Initially, this article would have been dedicated to how the third-party vote changed the election. We now know that it would not have come close even if all the third-party votes were given to Kamala Harris. I know half of the country is extremely confused and shocked at this result; I spent over 30 hours analyzing data provided by CNN and other networks, along with looking into how he pulled it off and why, to answer many who are looking for one. I will be frank: these answers are not ones anyone wants to hear, but half the country must understand why this became a loss and the steps to recover from it, which is why this is the perspective of an independent perspective, neither left nor right.

On November 5, 2024, the head-off between Donald Trump & Kamala Harris went forward. Polls stated it was a 50/50; Allan Lichtman, who had predicted 9/10 elections before this election (He states the Supreme Court stole the 2000 election, so it should be 10/10), predicted for Kamala Harris.

Kamala Harris unexpectedly became the nominee after Joe Biden dropped out, and the Democratic National Committee did not hold a primary.

Donald Trump went through a primary but did not participate in any debates; he still won 49 states and all American territories besides Vermont and Washington, D.C.

Joe Biden's approval ratings were 38% on November 4, 2024. Kamala Harris's most significant disadvantage in this election was her boss, Joe Biden. Despite this, she did not successfully distance herself from him, as when she was asked on The View if she would have done differently than Joe Biden in the past 4 years, she stated that there was nothing that came to mind.

Joe Biden publicly stated that he delegated her domestic and foreign policy duties and that he and Kamala "rose from the same song sheet."

Donald Trump was involved in numerous court cases, was convicted of 34 felonies for falsifying business records, and was categorized as an election denier by the Democratic Party. He lost the 2020 election by 43,000 votes due to the Electoral College, which he has not conceded to this day.

You might ask, "Why can a convicted felon run for the Presidency in the first place?"

The context is that the founding fathers, in the eyes of Great Britain, committed the gravest crime, Treason. Since they couldn't foresee the future, they left a safeguard in case an incumbent President used powers to disqualify an opponent that popular by prosecuting and convicting them as felons to disqualify the opponent from the ballot. This was the measure Vladimir Putin used against Alexei Navalny, who was going to unseat Putin until he had Navalny charged and disqualified from the ballot; the founding father's view is that it should be left up to the will of the people if it would matter or not.

Kamala Harris has been Vice President since January 20, 2021; her approval ratings before becoming the nominee were 16% favorability, as stated by Statista.

The results & analysis

Donald Trump has won the popular vote for the first time since 2004; he is on track to surpass his 2020 vote numbers as well; he is 585,962 votes away from suppressing it as of writing this, and by the time this is published, he is expected to have surpassed it, he has also won all seven swing states with a total electoral vote count of 312. House and Senate are under GOP control, and the majority of governorships and state legislatures are under GOP control. Let's go into depth with some analysis thanks to exit polls provided by CNN.

We'll look at overall polls and then move to some states.

Latino Voters who stated that the economy is the most important issue

66% Donald Trump

33% Kamala Harris

Latino Voters

53% Kamala Harris

45% Donald Trump

You might think, "Wow, she did good," but Biden did significantly better in 2020 with Latinos.

Asian Voters

56% Kamala Harris

38% Donald Trump

Donald Trump has done better than 2020.

18-29 voters

55% Kamala Harris

42% Donald Trump

2020 CNN

36% Donald Trump

60% Joe Biden

Despite Donald Trump being the oldest elected President in history once again, he made gains with 18-29 voters compared to 2020. Platforms like TikTok, Joe Rogan podcast, Full Send Podcast, and others appealed to men Gen Z. In contrast, TikTok appealed to both men and women of Gen Z. Trump's changing stance on the TikTok ban in March 2024, while Kamala Harris stood by the legislation Joe Biden signed along with memes, is what helped him with women, as both genders and the same generation are very prominent on the platform. Here are two memes from both campaigns. Kamala is known for coconut tree meme and the album BRAT by Charli XCX was used by Kamala Harris supporters in the campaign.

Gender by race

Take a look at this chart.

Voters who believe neither Harris nor Trump are too Extreme

64% voted for Donald Trump

28% voted for Kamala Harris

Voters who believe both Harris and Trump are too Extreme

62% voted for Donald Trump

22% voted for Kamala Harris

United States Rural Voters

63% voted for Donald Trump

36% voted for Kamala Harris

Compare that to 2020

57% voted for Donald Trump

42% voted for Joe Biden

United States Suburban Voters

50% voted for Donald Trump

48% voted for Kamala Harris

Compare that to 2020

48% voted for Donald Trump

50% voted for Joe Biden

It's a complete switch.

64% of Native Americans voted for Trump.

We'll also look at a couple of states as well.

The first state we will look at is Michigan. I have been predicting Michigan to go red as a protest vote against Kamala Harris for her not changing her stance on Gaza and Lebanon.

Latinos are 60% for Trump and 35% for Harris

Biden won Latinos by 11 points in 2020

U.S. support for Israel is 62% too strong for Harris and 37% too strong for Trump.

Less than 50% of Muslims in Michigan supported Harris, and Biden won Muslims by 65-70% in 2020, according to the Council on American Islamic Relations.

In Dearborn, Michigan, a Muslim Majority City, Trump + 7 in Dearborn

For the House of Representatives: Tlaib, a woman Democrat +32. This disputes the reason behind Harris losing because of her gender.

North Carolina

Party Identification Independents

70% Kamala Harris

28% Donald Trump

Black men

78% Kamala Harris

21% Donald Trump

Feeling about the way things are going in the U.S.

6% Enthusiastic

21% Satisfied

43% Dissatisfied

27% Angry

Wisconsin

First-time voters who said yes

58% Donald Trump

41% Kamala Harris

18-29

49% Donald Trump

49% Kamala Harris

Opinion of Joe Biden as President

61% Disapproves

38% Approves

Georgia

Party Identification Independents

54% Donald Trump

43% Kamala Harris

Donald Trump went up by 20 points compared to 2020

More important issue (Described as 'welcome news for Donald Trump by CNN)

40% Economy

28% Democracy

14% Abortion

11% Immigration

3% Foreign Policy

Regarding Kamala Harris winning by a smaller margin in blue states, we'll use one comparison and one-time measurement.

New Jersey, a traditionally blue state, took until 3:35 AM CST on November 6, 2024. Ifat if Biden had stayed in the race, it would most likely have flipped.

Chicago

61.8% Kamala Harris

37.0% Donald Trump

Chicago 2020

82.5% Joe Biden

15.8% Donald Trump

All of this data shows that Donald Trump has made improvements nationwide, as all 50 states + Washington D.C all shifted to the right compared to 2020, this means while California is a one-party state, Trump gained more voters in California, this effect occurred everywhere.

One overlook of this election that has not been discussed are the commitments of diehard supporters of political candidates. One individual, Scott Presler, significantly impacted the Presidential Election in Pennsylvania. After Donald Trump lost the 2020 election, Scott Presler moved to Pennsylvania and created the organization Early Vote Action, where a team organized by Scott Presler spent the next 4 years registering as many new Republicans as possible, and tackling into new voter groups like the Amish, who usually do not vote in elections, but brought them into the Republican party by issues such as inflation, which affects all Americans no matter political party, and cultural wars, which the Amish are attracted by the Republican’s position on. I have yet to see an equivalent version of Scott Presler for the Democratic Party, and this is something that they must address. This also shows how dedicated some Americans are by someone like Donald Trump, that they would move to a new state, and spend 4 years straight just to help their candidate win. The Democrats must have a candidate in 2028 that can reproduce the Obama effect. Scott Presler has now said he plans to make an impact in the Supreme Court elections in Pennsylvania and flip the Governorship in New Jersey to Republican in 2025, and then the midterms in 2026. In most elections, the incumbent party in the white house loses either 1 or both chambers of Congress, and the last time this did not occur was in 2002 after 9/11, and it would be surprising if a 2002 result occurred in 2026.

Why did Donald Trump win?

Here is my point of view on how Donald Trump did the impossible; I will describe it from a perspective that makes all of us understand what the majority of this country thought when voting for Donald Trump.

Many issues were going on in this country. Despite figures stating that inflation was lowering, prices stayed high, impacting everyone, no matter the political party they supported. It appears that when the Democratic party pointed to macroeconomics when discussing the economy, it angered voters as they felt it was condescending that the incumbent political party is telling voters that they are wrong, despite the high grocery prices and other high prices that they live through daily.

When individuals point to core inflation figures, those figures exclude food and energy prices as they are considered volatile.

Immigration was a huge issue because many legal citizens felt that undocumented immigrants were cheating the system by getting paid for resources such as free hotel stays, prepaid cards, and more despite entering the United States unlawfully. At the same time, they had to go through a long process to enter the United States legally. Another issue with this is a term called "Migrant crime," where undocumented immigrants who are let into the United States go on to commit crimes like shoplifting, rape & gang rape, sexual assault, murder, and more. Many of the victims are people under the age of 18.

War was another issue. The electorate viewed Donald Trump's first term as one with 0 new wars going on in the world, so taxpayer money wasn't being spent on funding one side of a war. When the Ukraine war started, the electorate supported sending aid. Now, with the economy, border, and other issues all affecting the taxpayers, there is less support for continuing to send aid to Ukraine. Yes, the majority of it was weapons.

A common theme in identifying issues in this country is statistics vs the eyes of the people; while the majority of aid sent to Ukraine was weapons, taxpayer money was spent on transportation and production, and seeing that billion-dollar figure angers the electorate.

The Israel and Hamas war is a serious issue that affected the Democrat turnout for Kamala Harris. On October 7, 2023, Hamas launched an attack on Israel. Israel responded with a full-scale invasion of Gaza and later invaded Southern Lebanon. The world watched as videos of Palestinian and Lebanese Civilians being killed, many of them children, were watched all around the world, a missile hitting a hospital tent, where children and adults connected to ivs burnt to death, pictures of dead newborns killed, and many more. Muslims in America who consistently voted Democrat were shocked, and so began the protests.

All over the nation, since October 7, 2023, protests began over the country, especially on college campuses, they were demanding an the end to the war and for universities to divest from Israel, same with businesses to divest from Israel, some led to property damage and other violations of the law while some were peaceful.

This did not create any quick change, so they focused more on protesting the Biden-Harris administration at the State of the Union and in the offices of democratic politicians. The biggest one was at the Democratic National Committee convention, where pictures of attendees covering their ears before entering as protestors chanted the names of Palestinian children killed in Gaza were shown worldwide, this pushed a divide between two sides of the democratic party.

You might ask, "Why didn't they do this for Republicans?" they did, but not on a large scale, and it's for a simple reason. These protestors are aligned with the Democratic Party; they have voted Democrat 100% of the time, so it is their party and they want their party to change. That did not happen at all. I predicted that Michigan would flip to Republican due to this, and Michigan did flip back to Republican this election cycle.

This became very clear when Kamala made her closing argument at the same place where Trump did his January 6th speech, where protests were large; Kamala Supporters kept moving farther from where Kamala was speaking so they could try to hear her over the chants.

Kamala also angered many individuals who protested the Iraq War. The Iraq War was a war started in 2003 when the lie was promoted that there were weapons of mass destruction in Iraq by the architects of the war George W Bush, Dick Cheney, Donald Rumsfeld, Collin Powell, John Bolton, Condoleezza Rice, David Frunn, David Brooks, Jeffery Goldberg, Judith Miller, Joe Biden, this has to stop here because otherwise it would become an unbelievably depressing 800-page book.

The reality is that most of the D.C. foreign policy blob signed up to push the Iraq War, and for the most part, they're all still there, several big steps up the career ladder, just blobbing away. (Source: The Intercept)

Over 1 million civilians were killed in Iraq, along with over 7,000 service members. There were no weapons of mass destruction in Iraq.

You'll ask, "By the way you describe this, why haven't there been any war crime investigations like in other situations?"

In 2002, before the war started, the American Service-Members' Protection Act, known as The Hague Invasion Act, was passed into law with bipartisan support. This bill protected groups of people from being prosecuted by the International Criminal Court for War Crimes. If they are held, the bill authorizes the government to use all means necessary, including invading The Hague, to free them. The bill states Covered United States persons" (defined as "members of the Armed Forces of the United States, elected or appointed officials of the United States Government, and other persons employed by or working on behalf of the United States Government") and "Covered allied persons" (defined as "military personnel, elected or appointed officials, and other persons employed by or working on behalf of the government of a NATO member country, a major non-NATO ally including Australia, Egypt, Israel, Japan, Argentina, the Republic of Korea, and New Zealand"

Any government official is exempt from being prosecuted for war crimes, even after office.

Kamala Harris spoke about Dick Cheney's endorsement during a townhall; she campaigned with his daughter Liz Cheney, George W Bush's daughter volunteered for her campaign, and she spoke an article written by Jeffery Goldberg, who used his power as a journalist to promote the lies that led to the Iraq War, Goldberg's quotes were put into the Congressional Record at that time as well, his article which discussed that allegedly Donald Trump stated 'I need the kind of generals that Hitler had' and more. The Atlantic, which published this article, also later made another one after Donald Trump called them out for the article, which article stated, "When someone attacks the messenger rather than the message, they're usually revealing something."

Kamala Harris promoting Jeffery Goldberg's article, along with associating herself with individuals described as 'warmongers,' put her in the eyes of the people as someone who would spend billions on war instead of helping the people through their suffering.

