Wash U & St. Louis

WASHINGTON UNIVERSITY

POLITICAL

REVIEW 30.4 | May 2019 | wupr.org

featuring: Seeking Tranquility in College Life St. Louis: Home of the Blues Brews

Table of Contents

International

St. Louis: Home of the Blues Brews Garrett Cunningham & Michael Fogarty

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Impossible Trinity Rohan Palacios

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Wake Up: The Effects of Linguistic Convenience on Political Polarization Daniel A. Berkovich

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The Southern Border: A Humanitarian Crisis Ryan Martirano

Who Are the Homeless?

Salil Uttarwar

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Proud to Be in St. Louis: WashU’s Brand and the City’s Reputation Nicholas Massenburg-Abraham

China's Impossible Environmental Dilemna Yiran Cheng

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Theme Art Selina Wu

It's Time for Wash U to Pay University City Alexander Newman

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Dissonance Akshay Thontakudi

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Seeking Tranquility in College Life Merry May Ma

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Theme Art Rashad Hamauon

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Wash U and St. Louis

National

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13

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Theme Art Natalie Snyder

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Studying the Good Life Dan Sicorsky

Editors' Note Executive Director: Ishaan Shah Sabrina Wang (Emeritus) Editors-in-Chief: Sophie Attie Michael Fogarty (Emeritus) Hanna Khalil Dan Sicorsky (Emeritus) Executive Design Director: Maggie Chuang (Emeritus) Catherine Ju Design Director: Leslie Liu Staff Editors: Ryan Mendelson Jon Niewijk Daniel Smits Features Editors: Megan Orlanski Programming Director: Rohan Palacios Web Editor: Conor Smyth Treasurer: Garrett Cunningham Front Cover: Maggie Chuang Theme Spread: Selina Wu Feature Designs: Michael Avery Leslie Liu Merry May Ma

Dearest Reader, As this spring semester comes to an end, we once again shift our focus back onto ourselves and our own community at Wash U. The Political Review’s yearly theme, Wash U and St. Louis, allows us to regroup at the end of another year to reflect on what we have accomplished. Important as it is to look beyond our college bounds and discuss worldly matters that interest us, it is equally important to inspect within our boundaries and to see what our community has witnessed this past year.

This year has introduced a lot of change in St. Louis. An announcement of a proposed city-county merger poses new possibilities for our political landscape. Within our campus, changing leadership in the Chancellor’s office also suggests potential for new academic and social policy, as students continue to push for change on issues such as racial equity, divestment from fossil fuels, and Title IX procedures.

Meanwhile, the sound of construction carries on, as the largest capital project in the university’s history permanently reshapes our physical landscape.

In this issue you will find a variety of voices on issues in our community. Merry May offers a refreshing poem dedicated to the magic and power one can find at Wash U in the spring. Ashkay Thontakudi responds to our theme with a more critical view, assessing the reality of our school’s administration and the disconnect between its words and its actions. Dan Sicorsky reflects on a final semester studying happiness and proposes valuable takeaways. Other writers discuss homelessness in St. Louis, the election for Wash U’s President of the Board of Aldermen, and more.

As always, we also feature writers exploring national and international topics. In this issue, Yiran Cheng addresses the serious effects of climate change that China is currently facing. Daniel Berkovich inspects the misuse of the term socialism in our society, and Ryan Martirano tackles our nation’s complicated relationship with the southern border.

As this semester comes to a close, so do the careers of many WUPR members. We wish to acknowledge and thank our current leaders, Sabrina Wang, Michael Fogarty, and Dan Sicorsky, who have greatly contributed to the improvement and development of our publication. Washington University’s Political Review would not be where it is today without their remarkable dedication. We also would like to thank our talented graduating executive board members Garrett Cunningham, Maggie Chuang, and Ryan Mendelson. With each year that goes by, we say goodbye to valuable members of our community, but with change also come new beginnings and fresh perspectives. We leave you with a reminder that regardless of whether you have just finished your final or first year of college, everything is political—no matter where you are.

Sincerely, Sophia Attie and Hanna Khalil Editors-in-Chief

WU Political Review

It's Time For Wash U to Pay University City Alexander Newman

L

ast month, Dean of Students Rob Wild sent out an email about students acting disruptively during Mardi Gras at parties that students held in University City. University City police struggled to handle the rowdy students: according to Councilman Jeff Hales, it took all of the on-duty officers of the University City police department to disperse the crowd when one of the parties grew too large. At the next city council meeting, residents expressed frustration with trash and noise. Several students will face legal action. While this might seem like a silly instance of a party gone out of control, it is also indicative of larger conflicts between Washington University and its neighboring communities. These communities are forced to support the school and its students, but they often seem to get little in return.

