So If Dictatorships Are So Bad, Can't We All Just Have Democracy?

Last week, and through creating your projects, you have been looking at how dictatorships can be cruel and completely reject the values of liberalism. From their perspective, the leaders feel completely justified in doing so. However, from our liberal perspective, we have a hard time understanding how people can be so cruel and target specific groups and treat them unfairly or unjustly. This is why so many people supported Trump's bombing in Syria - from a Western perspective, attacking your own people with chemical weapons is totally and completely abhorrent. Many see Trump's actions as a way to stand up for the rights of the people in Syria. The attack on a dictatorial regime who does not support human rights, which are seen as essential in liberal nations, is justified as you are supporting the protection of rights for all people. This goes hand in hand with the justification for the imposition of liberal values on other countries - if we all have the same world view and accept and protect the same ideals, then the world would be a more peaceful and prosperous place. This is easier said than done.

What we will be looking at this week is the reasoning behind why liberal nations have tried to impose their ideals on other countries. From our perspective, it is the most fair and just system to use in your country. But isn't it a little ironic that an ideology that's based on choice and individual rights and freedoms is imposed on other nations??

One example of the imposition of liberalism: The War on Iraq in 2003. Click here for an essay describing the explicit and implicit reasons behind why the United States invaded Iraq in 2003 (Canada did not participate in this war, but we did increase our military presence in Afghanistan to compensate for some of the US military going into Iraq).  Click here for a video to see the timeline of the War in Iraq. Essentially, the reason for the US occupation in Iraq was to help them build a functioning democracy - this would help them and prevent future disputes with other countries. Click here to see what life was like in Iraq 2 years after the US withdrew from the country.

There is much debate about the effectiveness of imposing liberalism on a country that is not prepared to embrace the ideology or doesn't want to embrace it. Look at Germany after WWI - forcing a democracy on a country ill-equipped to run a functioning and effective democracy at the time was one reason that allowed Hitler to eventually seize power. So what's the right answer?? That's what we will be talking about for the next 2 weeks.

Really great series on the War on Terror

What will we be doing this week?

Monday:

• Notes - what's the rationale for imposing liberalism?
• Focused debate 
• You will be given a perspective to argue from. You don't get a choice. Fun!
• War on Terror - A recent imposition of liberalism??

• Pick groups for a group presentation on the Cold War 
• Groups will be picked for you
• You will be assessed on the quality of your group work (by your peers) and your presentation (by me)
• Presentations will be NEXT TUESDAY in class
• They will need to be emailed to me at the beginning of class AT THE LATEST

Tuesday: 

• Work on Cold War Presentations for the entire block

Wednesday: 

• Notes - Start of the Cold War

• Continue working on presentations

Thursday: 

• Rants by Natasha, Soyoung and Kristen
• Practice Writing Assignment:
• 30-1: Arguments/Evidence for Assignment 2
• 30-2: Arguments/Evidence OR Analysis of the issue for Assignment 3
• You can also work on dictatorship project
• Or you can work on your presentation.

Dictatorships

This week, we are going to be going through two different dictatorships: The Communist dictatorship under Stalin in the USSR and the Fascist dictatorship under Hitler in Germany. The biggest thing that you need to focus on is looking at what it was specifically that these dictatorships rejected about liberalism and exactly how they intended to fix it.

List of Dictatorships

Last week, we looked at 5 techniques that dictators use and how that helps them to maintain control. Like we discussed in class, not all dictatorships use all of these characteristics, but they will use some. The stricter the dictatorship, the more techniques that will be used. The main point being that there needs to be a different interpretation of the word freedom and that it is not individual rights that will help achieve the common good of society, but that people give up some of their liberties to help society as a whole to be successful. Only when a society looks out for each other and has common goals to achieve can it truly be successful. 

This will pretty much the only week we are going to spend specifically on dictatorships - a lot more of the detail will come in completing your projects. Like I said in class, I am highly recommending that you hand in your assignment on May 25 - BEFORE grad with a hard deadline of June 2. 

What will this week look like?

Monday:

• Notes on communist USSR

Tuesday: 

• Finish the notes on Stalin's USSR
• Video on life under Stalin's rule

• Life Under Stalin's Rule
• If there is time left in class, you can work on your projects (probably around 20 minutes)

Wednesday:

• The Development of Fascism
• Notes: Hitler's Rise to Power and life under Nazi rule
• Video on life under Hitler's rule

• Life Under the Nazis

Thursday: 

• Rants by Patricia, Carrie and Ryan W.
• Practice writing assignments
• 30-1: Assignment 2 - analysis of the source
• 30-2: Assignment 2 - either interpretation of the sources or defense of position

Friday: 

• First half the class - Work on your projects = 40 minutes
• The Imposition of Liberalism - Do we have the right?? Or, do we have the responsibility??

Democracy vs. Dictatorship

This week, we are going to look at the very basics of what makes up American and Canadian democracy - what do you need to have to be considered a democracy.  By looking at the basics of our political beliefs, and comparing it to those of the American's, it will help to determine whether the system we have in place really is the most effective or not. 

