1st Discussion to Respond to:
California allows for theme parks, stadiums, and ballparks to open outdoors under certain conditions
On Friday California paved the way for Walt Disney Co. and other attractions throughout the state to re-open as soon as next month, following new Covid-19 restrictions and regulations. The California department of public health claimed that under new guidelines amusement parks, stadiums and ballparks will be allowed to re-open at fifteen percent capacity as early as March first if certain test positivity rates are met. The new regulations could potentially drive activity in other industries including, live music and sports.
“With case rates and hospitalizations significantly lower, the arrival of three highly effective vaccines and targeted efforts aimed at vaccinating the most vulnerable communities, California can begin gradually and safely bringing back more activities, especially those that occur outdoors and where consistent masking is possible,” said Dr. Mark Ghaly, secretary of the California Health and Human Services Agency. So far California has administered about ten million vaccine doses, according to the state. President Biden has claimed that he expects the nation will have sufficient vaccine supplies for all adults in the United States by the end of May. I hope that our President is right about this so we can start going back to normal society again.
Reopening Disneyland will take several weeks. The company has tens of thousands of employees on furlough and will need to negotiate with unions to bring these workers back and re-train them. In the company’s most recent earnings report, released last month, the Disney division that includes its theme-park business registered a $2.6 billion hit from Covid-19 during the quarter. Disney Chief Executive Bob Chapek said he expects social-distancing and mask-wearing to be required at parks at least through the end of the year.
When we think about Disneyland we think about how crowded the amusement park usually is, and there is no way that there can be social distancing with that many people in the park at one time. I think that it is awesome that they will be allowed to re-open their doors to fifteen percent capacity. But is it worth it to open the park to that very limited number of people? I believe that it is. They have lost over two point six billion dollars because of Covid-19, they need to get customers in the doors so they can start making up for the lost time and money they have been missing out on over the last year.
To sum up, everything that has been stated above, California is allowing for attractions across the state to re-open at fifteen percent capacity. This will allow for life to start to feel normal again, going out of the ball game or even going to Disneyland for the day. It is still important to remember that we will still be living with this virus out there so we will still need to wear masks and social distance ourselves. All of this will not be possible if the tests do not show the results that we want them to.
2nd Discussion to Respond to:
The ACLU Thrived Under Trump. Now, It’s Racing to Sustain Donations
This article details the new challenges the American Civil Liberties Union, or ACLU, is facing under the Biden Administration. During the Trump presidency, donations went up significantly for the organization, but support has recently gone down because many Americans see Biden as less of a threat to our civil liberties than Trump was. The ACLU sued the Trump Administration roughly 400 times during his four years in office. They expect to sue the Biden Administration as well, but not nearly as often.
This article criticizes the ACLU’s approach to defending civil liberties in recent years because although they do not back any politicians, they have received criticism by former and current members for taking too liberal an approach. Recently, however, they defended the National Rifle Association on First Amendment grounds. This decision received criticism by many liberal people who may be against gun ownership. The article states that the ACLU’s mission statement is “to defend and preserve the individual rights and liberties guaranteed to all people in this country by the Constitution and laws of the United States.”
It is hard to say whether the ACLU is benefitting from their current approach to defending civil liberties. It seems that the current president has a great influence on their receival of monetary donations. When a Republican was in office, liberal people felt the need to donate. Now that a Democrat is in office, it seems that they don’t feel as threatened. I think this mindset is dangerous because Democrats and Republicans aren’t all that different. It is dangerous to assume that a president from the Democratic party lacks the potential to violate our civil liberties and civil rights. I think this mindset leaves us vulnerable to harm. I think it is important that we can remember to defend our individual rights rather than relying on the government to do so.
I think that because their mission statement is to defend the Constitution, the ACLU should be wary of coming off as supporting any political ideology. They identify as defenders of the Constitution and laws of the United States, and I think they should act as if that is their only motive if they are going to receive any level of continuous support. In the article, the ACLU’s national legal director states that “To some degree, civil rights and civil liberties is a cyclical business,” and “We need to convince people that [it] is a long-term business.” I think that if they are going to be successful in doing so, they will need to maintain their nonpartisanship and focus on their mission statement instead.
In conclusion, I think the work of the ACLU is important. The organization did a lot of work for civil liberties and civil rights during the Trump administration. I think they hold a great deal of power and influence due to their high numbers of membership and ability to accept donations. They hold an important level of power that helps to keep government officials from abusing their power. I think this attempt to hold people accountable will continue to be important, even under a Democratic president. I hope that the organization can maintain or improve their reputation so that this important work can continue to get done.
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