Like many universities, Washington University qualifies as an educational and charitable organization under section 501(c)(3) of the Internal Revenue Code. This means that Washington University is exempt from paying federal taxes and generally also exempt from paying Missouri state and local taxes. There are many reasons why it is beneficial for universities to be tax-exempt.

Universities contribute research and develop technologies that provide benefits to society, and tax exemption allows schools to dedicate more resources to this research. The additional money also means that universities can spend more on financial aid, helping lower-income students pursue higher education. Many smaller colleges and universities in the United States also have financial troubles, and their tax-exempt status allows them to remain solvent.

While these tax rules are beneficial for universities, they can lead to problems for the surrounding communities. Going back to University City, Wash U is the largest landowner in the entire city, owning roughly five percent of the city’s total property value. When University City did an assessment of property values in 2014, it estimated that Wash U owned roughly $130 million

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Every year, University City misses out on about $2 million in Wash U property taxes. in tax-exempt property within the city. That means that every year, University City misses out on about $2 million in Wash U property taxes.

Although the lost tax revenue is already painful for University City, the deal gets even worse, since these properties still get city services. Over 1,000 students live in Wash U-owned off-campus housing in University City. These students benefit from the public services offered by University City: firefighters, police, street maintenance, sewage and sanitation, and the public library. In that same assessment, University City estimated it spends around $3 million a year for services to properties that will never contribute tax revenue to the city.

How can this problem be solved? First of all, it’s obvious that there is no way to legally require Wash U to pay taxes. A measure that extreme would require rewriting the tax code, which is unfeasible. While paying taxes is out of the question, the actions of other cities and universities show how Wash U can still contribute to the community. For example, Boston deals with similar issues on an even larger scale: major universities like Harvard and Boston University own billions in tax-exempt property. To help deal with the costs of providing services to these properties, Boston created a “payment in lieu of tax” (PILOT) program. Under the program, Boston requests voluntary payments from tax-exempt organizations. This program helps the city recover over $30 million every year. Similar

arrangements exist in other cities with wealthy universities: Yale provides payments to New Haven, and Brown gives money to Providence.

In the past, University City has considered a PILOT program. A 2015 city council study session discussed the concept, but nothing else developed. In late 2018, Mayor Terry Crow called for the creation of a new study session to revisit these ideas. However, this is not just University City’s responsibility. Even if University City asked for a PILOT, it would ultimately be Wash U’s decision whether to pay. This is why Wash U should be proactive in helping other cities in the St. Louis community. Wash U needs to take further steps to help improve and contribute to the cities in the area. A firm commitment would improve relations with the city, as well as improve services to the many students and faculty who live in University City.

While they do give money back to cities, PILOT programs are not perfect. Boston, for example, asks for payments that are heavily discounted from the actual tax value of university-owned land. Even then, the payment requests are not fully met. Harvard, despite having a $38 billion endowment, still only pays half of the $6 million that Boston asks for. While these numbers are not encouraging, they are an improvement to the previous status quo, where Boston used to get nothing. While there is no easy way to reconcile Wash U’s tax-exempt status with the fundraising needs of neighboring cities, a PILOT program would be a step in the right direction and would signify a meaningful commitment to improving relations between the university and its neighbors.

Alexander Newman '20 studies in the College of Arts & Sciences. He can be reached at newmana@wustl.edu.

Wash U & St. Louis

Dissonance Akshay Thontakudi, staff writer

T

here's a time and place to be a proud Wash U student. That place might be during a Christmas gathering with family, or when a student researcher makes a major breakthrough. But in those places where the Wash U sprawl has gentrified the area, or where drunken college students disrupt the peace, it's best to keep Wash U affiliations under wraps.

Throughout my four years at this institution, I've developed some intuition about when to mention my student status and when to keep quiet.

The golden rule that I've lived by, however, is to never mention the school specifically unless asked directly. As my time as a college student comes to a close, I've begun to reflect on why this is the case. The honest answer I've come up with is that there is a massive disconnect between Wash U's mission and the reality of its actions.

