Welcome to the Christian Homeschooling Guide to Civics.
I'll assume you already know about America's founding documents, branches of government, patriotic symbols, voting, the election process, Washington, D.C., the presidency, how Congress works, American holidays, and aspects of federal, state, and local government.
Refugees and internally displaced persons (IDPs): Pressures linked to population displacement, which can strain public resources and threaten security. This indicator concerns displacement in both directions: those leaving and those entering a state. Measures include the presence of refugee/IDP camps, refugees/IDPs per capita, absorption capacity, relief efforts, and targeted violence and repression. (Mexican Invasion) ["Labor market mobility" is a pro-business phenomenon. America will look like this for a while after we take over, as the illegals and non-Real Americans are deported.]
Group grievance: Existence of tension or violence between groups, which can undermine the state's provision of security. [The Spirit of the Confederacy: The South Shall Rise Again] Pressures related to discrimination, ethnic violence, communal violence, sectarian violence, and religious violence are included alongside atrocities committed with impunity against groups singled out by state authorities or dominant groups for persecution or repression, and institutionalized political exclusion [Prevention of Voter Fraud.]
Security apparatus: An emergence of elite or praetorian guards that operate with impunity challenges the security apparatus's monopoly on the use of force, [Blackwater/Xe/whatever it's called now]weakening the social contract. Measurements include internal conflict, riots and protests, military coups, rebel activity, and the emergence of state-sponsored or state-supported private militias that terrorize political opponents or civilians seen to be sympathetic to the opposition. [Because 9/11 changed everything]
Factionalised elites: [I'm so sick of "ruling elite", we prefer the term "business community".] A fragmentation of ruling elites and state institutions along group lines undermines public confidence. Measurements include elite power struggles, flawed elections, and use of aggressive nationalistic rhetoric. [A patriotic environment with no political correctness or pandering to foreigners and freaks.]
I'll assume you already know about America's founding documents, branches of government, patriotic symbols, voting, the election process, Washington, D.C., the presidency, how Congress works, American holidays, and aspects of federal, state, and local government.
POP QUIZ: Below is the "Failed States Index" from Foreign Policy magazine, which lists important metrics of national health. Using this, please answer the following:
1. Answer A or B.
(50 points for each idea.)
1. Answer A or B.
A “Name one statistically significant and attributable metric of U.S. national health that improved across the span of either Bush administration.”
B Or: “Name more than a couple of statistically significant and attributable metrics of U.S. national health that did NOT improve dramatically across the span of either the Clinton or Obama administrations.”
B Or: “Name more than a couple of statistically significant and attributable metrics of U.S. national health that did NOT improve dramatically across the span of either the Clinton or Obama administrations.”
(50 points for each metric. Alternative facts are acceptable.)
2. Imagine Hussien Obama is back in the White House. Our Job is to "make Obama fail" and to do so we are willing to "be like the Taliban". List ways we can turn America into a failed state. Hint: look for parts in [square brackets].(50 points for each idea.)
Social indicators
Demographic pressures: Pressures deriving from high volume population density relative to food supply and other life-sustaining resources, [A pro-family "quiverfull" environment where lots of children is the norm] which make it difficult for governments to protect citizens. Pressures include those stemming from disease, natural disasters, population growth, infant mortality, and environmental hazards. Governmental capacity and will to respond to such pressures are considered in the score. [Disasters:Tsunami, Volcanoes, Earthquakes, Hurricanes, Tornadoes,Floods, Climate Change. Food: Famine, Farming, Corn]
Demographic pressures: Pressures deriving from high volume population density relative to food supply and other life-sustaining resources, [A pro-family "quiverfull" environment where lots of children is the norm] which make it difficult for governments to protect citizens. Pressures include those stemming from disease, natural disasters, population growth, infant mortality, and environmental hazards. Governmental capacity and will to respond to such pressures are considered in the score. [Disasters:Tsunami, Volcanoes, Earthquakes, Hurricanes, Tornadoes,Floods, Climate Change. Food: Famine, Farming, Corn]
Refugees and internally displaced persons (IDPs): Pressures linked to population displacement, which can strain public resources and threaten security. This indicator concerns displacement in both directions: those leaving and those entering a state. Measures include the presence of refugee/IDP camps, refugees/IDPs per capita, absorption capacity, relief efforts, and targeted violence and repression. (Mexican Invasion) ["Labor market mobility" is a pro-business phenomenon. America will look like this for a while after we take over, as the illegals and non-Real Americans are deported.]
Group grievance: Existence of tension or violence between groups, which can undermine the state's provision of security. [The Spirit of the Confederacy: The South Shall Rise Again] Pressures related to discrimination, ethnic violence, communal violence, sectarian violence, and religious violence are included alongside atrocities committed with impunity against groups singled out by state authorities or dominant groups for persecution or repression, and institutionalized political exclusion [Prevention of Voter Fraud.]
