Essay Assessment

The Foundation series proposes the notion that military power is not the only way to become a dominant player in the galaxy but also through the combination of effective leadership, technological innovation and the establishment of a religious hierarchy that serves the Foundations purpose. The Foundations survival against all odds is a result of the Foundations ability to dominate the galaxy without military means through the effective use of its soft power.

Arguments: Hard power is not the only means for the Foundation to be a dominant actor that dominates the galaxy

Body: First, by analyzing the first book it is evident that power politics through the foundations use of effective diplomacy comes into focus. This is a direct result of the foundations use of cunning and effective leadership to deter possible aggressors with no excessive use of force at all.

Example and explanations: The mayor of Terminus Salvor Hardin knowing that Anacreon is poising to annex Terminus into one of its territories made a remark to the Anacreonian envoy that the foundation is in possession of atomic power which the Anacreonians fear it as also being atomic weapons evoking fear to the Anacreonians of future retaliations. Another example of the Foundations ability to subdue potential hostilities to its territory and its influence is by establishing a trade system of worlds governed by dependence of other planets on the foundations technological capabilities therefore ensuring that everyone in the galaxy depended on the Foundations survival as part of their long term interest since the world has already plunged into barbarism. The last and most effective way is the establishment of an effective religious hierarchy similar to the Vatican centered upon Terminus solely focused on the soft technological capabilities who's priests happen to be all engineers that tapped into the spiritual aspect of the planet within its periphery making Terminus a holy city.

Conclusion: Through the use of effective diplomacy and competent leadership the Foudation maneuvered the first crisis at ease without any casualties, through the establishment of trade dependence of other planets to Terminus it has ensured that the Foundations survival is of utmost importance to other planets within its periphery and lastly through the establishment of a Foundation centered religion planets dare not to attack the foundation fearing to be labeled as blasphemers. It is evident that the effective use of soft power is not the only means to dominate the system because the Foundation's case has proven that one doesn't not rely solely on military might alone in order to thrive in a hostile environment.

15 Words Describing The Things In My Blog

"Totally random posts to get you to write with a week deadline which is irrelevant" That's 15 words right? so that's it!

An Embarrassing Failure?

i was suppose to post one of my recent failures in this post but truthfully i can think of anything embarrassing worth posting lately! well there was this one incident which involves the steep stairs outside the Oviatt library and a very sore "behind" which i can still feel now it all happened during the last day of midterms before holidays in Thursday 29! i always make trips to the library at lease every time i wait between classes if i have nothing better to do usually revising for my next class or finishing due assignments its been a habit ever since i got to CSUN, i have the tendency to read books while walking to make my time more efficient completely ignoring my surroundings (bad habit) especially if im quite absorbed in reading my notes or reference books ive been told several times by a good friend that "one of these days you will either slam into the pole, bump into someone hard or tumble down a steep stairs". Well guess what? i choose to ignore that advice because it had never happened before but call it bad luck the third point made by my friend happen1 i was rushing to my next class reading my notes as i go down the Oviatt steps outside WHAM, THUD, THUD! i trip several flights of stairs and landed on my butt!! A nice guy tried to help me up asking whether im ok which i shrugged of by saying "im fine thanks" despite my aching butt (i have my pride and damn that was embarrassing!) i can feel my butt occasionally ache when i woke up in the morning maybe i should get it checked hahah.. for those of you with similar habits "pay attention to your surroundings or don't space out in public" you can end up with serious pain or utter humiliation! I guess i learned it the hard way...

Do Woodchucks Chuck Wood?

