Reflecting on what you learned about climate change

Surprises about climate change and related issues

You learned about climate change and associated issues. Reflect back on what you learned this week:

What did you learn about that surprised you the most this week?

Did you learn something that is opposition to something you knew earlier?

Did you learn something that you previously didn't know much about?

Is there something associated with climate change that you knew, but the situation has changed?

Remember to offer specifics from one thing you read in class this week. You need to offer a reference to at least one article that you read.

You should offer specifics about your experience and your reaction to/processing of that event. Please make sure you observe the hallmarks of good writing, including writing that is free of errors/typos as well as easy to understand and follow.

I started this week knowing very little about global political systems. I was aware that there are a few other countries under a representative democracy such as Canada, the United States and the United Kingdom. However, I knew very little about political systems such as socialism and totalitarianism. Before coming to class, I was under the impression that socialism was similar to communism and very anti-American. However, during class, I learned that socialism is very broad and can be backing very different countries and parties. I also learned that global issues are often silenced and ignored by other countries. In my discussion board, I read an article that discussed Sudan’s president being wanted for a mass genocide. The article states, “President Trump, Secretary of State Mike Pompeo and other world leaders are largely ignoring these brave protesters, increasing the risk that they will be massacred” (Kristof, 2019, para. 2). I was shocked at this information because there are so many world issues happening that we are unaware about due to lack of knowledge and news coverage.

I felt this week like I knew about global political systems to a certain extent but that I don’t closely watch current events while keeping this in mind. I am a fan of history so I generally know about the political systems of the past and evaluating them through the lens of time. In real time I think we do not always have accurate information, especially from other countries, so it is difficult to evaluate what is really happening. When I did more research on Venezuela, which we discussed in class, I found that it looks like the White House has a broader plan to attempt to dismantle the current governments of both Venezuela and Cuba (Donati, Salama, & Talley,

2019). I find this concerning since in the past, the result of toppling a regime often does not result in a better government in the end.

I was surprised to learn as we went through all the countries that nearly every country has a mixed economy. This is the result of a global economy and the fact that so much of the world is closely tied to each other. The one thing I am still trying to learn about this is what type of effect the President’s attacks on other country’s economies will have on our own. It seems that if we weaken everyone else, we will decline along with them. This will continue to bear watching.