As stated before, Donald Trump is a convicted felon for 34 counts of falsified business records. This is known as the weakest case out of the 4 cases. Analysts believed that this would hurt Trump badly. The opposite happened; Trump was already campaigning for the 2024 presidency when he was convicted. The case in which he was convicted, the New York hush-money case, had very significant problems, which made it irrelevant in the eyes of the majority. First is that the Manhattan District Attorney's office investigated in 2018 and then declined to pursue the case; after Donald Trump declared his candidacy for the 2024 election, in early 2023, the Manhattan District Attorney's Office revived the case, and the grand Jury announced an indictment. The second issue is that for it to be a felony, there has to be an underlying crime; the Jury did not unanimously decide on the underlying crime, which is why some analysts believe it would eventually be overturned. They unanimously agreed that he was guilty of the charges but not of the underlying crime.

Trump was campaigning on fixing many issues that the people were suffering from, so when they saw the conviction and his other cases, they believed that the elites were trying to stop him from ending the suffering of the people, which is why when Trump got convicted, he had raised $34 million on that same day. It was clear that Trump could make mistakes, and the electorate ignored it because they believed in his actions in regard to issues like immigration, crime, border, and economy and ignored the words that he said. This is the only explanation for why the "Puerto Rico is a floating island of garbage" by comedian Tony Hinchcliffe at the Madison Square Garden Rally in New York did not impact Trump with Latinos, as Democratic operatives were saying. Republican operatives state that "Latinos like crude humor, which is why they did not take this as seriously as others have. "Only the Hispanic community can verify if this is true or not; that is what is claimed, and if the Republican operatives are correct, it will make sense why Trump still gained massively with Latino voters. Puerto Ricans vote for Trump increased by 26%.

His assassination attempt in Butler, Pennsylvania, further strengthened him; he was within centimeters of death, and he turned his head to look at a chart comparing illegal immigration from his administration to the current administration when the bullets were fired. The bullet hit his ear, most likely grazed. He got up, raised his fist in the air, and yelled, "Fight, fight, fight". This action showed the people that he would keep fighting no matter what came his way. Though this did not significantly impact the issues that voters care about, it changed the focus on himself as a candidate compared to the 2020 election results, when Trump denied the 2020 election results. It is essential to mention that while numerous individuals state that no bullet hit Donald Trump's ear, the Federal Bureau of Investigation, along with the Wall Street Journal, debunked this claim.

Social actions played a considerable role in his victory. Trump made French fries at a McDonald's because, as he states, 'Kamala said she worked at McDonald's when she never did.' He drove a garbage truck after Joe Biden, on video, said Trump supporters were garbage; the White House changed the transcript when the video stated what he actually said, which hurt Kamala further. He went on podcasts, the biggest one being Joe Rogan; Trump agreed to his terms, and the same offer was made to Kamala Harris; she stated she wouldn't unless Joe Rogan flew to her and that it was only an hour compared to Trump's 3-hour interview. Kamala Harris later on flew to SNL to do a skit; this was a major political miscalculation, as it showed Kamala could have flown to Joe Rogan, her not willing to do 3 hours of unedited show inauthenticity, a common theme in why she lost. These actions promoted the populist image of Donald Trump as someone who is in touch, compared to Kamala Harris.

Kamala Harris tried the positive route of her campaign, which would work in every circumstance but the one she was placed in; some slogans were "Turning the page," We aren't going back," and Joy." This would make sense in a successful first term, which would help her in an election. The circumstances she was placed in instead showed to people that, once again, she was out of touch; while she was trying to promote joy, the majority of this county didn't have anything to feel joy about, grocery prices were high, crime was high, inflation is eating away paychecks, it is hard to focus on joy during all of that, while Donald Trump was always pessimistic, saying things like "this country has gone to hell," "Kamala, you're fired get out of here," "We won't have a country anymore if she wins." In usual circumstances, at least 40 more similar quotes would hurt his campaign. Still, in the circumstance of this election, he expressed anger, which resonates with the majority of this country that are angry; they felt like they found someone who was realistic about the situation and said that they would fix the issue. Realism is a colossal mark of the 2024 election because the data shows that being realistic and pessimistic in circumstances like this helps a candidate.

A major one that promoted Trump's populist image was the massive celebrity endorsements like Cardi B, Taylor Swift, The Avengers cast, Billie Eilish, Olivia Rodrigo, Beyonce, and more. All of these endorsements and celebrity appearances at rallies made the people think, "She's hanging out with all of these rich and successful people; she's parading them while we are struggling economically to live." Making her seem very out of touch with the working class. It gave the "Working class vs Eliteism" atmosphere that kept building and building.

Another reason is Kamala Harris herself. In the 2020 primary, she did not make the top 10 candidates; this time, she was essentially crowned the nominee, angered registered democrats that they didn't have a say. She received over 1 Billion in campaign donations. Still, it seems that the Democratic National Committee mismanaged money, and questions should be asked of the DNC finance chair, Chris Korge, and DNC Treasurer Virginia McGregor about how one billion+ became 20 million in debt. In a town hall where Kamala Harris was asked what she'd say to a voter who's skeptical to vote for her because of Gaza, she pivoted to grocery prices. For some time of her campaign, she did not have a policy platform on her website, and when she was starting to discuss some ideas, the people thought, "You are the Vice President; President Biden said he delegated domestic policy to you; why hasn't it been done?". She also alienated independents by calling Donald Trump a fascist; Biden relied on the independent vote to help him win the 2020 election.

According to Democrats who criticize Kamala, opposition to torture was removed from the Democratic platform, and this enraged the anti-war democrats even more. She made Trump the focus of her campaign, gambling all the campaign funds and the whole election on the belief that if they simply said "Trump is bad" in so many different ways, they'd win the election. Telling the people who are suffering 'Trump is bad' will not make them vote for Kamala Harris, and that is shown in this landslide election. She is also described as highly inauthentic for switching her positions from what she said in 2020 on fracking, mandatory gun confiscation, abolishing ICE, her history of prosecuting individuals for weed, a video of Kamala Harris bragging about prosecuting parents for Truancy which was used against her in the 2024 campaign, and was called out in the 2020 Democratic debate for keeping inmates past their sentences to use them for labor, and withholding evidence that would had kept someone off of death row until she was forced to do so by a judge. The primary campaign is a training session before the general election, and Kamala Harris skipping the training session impacted her ability to campaign against Donald Trump.

She also repeated the same lines at her rallies like a script, which was used in Trump campaign ads. One extremely divisive ad states, "Kamala is for they/them, Trump is for/you." We all know the issues regarding this ad, but CNN and other outlets have stated that this ad is one of the most effective of the election cycle.

If only one of these mistakes is said, it's recoverable; if it is two or more, as the incumbent party with dissatisfaction from the voters, it is the political version of shooting yourself in the foot.

Another reason is the Media; everyone has said this already. But all the negative connotations like Nazi, racist, fascist, dictator, and more are redundant. In the eyes of the people, while they are personally suffering and see that the media they go to are praising the Biden-Harris Administration and their policies, talking about how good the economy is, they feel a sense of mistrust and mistrust in the media is a massive blow to how we get our information, they resort to other methods to get their news, and they feel like "I cannot even make ends meet with these high prices, but the media is praising the administration in charge during this suffering?". This is also why voters did not trust economists when stating that Trump's economic plan would be worse, as these are the same individuals who said that the economy is going well, another group of people that voters distrust. Obama stating that Trump inherited his economy did not help things either; if this logic was used by both sides indefinitely, every predecessor would be either blamed or credited for the economy. At the same time, the current sitting President doesn't get any credit or blame.

This also includes the social media operation launched by Kamala Harris, known as KamalaHQ. There are two primary issues with KamalaHQ.

Their operation on TikTok seemed extremely hypocritical, as Harris has stated, "We do not intend to ban TikTok. That is not at all the goal or the purpose of this conversation. We need to deal with the owner, and we have national security concerns about the owner of TikTok, but we have no intention to ban TikTok," Harris told ABC's "This Week."

The issue, of course, is that a TikTok divest bill is a TikTok ban, as the Communist Party of China refuses to sell Byte Dance to another buyer. Since Joe Biden signed it into law, it goes into effect January 19, 2025, 1 day before the inauguration of Donald Trump. Donald Trump used to be for a TikTok ban, but he changed his position in March 2024, stating that banning TikTok would create unfair competition and empower competitors like Meta, formerly known as Facebook, which, in his view, empowers Mark Zuckerberg. President-Elect Donald Trump recently made a legal filing asking the Supreme Court to pause the Tiktok ban date of January 19, one day before he takes office after a meeting with the Tiktok CEO. It is expected that he will give the 90-day extension and find a way to prevent Tiktok from being banned.

The second issue is on Twitter, now known as X; there is a feature called community notes where misinformation is flagged under posts linked with sources. It was revealed that KamalaHQ ran an operation to downvote all proposed community notes to ensure they wouldn't get flagged; this led to the creation of KamalaHQlies Twitter account, where under each post, they fact-checked. Independent voters on the platform saw this and further gained distrust; their posts that turned out to be misinformation overshadowed the legitimate posts, completely backfiring.

Another reason is that she specifically chose to pander to Reagan Republicans to turn out for her, which is why she campaigned with Liz Cheney. This was the most prominent political miscalculation of her campaign; gambled it all on traditional Republicans to make up for the votes she would lose from pro-Palestine and anti-kamala Democrats. The result? Kamala Harris got 5% of Republicans to vote for her; Joe Biden got 6% in 2020.

Lastly, Joe Biden. That is one of the biggest reasons why she lost. Joe Biden is a career politician; he's experienced and has always wanted the two-term presidency since his first presidential run in 1984. While it is said that he stepped down, he had no choice; his donors refused to give any more money after that debate performance, then members of his party started calling for him to step aside, then elite insiders also joined in on this, Biden stated initially been that he would never step down from running, in the end, he did. Reports said that the Biden and Harris aides argued over this entire situation. Jill and Joe Biden seem to have decided that they aren't going to bow down and let it happen and collapse the whole Democratic Party with their forced departure. They both succeeded. In my opinion, Joe Biden's final operation was 'Not so fast, Kamala.' he sometimes started doing press conferences and events while she did rallies. He kept linking himself to her by saying that he delegated foreign and domestic policy to Kamala and that he and Kamala "rise from the same song sheet," he also started slipping up words such as calling Trump supporters garbage, which harmed Kamala's campaign significantly. There was a moment where, at a small event, Biden put a Trump supporter's hat on and signed it with a smile. Jill Biden wore red when going to the polls to vote. It is not accidental; the Biden family members are career politicians. Biden was in a good mood when congratulating Trump as well. He felt betrayed by the party he championed for 50 years.

Understanding why some predominantly red states voted for progressive policies but voted Republican on the federal level

Republican states voted for Republicans in federal elections but for progressive policies on the state level.

Examples include:

Arizona - 52.2% for Donald Trump & 46.7 for Kamala Harris

Prop 139 on codifying the right to abortion in the Arizona state constitution

Yes - 61.6%

No - 38.4%

Missouri

58.5% for Donald Trump & 40.1% for Kamala Harris

Amendment 3 - Right to Abortion

51.6% Yes

48.4% No

Montana

58.4% for Donald Trump & 38.5% for Kamala Harris

Constitutional Amendment 128 - Right to Abortion

57.8% Yes

42.2% No

While Florida's ballot measures require 60%, it is important to list it to show support for abortion.

56.1% for Donald Trump & 43.0% for Kamala Harris

Amendment 4 - Right to Abortion

Yes - 57.2%

No - 42.8%

It's simple, but we'd need to go back in history to figure this out.

In the Civil War, southern Confederate generals chose whatever their state decided to do, which was secede from the Union, because they felt more connected and loyal to their state and not the federal government. The same mentality, minus the racism and the horrific views, exists today.

Think of it like this: voters: a lot of the time, Republican states and even in other states entrust Republicans to lead the federal positions and even state positions but vote directly for progressive policies like abortion, minimum wage, and sick pay leave.

The reason is simple. No one can take away those policies without a public vote. If you take the few progressive policies you like about the Democratic Party, vote for their implementation. There is no more reason to vote democratic; those policies that the voters care about are implemented statewide since the majority don't plan to move; it's a perfect scenario for these voters: they get the policies they want, and the rest of the Republican policies that they love are implemented federally, and Donald Trump stated in his view that he supports whatever each state decides, even the 'liberal' abortion ballot measures as in his view, the people vote and decide & not a court, this further emboldens Republicans voters in states to vote yes on abortion ballot measures.

Podcasts

Podcasts were a massive part of this election.

16.53 hours of Trump available time compared to 3 hours of Kamala.

124 million views with fourteen podcasts for Donald Trump

4 million views with five podcasts for Kamala Harris

Source: Colin & Samir YouTube Channel

It is subjective if people think either the candidate discussed policy or not; what isn't subjective is that it played a significant part in a candidate's perception. Interviews have always been a thing; a paid journalist hired by a private media organization asks a question. The same goes for a debate. On the other hand, a podcast is run by civilians, either a group of friends or an individual who owns the podcast, not only asking but discussing with the guests who they are to get to know them besides from those interviews, speeches, and debates.

This exists on both sides of the aisle, with the Tucker Carlson podcast on the right and Pod Save America on the left.

One incredibly interesting individual is Joe Rogan. Now, he's perceived as someone on the right, but he was a Democrat who endorsed and supported Bernie Sanders, Andrew Yang's Universal Basic Income, abortion rights, higher minimum wage, and government healthcare, and he never voted for a Republican until 2024. He spoke after the election on the proposed rules the Harris campaign gave to him, such as no discussing weed, and it cannot last 3-4 hours as his podcasts usually do.

How does something that's always been democratic suddenly shift to Donald Trump? The answer lies in the 2016 and 2020 Democratic Primary. Bernie Sanders was seen as a man who would use a sledgehammer against the Democratic elites and move the party onto a different path, a populist-left candidate who garnered enough support all around the nation, the democratic elites were and are still heavily disliked, and individuals like Joe Rogan believed that Bernie Sanders could revive the Democratic Party and turn it into the party of the working class with no elitism controlled by democratic donors.

