In May 2021, the World Health Organization (WHO) director announced that the world had reached a situation of ‘vaccine apartheid’ – where vaccines are hoarded by wealthy countries, while those in developing countries suffer from a limited supply. According to the WHO, more than 75% of all vaccines have been administered in only 10 (wealthy)
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A Debate on How to Effectively Help Those in Need
The minimum wage has always been the cause of much debate and controversy in economic and political circles. Recently, there was much debate over the United State’s proposal to increase the minimum wage to $15 an hour. While proponents of the minimum wage argued that it was essential to ensure a living wage for workers,
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Indian farmers, mainly from northern Punjab and Haryana states, have been protesting recently implemented agricultural bills since November of last year and have gained massive international attention. Although the three bills were intended to modernize India’s farming sector, farmers worry that it will disempower them and possibly decrease their quality of life. Protestors have been
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Contrary to its usual status of superiority, Western countries have been hit particularly hard by the Coronavirus, with around 9 million cumulative cases in Europe and 20 million in America. Meanwhile, although East Asian countries were among the first to report covid-19 cases, they have been doing relatively much better in terms of new cases
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With the conclusion of the recent vice-presidential debate between Senator Kamala Harris and Vice President Mike Pence, there was a global appreciation for the moment when Kamala Harris stood her ground and said “…Mr. Vice President, I’m speaking.” But why was this such a radical act for a woman in politics? And why has media
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What is Neocolonialism? Neocolonialism involves the use of economic, political or cultural pressures to influence other countries, especially former colonies. Previous colonial methods of invasion, violence and direct control have become outdated. If developed countries, which now mostly claim to honor democracy and human rights, tried to directly colonize another country, there would be much
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How Covid-19 has worsened Hungary’s authoritarianism and the resulting responsibility of the EU
The coronavirus pandemic and the subsequent lockdown has caused a variety of problems, one of which is increasing authoritarianism. Room for Discussion interviewed Kenneth Roth about how Covid-19 has created increasing opportunities for authoritarianism in many countries, focusing on the rise of autocracy in Hungary. Roth is currently the executive director of the Human Rights
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With the recent explosion of the Black Lives Matter movement across the world, the phrase ‘Systemic Racism’ has been used repeatedly in protests, speeches, Instagram posts and tweets. But what is systemic racism and why is it important for us to understand its reality? Systemic/Institutional Racism, in short, is the racism that exists within and
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George Floyd was murdered, while unarmed, by a white police officer over a minor offense. Ahmaud Arbery was shot and killed by two white men while he was jogging. Breonna Taylor was shot and killed by two police officers who entered her home without warning. These killings, and many others like them, have one thing
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New Zealand, led by Prime Minister Jacinda Arden, has recently declared victory over the coronavirus, reporting almost zero new cases in the past few days. Germany, led by Angela Merkel, has had a much lower death rate than neighbouring states. Taiwan, led by Tsai Ing-wen, has been widely praised for having the best reaction to
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Although the coronavirus has been impartial to race and nationality in its takeover of the world, it has exposed the structural racism that exists in many Western countries, particularly in the United States of America. While the virus also triggered explicit racist attacks against Asian-Americans, this article focuses instead on the more implicit institutional racism
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Early this year there was controversy surrounding Trump’s withholding of aid to Ukraine for his own political benefit. There was public outrage surrounding this incident which triggered an impeachment process for Trump. However, half of all foreign aid is tied to conditions in favour of the donor and is often used as leverage against recipients
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