When we think of democracy, the thing that most people think about is having elections and voting. But there are many different things that make up a democracy and knowing those helps to make you a more informed and contributing member of society. Like Montesquieu said, "The Tyranny of a prince in an oligarchy is not so  dangerous to the public welfare as the apathy of a citizen in a democracy."


As citizens in a democracy, we have a lot of rights and freedoms. However, there is the obligation of being a contributing member of society, but not all people know what that looks like. So this week, we will look at what our roles are in liberal society, what values come with democracy, how North American democracies were created and compare the political structures of the United States vs Canada, as we have two different types of democracies. Hopefully, we can look at electoral systems this week as well, which will make next week an opportunity to look at the downfalls of democracy.

On Thursday last week, we started looking at Canada's system of government.

Another Democracy and Its Separation of Powers: Austria

What will we be doing this week?

Monday: 

• Finish notes on Canada's Democratic system and Electoral System

• America's Political Structure and Electoral System

• Go through Dictatorship for Dummies Project and pick a due date

Tuesday: 

• Finish going through the American System
• Assignment: Compare and contrast the American and Canadian political systems

• The Alternative: Proportional representation

Wednesday: 

• Finish notes on Proportional Representation
• Another alternative: Mandatory Elections

Thursday: 

• Rants by Rebecca and Patricia
• Practice Writing Assignments:
• 30-1 - Assignment 1
• 30-2 - Assignment 1

OR

• Work on dictatorship projects
• Be aware that if there is little to no work done on either writing assignment or the projects (ie: a significant proportion of the class is snap chatting, just talking, talking about trucks, texting people, looking at instagram, etc) there will be NO further class time given to work on practice writing or your projects. It will ALL become homework, no exceptions. There is too much to get through for a large proportion of students to be wasting class time doing nothing.

Friday: 

• Dictatorships: start the notes that are the basis of what dictatorships do

What IS a Democracy?

We have all grown up being part of a well established democracy and everybody in our classroom doesn't know a Canada where the Charter of Rights and Freedoms didn't exist. Since we have all grown up with having individual rights and freedoms protected for all people, sometimes it is hard for us to remember or think that hasn't always been the case in Canada. And, I hear it every year, how boring it is to learn about Canada, its history and the government. BUT despite having learned a lot about our country for 12 years of education, it is surprising the number of people who know very little about our political system and how it works. If they did know more, you wouldn't have people saying that it's okay for Kevin O'Leary to run for leadership of the Conservative Party of Canada because "it's not like he's running for Prime Minister." I don't want you to be that person and that's why this second half of the course is so important. 

Let's rewind a little bit to philosophers from the beginning of the semester. One of the most important things that Montesquieu said was that for a democracy to truly function, the people need to participate and be active citizens; having an apathetic democracy is worse than having a dictatorship. So all that information that you learned about Canada is culminating in this year: you've learned about your country for the past 11 years so that you can be a proud, educated and active participant in it. And if you didn't learn things from then, it's even more important to learn them now 😁. 

But we are going to start with baby steps and make sure that we all understand the foundations of democracy. This should take about a week or two to get through the information. Here is a quick introduction:

So what will we be doing this week?

Monday: 

• Review: What do you know about Canada's democratic system?
• Key factors of democracy - you will need scissors and glue for this part of the class

Tuesday: 

• Notes: What does political liberalism mean and what are its values?
• Implementation of political liberalism: The French and American Revolution

French Revolution Video and impact of the Enlightenment

American Revolution Video and impact of the Enlightenment

Wednesday: 

• Article and Focused Reading: Democracy and Liberal Values
• Democracy - What is it and what are the different types?
• Electoral Systems: What's Your Vote Worth??

Thursday: 

• Rants by  McKinley and  Joey 
• Practice Writing:
• 30-1: Practice Writing Assignment 2 - work on thesis and writing an argument/evidence paragraph
• 30-2: Practice Writing Assignment 3 - work on either analyzing the issue/interpreting perspectives OR write your defense paragraph
• REMEMBER: YOU WILL BE DOING ESSAYS FOR MARKS NEXT WEEK, ON TUESDAY AND WEDNESDAY!!!!

Friday: 

• Economics Exam - strictly Multiple Choice. Please don't wait until Thursday to study

The Evolution of Modern Economic Liberalism

Before spring break, we looked at both the pros and cons of capitalism and communism. But, like I said in class, there is no country that has used either one of these ideologies exactly the way in which the theory  said it should be used and the circumstances that it should be used in. Because of that, most economic systems and ideologies are actually a mixture (hence the term mixed economies) of aspects of capitalism and communism. A more right-wing economic system will have more aspects of capitalism - lower taxes, less government services, mostly if not all private property and a greater focus on self-reliance while following a free market. A more left-wing economic system will have more aspects that lead towards communism - higher taxes that are used to provide greater government services to give people a social safety net, public ownership of major industries and corporations, a focus on cooperation to ensure economic equality. As significant events happen in the economy affecting production of goods and service, as well as job security, governments make decisions on what is the course of action to take to solve the problem. Often, the decisions will be a departure from the current economic philosophy to something different only to find the shift back to the original view years later. The point is, as the economy changes, so do economic philosophies; this is why we call it the evolution of modern economic thought :)

One of the first steps in this evolution was the implementation of Welfare Capitalism and the Square Deal. This week, we will look at several other huge economic events and how they helped our economic theories evolve in North America.