During these primaries, Bernie Sanders supporters, otherwise known as 'Bernie Bros,' were heavily trashed by the media, accused of sexism and other terms. This tactic is usually used against the Republican Party, but this time, it occurred at the base of a single political party.

Fast forward to 2016, a class-action lawsuit, Wilding et al. V. DNC Services Corporation, was filed against the Democratic National Committee and its then-chair, Debbie Schultz. They accused the DNC of violating the charter by favoring Hillary and breaking neutrality promises. The DNC said that as a private entity, it is not legally bound to follow its charter's neutrality clause and could if it chose, select its candidate through internal processes without primary elections. This cemented the claim that the Democratic elites stole the nomination from Bernie Sanders, and as these Bernie Bros felt betrayed and, in their view, slandered by the party they consistently voted for, they left in massive droves in protest, and many ended up in the Republican Party.

A common theme among Democrats who became Republicans was that they did not leave the Democratic Party, but the Democratic Party left them. This was first popularized by Ronald Reagan in 1962 when he explained why he became a Republican: "I didn't leave the Democratic Party. The Democratic Party left me."

It is clear that when some say, "The left needs their own Joe Rogan," There must be more work to ensure that individuals like Joe Rogan do not leave the party in the first place ever again. As if this trend continues, electorally and statistically it becomes more difficult to recover from political losses.

The same, while not related to podcasts, can be applied to Elon Musk, who is a controversial figure to many now, but there was a time when he too was a full-on Democrat; he donated to Obama and Biden, along with voting for him. A similar reasoning to that of Joe Rogan was used to explain why Elon Musk suddenly became a Republican. The same applies to Robert F Kennedy Junior, the son of Senator Robert F Kennedy, brother of President JFK, then Tulsi Gabbard, the 2020 Democratic presidential candidate.

The Republicans have always stated, "We need our own George Soros," referring to Soros, the very rich billionaire who contributes to democratic campaigns and can sway results by donating to a candidate via various methods. It now seems that they have managed to get their own George Soros, Elon Musk, who now runs a Super Political Action Committee named 'America' that donated over 100 million to help the GOP win in 2024.

This claim negated this cycle because, according to Kamala Harris, she raised 1.4 billion for her campaign compared to 350 million rounded for Donald Trump and Elon Musk regarding his financial contribution, which did not impact this election. However, his social media platform Twitter (now called X for some reason) might have, which I'll dive into another time if that is the case; it is still an important note to the fact that Elon Musk is now a Republican after being a long-time Democrat.

The international effects of the victory

Even with President-Elect Donald Trump not in office yet. Numerous things have occurred. The Houthis, who control Yemen, have announced that they are ceasefire on international ships, Hamas has called for an immediate end to the war in Gaza, China President Xi Jinping has stated it hopes for a peaceful co-existence with the US, Putin states they are willing to negotiate the end to the war in Ukraine, Iran currency has fallen after Trump's Victory, Crown Prince MBS of Saudi Arabia says he wants to strengthen relations with the U.S. You might ask, "Why didn't this happen under Biden," there is no explanation for it, I have tried doing research but only the leaders themselves know the answer.

What's next?

A lot needs to change in the Democratic Party. A landslide lost them that no one could have predicted. The Senate has 53 senate seats for the Republicans. The House has 215 Democrats and 220 Republicans, with 218 needed for a majority, the Republicans will keep the majority. The majority of state legislatures & governorships are Republican-controlled. Trump slammed the margins of blue states; he is the first Republican since 2004 to win the popular vote, and he increased in every demographic.

First things first, Democratic National Committee chair Jaime Harrison must resign, his first post on Twitter after the election losses were to call Bernie Sanders's statement "Straight BS," the rest of the Democratic National Committee, Vice Chair Gretchen Whitmer, Vice Chair Tammy Duckworth, Vice Chair Henry R. Muñoz III, Senior Advisor Cedric Richmond, ASDC Chair and DNC Vice Chair Ken Martin, Secretary Jason Rae, DNC Treasurer Virginia McGregor, and DNC Finance Chair Chris Korge must resign from their spots in the Democratic National Committee and be replaced, similar to how Rishi Sunak's leadership had to go, and Rishi Sunak himself after a loss as leader of the U.K. conservatives party.

Update: Jaime Harrison will resign from his position.

The democratic elites must either go or listen to Bernie Sanders's advice. They must listen to the concerns of the democrats who did protest votes against them because of a specific policy, mainly Gaza.

To other Left-leaning people and Democrats, I say this. Hoping for Latino Trump, 3rd party or non-voters to be deported, insinuating that all Latinos are undocumented, hoping for police brutality on Black Trump, 3rd party or non-voters hoping that Trump destroys Palestine to Muslim Trump, 3rd party or non-voters (even though it's still being destroyed as we speak), and hoping that women trump, 3rd party or non-voters be forced to have a kid against their will, will not make people vote for the Democratic party again. Many of these people voted for Biden in 2020 and voted for someone else but Harris this time. I will remind people that Trump also won the popular vote; the majority of this country has voted against this theory that shaming people to vote for your candidate won't work. The messaging must be fixed, and the Democratic Party needs to be welcoming of various opinions because Donald Trump took advantage of that and created a diverse politician coalition of RFK Jr and his supporters, Tulsi Gabbard, and former democrats like her, Muslims, African-American, and Latino voters many who voted Biden in 2020, donors who donated and supported Obama and Biden like Elon Musk, and many more people. You cannot cancel someone for not having the same opinion as you because, as you have seen, a landslide loss is guaranteed.

Secondly, the Democratic Party needs to be honest on various topics like Roe vs Wade.

Let me explain how Congress works. While the House is a simple majority, meaning majority = pass, the Senate works differently than that. There is something called the filibuster, which is the safeguard against bills where the minority party can block a bill. Both sides have used this method before. Even with Trump winning and getting a majority in the House and a majority in the Senate, he does not have 60 senators. The Democrats can filibuster bills, just not nominations, as in 2013, the Democrats abolished that. Once something that changes the filibuster is passed, it can never be readded. There is something called the 'nuclear option' where 51 senators can abolish the filibuster. Neither side has tried this; the Republicans like the filibuster and will never remove it; the democrat's position depends on which democratic senator you ask.

A national abortion ban will never occur unless the Democrats suddenly give up on filibustering. My question that we all must ask is why haven't they ever codified it in the rare times they had the supermajority or abolished the filibuster when they had the majority to codify it? I feel like it is strictly for fundraising purposes; abortion is the one thing they prevail over the GOP on, and if they codify it, they lose funding.

While Donald Trump has denied Project 2025 numerous times, it is expected to feel skeptical if Donald Trump reverses this promise; as stated before, the filibuster exists; it is entirely up to the Democratic Party if they should filibuster or let it happen.

Abortion rights into state constitutions in 7 states have passed; Nevada will need to vote again yes in 2026 to officially codify it; in 3 states, it failed, with Florida requiring 60% on all measures, and it got 57%. At this rate, most states should codify it in their state constitution within this decade. The Democratic Party needs to stop acting like anything can be done on the federal level unless they promise to abolish the filibuster clearly and dedicate their resources to funding abortion rights measures on state ballots.

Gay rights are protected no matter what because of the Supreme Court ruling Obergefell v. Hodges & that a gay conservative rights group was at the RNC Convention.

Transgender rights are the only ones that are at risk of changing the status quo, such as removing transgender women from women's sports, locker rooms, and restrooms, as well as banning gender-affirming care for everyone under the age of 18. Adults gender-affirming care will stay. ACLU is ready to sue the incoming trump administration if they try enacting these policies.

Regarding Trump's mass deportations, I looked into what he stated he would do. Trump has said that families or undocumented individuals who've been here a long time and have committed no one are not the priority; their focus is on deporting undocumented immigrants from severe crimes to least severe. The ACLU has stated that they plan to sue the Trump administration if they try this. Mass deportations have never been done before, and as I write this, they haven't finalized anything besides the info I have provided. Remember that organizations like the ACLU have been prepared and are on standby.

One concern that needs to be discussed is the reliance on labor from undocumented immigrants on the economy. My personal view is that I feel like large corporations are exploiting their labor for cheap; if an undocumented immigrant files a complaint, they will get deported no matter who is in office. This sounds awfully similar to the Southern states telling Abraham Lincoln that if he took away their slaves, their economies would collapse. A discussion must be held with both sides on how to address this issue without wrecking the economy and the homes that they have built, as many have children who are U.S. citizens. Although third parties might be small, their input should also be considered.

If you want to know what you should do, only one thing exists: next time the midterms are held and in states apart from the regular run-off cycle is when you can pitch in for a change:

One thing that I feel is the most important thing that we as a country must discuss is this: I personally lean to the left, but we cannot be cutting off people for their political opinions. I get your perception that, in your opinion, Trump will take away your rights, but I'm going to be very blunt. This election wasn't close; Trump achieved a massive landslide; he improved on every single state and Washington D.C compared to 2020, he slimmed blue state margins, he gained on every demographic, he has the Senate, most likely the House, he won the electoral college, and the popular vote. Cutting people off will make them stay with whoever they have voted for; calling them fascists, racists, and other terms will not suddenly make them vote Democrat again. In my view, it is arrogant because you're hurting the 2026 midterm chances by doing so. If you continue to antagonize Trump voters, 3rd party voters, and people who didn't vote, it will be loss after loss after loss, and the ideas that you want this country to vote for will never come to reality.

We also must not focus solely on one media source. The one way to analyze what the other side is thinking is by going to right-leaning new sources for democrats, left-leaning new sources for republicans, and for us independents, well, we are already checking out both sides of the news. Understanding the other perspective is how you can start discussions. This is why I will be listing a quote from CNN Senior Political Commentator Scott Jennings, who is a conservative Republican, as I believe we all must hear the perspective of a massive supporter on his side, who is also the CNN commentator, and credits to CNN transcripts for providing this transcript.

"COOPER: Scott, what are you looking, what do you expect the next couple months to be like once he's in?

SCOTT JENNINGS, CNN SR. POLITICAL COMMENTATOR: Well, look, he has an opportunity here to try to unite the country after a huge victory. This is a mandate. He's won the national popular vote for the first time since, for a Republican, for the first time since 2004. This is a big deal. This isn't back in the office. This is a mandate to do what you said you would do.

Get the economy working again for regular working-class Americans. Fix immigration, try to get crime under control, try to reduce the chaos in the world. This is a mandate from the American people to do that. I'm interpreting the results tonight as the revenge of just the regular old working class American, the anonymous American who has been crushed, insulted, condescended to.

They're not garbage. They're not Nazis. They're just regular people who get up and go to work every day and are trying to make a better life for their kids, and they feel like they have been told just to shut up when they have complained about the things hurting them in their own lives. I also feel like this election, as we sit here and pour over this tonight, is something of an indictment of the political information complex. I mean, we've been sitting around here for the last couple of weeks, and the story that was portrayed was not true. We were told Puerto Rico was going to change the election. Liz Cheney, Nikki Haley voters, women lying to their husbands. Before that, it was Tim Walz and the camo hats.

Night after night after night, we were told all these things and gimmicks were going to somehow push Harris over the line. And we were just ignoring the fundamentals. Inflation, people feeling like they were barely able to tread water at best. That was the fundamentals of the election.

And so, I think that both parties should always look at the results of an election and figure out what went right and what went wrong. But I think for all of us who cover elections and talk about elections and do this on a day-to-day basis, we have to figure out how to understand, talk to, and listen to the half of the country that rose up tonight and said, we've had enough. "

Time magazine and various news publications reported on Trump's victory; here are the different headlines

The will of the people has spoken, and populism has spoken; no matter how much disagreement exists, we respect it, have civil discussions to bring people back, reshape & reanalyze the policies and the party, and bounce back. The majority have decided that they believe Donald Trump is the better option despite his flaws and that they will experience the excellent economy Trump had pre-covid. That decision is called democracy and is how our Republic operates, not a one-party state; losing sucks, it really does, but recovering and moving forward to 2026 is all that can occur.

Donald J. Trump will be inaugurated on January 20, 2025. He will be our 47th President. He will be the second President in history since James Garfield in 1892 to serve two non-consecutive terms, meaning he won 1 term, lost his re-election, and ran again successfully. He was the first Republican in 2004 to have won the popular vote. He will have either 53, the last time since 2018, or 54, the last time since 2014, GOP senators. He will keep his majority in the House with a slim majority. He has done the impossible and is a political anomaly that will be studied for decades. This is a reminder that pollsters need to fix their methods once again; a 50/50 chance now become a landslide victory with Trump swinging all swing states 7/7 to his side; some are even trying to coin a new political science term calling it "The Trump Effect." This is incredibly shocking and disappointing at the amount of political miscalculations and incompetence of various individuals involved.

Biggest takeaway? Never ignore what Bernie Sanders has to say because, at this point, it's either listen to his advice or keep losing and never forget your own base when they protest you. Eliteism is hugely unpopular with the majority of this country, and if they all deem a specific candidate as an elite in their view, the swing states will fall to the other candidates. All members of the Democratic National Committee must resign immediately as well.

Kamala Harris & Joe Biden also did the noble and correct thing by congratulating him, conceding, starting the peaceful transfer of power, they could had easily denied the results and a repeat of 2020 would had occurred.

Interesting Facts: Nancy Pelosi has won her 20th term in the House. She has also just filed with the Federal Election Commission to file her re-election campaign to her 21st term for the House Elections in 2026. Here's a picture of Nancy Pelosi standing by President JFK at his inauguration.

Kamala Harris skipped the Al Smith dinner. The last time a presidential nominee did that was Walter Mondale in 1984. Mondale lost to Reagan by a landslide, Mondale getting 13 electoral votes and Reagan getting 525. People state that skipping the dinner enacts a curse on the candidate who skips. It is up to you to believe or not believe that.