Human flight and brain drain: Measures related to migration per capita, particularly emigration of the educated population, which often occurs pre- or mid-conflict. Remittances and growth of exile and expatriate communities are also used as measurements.
Economic indicators
Uneven economic development: Group-based inequality, or perceived inequality, in education, jobs, and economic status can create uneven commitments to the social contract within a state. Measurements include group-based poverty and education levels, existence of slums, and fairness of housing and hiring practices. ["We Should Revel in Inequality" - Margaret Thatcher.]
Poverty and economic decline: Progressive economic decline of the society as a whole (measurements: per capita income, GNP, economic deficit, unemployment, poverty levels, business failures, and inflation) strains a state's ability to provide for its citizens, and can create inter-group friction. Also includes failure of the state to pay salaries of government employees and armed forces, [Less money wasted on public-sector parasites and welfare] or to meet other financial obligations to its citizens, such as pension payments.
Economic indicators
Uneven economic development: Group-based inequality, or perceived inequality, in education, jobs, and economic status can create uneven commitments to the social contract within a state. Measurements include group-based poverty and education levels, existence of slums, and fairness of housing and hiring practices. ["We Should Revel in Inequality" - Margaret Thatcher.]
Poverty and economic decline: Progressive economic decline of the society as a whole (measurements: per capita income, GNP, economic deficit, unemployment, poverty levels, business failures, and inflation) strains a state's ability to provide for its citizens, and can create inter-group friction. Also includes failure of the state to pay salaries of government employees and armed forces, [Less money wasted on public-sector parasites and welfare] or to meet other financial obligations to its citizens, such as pension payments.
Political indicators
State legitimacy: Corruption and lack of representativeness undermine the social contract, as citizens lose confidence in state institutions and processes. [People know how bad government is.] Measurements include corruption [free speech, according to the Supreme Court's Citizens United ruling] or profiteering by ruling elites [trust liberals to call the profit motive a bad thing!], resistance to transparency, level of democracy, illicit economy, and protests and demonstrations
State legitimacy: Corruption and lack of representativeness undermine the social contract, as citizens lose confidence in state institutions and processes. [People know how bad government is.] Measurements include corruption [free speech, according to the Supreme Court's Citizens United ruling] or profiteering by ruling elites [trust liberals to call the profit motive a bad thing!], resistance to transparency, level of democracy, illicit economy, and protests and demonstrations
Public services: Disappearance, or lack of, basic state functions indicate a state's inability to perform one of its key roles. Measurements include essential services, such as healthcare, education, sanitation, public transportation, police, and infrastructure. Also examined is the use of the state apparatus for agencies that serve ruling elites, such as security forces, executive staff, central bank, diplomatic service, customs and collection agencies.
Human rights and rule of law: The violation or uneven protection of basic rights mark a failure of a state to execute its primary responsibility. Measurements include press freedom and civil liberties, as well as any widespread abuse of legal, political and social rights for individuals, groups, or cultural institutions (e.g., harassment of the press, politicization of the judiciary,[Citizens United, Bush V Gore] internal use of military for political ends [or turn the police into soldiers], public repression of political opponents, religious or cultural persecution).
Human rights and rule of law: The violation or uneven protection of basic rights mark a failure of a state to execute its primary responsibility. Measurements include press freedom and civil liberties, as well as any widespread abuse of legal, political and social rights for individuals, groups, or cultural institutions (e.g., harassment of the press, politicization of the judiciary,[Citizens United, Bush V Gore] internal use of military for political ends [or turn the police into soldiers], public repression of political opponents, religious or cultural persecution).
Security apparatus: An emergence of elite or praetorian guards that operate with impunity challenges the security apparatus's monopoly on the use of force, [Blackwater/Xe/whatever it's called now]weakening the social contract. Measurements include internal conflict, riots and protests, military coups, rebel activity, and the emergence of state-sponsored or state-supported private militias that terrorize political opponents or civilians seen to be sympathetic to the opposition. [Because 9/11 changed everything]
Factionalised elites: [I'm so sick of "ruling elite", we prefer the term "business community".] A fragmentation of ruling elites and state institutions along group lines undermines public confidence. Measurements include elite power struggles, flawed elections, and use of aggressive nationalistic rhetoric. [A patriotic environment with no political correctness or pandering to foreigners and freaks.]
External intervention: Intervention by external actors into a state's affairs signals a state's failure to meet domestic or international obligations. Measurements include level of foreign assistance, presence of peacekeepers or UN missions, foreign military intervention, sanctions, and credit ratings. Intervention by donors, especially if there is a tendency towards over-dependence on foreign aid or peacekeeping missions, is also considered.