The Brown School is one of the world's best institutions for research and programs in social work and public policy, and it is a great source of pride and joy for Washington University. Researchers at the Clark-Fox Policy Institute, a branch of the Brown School, found that even within Missouri, a $15/hour minimum wage was necessary for a person to purchase the bare necessities. The policy proposal falls in line with nationwide movements aimed at raising the national minimum wage to $15/hour, a figure cited to be a livable wage enough to sustain a family, and one that keeps up with inflation. Yet most campus workers themselves usually only make $8-$9 an hour, with housekeepers topping out at $12 an hour. The workers at campus-based businesses like Subway or Starbucks have minimum wages set by the corporations themselves, so they fall out of purview of the university. But for the other workers, including graduate students, the amount they are paid does not fall in line with what the university itself claims to be a livable wage. For an institution that prides itself on being forward thinking, Wash U has great difficulty making positive changes, even going against its researchers’ own findings. This inconsistency in its intention versus its actions, however, is not only endemic to the university itself, but extends to the Saint Louis Community, as well.

Washington University, in conjunction with

As long as this gap exists, there will always be a level of dissonance in the minds of many that call Wash U home.

Saint Louis University, UMSL, and the Missouri Botanical Gardens, unveiled plans to foster innovation and growth within St. Louis through the Cortex Innovation Community. The plan involves investing a total of $2 billion to provide facilities for biomedical and technological research, encompassing a total of over 200 acres of real estate. The initiative sounds promising, especially with the fresh surge of jobs that would fill the area. And while the injection of St. Louis jobs will elevate the overall status of the city, there are some serious downsides that the communities impacted face. As more businesses move into the area, the housing cost will continue rising, displacing the residents that live there and forcing them elsewhere. While the benefit of the Cortex Innovation Community has a lot of benefits for the city of St. Louis, it has the potential to do serious harm to the local residents in the coming years.

Even on the global stage, Wash U seems to engage in heavy dissonance. The environmental and chemical engineering departments have many labs that focus on researching renewable alternatives to fossil fuels that show promise, like solar power, and even research that points to the significant problems with using coal, "clean" or otherwise. The environmental studies and public health departments have both shown beyond a shadow of doubt the disastrous impact of climate change and the role fossil fuels play in it. They even indicate how investment in renewables is not only economically feasible, but also fiscally prudent in the coming decades. Wash U stands by the research that these departments put out,

but it also has initiatives within the environmental engineering department focused on research into processing and refining "clean" coal. The Board of Trustees still refuses to divest from fossil fuels and continues the support of archaic practices that will continue to damage the region, country, and world for generations to come.

Washington University is not monolithic. There are many different faces to each initiative, department, and interest that the institution pursues. No matter what an individual or organization under the umbrella of the university pursues, however, the Wash U name is always attached to the actions and achievements. But for a university that encourages students to make strides in medicine, policy, community engagement, and other efforts, it makes startlingly little effort to listen to those same students when called out on their doublespeak. There still exists a gap to cross between the university's values and actions. And as long as this gap exists, there will always be a level of dissonance in the minds of many that call Wash U home.

Akshay Thontakudi ‘19 studies in the McKelvey School of Engineering. He can be reached at a.m.thontakundi@wustl.edu.

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Seeking Tranquility in College Life Merry May Ma | Artwork by Merry May Ma

E

arly spring has come and summer is not far away. In the afternoons, I bike around the Danforth Campus, listening to Johann Pachelbel's Canon in D. Night falls later now, so I can enjoy the rest of sunset's glorious runway show. The sunset sprinkles glittering light on the immense grassland. Near the stairs of Bauer Hall, ivy leaves climb the brick-red wall and hang down the branches leisurely above the ground.

Near the ground, the granite wall is covered with a soft layer of dark-green lawn. The light-blue sky reveals the luster of the setting sun, decorated by clouds with various shapes: some are spaceships, some are dolphins jumping from the sea, and some are tiny boats on Lake Tai. Sitting near the symbolic silver sculpture outside Knight Hall, I see peers playing soccer on Mudd Field.

Suddenly, a tree with a "bent neck" catches my attention. It is suffering from a brief period

of "hair loss"—its leaves are falling down from the branches to the grassy slope. I fix my eyes on that grassy slope—it is a green bowl that will never be full. When I close my eyes, many memories of the past emerge from my eyes.

The green bowl looks like a stroller I used to sit in. Mom often pushed me in the garden when I was three and recited a poem: "Mrs. Huang's garden is overflowing with flowers, bending the branches low. Wandering butterflies dance ever so often, carefree warblers chirp happily." The song by a Chinese poet from the Tang Dynasty, Du Fu, lulled little me into a vivid image of what Mr. Huang's garden looked like.