A journey of understanding

I aim to travel to Washington, D.C., on January 20, 2025, to talk with Trump Supporters, Kamala Supporters, and protestors about their views of the election, the circumstances, and what they are looking forward to. I want to identify if there are things that can be common ground for these incredibly divisive groups after such a divided election. I have requested media credentials with my local Representative, and we'll see if that gets approved as well.

Subscribing to the substack will help cover the outrageously expensive hotel bill. If you made it to the end, it means you were interested in understanding what occurred in our country, so thank you. I am 18 years old, and currently in the college admissions process. Wherever fate takes me, I will continue my impartial political analysis & research. Independents like myself should work as hard as possible to bridge the divide between Republicans and Democrats.

A thank you to the Dallas Oriya Society community

Hi. Thanks for reading this article. As stated before, I did not expect a landslide victory for Donald Trump, resulting in me rethinking my writing. I want to credit CNN for providing this article's data. I stayed awake for 30 hours analyzing the data their exit polls have gathered to understand exactly what the people, not the super fans on both sides, are saying, but the people who built this country chose, and what factors result in it. Politics is a very messy game; I hope by this article that, I made things easier to understand by analyzing the point of view of why a working-class citizen would elect a candidate despite so many flaws because, in their eyes, they are a populist. I want to thank the DOS community for participating in my life. At age ten, I first wrote an article for this magazine regarding the differences between Direct and Representative democracy. At age 18, I now have analyzed an entire presidential election. I will be majoring in political science, and I also plan to double major in International Relations. Wherever I end up in terms of a University, I plan to make a positive impact. This will likely be my last article for the magazine unless I have time in college to write one. Thank you for reading this article and providing me with a fantastic community to participate in for my entire life.

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When looking for what to write about for Ama Duniya, there are many ways to figure it out. For the first time, this topic regarding the Vietnam War was inspired by a Vietnam War Veteran who approached me while I was at a store marketplace area. I heard his story, which was honorable and inspiring for his message for Generation Z and beyond.

The Period before the American Intervention in Vietnam

Before the American Intervention in Vietnam began, the state of the world was between the United States and the Soviet Union. The Red Scare came with hysteria regarding the threat of the Soviet Union and communism. Reds is referred to as the color of the flag of the Soviet Union. The Cold War was also intensifying at the same time. In response to the Cold War heightening at the same time, President Dwight D. Eisenhower and the policy of the United States was to harden their position and policy against any ally of the Soviet Union, including North Vietnam. As a result, the United States pleaded its full support to South Vietnam, starting with training and equipment from the American Military and the CIA. South Vietnam used its resources to crack down on North Korean sympathizers. When John F. Kennedy became President, he and the United States Government started working and forming their policy on one theory that if one country in Southeast Asia fell to communism, other countries in Southeast Asia would follow suit.

This resulted in more U.S. aid but never committed to a large-scale military intervention. In 1962, the American Military presence in South Vietnam had reached 9,000 troops compared to fewer than 800 during the 1950s. In the period before American Intervention, the Vietnam War already started with North Vietnam wanting to unify the two countries into a country modeled on the People's Republic of China and the Soviet Union, while South Vietnam was based on a Vietnam that is aligned with the West. North Vietnam started the Vietnam War on November 1st, 1955. After the assassination of President John F. Kennedy in 1963, President Lyndon B. Johnson continued what JFK started but escalated the U.S. involvement in the war.

The Gulf of Tonkin and Operation Rolling Thunder

On August 2nd, 1964, North Vietnamese patrol torpedo boats attacked the U.S.S Maddox and U.S.S Turner Joy in the Gulf of Tonkin. Immediately, President Lyndon B. Johnson ordered a retaliatory bombing of military targets in North Vietnam. Congress also responded by passing the Gulf of Tonkin Resolution, giving President Lyndon B. Johnson broad war-making powers. Later, on March 2nd, 1965, Operation Rolling Thunder began, resulting in a bombing campaign being conducted in response to a Viet Cong (members of a communist guerrilla movement that fought South Vietnam with the support of the North Vietnamese Army) attack on a U.S. air base at Pleiku. The Johnson administration believed that heavy and sustained bombing could encourage North Vietnamese leaders to accept the non-Communist government in South Vietnam and intended to reduce the ability of North Vietnam to produce and transport supplies to aid the Viet Cong.

The arrival of U.S. ground troops in South Vietnam, the draft, and the consequences of the draft

On April 1st, 1965, President Lyndon B. Johnson committed the first U.S. ground troops to the Vietnam War; the original mission was to defend air bases in South Vietnam used for the bombing campaign, but later on, their roles were revised to engage the Viet Cong in active combat. Conscription, otherwise known as the draft, occurred during the 1960s under the peacetime draft using the authority of the Selective Training and Service Act of 1940, signed by FDR. Between 1954-1964, from the end of the Korean War to the escalation in Vietnam, the so-called "peacetime" draft inducted more than 1.4 million American Men, an average of more than 120,000 per year. In July 1965, President Lyndon B. Johnson announced the draft inductions would increase from 17,000 to 35,000 monthly. Officially, on December 1st, 1969, the first draft lottery since 1942 began. During the period of the Vietnam War and the draft, individuals like the Vietnam War Veteran I met were drafted. The Vietnam War Veteran I met told me that 3 of his brothers were drafted against their will, and then he was drafted into the war. Imagine this Veteran's position: 3 of his brothers were drafted to fight in a war they did not believe in, and he, too, was drafted.

It must have been a scary time in the period of American history. The draft being conducted also promoted the anti-war effort, with individuals doing what they could to avoid the draft, with legal or illegal means under the law at the time. One individual who fought the draft was Heavyweight champion boxer Muhammad Ali, who refused to be drafted into the U.S. Army and was convicted in Houston on June 20th, 1967, for refusing induction in the U.S. Armed Forces to 5 years in federal prison and a $10,000 fine, which is the maximum penalty. Muhammed Ali vowed to appeal the conviction, which went all way to the U.S Supreme Court, known as Clay v. United States, 403 U.S. 698 (1971), and on June 28th, 1971, Muhammed Ali's Conviction was overturned with unanimous verdict on the grounds of a technical error by the Justice Department, initially, the remaining eight Justices (Justice Thurgood Marshall recused himself due to him being U.S Solicitor General when the case began) voted 5 to 3 to uphold the conviction, but Justice John Marshall Harlan II, who was assigned to write the majority opinion became convinced that Ali's claim to be a conscientious objector was sincere after reading background material on Black Muslim doctrine provided by one of his law clerks, this led to Justice Harland changing his vote due to the claim by the Justice Department being a misrepresentation, to 4-4, a deadlock which would had resulted in Muhammed Ali being jailed for draft evasion and no opinion being written, which Ali would never had known why he lost.

Justice Potter Stewart proposed a compromise that was agreed upon by the 8 Justices. A quote from the case by Eugene Register-Guard states, "The Boxer's beliefs are 'surely no less religious-based than in those previous cases'" and Incorporated Welsh V. United States, in which the Court had ruled that "moral and ethical objection to war was as valid as religious objection, thus broadening the qualifications." The people were heavily against the draft, which fueled the anti-war sentiment against the Vietnam War. Over 1.9 million service personnel were conscripted throughout the Vietnam War. Draft lotteries starting in 1969 were conducted on birth dates and were televised events watched by millions of Americans. The draft was finally ended in 1973. One unfortunate consequence of the draft was that U.S. soldiers who finished their service in Vietnam had to hide the fact that they served in the Vietnam War, including the Veteran that I met, due to the extreme anti-war sentiments and that Vietnam War Veterans were attacked and berated on all fronts, even though they had to serve against their own will. Decades later, everyone in the United States began to respect and honor Vietnam War Veterans.

Imagine being sent against your will and surviving, only to return to your people berating and attacking you for your service that you did not consent to. It was an agitated and scary time.

The Vietnam War During American Intervention

The Tet Offensive

The Tet Offensive was a coordinated series of North Vietnamese attacks on more than 100 cities and outposts in South Vietnam from January 30th - March 28th, 1968. The offensive attempted to incite a rebellion among the South Vietnamese population and encourage the United States to scale back its involvement in the Vietnam War. Though U.S. and South Vietnamese forces managed to hold off the attacks, the news coverage of the offensive shocked the American public, eroding the support of the war effort. Despite heavy casualties for North Vietnam, they achieved a strategic victory with the Tet Offensive, as the attacks marked a turning point in the Vietnam War and the start of the slow, painful American withdrawal from the region. One battle specifically changed public opinion significantly, the Battle of Hue, known as the single bloodiest battle of the Vietnam War. With 216 U.S. forces killed and 1,584 wounded, 844 civilian deaths and 1,900 injuries due to the battle, 4,856 civilians and captured personnel executed by the communists or missing. With 2,400 on the enemy side killed and 3,000 wounded, with the U.S. claiming that 5,113 were killed on the enemy side.

My Lai Massacre

The My Lai Massacre was conducted by a company of American soldiers who brutally killed more than 500 women, children, and elderly men in the village of My Lai on March 16th, 1968. Unfortunately, the My Lai Massacre showed that there were terrible individuals in the ranks of the U.S. Army who committed horrific acts; what made it worse was that U.S. Army officers covered up the carnage for a year before it was reported in the American press. This sparked a firestorm of international outrage. The Brutality of the My Lai killings and the official cover-up fueled anti-war sentiment and further divided the United States over the Vietnam War.

Individual history of soldiers in Vietnam

There were multiple soldiers of notable service during the Vietnam War. I want first to explain what the Veteran who inspired me to write about this did in Vietnam. He shot Artillery shells against the enemy in Vietnam. He also mentioned something regarding the current events that are occurring in Texas. He mentioned that the barbed wire used to drown migrants on the Mexico-Texas border were similar tactics used in the Vietnam War with barbed wire. There were also other soldiers like Sergeant Major Ronald Craven, who was drafted in 1958 and served in the Army for 28 years. During his service, Sergeant Major Craven served two tours in Vietnam. (July 1968 - July 1969 and July 1971 - July 1972). He received fifteen Good Conduct Medals, two Vietnam Service Medals, two National Defense Service Medals, and the Vietnam Cross of Gallantry, among other awards.

Donald Belton served in the U.S. Army after being drafted in 1969. He was one of many Conscientious Objectors, meaning he did not want to shoot anyone. This allowed him to serve in non-combat roles, such as a cook or a medic. He was assigned to be a medic and served in Germany for one year before going to Vietnam. He was awarded a Purple Heart and Bronze Star for his service. Many soldiers who served in Vietnam that have done notable things that I could go on about, but the last one I want to mention is U.S. Navy Commander Jeremiah A. Denton Jr. On July 18th, 1965, he was shot down while leading an air attack on a military installation in North Vietnam. He was later captured by the North Vietnamese and remained a Prisoner of War for seven years and nine months, enduring years of solitary confinement and brutal mistreatment.

On May 2nd, 1966, as a part of a propaganda campaign, the North Vietnamese arranged for him to be interviewed by a Japanese reporter for television. He was asked about his views on the action of the U.S. government, and he strongly affirmed his government's position; in defiance of the instruction from his captors, he prepared himself for a torture session that was sure to follow. While he was on camera, he repeatedly blinked, saying that the lights were too bright, but what he was actually doing was spelling out the word "Torture" in Morse code, sending a message to U.S. Navel Intelligence and giving the first confirmation that the North Vietnamese were torturing American Prisoner of Wars, Commander Denton was promoted to Captain during his captivity, and he later speculated that the North Vietnamese did not learn of his blinking message until 1974.

Operation Menu

Operation Menu was the codename of a covert United States Strategic Air Command bombing campaign conducted in eastern Cambodia. The bombing began on the night of March 18th, 1969, with a raid by 60 B-52 Stratofortress bombers. Although the aircrews were briefed that their mission was to take place in South Vietnam, 48 of the bombers were diverted across the Cambodian border and dropped 2,400 tons of bombs. SAC flew 3,800 B-52 Shorties and dropped 108,823 tons of ordnance during Operation Menu, which ended on May 26th, 1970.

Battle of La Drang Valley and January 31st, 1968

The battle of La Drang Valley was notable due to the fact that 237 U.S. forces were killed and 258 wounded. It was also the first major battle between the U.S. Army and the People's Army of Vietnam (North Vietnam) As well as January 31st, 1968, when 248 U.S. forces were killed in action during the Tet Offensive. These two were the deadliest days for U.S. Forces in Vietnam.

Paris Peace Accords, and the start of the end of the Vietnam War

On January 27th, 1973, The United States, South Vietnam, Viet Cong, and North Vietnam formally signed "An Agreement Ending the War and Restoring Peace in Vietnam" in Paris. The settlement included a cease-fire throughout Vietnam. In addition, the United States agreed to withdraw all U.S. troops and advisors (totaling about 23,700 personnel) and dismantle all U.S. bases within 60 days. In return, the North Vietnamese agreed to release all prisoners of war, including U.S. POWs. Both sides agreed to withdrawing all foreign troops from Laos and Cambodia and prohibiting bases in and troop movements through these countries. It was agreed that the DMZ (demilitarized zone) at the 17th Parallel would remain a provisional dividing line, with eventual reunification of the country through peaceful means. On March 29th, 1973, the last U.S. Troop units left South Vietnam, two months after the signing of the agreement, as Hanoi freed the remaining American prisoners of war held in North Vietnam. America's direct eight-year intervention in the Vietnam War was at its end. In Saigon, some 7,000 U.S. Department of Defense civilian employees remained behind to aid South Vietnam in conducting what looked to be a fierce and ongoing war with Communist North Vietnam. It turns out that only the United States of America honored the cease-fire. This led to the fall of Saigon.

