Building a Government (Sep. 15th)

    In class today, we were assigned to "build our own country" and decide its governing strategies. This seemed like a complex task from the beginning but as Mr.Paterson touched on various aspects of governing, the number of decisions we had to make was astounding. He told us things to consider such as voting age, term limits, dual nationality, prisoner's voting rights, education, and so much more, while simultaneously introducing real-life examples existing in the world. I lack knowledge of political systems abroad especially regarding countries in Europe, so everything Mr.Paterson taught us was relevant. Today's class was predominantly about discussing these issues and questions Mr.Paterson provided. At first, it did not take off very smoothly. I personally did not know what was the best decision to make so I struggled even forming my opinion. Nonetheless, since all of us were students of the same age with similar backgrounds, there were several ideas and perspectives I could agree to. This may differ if we had different backgrounds and experienced different governments, and age would probably be a prominent factor in dividing opinions. 
    To briefly explain, my group was not able to settle on one specific method but there were abundant decisions we had all agreed on. One of them being, allowing foreign citizens living in Japan to vote. Regarding this issue, my friend suggested that if we were going to allow foreign citizens to vote, it would probably be best to have a limitation (for example, foreigners who have paid tax for over three years). On the contrary, there were a plethora of issues we were not unanimous on. For instance, we disagreed on whether to allow citizens that live outside of the country to participate in voting. I believe that regardless of whether they are physically living in the land or not, the decisions and governing ways strongly affect their country/identity, and their "home". Therefore, citizens who do not live in the land should be able to vote. Additionally, one interesting discussion we had was on age. Surprisingly, quite a few of my group members are born in March, which means while the vast majority of us are able to vote in senior year, they will still not have the right, although they receive the same education. As a solution, they suggested making everyone wait until after graduating high school. Conversely, I believe that everyone should experience voting in their last year of high school. I am interested in politics but may not have the knowledge nor the gut to go voting by myself. So, if our first voting chance is during our last year of high school, we have a trustworthy adult (teacher) to rely on if we are confused or worried about voting. Notwithstanding, there may be issues like the teacher's political opinions impacting the students. Furthermore, we were asked about media manipulation and whether to make laws on that or not. From my standing point, advertising and sponsorship are valid and part of society. Although there are ample issues regarding the media, I personally believe the most efficient way is for readers to develop a critical mind, especially as we step into the burgeoning field of technology. 

Notes: 
age: after mandatory education, graduation. during education (18). 
system: proportional representation, 
able to choose our own leader, with a royal family (president) directly make decisions
overseas citizens: should if they are paying tax. have a limitation (number of years)
Japanese citizens who live overseas: no (not living in the country)
prison: prisoners should not get the vote
(you can vote if you can pay for an expensive lawyer, which disenfranchises the poor)
choose when the next election is: 
should we have a method to displace
term limits: should have a limit especially in a representative government
dual nationality: only allowing one is an infringement of nationality 
permission to two passports (a lot of backgrounds, identity)
hospital, university, nothing is free (U.S) medicine, and everything is free (Europe): 
the military is voluntary, Norway, Denmark, Sweden has to do two years of national service: 
pacifist (psychologically do not want to go to war): they can work for social service 
slightly more expensive tax in japan, tax should be higher on jewelry, necessities should be cheaper tax, so wealthy people can pay for tax: 
america's system is too risky 
death penalty: 
education: uni in the US is too expensive, scholarship, 
based on the information they get, the vast majority get it from the mainstream
people who receive the information need to become critical. make the information clear by the gov, on the truth. there should be an unbiased news outlet. 
even if we make all these talks, it won't change it by next year