was a brutal man. By LeMay’s command, two nuclear bomb was dropped in different cities of Japan. Proportionality should be a guideline in war, McNamara’s point is a critical concept that killing people should be proportional on objectives to achieve their goal.

McNamara said that LeMay was the only person that he knew in the senior command of Airforce who thinks on the loss of his crews per unit of target. LeMay was focused on one thing, which is to target destruction.

On the other hand, McNamara admitted that they had a problem in maximizing efficiency, he said that things must be done in a short period of time to eliminate non-important scenarios especially in times of war where time is something that could make anything.

A responsibility is something beyond one’s self, McNamara took philosophy classes such as logic and ethics which he is proud of. After graduating at University of California, he then went to Harvard Graduate School where he earned his Master’s Degree in business.

In his comeback to San Francisco, it was the period where he starts to build a family of his own.

Life of McNamara is something worth studying, for he was a man of Excellency. McNamara has sharp analytical skills in his work which he used on military situations. Another thing where McNamara is famous of being innovative manager of Ford Company in promoting safety for consumers or buyers.

For McNamara, it is important that the human race should be a wide-thinker of conflict. People must engage in understanding the real meaning of war and the killings behind it. Many officials of McNamara’s time was Rational, which came that close to total destruction of their societies that exists today, for McNamara, it was luck that save and prevented them from nuclear war.

Generals Maxwell Taylor and Curtis LeMay were the persons who advocated bombing in Cuba, for them they should strive hard when there was still time and advantage of missiles.- a rationalist one.

 “Rationality will not save us”, making mistakes is a situation where we lost our control over something we are not aware of effects.

When it comes to Individual level of analysis, I shall connect it to the people in charge of decision making. Decision makers are not just a group of people or individual who strive for something that can benefit their country, they are individuals who thinks of the nature and causes of their choice and perceptions.

 “Emphatize with your enemy”, which greatly affects the crisis. McNamara suggests that in order for them to understand the opinions of their enemy, they should look through the eyes. They were really close to that Cuban Missile Crisis that can result to a major problem of state.

First thing that stayed in my mind was the word empathy, what does it feel to be the oppressed? Or oppressor? It’s not because you are on the peak of something today means you won’t ever get down. We should be matured enough that life is but a dream, we are the controller of our life but each of us has destiny that no one knows.

“Coercion, after all, merely captures man. Freedom captivates him.”-Robert S. McNamara

Title: Small is Beautiful by 

E.F. Schumacher

 

Introduction: 

Economic challenges lies near in the heart of many matters,such as public concerns,public health,government,people's welfare and especially in the world of business.

Part One

First and foremost,we have to tackle what are the economic challenges our country faces from history up to now. Some says that today we are living in the world full of circumstances,circumstances that even ancient medieval philosopher had not resolved.

To continue with this,may I ask you what our country thinks of resources?

Resources,from the word itself "source",some are recyclable and some are not.

In our every day living,we may think of what would happen if one of our basic needs is consume in high rate,that even government cannot maneuver.

Energy sources are classified as nonrenewable if they cannot be replenished in a short period of time,unlike the solar and wind which can be replenished in a short period of time.

Fossil fuels were formed from the buried remains of plants and animals that lived millions of years ago,wherein according to Schumacher is an expendable income,for him it should be treated as capital since it is not renewable. Good allocation of fossil fuels should be maneuver with great care for it is used by many countries.

Philippines is rich in natural resources. It has fertile, arable lands, diverse flora and fauna, extensive coastlines, and rich mineral deposits. About 30% of the land area of the country was determined be geologically prospective by the Philippine Mines and Geo-Sciences Bureau. But Only 1.5% of country's land area is covered with mining permits. Despite the rich natural resources of the Philippines, the government is restricting its exploitation. A logging ban is imposed on many areas of the country and only in select areas are "sustainable logging" allowed.

However illegal logging and small-scale illegal mining continues in many areas. In July 2012, President Benigno Aquino III ordered a stop to all mining activities in all (78 areas) protected and eco-tourism sites. A positive step in the right direction to protect the natural resources of the Philippines.

Oil can be concluded as an important commodity of today's economy.Its supply to different country has a great impact on its price.

What makes the oil change its price is by means of "supply and demand",which is the basic lesson in economics.But it is not only the thing that make the oil change in price,there are many various reasons such as "Market sentiment" and "Cyclical trends" which also play a dominant role.

Philippines as a consumer of oil is greatly affected by Oil pricing,knowing that our economy is not as strong as other Asian countries. Changes in the price of oil affects our everyday. From transportation up to the very basic needs of people like food production.

Part Two

Great thinking comes from great man. Schumacher believes that human being is naturally brilliant. It has a unique quality that makes human different from any other species. Motivation in someone's personality is important especially in Third World countries.

For example,here in the Philippines,we are blessed with our nature's beauty but it needs to be conserve.

If we will look back in the past,we may think of western civilization on how they preserve their history as well as their cultures and traditions. Many great philosophers and thinkers were native of Western country,and up to now we still rely on their theories and analysis which made our educational system a good one for giving importance to those who share their knowledge for us to cope up with the challenges.