Operation Frequent Wind

Operation Frequent Wind was the final phase in the evacuation of American civilians and "at-risk" Vietnamese from Saigon, South Vietnam, prior to the takeover of the city by the North Vietnamese Army in the Fall of Saigon. It was carried out on April 29-30, 1975. More than 7,000 people were evacuated by helicopter. Many people compare this to the 2021 Kabul airlift, when Afghanistan fell to the Taliban, and people had to be evacuated. On April 30th, 1975, Vietnam was reunited after South Vietnam collapsed under North Vietnamese Communist rule.

Political Consequences at the time

The political consequences of the Vietnam War fell on one individual, President Lyndon B. Johnson. Lyndon B. Johnson promised in the 1964 presidential campaign as the peace candidate. He promised not to escalate the war in Vietnam, as his opponent, Conservative Barry Goldwater, did want to escalate the war in Vietnam, with President Lyndon B. Johnson stating in a speech, "We are not about to send American boys 9 or 10,000 miles away from home to do what 'Asian Boys' ought to be doing for themselves" As you have read, President Lyndon B. Johnson broke his promise, and as the amount of hate and backlash occurred during the Vietnam War, he decided to not run for a second term, as he would massively lose.

Richard Nixon won the Presidency in 1968 with the campaign promise of ending the war in Vietnam. This formally occurred in his second term, when he later resigned in disgrace due to the Watergate scandal. In the end, between 1,450,000 to 3,595,000 were killed in Vietnam, Cambodia, and Laos between 1954-1975, according to R. J. Rummel, a political scientist. The anti-war sentiment was extreme throughout this period of time, and Vietnam War veterans felt it hard for decades. Eventually, over time, Vietnam War Veterans became respected for their service. The Vietnam Veterans Memorial was opened on November 13th, 1982, which began the process. Still, many identify the Gulf War of 1990-91 with its successes, grand celebrations, national flag-waving, and yellow-ribbon cultural mobilization as ending Vietnam Syndrome. The Vietnam Veterans Memorial also features the Three Servicemen statute, which opened in 1984, the Vietnam Women's Memorial, which opened in 1993, and the In-Memory Plaque, which was dedicated in 2004.

Conclusion

The Vietnam War is one of the wars that isn't much talked about in current times, compared to World War I, World War II, The American Civil War, The Korean War, and recent wars like the War in Iraq and the War in Afghanistan. One thing is absolutely clear: war is terrible and considered absolute hell for those who fight in wars. We should do everything possible to prevent a war; in some cases, like in World War II, some wars are unavoidable, and we must do our best to help and protect Veterans who fight in wars. When you have the power to vote, you should use it. When you see a Veteran on the streets, thank them for their service and hear their stories so we can learn from them and not make the same mistakes as older generations have made.

History exists to educate and prevent newer generations from making the same mistakes. Veterans can inspire us all, just like the Vietnam War Veteran who approached me and told me his story. If it weren't for him, I would have never written about the Vietnam War; it is one of the forgotten wars of our history. By reading this, my hope is that you have learned something new and will use that knowledge for good in the future.

We are living in perilous times; with Russia invading Ukraine in February 2022, there is yet another war that shouldn't have occurred at all, but due to power and greed by President Putin, now Ukrainians and Russians are fighting in the trenches, with Russian severe casualties and the Ukrainians fighting to preserve their nation, and predictions that the People's Republic of China will invade Taiwan by 2027. We must not forget history and remember to prevent war at all costs while fighting for what's right and for good in other ways without resorting to bloodshed as a last resort. Generation Z will be the Generation that will lead the world in terms of leadership and policy when it is our time to come. We must not forget the power and influence we will have. - Ishaan Padhi

Sources

(https://www.defense.gov/Multimedia/Experience/Vietnam-Veterans-Memorial/)

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(https://michiganintheworld.history.lsa.umich.edu/antivietnamwar/exhibits/show/exhibit/draft_protests/the-military-draft-during-the-#:~:text=Between%201954%2D1964%2C%20from%20the,more%20than%20120%2C000%20per%20year.)

(https://michiganintheworld.history.lsa.umich.edu/antivietnamwar/files/original/4a8e8df592875e312145a57fe8badf2e.pdf)

(https://www.statista.com/statistics/1336037/vietnam-war-us-military-draft/)

(https://www.archives.gov/exhibits/eyewitness/html.php?section=8#:~:text=On%20July%2018%2C%201965%2C%20U.S.,solitary%20confinement%20and%20brutal%20mistreatment.)

(https://www.military.com/history/8-reasons-why-battle-of-hue-was-so-pivotal-vietnam-war.html#:~:text=Hue%20was%20the%20single%20bloodiest%20battle%20of%20the%20Vietnam%20War.&text=For%20an%20entire%20month%2C%20U.S.,combat%20since%20the%20Korean%20War.)

(https://history.state.gov/milestones/1969-1976/ending-vietnam)

(https://www.history.com/news/vietnam-war-veterans-treatment)

(https://www.history.com/topics/cold-war/red-scare)

(https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Clay_v._United_States)

(https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_Ia_Drang)

Chance Stovall

Chance Stovall is a friend I met in pre-biology camp in 2021. He was such a positive person, and he treated me with kindness. Throughout this one week, I got to know him, and we had fun during class. We formed a little friend group during break time, just vibing; he did funny things that lightened up the mood of having to learn. When school started, we still talked on Snapchat. I was there for a time, but as we went to different high schools, we slowly drifted apart as we each did our own thing within our own High Schools.

Death & Fentanyl

A few years went by, and we both had our things in life to do, so I haven't spoken to him in some time. Then, on January 29th, 2024, I hear the news. Chance Stovall, the person who treated me with kindness the second we met, was braindead. I was in shock. I never had a friend on the verge of death. I looked through our last messages from Freshman year to see what we last spoke about. I later heard that they had to pull the plug, but Chance Stovall, the kindest person he has always been, opted to become an Organ Donor when he got his driver's license. Even in death, he was able to save the lives of many people.

Everyone has probably heard of the fentanyl crisis but probably doesn't know much about it. Chance Stovall didn't either. One day, he decided to leave the house and drove to Richardson, Texas, about a 15-minute drive from where he lived in Wylie, Texas. He meets up with a drug-addicted 21-year-old, who tells him that these pills make him feel good, most likely Percocet, a relieving medication that is high risk for addiction. This 21-year-old sold these pills to a 17-year-old for $40. The 21-year-old takes a pill; it was laced with Fentanyl, but it did not affect him at all. Chance Stovall, who had never done drugs in his life; he was not a drug addict, took one. Single. Pill. He became unresponsive; the 21-year-old didn't know what to do once he realized that he was unresponsive. The police arrived at the scene later on, immediately took Chance to the hospital, and arrested the 21-year-old. The police knocked on his parent's door, telling them that Chance was in critical condition and to come to the hospital immediately.

Fentanyl is unlike any other drug in the universe. A small amount can kill you, just like that. Chance did not know there was Fentanyl in the pills.

You might ask, surely there must be something to cure victims in this condition? You'd be correct. There is something called Naloxone, otherwise known as Narcan. This medication can reverse the effects of an overdose of Fentanyl, but it must be done immediately. Otherwise, brain death follows as a result of an overdose, then death. Drug Dealers don't have Narcan lying around, as it's an illegal drug operation.

How does Fentanyl get into the United States?

There are various ways, DEA says it originates from China either using mailing services or taking the most significant route into the United States. Which is where the pill that caused death of my friend, Chance Stovall, in Mexico. As Texas is a border state, it is on a border between the United States & Mexico; somehow, Fentanyl gets across the border into the United States of America, it goes from Texas to states that border Texas, to a chain reaction, and now suddenly, Fentanyl is all around the country.

Is Fentanyl avoidable? Most of the time, yes, but sometimes, unintentional overdoses can occur. Police Officers sometimes overdose when moving evidence or an irresponsible individual leaves it around. Before Chance's death, I never fully understood the consequences of Fentanyl. Fentanyl doesn't just affect the victim but every single person around them and who knew them.

Funeral & Burial

For the first time in my life, as I am a Hindu, I went to his funeral viewing; this is where everyone lines up to view the body and say some words. I had a friend who knew him and joined me, as it was a struggle for everyone around. When my friend and I went up to the coffin, I saw his younger sister playing with his hair while he was in the coffin. She says, "I am the annoying little sister he always talked about, but at least he kissed me." She appreciated the love that her older brother gave her. I apologized to Chance, said some words, and left. The next day was his Funeral Service. I went to the venue where it was hosted and heard from his father, mother, family members of Chance, and his closest friends. A slideshow of photos from Chance from the start of his life to death was playing. He was such a happy, kind person who wanted to live his life to the fullest.

I even saw pictures of him and his former girlfriend on it, who spoke at his funeral, which we all laughed in cuteness about. Many of his family members also discussed the one thing Chance always loved to discuss: girls. He always goes up to girls and gets their Snapchat. Everyone in the room, even me, remembers that he loved doing so; Chance and I talked on Snapchat during freshman year about whether we had homecoming dates. I didn't have one and was rejected, but he got a homecoming date. I was so happy for him, and I still am. Chance's uncle told all of us three words that are so important. One. Pill. Kills. It took one pill to take away Chance Stovall from me and so many others around the one. Think about it: a single pill with the power to quickly lead someone to death.

In the customs of Chance Stovall, he wanted to be buried. One fantastic thing about this country is that so many people of different races and religions can come to respect each other's traditions and enjoy the tremendous life given to us by the gods we believe in. I wrote in the condolences book, "I will end fentanyl." That is what I wanted to do throughout all of this. I will dedicate my life to doing so and helping others just like Chance Stovall did. They took his coffin out of the vehicle and led it to his burial site. They styled his body so well, with a fantastic suit. I bought two bouquets and a condolence card and planted a tree in his name. We all saw as all the family members let the balloons go, and we all said, "Goodbye, Chance!!!". I said my goodbyes to his coffin one last time. His mother told us, "Chance would not want you all to be like this at his funeral; be happy; he would want you all to take pictures of his coffin and his funeral and share it all around social media." So we all did take pictures. I hugged his mother, who said, "I haven't hugged so many people before in my life."

Regrets

Death immediately causes one thing: regret. I had so much sadness as a result of his death. I wished I could have somehow known and stepped in to prevent him from talking to a drug-addicted drug dealer, who suffered from addiction and, for some reason, decided to deal drugs himself. I wish I could have spoken to him more and not drifted apart. I checked on him for months since Pre-biology camp, and he always told me, "Thank you." But facts help teach you things. Was Chance a drug addict? No, he never once bought drugs until that point; he was never so into drugs; he simply was curious, and that killed him.

Lessons & Solutions of the Fentanyl Crisis

Here is the truth: Chance Stovall won't suddenly come back to life again, so life can resume what it used to be. The question we all have is, what can we do about Fentanyl?

First, one pill kills, don't even take a single pill. Many people are curious to see what it is like, and Chance was too, and that killed him.

Secondly, tell your friends and family how much you love them, and try every day to be on good terms with them so you don't regret it. Be there for your friends, even those you haven't spoken to in a long time. Check up on them, no matter what. Express your love and support for your family and friends. You won't know when that day comes when you will never see, hug, or talk to that person again. What happened to the Drug Dealer who dealt Chance Stovall fentanyl? He is in jail and being charged for his crimes. I hope the highest punishment is given to him. The top dealer who dealt this deal with Fentanyl is still being searched for by the Drug Enforcement Agency & Richardson PD, and I hope this top dealer is found and prosecuted.

This is the question I asked the Governor of the State of Texas, Greg Abbott. He agrees with me that there needs to be harsher penalties for Fentanyl, which is why he signed Senate Bill 768 into law in 2021, which increased penalties for crimes involving Fentanyl, and last year, in 2023, signing House Bill 6, which allowed for people to be charged with murder for fentanyl poisoning. You might ask, how did this not prevent Chance's death? The Governor said that he is making this battle a top priority, using all resources possible to stop Fentanyl from crossing the border. I call on both members of the Democratic and Republican parties to stop playing politics and work on securing the border from Fentanyl. Chance Stovall was not a bad kid at all; he was the kindest person I have met in my life. Fentanyl is the worst thing in the world, and I ask every single person who reads this to have that conversation with each other. Be there for each other, and implement all of these tips because you will not know who the next target of Fentanyl is.

As for me, I plan to dedicate my life to ending Fentanyl, no matter how long it takes. I plan to double major in Political Science & International Relations in college, and in the future, serve in Government to help end this crisis. One thing I love about what this country offers is that it allows people of different backgrounds to befriend each other and enjoy life together. Even at his funeral, I saw an old friend and caught up with him, which is what Chance would have wanted. Fentanyl is also a universal issue in this country; no matter your race or religion, Fentanyl will kill as many people as it likes. Like me, I am proud that Chance Stovall doesn't see religion as a barrier to friendships.

To Chance Tyler Stovall, I hope you're reading this from above. I am so sorry for our drifting apart, and I hope you're proud of the work I have started to do to ensure people don't die like you did. I love you forever. ♡ 2006 - 2024

Today, the United States of America is the most powerful country globally. As a result of this, we must be the peacekeepers of this world and fight against authoritarian countries, especially Russia and China, aiming to become the next global superpower. If they succeed, Democracy will lose.

After World War Two

When World War II officially ended on September 2, 1945, the Allied powers needed to ensure that another World War did not happen again. As a result, 51 countries decided to found the United Nations, and unlike the League of Nations, an UN-like body, which ultimately failed to prevent World War II, 51 countries worldwide signed off on this. Led by the world's superpowers at the time, the Soviet Union and the United States, 51 countries met and ratified the first United Nations charter. To this day, the United Nations still exists to promote international peace worldwide.