When I recall many other traditional Chinese poems I have learned in the past, nearly all of them talk about nature. With lyrics like "Beyond green willows morning chill is growing mild; On pink apricot branches spring is running wild"

(Song Qi) and "Where countless peach blossoms bleak, and on the branch of tree golden Orioles sing" (Huang Tingjian), I share the joy of welcoming early spring and warm weather with these ancient Chinese poets. Still, these poets lived in a time before the advent of technology and spent more time in nature. But another reason is that nature provided ancient Chinese poets with endless inspiration. Think about it.

There is an enormous amount of plants and landscapes in the world. Constantly changing during the day and with the seasons, the scenery you see will always be different. For some sentimental ancient Chinese poets, the tiniest subtle changes in nature will touch their heartstrings.

And when they write their poems, images of nature will reflect the impacts it had on their emotions. No doubt Lin Yutang, a "wise and witty" Hokkien Chinese writer, translator and philosopher, wrote in his book My Country and

My People (1935) that poetry has taught Chinese people "a sense of compassion, an overflowing love of nature, and an attitude of artistic acceptance of life" that is written with "rhythmic beauty and spiritual grace."

worries about my future. I feel I am inside of a safe space where I can rest quietly and express a range of emotions. I feel myself being endowed with a more powerful spirit, transcending myself into a poetic life.

east, dropping a few tears. I ignore it, watching the beam of sunlight converge into a brighter one over the lake. The sun, once hidden by the thick clouds, breaks through the clouds and radiates its bright light out. The power of light!

Wash U has brought me more than what a satisfactory college education is. It teaches me how to "dwell poetically." Like many of my peers who practice mindfulness, I firmly believe that there is always a poetic side of life beyond daily routines and hectic schedules. Even a machine needs frequent rest to guarantee long-term functioning, not to mention us—we four-limbed, warm-blooded, terrestrial mammals need tranquility in our lives too. You may feel the word "tranquility" is too abstract, but your definition of tranquility can be anything. Tranquility can be a quiet setting where you are surrounded by natural sounds like rain falling, leaves rustling, birds chirping, wind blowing and even flowers blooming (blooming flowers' sound is hard to hear but can be detected by the heart). Tranquility can be a state of mind when you allow yourself time for self-reflection and to check in with yourself and your thoughts. You can find tranquility even when you are swarmed by a crowd because tranquility helps you develop a relationship with yourself. Ultimately, you live with yourself, and your relationship with yourself matters. In other words, you are your best soulmate. Anytime you feel closely connected to the nature or to yourself, tranquility is there with you.

My poetic life dwells in Forest Park, too. Last August when I first moved in, I didn't know that Forest Park existed in addition to the open green spaces on campus. So, given this extra space to find peace, you can image how thrilled I was! It is an outdoor gym where I can walk, jog, run, or ride my bike. It’s so immense! When I stare at the horizon-line that looks as if it were drawn by a pencil, I can put all the stress aside as if putting down a heavy backpack. My backpack is heavy, holding onto my GPA, my career, my expectations of myself, social norms, and anything that constrains my smile. I have a weight on my shoulders as I wake up, as I study, as I think, but it is not there anymore when I am inside Forest Park. I temporarily abandon my to-do list and all the things in my head. I clear up my mind, fill my brain up with fresh air, and fill my stomach with fresh pineapples.

I jump on my bike again and park it near a broken bridge. At that point, my earphone is playing Do You, a pure piano song that helps me clam down.

I lay my hands on the damped edge of the bridge and gaze at the clouds above me. The clouds are filled with water drops so they look heavy, but their color turns from grey to white. When twilight shrouds me, I can feel the wind gently blowing by, no longer as fierce as before. Down the bridge lies a muddy river where some wild ducks are swimming leisurely. I turn my gaze upwards and feel like the clouds are forming a city above the air, like the Hayao Mizayaki's cartoon movie, Castle in The Sky. Childhood memories clinch with reality and without realizing it, I fall into a serene trance with a smile on my face.

I call Wash U a fairy land: a garden full of tranquil beauty. But it is not a fairy place when I rush. I can only hear the sound of silence and serendipity when I slow down. Like now, like then, like every other peaceful moment I experience. If the whole world around me is a tranquil sea, I would love to be a boat. When I close my eyes, I feel my soul floating and flying, away from school work, extracurricular concerns, career plans, and

I take small treks and sit near an angelic lake. It is beautiful enough to be called a dream—the sky is water-blue and fresh. Colorful clouds sparsely decorate the sky while dark-red maple trees hide part of the forest, like a veil covering the face of a femme fatale. The lake reflects the image of the forest, like nymph's dressing mirror, or Narcissus's epitaph... If Ralph Waldo Emerson were with me, he would say "In good health, the air is a cordial of incredible virtue." Alas!