Education doesn't mean having a "sobra saliente" grade, but it means learning on something which you can use in real life situation.

The real value of education is something to be kept in mind as treasure.

If we will relate this in our country (Philippines) we can see great discrimination between out-of-school youth and those who study. The problem is,people thinks that out-of-school youths are those people who lacks brilliant mind,not knowing that people has different situations. Some are due to broken family,some are due to financial problem and some are due to the social classes that discriminates those who cannot afford.

Land is an essential thing in every country. It is where our home stands and where our foot,steps. Man is a child of nature,and he is not the master of nature,or shall I say "we are not the master of this nature"

To boost up the lesson, the land is very important in Agriculture for it has a unique ability to be an instrument to make various agricultural products such as vegetables,fruits,grains and especially land as habitat for animals.

To continue with this, People has a human nature of exploring new things to be unique over others. Its like they want to experiment little things for them to be acknowledge by others. 

In the world of industry,it is quite important to know the season. For you to be able to produce things that will be sold by consumers. For girls,beauty products is very important. It is a well-known product many years before the 20th century. 

The question is how can we know the value of commodity? well it is simple as a basic two plus two math problem. The value of commodity can be objectively measured by the average number of labor hours required to produce the commodity.

To generate heat, nuclear power is used. It includes nuclear fission, nuclear decay and nuclear fusion. It helps in the way that it can produce electricity in a very low price compared to solar energy.

But it can have a slight risk of accidental contamination.

When I think of my dad, I smile.

I smile not because he throw jokes and funny things at me when I was a child but because I know that he is the only man in this world that won't turn his back on me no matter what happens.

People look down on my father because he is not a college graduate, but it never let him turn his head down. Instead, he used it as a foundation to be strong. He reminds me that no matter what other people say to our family, all I have to do is smile and focus on my dreams because I got him on my back.

Though my father does not wear a coat and tie on his work, he still has the passion for learning. When someone corrected his wrong doings, he listens carefully and accepts every critic wholeheartedly.

Though he has no stable job, I’m proud to be his daughter.

I’m proud to be a daughter of someone who is indestructible and someone who thinks of his family's sake before his own.

I come from a family that puts so much hope in education, that's why my father grabs every work opportunity to let me and my siblings be able to go to school. 

As a student, my father is my inspiration to pursue my study. Because of him, I am now a fourth-year college student and I will be forever grateful to be born, because of him.

POSC 3053 MODERN POLITICAL THEORIES

Term Paper

NATIONALISM

As we embrace this ironic view in life that change is the only permanent thing in this world, questions arise on what urges the human to be in this type of nation. A Human has the capability to decide on his own perspective, abilities are given to us and we are consider as the highest form of being. It doesn’t mean that animals don’t have the ability, the difference between animal and individual is: the latter being trained to do well while the former are gifted.

Man has the various senses unlike any other species. We can analyze the probability and developed more things on our own thinking. The time we spend for our progress does not define our intelligence, it merely discusses the difference between individuals.

Giuseppe Mazzini: THE DUTIES OF MAN

Explains that the man’s absolute duty is to serve his family and spread humanity to his community, followed by his patriotism. This book declares that the nation that has a united and organize form of government is the highest state above all. To achieve the organize nation is to be united by language, economic goals, principles and cultures.

Mazini believes that God created the divine design of unity until the greedy monarch proposed different political ideologies and intervene with corruption and various anomalies.

Oh my brother, love your country!

Our country is our home,

The house that God has given us.

Theodor Herzl: THE JEWISH STATE

In the early life of Herzl, he had already observed the difference between the lifestyle of German people and a Jewish national. He then asked his self on why this matter came up when everyone is consider equal from the beginning. Jewish people experience extreme oppression from the Germans.

Theodor, as a part of secular Jewish family, became the Father of Modern Political Zionism. Zionism is synonymous with the word Jerusalem and a movement for the re-establishment of nationalist Jews. This supports the Jewish culture and the historic land of Israel.  

 “The rich can make you famous,

But only the poor can make you a hero.”

Adolf Hitler: Mein Kampf “My Struggle”

Edited by Deputy Rudolf Hess, this book is an autobiography of the national socialist Adolf Hitler. The first volume discusses the early life of Adolf with his parents. The second volume explains that strong man is the mightiest alone. The reason Hitler targets the Jewish people is because he had an ideology that to destroy the weak and sick is far more humane than to let them live and have protection. For Hitler, it is just a waste of money, time and effort. 

“Those who want to live,

let them fight,

And those who do not want to fight in this world of eternal struggle

do not deserve to live.”

Thoughts have great power, they are like seeds you plant in your mind.

The more you hold onto a particular thought, the more power you invest in it. Positive thoughts give us energy and strength. Negative thoughts rob us of power and make us feel tired and strained.

We are by nature positive. Negativity is the result of faulty thinking. You can change if you want to. You can’t control other people, situation or circumstances, but you can control what is going on inside you. It takes time to change and transform those old patterns of thinking.

Be patient with yourself. It starts with a thought….. Today!