For starters i don't even know what a woodchuck is, i'm assuming its some kind of beaver based on the picture illustrated here. I've heard of woodchucks but i never know what they were! or why are they called woodchucks for that matter i'm guessing in has nothing to do with chucking or throwing wood all over the place hahaha.. if they don't chuck wood why bother calling them woodchucks in the first place? its still a mystery to me

Procrastination

Im always up to date with my posts for this blog (except for last week) and im only missing one entry for that following week! My prof asked me to write the reason for my procrastination for last week's blog post in this weeks assigned entry so that's exactly what i'm going to do. Last week post about making fan labor for our books was hard! usually i would have given every assignment my best effort but this one was too much of a hassle imagine choosing from either making fan art, do a cos-play, or make  fan fiction! I've never done any of those things! so picking one out of the other was difficult especially for something i don't particularly like! sci-fi for that matter! (thank you sincerely proff). So i spent most of my time pondering what i should do before i decided to make a fan fiction which for me was the easiest to do, but what to write about is a whole different story considering i had my POLS 225 exam in the following day! So instead of getting stuck with no inspiration i decided to focus more on my test which luckily i aced (yeah!) and did my entry on the following night. I guess that's no excuse i could have multi-tasked like i usually do but i guess my "spirit" wasn't in the assignment itself put it short i didn't like it! so i will try to avoid in the future.

Essay Outline

Book: Foundation Series
Thesis: The foundation's ability to be a major influence in the galaxy without military means is a result of the foundations effective manipulation of its soft power (Technology and political influence)


Introduction: The foundation series written by the author Isaac Asimov which falls under the science fiction genre illustrates many political aspects that are relevant in actual life especially in the areas of international relations in terms of how does a state dominate the international system. The book proposes the notion that military power is not the only way to become a dominant player in the galaxy but also through the combination of effective leadership, technological innovation and establishing a religious hierarchy that serves the foundation's purpose.
Opening Body: The story revolves around the Galactic Empire and a prediction made by a man called Hari Seldon with a background of psychohistory predicting the fall of the Empire. Seldons views were viewed as nonsensical by the empire which resulted on his exile along with all of his other followers who believes in the Seldon theory to a far and desolate planet in the far fringes of the galaxy called Terminus. Here Seldon wishes to establish a scientific haven in order to preserve humanity's achievement if the galaxy were to fall in a period of barbarism after the empire's fall. From there on the plot revolves around how does the foundation survives while it is surrounded by hostile natives which hopes to exploit and conquer the foundation itself. This paper will focus on the aspects which made the foundation thrive against all odds and became a dominant power while other planets fall into barbarism.  
Body Structure:

1. Explains the role of the foundations leadership from Hardin to Hobber Mallow
2. Explain on how does technological superiority of the foundation made it a dominant power.
3. Explain how the foundation established a religious hierarchy centered in the foundation itself help to foster followers from outside its borders
4. Explains on how all of this things connecting them with the thesis.

Educational Decline Of California

Budget cuts to California's education system is increasingly becoming a dominant issue which could have severe negative implications for the state's future, in which it will ultimately lead to the decline of the number of educated professionals within the state. This policy will ultimately effect California's institution of higher learning by denying many students their right for accessible quality education to compete in today's globalized economy. Students have actively protested the budget cuts done by the state government in the form of active protests demanding the local government to take action against the ever increasing fees needed to pay for tuition's. There is also the issue of class reduction, the availability of classes and the reduction of professors where the irony lies in the fact that students continuously pay an increasing fee in order to get their degree. Me being an undergraduate student in one of California's institution of higher learning Calstate Northridge observed several negative implications one of them being undergraduate seniors finding it more difficult to find classes needed in order to graduate while the number of  student drop outs continue to increase day by day because these students can no longer cope with the tuition hike. This was a result of California's policy in further cutting an additional $600 million to the CSU system. According to the August 25th news article in 2009 from the "Daily News Los Angeles" California State University has slashed enrollment and increased tuition's by 20% and raised tuition fees almost 70% more than what students normally use to pay in 2007. Education is the pillar and foundation of the society we now live in and defines the very notion of progress and development, development cannot happen in places where the basic necessities of education is denied to its citizens! Education is every individual's right, and something people should fight for! For a country supporting the basic principles of Democracy the US has an obligation towards its citizens by providing them all equal opportunity! what will become of the US economy tomorrow if all the talented youths were denied the basic necessities needed for them to contribute for their country? it will be a bleak future indeed.

A bit about me

Hello! im Dwinda, an international student currently studying at CSUN. Few words that would describe me would be easy going, adventurous, a bit of a perfectionist and free spirited. I speak several different languages and i've lived in many different countries. My long term obsession would be working in the UN or having a diplomatic career.