So what will we be learning this week?

Monday:

• Shift from Welfare Capitalism to the Welfare State

How it started: The Roaring Twenties

• Notes: The Great Depression in the US

Tuesday: 

• Keynesian Economics - New Economic Theory

• Implementation of Keynesian Economics: FDR's New Deal

The New Deal

Wednesday:

• Expansion of Modern Liberalism - Social Awareness
• As economic liberalism evolved, so did people's desire to help those less fortunate than them
• This evolution spread into society in the hopes of protecting as many rights as possible
• Practice interpreting sources

Thursday: 

• Rants by Cheyenne and McKinley
• Practice writing paragraphs
• 30-1 - Assignment I - You choose to write 2 paragraphs. You can either write to interpretation paragraphs OR an interpretation and relationship paragraph
• 30-2 - Assignment I - One paragraph explaining one of the characteristics for the topic

Friday: 

• Changes that occurred after the Great Depression - Notes

• Canada's Economic System

• Social Programs
• Progressive Taxation

What's wrong with the Left?

Last week, we looked at the downfalls of capitalism and also started to look at the opposite of capitalism: Communism. To start with, we looked at the less extreme version of that, which was democratic socialism. The case study that we looked at to show these values were of Robert Owen and New Lanark in Scotland, which was generally seen as a successful social experiment.

Some of the main ideas incorporate that people are looking out for one another and, in general, are helping the group achieve success and prosperity, as opposed to being individually responsible for that. We will finish up with our discussion of the pros of communism but also look to criticize the idea as well. As with any ideology, there are both good and bad parts of the idea, and like we discussed last week, a large part of that comes with how people interpret those different ideas and how much they actually stick to it.

So what will we cover this week?

Monday: 

• Finish the notes on the pros of communism

Click to see the history behind the development of the board game monopoly

• Practice interpreting sources

Tuesday: 

• Start with the cons of communism
• Case Study: the first communist nation - the USSR
• To go through the cons, we will be doing a quick history of how and why communism was implemented in Russia (which then became the USSR) and how the system actually was run
• History of Communism - Link to history of how communism developed

Wednesday:

• The Cons of Communism - Life in the USSR
• Jigsaw with the case studies
• Discussion: Why were there so many inefficiencies?
• Generalizations - what happens when capitalism is not so great? What happens when communism is not so great?

Thursday: 

• Rants by Tiffany and Danny
• Practice Writing Paragraphs
• 30-1 - adding evidence to last week's paragraphs
• 30-2 - writing your opinion in Assignment 3

Friday: 

• Maybe another pop quiz??
• How the theories of capitalism and communism/socialism were implemented in history
• Stage 1: Fixing the problems of the Industrial Revolution
• Classical Conservatism

• Societal Changes - the government gets involved

Capitalism vs Communism - The Age Old Debate for What's Better

Last week, we started analyzing capitalism and were looking at the benefits of it, mostly through looking at the positive outcomes of the Industrial Revolution. Click on the factory to see a generalized description of the Industrial Revolution and its positive and negative impacts.







Here is a quick re-cap of those positives:

This week, we will be analyzing the negatives of capitalism. There is no way that any idea will not have the good and bad parts to it. Remember, ideologies are the ideal society and it is humans that interpret how to use these ideologies. It is through this interpretation and implementation by individuals that you see the good and bad of an ideology emerge. So, while the Industrial Revolution had some really good things come about because of it, there were also some major downfalls as well.

Here is what our week will look like - the first FULL week of the semester 

Monday

• Finish the notes from last week about the downfalls of capitalism

• Pick case studies for research: Capitalists - Good or Bad??
• You will need to have a device, tablet or laptop today AND tomorrow

Tuesday

• Finish case studies and post them - Half the class
• Start on the positives of Communism - yes, there are positives to the IDEA of communism

The Positives of Communism

• Notes and case studies

Wednesday

• Assignment for first half the class: Case Studies of Capitalism worksheet. Due on FRIDAY
• Finish with the positives of communism notes and case studies

Thursday

• Rants by Ryan Shapka and Tiffany
• Practice Writing Paragraphs due on Saturday:
• Social 30-1: The Arguments for Assignment 2
• Social 30-2: Assignment 3 - analyzing the issue and the individuals

Friday

• The drawbacks of communism - Notes and examples
• Case Study: inefficiencies of the Soviet Union