The founding of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization and the Warsaw Pact

On April 4, 1949, the United States, Belgium, Canada, Denmark, France, Iceland, Italy, Luxembourg, the Netherlands, Norway, Portugal, and the United Kingdom met in Washington D.C. to found the North Atlantic Treaty Organization known as NATO. It was created to respond to the Soviet Union, with which the United States of America was competing during the Cold War, to win in 1991 eventually. As a result, the responsibility of the United States by founding NATO was to protect the world from the Soviet Union, and later on May 14, 1955, the Warsaw Pact was founded by the Soviet Union, Albania, Poland, Czechoslovakia, Hungary, Bulgaria, Romania, and the German Democratic Republic. At this time, NATO had the responsibility to protect the world from the Warsaw Pact; during numerous times in the world's current history, NATO has intervened in various wars.

Anchor Guard, Kuwait-Iraq 1990

Ace Guard, Kuwait-Iraq 1991

Operation Joint Guard, Bosnia, and Herzegovina 1992

Operation Allied Force, Kosovo-Montenegro-Serbia 1999

Afghanistan War, Afghanistan 2003

NATO Training Mission-Iraq, Iraq 2004

Operation Ocean Shield, Somalia, 2009

Military Intervention in Libya 2011

The United States of America has been in countless wars as the most powerful country in the world. Here are they to date. To not exceed the 6-page limit, they've been shortened.

1950-1953 Korean War - The Korean War was a war fought between North Korea, funded by the Soviet Union, against South Korea, supported by the United States of America. The United Nations Peacekeepers were used in the Korean War. Once the U.N. Peacekeepers were deep into North Korean Territory, China joined in the Korean War on behalf of North Korea and pushed the U.N. Peacekeepers almost out of South Korea until the U.N. Peacekeepers, South Korean Army. The United States Army pushed back and ended in a Stalemate in 1953, with the Korean Armistice Agreement being signed. Technically to this day, the Korean War continues as there was no peace treaty and both South Korea and North Korea are still at war. Therefore should North Korea attempt to pull the same maneuver, it will only be a continuation of the Korean War. This was considered a defeat for the United States as Korea was not unified under South Korean rule., but in the end, it was a stalemate between North and South Korea. The Korean Demilitarized Zone was established, and North Korea gained the city of Kaesong but lost 1,506 square miles and lost Sokcho to South Korea.

Lebanon Crisis of 1958 - U.S. Victory

1959 - 1975 Laotian Civil War - U.S. Defeat

1961 Bays of Pig Invasion - U.S. Defeat

1961-1973 Vietnam War - U.S. Defeat

1965-1966 Dominican Republic - U.S. Victory

Korean DMZ Conflict - 1966 - 1969 - U.S. Victory,

Cambodian Civil War - 1967 - 1975 - U.S. Defeat

1982-1984 Lebanon Intervention - U.S. Defeat

1983 Grenada - U.S. Victory

Bombing of Libya 1986 - U.S. Victory

Tanker War - 1987 - 1988 - U.S. Victory

1989-1990 Panama - U.S. Victory,

1990-1991 Gulf War (Kuwait and Iraq) - U.S. Victory

Iraqi No-Fly Zone Enforcement Operations 1991-2003 - U.S. Victory

1992-1995 Somali Civil War - U.S. Defeat

1994-1995 Haiti - U.S. Victory

1994-1995 Bosnia and Croatian War - Stalemate

1998-1999 Kosovo - U.S. Victory

2001-2021 - Afghanistan - U.S. Defeat

Yemen 2002-present - Ongoing

2003-2011 Iraq War - U.S. Objectives Victory

American intervention in the War in North-West Pakistan 2004-2018 - U.S. Victory

Second U.S. Intervention in the Somali Civil War 2007 - present - Ongoing

Operation Ocean Shield 2009-2016 - U.S. Victory

Libya Intervention 2011 - U.S. Victory

Operation Observant Compass 2011-2017 - U.S. Victory

American-led intervention in Iraq 2014-2021 - U.S./Iraqi Victory against ISIS

2012-2019 War with ISIL - U.S. Victory

American intervention in Libya 2015-2019 - ISIS mostly defeated

2017-Present Syria - As a result of Dictator Bashar al-Assad using Chemical Weapons against his people, President Donald Trump directly attacked Syria with numerous missiles. He officially intervened in the Syria Civil War, which started in 2011 due to Bashar al-Assad attacking civilians during the Arab Spring Protests, which later turned into a Civil War. To this day, the United States is still at war with Syria.

Russia and China in the 21st Century & Ukraine

As of right now, the current major threats to international peace are Russia and China. While North Korea is also a significant threat, the North Koreans know that they will most likely lose if they attack any U.S. ally or the U.S. The entire world knows what Russia has done and spewed a war in Europe by invading Ukraine. On February 24, 2022, Russia officially invades Ukraine. Russia had already annexed Crimea from Ukraine in 2014 and has funded Russian Separatists since 2014. Russia also recognized the Donetsk People's Republic and Luhansk People's Republic as the Independent States. Vladimir Putin stated that he was performing a "Special Military Operation" in Ukraine and said he would free the Ukrainian people, make sure Ukraine stays "neutral," and prevent them from joining NATO. He also states that he was going to "de-nazify" Ukraine. Vladimir Putin's reasons are used for Russian Propaganda and are therefore wrong and invalid reasons. Russia wants to take Ukraine as its own and feels like NATO is a threat to them. Before the Invasion of Ukraine, Russia was considered one of the strongest armies in the world.

Since the Invasion of Ukraine, Russia has failed in its objectives to take Kyiv, Ukraine, and withdrew from around Kyiv to focus on the battle in Eastern Ukraine. The worst part is that hundreds of thousands of Ukrainian Civilians have been attacked by the Russians. Despite Vladimir Putin stating that he would not attack Civilians, he did the exact opposite. When Russia withdrew from around Kyiv, the world watched in horror as Ukraine discovered what happened to hundreds of Civilians in Bucha, where Russian Military Forces executed, murdered, and did horrific things to the Ukrainian Civilians, especially women in Ukraine, whom the Russians violated them, even minors who are 12-16 years old. This constitutes as a War Crime, and currently, Ukraine has started a criminal trial of a Russian Soldier, Sergeant Vadim Shishimarin, who is 21, who killed 62-year-old Oleksandr Shelipov. Vadim Shishimarin states he followed orders, pleaded guilty, and was sentenced to life in prison. There is a chance he gets swapped during a prisoner transfer between Russia and Ukraine.

Russia has also bombarded the city of Mariupol, a vital city to the Russians. Recently as of, two days ago, Ukrainian troops surrendered to the Russians. The city has now been mostly destroyed as a result of conflict. The war in Ukraine is currently ongoing. The International Community responded to this by aggressively sanctioning Russia on all fronts. Within Russia, there are now extreme laws that arrest people in Russia and can be sentenced to up to 15 years in prison for spreading "disinformation" about the "special military operation" (Which is a war as recognized by everyone else). Protesting will result in severe punishment by the Russian Government. The people of Russia, a lot of them understand what wrong their Government is doing and are fighting back with their voices. While all are being punished, the people will eventually win no matter what and are currently protesting against the Russian Government. The democratic countries around the war also provided weapons and funding to Ukraine to help fight against Russia, and Russia couldn't do anything regarding that. Recently, the United States has provided 40 more billion dollars to help Ukraine, achieving our goal of being the global peacekeepers of the world. Russia is currently feeling the significant consequences. They failed in their goal to prevent the expansion of NATO, as this conflict has convinced the neutral countries of Finland and Sweden to apply to join NATO for protection under Article 5, which states an attack on one is an attack on one.

China and how we can be the global peacekeepers of the world

The second major threat is China. When you hear the world of China, what do you think of? I think of China's horrific actions, especially in creating concentration camps for Uyghur Muslims. After Mao Zedong won the Chinese Civil War, the People's Republic of China was founded on October 1, 1949. The Chinese Communist Party fought against the Republic of China, which fled to Taiwan after the Civil War. Now, China is a country of censorship against its people, with the Great Firewall of China, where the people of China only see what the Chinese Communist Party wants them to see. China is a significant threat to the promotion of International Peace worldwide because of its goal of becoming the next world superpower, which they try to do with its Belt and Road Initiative, where they invest in 70 countries and international organizations to promote the influence of the Chinese Communist Party Abroad and become an economic superpower if successful. They do this by lending money to countries, especially countries that have a high risk of not paying back. When these countries cannot pay back, China states that it is fine, and the country gives them a vital road, port, or area in each country to promote their influence and military power to challenge the democratic world. Thankfully this initiative is currently falling apart and is not working well for China. Currently, China is still growing, and a lot of the world's manufacturing is occurring in China. It is a huge money opportunity for corporations abroad, the only problem? This is allowing China to hold leverage over the entire world. If China stops manufacturing products going to the Democratic Countries, it can cause disaster and an economic crisis around the world. Another problem is that the more corporations go to China, the more the Propaganda by the Chinese Government is spread. China forces corporations to follow its rules or face punishment for failing to abide by them, especially economic punishments. China is also trying its best to fight back dissidents abroad and in China. Hong Kong is a semi-autonomous city in China, formerly under the rule of the United Kingdom from 1841 (excluding four years under the occupation of the Japanese Imperial Army) to 1997. When the United Kingdom handed Hong Kong back to China, China promised to give Hong Kong its freedom and rights to autonomy until 2047. The issue? China isn't waiting that long. During the Hong Kong protests or known as the Anti-Extradition Law Amendment Bill Movement, there was abuse from police officers in Hong Kong. It showed China that they needed control over Hong Kong because as a result of the 2019 protests, the Extradition Bill was withdrawn, and decided in 2020 to violate the rules of the Sino-British Joint Declaration completely and created the National Security law, which applies to everyone worldwide, even if you don't live in any place China controls. By writing this research article, I violated this law, and if a member of the Chinese Government reads this and I ever travel to China, I will be immediately arrested. Thankfully I have 0 plans to ever travel to a country that censors its people and acts as a complete authoritarian dictatorship, creates concentration camps, and wants to commit Genocide against the Uyghur Muslims. The Chinese Government is afraid and scared because of multiple major events in the history of the People's Republic of China. Tibet is currently an autonomous region that the Chinese Regime has censored and an independent country considered a part of China by the Chinese Government. Tiananmen Square, where there were protests for Democracy in China, and as a result, the Chinese Army murdered and massacred the protestors and has been censoring the truth and does not want the truth to come out. A famous picture of a Chinese protestor blocking numerous Chinese tanks is remembered today. Taiwan is an independent country that China considers a part of China, and China currently threatens. Hong Kong, which deserves its freedoms and right to autonomy, the Chinese government censor and imprisons any Dissident in Hong Kong with the National Security Law. It is also currently dealing with its "zero-covid" policy, where they shut down the entire city of Shanghai, China, locked all residents of Shanghai in their homes, even by welding their doors, moved anyone with COVID-19 to Chinese Facilities, and restricted all travel. The people of Shanghai are fighting back with their voices, they scream, begging just for food that the Chinese Government is hard at giving at. Hundreds of residents have been arrested, died due to starvation, and are currently suffering in prison in a city controlled by the Chinese Government. China is scared. The United States & the Democratic world are responsible for making sure China doesn't become a superpower and use their influence and leverage to destroy the world economy and the world entirely by causing World War III. NATO and United States have a responsibility to make sure that China doesn't go out of control. With the hundreds of alliances it has made over the years, it has made NATO and the United States the global peacekeepers of this world, and we must use it for good. To fight against authoritarianism, China, Russia, and other threats of the world, we must be willing to protect countries from these major threats, increase our military power, and show the United States Army's power. If we fail to do so, China will eventually invade Taiwan and use its leverage on the economy to destroy its enemies. We must economically starve China and Russia to take their leverage away, limit their military influence, and prevent either country from being a true superpower that can cause havoc on the world. There is a scary reality here. China is sending spies from the MSS all around the democratic world and directly attacking people who are against China by stalking, using violence, and spying on them. They have been caught spying on people who are against the Chinese Government by the FBI, known as Transnational Repression, an effort by the Chinese Government to harass, kill, attack, spy, stalk, and repress anyone notable that is attacking the Chinese Government in any way possible, this is the scary reality that we must live with, by telling the truth about the Chinese Government, who are scared of the truth, they are willing to send hundreds of agents to all Democratic Countries, and attempt to repress and take away their rights given to them by the Democratic rights and values given by the Democratic Country. The good news is that intelligence agencies like the FBI, MI5, and other democratic intelligence agencies are cracking down and prosecuting individuals responsible. Still, there is always a chance that even myself, or you, by speaking the truth, will be repressed and hunted down by the Chinese Government.

What should we do, and how can we stay as global peacekeepers?

As stated in the previous section, we must take the initiative to fight against China, Russia, and other authoritarian countries that suppress their people. We must stay as the global peacekeepers of the world and expand significantly to help defend the Democratic world and promote Democracy abroad. We've been doing that by helping out Ukraine, but we must also take action against China, economically starve them and take the leverage they have over the world. We must build more manufacturing plants and make sure that any corporation from the Democratic world that is bowing down to China for the money will face financial and criminal punishment. Eventually, we must bring Democracy back to china, make Taiwan known as the Republic of China, be back in control, and promote Democracy in China. We must take down Vladimir Putin, promote Democracy in Russia, and make sure Ukraine wins this war. Unify North and South Korea into one country, free North Korea's people, take down the Kim Dynasty, combat authoritarian values worldwide, and achieve our goal of international peace and giving the people the voices they need. Democracy will prevail, and the fact that I am violating the Chinese National Security Law and the Russian Censorship laws does not scare me and should not scare you or anyone else either. We must promote and defend the Democratic values the United States and NATO were founded upon. As we have influence worldwide, it comes to our responsibility, as the previous President Administrations of the United States decided to spread our influence and power. With that power, we must use it for good.

