Week 1- the climate crisis
This week our “politickers” chose to talk about the Climate Crisis, an issue that is “significantly impacting the planet and will lead to irreversible and detrimental damages of our world” (Michelle Lee Yim). The Climate Crisis is extremely germane to our everyday lives and widely discussed not only in Congress but across all world forums.
On Wednesday, co-founder of the Surfs Up Project Michelle Lee Yim led our info session about this issue on our Instagram story, as she unraveled the profound and complex aspects of the Climate Crisis.
“…Climate change is not just a scientific, ecological problem: it encompasses various areas of studies from economics, politics, sociology and more, which is why the IPCC states that the extent of the effects of climate change on individual regions will vary over time and with the ability of different societal and environmental systems to mitigate or adapt to change…” (Michelle Lee Yim)
To listen to the full session, check out the “Info Session #1: Climate Change” on our Youtube channel or check our our highlight on our Instagram.
Additionally, high school students Rajan, Ana, and Michelle also shared their opinions on the issue:
“The climate changing is an issue. The world’s temperature is rising, weather is getting more chaotic, the polar ice caps are melting, and so many more harmful environmental events are happening. That is undeniable. But solving climate change – that is where we as a society seem to fail to agree upon nearly anything. Some people say its not man-made and its natural. Some people say it needs to be solved within the next 20-30 years. Some say we have passed a point of no return and all we can do is try to delay the apparent inevitable of cities being put underwater by rising water levels. This lack of continuity in ideas represents the core problem with climate change: not the fact that it is happening but the fact that we as a country and a global society fail to agree on the extent of climate change as a problem. We span the entire spectrum from thinking its not a problem, to thinking it’s the most pressing problem in today’s world. Before anyone even thinks about trying to solve or fix climate change, they needed to answer the more pressing question: is this really the most pressing issue today? If ANYONE can get a majority of the people to agree to one side of that answer, then they have just about solved the hardest part of climate change: getting us to agree on how to move forward; once we can agree on that, the rest becomes far easier. Today, politicians and activists alike get lost in the hype around their cause, and forget the fundamental principle of how this government and society should work: consensus. We try to hard to fix the issue, without explaining to the others why we think this is an issue, and getting them to come to a consensus with us.”- Rajan, 16, NJ
“2 years ago Hurricane Harvey hit Houston. My family spent days locked up inside, with backpacks ready, waiting for the moment we would have to leave our apartment and find shelter. While my family was thankfully not hit very hard and neither were my closest friends, you could see the devastation and despair around the city. Scientists have talked about how Harvey's rainfall was about 15% higher than it should have been because of climate change. I can't say I completely understand the weather and all the science behind climate change and the climate crisis we are currently going through, but I know how devastating Harvey was for Houston. I know people who have lost their life savings trying to get back on their feet, and I know people who never managed to get back on their feet. Houston is a big city and we were fortunate enough to receive federal aid and media attention that came with many donations. But what about Puerto Rico? I cannot imagine coming from the place of privilege I come from and having seen the effects of Hurricane Harvey, how devastating the effects of the climate crisis will be on less fortunate communities. We have seen the effects and we will continue to see them. It's not something that will happen at some point in the distant future, it's happening now. It's not a topic for different political parties to debate because it's not a democrat or republican issue, it’s a human issue.”-Ana, 17, TX
“Global warming is a serious issue that should be handled immediately. As we continue to hesitate, the planet is continuously getting ruined. Yes, there are many things that can be done in individual levels - planting more trees, raising awareness, volunteering, walking or taking public transportation, the list goes on and on. And yes, even though such actions may seem insignificant, if it is carried out for a long period of time by a large group of people, we will start seeing results. However, we have to stop acting like global warming is an issue that can be handled in an individual level - informing the public about what we can do to save the earth is good, but we need to tackle the bigger issues. The corporations and manufacturers that find loopholes in environmental laws and regulations to raise revenue must be boycotted. The laws itself should be altered to create stricter measures, as clearly what we are doing right now is not working. If we continue on this rate, there might not be a sustainable ecosystem to inherit to our future generations.”- Michelle, 18, NJ
Week 2- immigration reform
The issue our followers chose this week is a hugely controversial topic of discussion that has spearheaded many news headlines and continues to be debated nationwide: the broken system of immigration. The topic of immigration reform has a myriad of stances, as our country struggles to seek common ground and find a viable solution that appeases all. To solidify the dissenting opinions into two main pillars are as follows- some believe that the solution to curbing illegal immigration is building a border wall with Mexico, deporting millions of undocumented immigrants, and temporarily banning Muslims, while others believe that a broad reform will incentivize illegal immigration and ultimately lead to another large undocumented population. Moreover, politicians have been under pressure by public outrage as the amount of deaths have risen in the immigration detention centers or “internment camps” due to the lack of proper food and adequate healthcare.
Seventeen year-olds Noah, Ella, and Naomi commented on the issue:
“The immigration debate, like many, has been one in which members of the left have intentionally misled and misconstrued the right’s arguments to distract. To have a productive debate, the left must acknowledge one very important fact: The right does not hate immigrants. The right has literally no problem at all with immigrants. Our problem is with ILLEGAL immigrants. The ones who have undeniably broken United States immigration law. The common belief among right-wingers is that when someone breaks a law, they must face the consequences of breaking that law. This would include illegal aliens who choose to avoid entering the US at a port of entry. Sadly, Americans can not even agree on that idea which was once generally accepted as common sense. In fact, it has become “racist” to even believe that ILLEGAL immigrants are criminals. Yes, you are now a racist if you believe that people who broke the law are law-breakers.” -Noah, 17, NJ
“America is the land of the free. The American dream is something people work hard to accomplish whatever that dream may mean to them. Other countries are not as safe as ours. People try to come to America to escape the horrors of their own home. Everyone living in America has come from another place at one point in their history. Yes, we need to make sure the people coming are here for the right reasons, but we shouldn’t make it so hard for them.”-Ella, 17, NJ
“…there are many cases where people are not granted entry even though they are trying to escape horrible events and conditions in their Home Counties. Yes they are illegal BUT we need to change the accessibility of immigration so people can come and live in the home of the free. They themselves are not criminals but the system has failed them and that’s what needs to change.” - Naomi, 17, NJ