------

Sources for this research article

(https://www.infoplease.com/history/us/major-military-operations-since-world-war-ii)

(https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_wars_involving_the_United_States) and all articles in this Wikipedia article

(https://www.worldatlas.com/articles/wars-the-united-states-didn-t-win.html)

(https://www.fbi.gov/investigate/counterintelligence/the-china-threat)

(https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/2022/05/23/ukraine-russia-soldier-war-crimes-verdict/)

(https://abcnews.go.com/Politics/senate-passes-40-billion-aid-ukraine-bill-heads/story?id=84835587)

As most of everyone knows about North Korea, I'll explain from the start of the country, from start to present.

We would have to go back to 1910, after the two wars, the Empire of Japan won, and in 1910, Japan annexed all of Korea.

During the Occupation, Japan suppressed Korean Traditions, used the economy primarily for their benefit. During this time, Korean resistance groups such as the Dongnipgun (Liberation Army) operated along the Sino-Korean border, fighting guerrilla warfare against Japanese forces, one of the guerrilla leaders was the Communist Kim Il-Sung, who later became the leader of North Korea.

Divisions of Korea

At the end of World War II in 1945, Korea was split up along the 38th parallel, with the northern part occupied by the Soviet Union, and the south by the United States.

Soviet General Terentii Shtykov recommended the establishment of the Soviet Civil Authority which was the occupying government of North Korea and supported Kim Il-Sung as chairman of the Provisional People's Committee for North Korea.

In 1948, South Korea declared its statehood and two months later, Anti-Communist Syngman Rhee becomes the ruler.

Soviet forces withdrew from the North in 1948, and most American forces in 1949, Ambassador Shtykov suspected Rhee was planning to invade the North and was sympathetic to Kim's goal of Korean unification under socialism. Both Kim and Shtykov lobbied Joseph Stalin to support a quick war against the South and the Korean war begins.

The Korean War

The military of North Korea invaded the South on June 25th, 1950, and swiftly overran most of the country. A United Nations force, led by the United States, intervened to defend the South and advanced into North Korea. As they neared the border with China, Chinese forces intervened on behalf of North Korea, shifting the balance of the war again. On July 27th, 1953, with an armistice that restored the original boundaries between the two countries, the Korean war ended. With 3 million killed during the war, most North Korean buildings destroyed, North Korea suffered the most out of any country. In 1957, Industrial production had reached 1949 levels, in 1959, relations with Japan started to improve and allowing the repatriation of Japanese citizens in the country. In the same year, they revalued the Korean Won, in the 1980s, the economy had begun to stagnate and started its long decline in 1987, and completely collapsed in 1991 after the collapse of the Soviet Union, where all Soviet aid to the North had halted, so the North began reestablishing trade relations with China shortly thereafter, but the Chinese could not afford to provide enough food aid to meet demand and in 1994. Kim Il-Sung passed away due to a heart attack, and the same year, the Famine began.

The Famine

The famine, between 240,000 and 3,500,000 North Koreans died from Starvation or hunger-related illnesses, with deaths peaking in 1997.

Several factors caused the famine to happen, from Economic Mismanagement to loss of Soviet support. series of floods and droughts exacerbated the crisis.

North Korea's vulnerability to the floods and famine was exacerbated by the failure of the public distribution system. The regime refused to pursue policies that would have allowed food imports and distribution without discrimination to all regions of the country. During the famine, the urban working class of the cities and towns of the eastern provinces of the country was hit particularly hard. The distribution of food reflected the basic principles of the stratification of the socialist system.

Food was distributed to people according to their political standing and their degree of loyalty to the state.

The Kim Dynasty

If you haven't noticed, there's a really big connection between the 3 leaders.

Kim-Il-Sung, the first leader of North Korea is the father of Kim Jong-Il and the great-grandfather of Kim Jong-Un.

North Korea is ruled by the Kim Dynasty, which they call the Mount Paektu Bloodline.

It is a three-generation lineage descending from the country's first leader, Kim Il-Sung in 1948.

To solidify Mount Paektu Bloodline, Kim Il-sung and Kim Jong-il have recalled all the family genealogy books under the pretext that familyism and regionalism are the hotbeds of the revolution. In 1958, North Korea declared its ideology to be socialism and took away all of the people's private property and dismantled family groups that had been living in the center of genealogy and ancestors.

The situation in North Korea

This article shouldn't simply just tell information, but to explain the situation in the country of North Korea, under a brutal dictator, all North Koreans are to be told to treat the leaders as "god-like creatures"

Anyone who attempts to speak out gets sent to a political camp. Which is brutal.

Simply ripping a poster off a wall resulted in the death of a college student, Otto Warmbier.

You see, in the capital of North Korea, only people loyal and trusted lives in Pyongyang. Tourists are allowed in the country, but must travel with a tour company, and are shown propaganda, or simply. What they want you to see. Rumors state that all the acts they put up are simply an act, like a play. Just to fool people into thinking North Korea is a stable, well country.

Every Citizen must be in the military at one point in their life.

The KPA has 1,106,000 active and 8,389,000 reserve and paramilitary troops, making it the largest military institution in the world.

Human rights is a major issue in the country, no freedom of the press, freedom of speech, you have no rights, you can be executed for listening to foreign music, movies. As of right now, North Korea has launch tested over 100 missiles, some that can hit the United States.

I believe that personally, the world should be doing something about them, try to help the people that are suffering in the country.

Being sent to camps for doing the smallest of crimes, even being executed. This is all wrong, and is a violation of our human rights, and something should be done about it.

I hope very soon, the North and South can unify as one country, and solve their issues, and hope that people in the country of North Korea do not suffer any longer under a brutal dictator.

Thank you for reading this article about North Korea, sources are from Wikipedia and the book Every Falling Star by Sungju Lee.

We'll go more into each one and find out lots of information.

Let's go over the 3 branches of government.

First would be the Executive Branch, the President of United States is the head of that branch.

Second would be the Legislative Branch, which Congress runs.

Last but not least, is the Judicial Branch.

We'll go over more of each one now.

Executive Branch

The executive branch consists of the president, vice president and 15 Cabinet-level departments such as State, Defense, Interior, Transportation, and Education. The primary power of the executive branch rests with the president, who chooses his vice president, and his Cabinet members who head the respective departments. A crucial function of the executive branch is to ensure that laws are carried out and enforced to facilitate such day-to-day responsibilities of the federal government as collecting taxes, safeguarding the homeland and representing the United States' political and economic interests around the world.

That's pretty much all of the information about the executive branch, the Cabinets are like advisors to the President of United States. They enforce the laws.

Legislative Branch

The legislative branch consists of the Senate and the House of Representatives, collectively known as the Congress. There are 100 senators; each state has two. Each state has a different number of representatives, with the number determined by the state's population, through a process known as "apportionment." At present, there are 435 members of the House. The legislative branch, as a whole, is charged with passing the nation's laws and allocating funds for the running of the federal government and providing assistance to the 50 U.S. states. They create the laws, they represent the people. Keep in fact that this is a Representative Democracy, I'll explain that now.

Direct democracy or pure democracy is a form of democracy in which people decide on policy initiatives directly. This differs from the majority of most currently established democracies, which are representative democracies. This means that every citizen votes on laws, bills, and a bit more. That isn't our government, as citizens can't decide on everything.

We have a Representative Democracy, which we elect people to do the job for us.

Let me explain.

Representative democracy (also indirect democracy, representative government or psephocracy) is a type of democracy founded on the principle of elected officials representing a group of people, as opposed to direct democracy.

That means that people do the job for us, that is what I mean by Representative Democracy.

Last but not least, we have the Judicial Branch.

The judicial branch consists of the United States Supreme Court and lower federal courts. The Supreme Court's primary function is to hear cases that challenge the constitutionality of legislation or require interpretation of that legislation. The U.S. Supreme Court has nine Justices, who are chosen by the President, confirmed by the Senate. Once appointed, Supreme Court justices serve until they retire, resign, die or are impeached.

The lower federal courts also decide cases dealing with the constitutionality of laws, as well as cases involving the laws and treaties of the U.S. ambassadors and public ministers, disputes between two or more states, admiralty law, also known as maritime law, and bankruptcy cases. Decisions of the lower federal courts can be and often are appealed to the U.S. Supreme Court.

This pretty much includes the court's system, the Supreme Court is the highest court in the United States of America.

We have a system that checks each branch to make sure they don't get too much power. I will be explaining that now.

Why are there three separate and distinct branches of government, each with a different function? The framers of the Constitution did not wish to return to the totalitarian system of governance imposed on colonial America by the British government.

To ensure that no single person or entity had a monopoly on power, the Founding Fathers designed and instituted a system of checks and balances. The president's power is checked by the Congress, which can refuse to confirm his appointees, for example, and has the power to impeach or remove, a president. Congress may pass laws, but the president has the power to veto them (Congress, in turn, may override a veto). And the Supreme Court can rule on the constitutionality of a law, but Congress, with approval from two-thirds of the states, may amend the Constitution.

We used to have the Articles of Confederation, but that didn't work out well as it caused many problems.

That's all you need to know about Democracy, Checks and Balances, and the main 3 branches of the United States of America.

Credit to ThoughtCo and Wikipedia for the information.

Thank you for reading, by Ishaan Padhi, 2018.

Today we'll talk about North Korea and other threats as a result of this that threatens humanity as a whole.

North Korea was created on September 9, 1948, as a result of the end of World War II in 1945, and all of the territory the Empire of Japan took was withdrawn by the Japanese due to their loss. The United States took the Southern part of Korea, while the Soviet Union controlled the Northern part of Korea. The Korean peninsula was one of the showdowns between the Soviet Union and the United States during the cold war with the battle of Communism vs. Capitalism; once Stalin obtained the Atomic Bomb, he gave the go-ahead to the leader of North Korea, Kim Il Sung, to start the Korean War.

The Korean War, 1950-1953

The Korean War began in 1950, with North Korea invading the South, which brought direct conflict between the United States and South Korea against the North Koreans. North Korea pushed South Korea and the United States back to the Pusan Perimeter, which led to the almost defeated South Korea and the United States. A United Nations Counter-Offensive was proposed and deployed to the Korean Peninsula, managing to push the North Koreans to the Chinese-North Korean border. Still, an unexpected result occurred. The People's Volunteer Army, a part of the People's Republic of China, decided to join the war and intervene, to which the United Nations Forces retreated. It was a back-and-forth battle. Still, all led to the same result, to the 38th parallel, where the borders were initially settled before the Korean War had begun, this stabilized, and neither side could push the other back, and led to the creation of the Korean Armistice Agreement, which created the Korean Demilitarized Zone, also known as the DMZ, which still exists to this day. Either side never signed a Peace Treaty, and both North Korea and South Korea are still at war, known as a frozen conflict. This places extreme tension between both sides because, at any time, either side can invade the other.

North Korean Missile Tests

To this day, the Korean Peninsula has the northern part controlled by North Korea and the southern part controlled by South Korea. In the 21st century, North Korea is the biggest threat to peace and security in the Korean Peninsula. On October 9, 2006, North Korea conducted its first nuclear test, and later conducted many more Nuclear & Missile tests; according to the publication Time, North Korea conducted 68 missile tests in 2022, and in 2023, it has gotten even worse, with 28 projectiles being launched from North Korea this year alone, with recently an ICBM, launched over Japan, to which a temporary evacuate-or-seek-shelter warning in Japan was issued with the possibility that the ICBM could hit Japan, which luckily it did not. North Korea has also tested an unmanned underwater attack drone, is planning to launch its first spy satellite, and has shown propaganda with Kim Jong Un showing a map of the Korean peninsula and planning an invasion of some sort to intimate South Korea and the United States.

Why we are worried about North Korea.

The whole world is worried about North Korea due to its Nuclear test capabilities, as currently, South Korea does not have any nuclear missiles, and I feel like that must change. We must place American Nuclear missiles in South Korea and have enough missiles to destroy any nuclear missile that is attempted to be shot at South Korea, Japan, and other allies. Unfortunately, it is not always that simple; any war on the Korean peninsula will kill millions of people. With 2.5 million people dying in the 1950-1953 Korean War, the span of only three years, with North Korean missile capabilities, the death toll was devastating. But we must do all we can to protect South Korea under any circumstances by placing U.S Nuclear missiles in South Korea and stationing even more U.S soldiers on the DMZ; that should send a message to North Korea that any invasion or attack will mean the end to the North Korean regime controlled by the Kim Dynasty. Recently in Propaganda, Kim Jong Un was seen with his 9-year-old daughter for the first time and more times after that, showing that his daughter might be the successor to Kim Jong Un should he ever die, which means a successor to Kim Dysanty now officially exists. Another scary factor is occurring as we speak in North Korea.

North Korean Concentration Camps

The whole world knows of the atrocities that Nazi Germany inflicted upon the Jews in Europe, with over 6 million Jews dying in Concentration Camps; unfortunately, as we speak, hundreds of thousands, even millions, of North Koreans are in Concentration Camps, being inflicted of starvation, torture, and forced hard labor. It is even said for some offenses, three generations of a family will live in Concentration camps; that means if an individual is placed in a Concentration Camp, his children and the children after that will be born and live to work in Concentration Camps, the same goes if your Grandfather committed a 'crime,' to which his children and his grandchildren are put to hard labor in the camps. The world has stood by for decades as this has been going on, and Concentration Camps of this scale have started to spread to other countries like the People's Republic of China, otherwise known as Communist China.

The Spread of Concentration Camps Outside of North Korea & The Threat of China

Many people and new reports have been reported regarding Concentration Camps called "Re-Education Camps" by the People's Republic of China, where over 1 million Uyghur Muslims have been placed in Concentration Camps for their beliefs & some even abducted by the People's Republic of China and put into camps with their families not knowing what has happened to them, in February 2020, hackers leaked information of the People's Republic of China's imprisonment of Uyghur Muslims, some even stating how long their family members will be imprisoned for, some for a decade and longer. Currently, as we speak, a genocide is occurring in the People's Republic of China over Uyghur Muslims, something from a playbook that North Korea has done for decades with concentration camps of their people. The world cannot do anything about it, and they choose not to. The People's Republic of China has also gotten stronger and stronger with its grip on power. Examples such as Hong Kong; with the handover in 1997, the People's Republic of China agreed to Hong Kong retaining its legislative system and people's rights and freedom for fifty years as a special administrative region (SAR) of China. As a result of the National Security Law signed in 2020, this promise was broken. Now Hong Kong is under the complete dictatorial control of Hong Kong, with many people being imprisoned for using their freedoms as stated in the agreement. The People's Republic of China has also censored their people for years regarding the Tinamin Square Massecure, creating the Great Firewall of China, and recently shutting down protests over COVID rules in China which are considered extreme rules. Another threat by China is regarding Taiwan, otherwise known as the Republic of China.

Taiwan

Taiwan, aka the Republic of China, was officially founded in 1949, as the original government of Mainland China fled to Taiwan as a result of losing the civil war, over time; the Republic of China is now a thriving Democracy that is now under threat by the People's Republic of China threatening to take it back by force. Recently in 2022 and 2023, the People's Republic of China conducted military drills and exercises against Taiwan for U.S officials like Nancy Pelosi and other delegations meeting in Taiwan in 2022, and current Speaker of the House Kevin McCarthy meeting with the President of Taiwan in 2023 in the U.S, with a delegation meeting in Taiwan as well. President Biden has vowed to protect Taiwan with U.S. forces, which is the right call because Taiwan has something highly vital to the world to function. Many people dislike this position and ask why we care about Taiwan so much, and to those people, here is the consequence of Taiwan falling to the People's Republic of China,

When the prices for every piece of electronics become high to the point where it's unaffordable, including smartphones, electronic machines, the chips that power our vehicles, laptops, computers, and supercomputers that businesses and NASA use, the technology we need to have to communicate with our satellites, every other piece of tech no matter the size that uses any semiconductor chips, where our military cannot expand further, and the budget placed for our military are unsustainable because more money is being put to purchase chips at an exceedingly higher cost, which then the budget gets increased. Even more, money is required for our military. People do not realize that semiconductor chips power our economy, lives, national defense, and security, the same chips we use to educate children by using technology that requires chips. Our entire world becomes upside down if Taiwan falls to China; TSMC's revenue share is 58.5%, with Samsung being next at 15%; if Taiwan falls, there will be more demand for Samsung, then prices will go up. People need to realize that every single item you touch that is electronic in some form factor uses chips. Imagine all those simple gadgets, a toaster, microwave, electric stoves, electric oven, and every piece of tech.

Our position on Ukraine

The Current battle that everyone is talking about is the War in Ukraine, and while it is different from Taiwan, it is an important battle that we must be funding. People have been complaining about us being involved in a Proxy war, and there is no point; well, there is. We have always been engaged in proxy wars under Republican and Democratic Presidents; if Ukraine falls, grain prices will increase, & Poland will be under threat of invasion, just like the Soviet Union did in 1939. The Russian Federation has already violated the Budapest Memorandum on Security Assurances. The Russian Federation agreed not to attack Ukraine and to recognize its territories as Ukraine, including Crimea, in exchange for Ukraine handing over its Nuclear Weapons, to which Ukraine agreed. Still, the agreement was violated in 2014 and again in 2022, and Russia will continue to break more agreements. We must fund Ukraine until their victory, Ukraine was supposed to have collapsed by now, which is way overdue. However, just like how Finland fought against Stalin, their resolve is still firm, and this time with funded weapons, Ukraine can win ultimately. We must support them until the end to protect the peace of NATO. Russia's position of preventing nations from joining NATO failed, as Finland is the newest member of NATO, with Sweden still awaiting approval.

What the world must do

We must place Nuclear Missles on South Korean Soil and provide weapons to shoot down any missile from North Korea and place more soldiers in the DMZ to deter North Korea from attacking South Korea; we must do our best to eventually unite Korea into one and ultimately liberate the people from their Concentration Camps, just like we did in World War II, we must protect Taiwan at all costs, and recognize Taiwan as an independent country, and recognize the People's Republic of China as illegal occupiers of Taiwanese Territory. We must continue to fund Ukraine until their victory and make plans to eventually liberate Ugiyer Muslims from their Concentration Camps and continue to be peacemakers and fighters for peace and human rights. We got ourselves involved in Global Affairs long ago, and there is no turning back; we must continue to support the liberation efforts and efforts to turn dictatorships into democracies like the Russian Federation, the People's Republic of China, and North Korea.

Sources provided below

(https://time.com/6266737/north-korea-ballistic-missile-tests-2023/#:~:text=More%20and%20More%20Missiles%3A%20North,three%20months%20of%20this%20year.)

(https://www.cnn.com/interactive/2020/02/asia/xinjiang-china-karakax-document-intl-hnk/)

(https://www.cfr.org/backgrounder/china-xinjiang-uyghurs-muslims-repression-genocide-human-rights)

(https://www.nkhiddengulag.org/about-the-camps.html)

So let's see, you know what drugs are, no not the medical drugs, illegal drugs you see, lots of people say they won't do it, but they do, want to know how bad it is, I will talk about it today, they are the types of drugs, Cocaine, Cannabis, Ecstasy, Hallucinogens, Heroin, and Methamphetamine. You should NOT do DRUGS, if you even do a small bit of it, it will ruin your life, and a long time in prison as today I shall explain what the names of the drugs are and explain what happens if you do, now Cocaine or known as Crack/Bazooka/Blanche/Cake/ Coke/Lady/ and Star Dust. Now, what is it you ask, Cocaine is a fine white or off-white powder that acts as a powerful stimulant. In its pure form, cocaine is extracted from the leaves of the coca plant. On the street, it can be diluted or "cut" with other substances to increase the quantity. Crack is cocaine that has been further processed with ammonia or baking soda, they look like small rocks, how do you take it you ask? you just sniff it or injected, crack is smoked, so you don't really eat it., how does it affect you? Cocaine can make users feel exhilarated and euphoric. Furthermore, users often experience a temporary increase in alertness and energy levels, and a postponement of hunger and fatigue, which can affect your body pretty much a lot, this is why it is known as a bad drug. Now we move onto Cannabis, or known as Bongo/Ganja/Grass/Marijuana/ Pot/Thai sticks, now what is it? Cannabis is a tobacco-like greenish or brownish material made up of the dried flowering tops and leaves of the cannabis (hemp) plant. Cannabis resin or "hash" is the dried black or brown secretion of the flowering tops of the cannabis plant, which is made into a powder or pressed into slabs or cakes. Cannabis oil or "hash oil" is cannabis resin in liquid form. Cannabis is by far the most cultivated, trafficked and abused illicit drug, as they come from a plant, this is very illegal, the only way to get it is to plant or buy it from a black market, which is also illegal, people are trying to stop this as some parts of the world are based of this, now how is it taken? Most of it can be smoked, but some can be ingested orally or brewed in tea, how does it affect you? Cannabis can make users feel relaxed and heighten their sensory awareness. Thus, users may experience a more vivid sense of sight, smell, taste and hearing. We will move on to Ecstasy or known as E/Snackies/New Yorkers/Disco biscuits, but what is it? Ecstasy is a psychoactive stimulant. In fact, the term "ecstasy" does not refer to a single substance, but rather to a range of substances similar in chemistry and effects. It is usually distributed as a tablet or pill but can also be a powder or capsule. The tablets can be in many different shapes and sizes, for the last 10 years, it has become a known thing in the world for some countries, and younger people think it is safe, which it is not. How is it taken, and how does it affect you? It is usually taken orally but can also be snorted or injected, as you see Ecstasy can heighten users' empathy levels and induce a feeling of closeness to people around them. It is often used at "rave parties" to increase participants' sociability and energy levels. Now we move on to Hallucinogens, what are they, and what is it? Hallucinogens, or "psychedelics", are drugs that alter users' state of consciousness and produce different kinds of hallucinations.

The main types of hallucinogens are d-lysergic acid diethylamide (LSD), phencyclidine (PCP), hallucinogenic amphetamines, mescaline and psilocybe mushrooms, what is it? LSD is a semi-synthetic drug derived from lysergic acid, which is found in a fungus that grows on rye and other grains.

LSD, commonly referred to as "acid", is one of the most potent hallucinogens. It is usually sold on the street as small squares of blotting paper with drops containing the drug, but also as tablets, capsules or occasionally in liquid form. It is a colourless, odourless substance with a slightly bitter taste. How do people take it? It is mostly eaten. Now we move on to Heroin, or known as Smack/Brown/H/Horse/Junk/ Harry/White lady, with this people might have heard it before, and it is a drug. I will explain what it is. It is Heroin is an addictive drug with painkilling properties processed from morphine, a naturally occurring substance from the Asian opium poppy plant. Pure heroin is a white powder. Street heroin is usually brownish white because it is diluted or "cut" with impurities, meaning each dose is different. How is it taken? It is usually injected but can also be snorted, smoked or inhaled. Heroin affects users by making them feel an initial surge of euphoria, along with a feeling of warmth and relaxation. Users also often become detached from emotional or physical distress, pain or anxiety. Now we move on to the last one, after this, I will explain the risks of these drugs. Now we move on to Methamphetamine, or known as Crack meth/Ice/Crystal meth/Tik/Shabu/Yaba, what is it? Methamphetamine is part of the group of drugs called amphetamine-type stimulants (ATS). It is a synthetic drug that is usually manufactured in illegal laboratories. Methamphetamine comes as a powder, tablet or as crystals that look like shards of glass. How is it taken? It can be swallowed, sniffed/snorted, smoked or injected. But how does it affect users? Methamphetamine stimulates a feeling of physical and mental well being, as well as a surge of euphoria and exhilaration. Users experience a temporary rise in energy, often perceived to improve their performance at manual or intellectual tasks. Users also feel postponement of hunger and fatigue.

Now we move on to the risks of these drugs, the credits are at the end, let's start with Cocaine, the risk are short-term effects include faster breathing and increases in body temperature and heart rate. Users' behaviour can also become bizarre, erratic and violent. Excessive doses of cocaine may lead to convulsions, seizures, stroke, cerebral haemorrhage or heart failure.

Long-term users of cocaine risk a number of health problems, some of them depending on the ingestion method. Sniffing cocaine severely damages nose tissue, smoking can cause respiratory problems, whilst injection can lead to abscesses and infectious diseases.

Other risks, regardless of ingestion method, include dependency, malnutrition, weight loss, disorientation, apathy and a state similar to paranoid psychosis, but that is just cocaine, what about cannabis? Short-term effects include increased appetite and pulse rate.While high, users' intellectual and physical abilities are impaired. With large doses, users may experience severely altered sensory perceptions and slow and confused thinking. If the dose is very large, the effects of cannabis are similar to those of hallucinogens and may cause anxiety, panic and even psychotic episodes.

Regular users of cannabis risk developing dependency to the point where they lose interest in all other activities, such as work and personal relationships.

Furthermore, cannabis smoke also contains 50 percent more tar than high tar cigarettes, thus putting users at an increased risk for lung cancer and other respiratory diseases. Now we move onto to Ecstasy, what are the risks? Well in the short term, ecstasy can make the body ignore distress signals such as dehydration, dizziness and exhaustion, and it can also interfere with the body's ability to regulate temperature. Furthermore, ecstasy can severely damage internal organs such as the liver and the kidneys and sometimes lead to convulsions and heart failure.

Large doses of ecstasy also cause restlessness, anxiety and severe visual and auditory hallucinations.

Longer-term ecstasy use can damage certain brain regions, resulting in serious depression and memory loss, next is LSD or Hallucinogens, the risks are short-term, LSD produces delusions and distorted perceptions. The user's sense of depth and time changes and colours, sound and touch seem more intense.

Some LSD users experience severe, terrifying thoughts and feelings such as fear of losing control, fear of insanity and death, and despair.

The physical effects are small compared to the psychological and emotional effects. They include dilated pupils, increased heart rate and blood pressure, loss of appetite, sleeplessness, dry mouth and tremors. What are the risks for Heroin? Well, short-term effects include constricted pupils, nausea, vomiting, drowsiness, inability to concentrate and apathy.

Furthermore, heroin is very addictive, and development of tolerance and physical and psychological dependence occurs rapidly.

Long-term heroin use has a variety of severe health effects. Among other things, it can cause severe weight loss and malnutrition that can lead to damaged veins and liver disease. It can also lead to menstrual irregularity, sedation and chronic apathy.

Abruptly quitting heroin use leads to moderate/severe withdrawal symptoms such as cramps, diarrhoea, tremors, panic, running nose, chills and sweats, and last but not least Methamphetamine, what are the risks? Well short-term, users can lose their appetite and start breathing faster. Their heart rate and blood pressure may increase and the body temperature may go up and cause sweating. With large doses, users may feel restless and irritable and they may experience panic attacks.

Excessive doses of methamphetamine can lead to convulsions, seizures and death from respiratory failure, stroke or heart failure.

Long-term methamphetamine use can lead to malnutrition, weight loss and the development of psychological dependence. Once chronic users stop taking methamphetamine, a long period of sleep, and then depression, usually follows. Thank you for reading this far, please don't do DRUGS and be DRUG FREE! Written by Ishaan Padhi, most of the credit for the information and most of it is by United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime.

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