Tranquility is everywhere! So rare, so precious, so calm, so happy...

Sometimes, suddenly my head becomes a little wet. I have no idea how long I have been spacing out. Oh! There comes an unwanted guest—a cumulonimbus cloud moves slowly from the

In the face of the magic nature, a sense of joy and reverence springs up. I sometimes feel my personal power too weak to change anything, but now, facing all the surreal and superb sceneries around me, I am endowed with mysterious strength again. Even though nature withers away in winter, it is spring now. A hidden vitality is lurking underground, breaking through the soil, and sprouting out. Barren trees will wear new clothes and peach and cherry blossoms will bloom in a month. The long winter has passed, the spring has come, and every wish and dream is revived with opportunity. Since warm spring has come, let us cherish this precious chance to go outside, slow down, and dwell on earth poetically.

Merry May Ma ‘22 studies in the College of Arts & Sciences. She can be reached out at liangboma@wustl.edu.

I call Wash U a fairy-land: a place full of tranquil beauty.

WU Political Review

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Artwork by Reshad Hamauon Modeling by Eudora Anya

WU Political Review

Who Are the Homeless?

Salil Uttarwar

F

or Wash U students, staying in the safe, comfortable, and isolated bubble that the school provides is easy. We are privileged to live in world-class dorms, eat high-quality food, and attend classes on a beautiful campus.

Despite this, there is a clear sign all around us that the world is not as perfect as it is inside of the bubble: homelessness.

There are many homeless individuals in the Skinker area and on the Loop, and many of them stay in the same general area for extended periods of time. Recently, I had a conversation with a homeless man who is frequently on Skinker. He told me about his life, from his upbringing to how he ended up homeless. He excelled at basketball in high school, and with professional potential, he focused his efforts in school towards getting better at the sport. He tried out for the NBA D-League but did not make the cut. Eventually, he injured himself badly, causing his coach to give him medicine that contained opiates, which he was unaware of at the time. As his addiction to these painkillers grew, his relationship with his wife deteriorated. She eventually divorced him and took custody of their children, but he still sends them money when he can. Since then, he has gotten off his addiction and has been in and out of homelessness, searching daily for employment opportunities and shelters to take him in.

When I asked him about how he deals with hunger, he said that he has tried frequently to get into shelters, but they are often at full capacity.

The times he has successfully gotten in, the quality of food he was served was so poor that he said he “would not even feed it to a dog”. He has no steady source of food, so he relies on panhandling to provide money for meals.

After this experience, I was inclined to learn more about homeless shelters and stories of homelessness. I spoke with Mary Laubengayer from Our Lady’s Inn (OLI), a shelter for pregnant women and children. Laubengayer once worked in special-needs education but was attracted to the grassroots non-profit organization and mission that OLI provided, and has since worked there for over 20 years. She described how some homeless individuals find it challenging to

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The grocery store clerk, the person checking you in at the doctor’s office, these are people who could be working during the day and coming home to a shelter. find proper nutrition when they have to rely on corner stores for cheap, filling food. The shelter combats this malnutrition using produce and meals sourced from food banks, student organizations at Wash U and St. Louis University, and various stores. In addition, she mentioned how there is not nearly enough shelter space to accommodate the homeless population, which is especially problematic with a pregnant women’s shelter; the women wish to stay with OLI for as long as possible to receive resources and support for their pregnancy.

When I asked her how college students could help alleviate homelessness, she stated that the first step is to “broaden [one’s] understanding about who is homeless and why”. She listed many uncontrollable factors that can cause people to fall into homelessness, such as generational poverty and domestic abuse. One woman at the shelter used the majority of her paychecks to pay for childcare, which is a necessity for working women. Laubengayer also emphasized how the negative stereotypes associated with homelessness rarely apply, stating that “the grocery store clerk, the person checking you in at the doctor’s office, these are people who could be working during the day and coming home to a shelter”. She pointed out how we may encounter people experiencing homelessness in our day-to-day interactions but be unaware of it.

Homeless people are commonly stereotyped

as either “choosing” to be homeless, whether through poorly made decisions or drug use, or not working hard enough to find a means to escape homelessness, but my conversations with Laubengayer and the man on Skinker proved to me that is a gross generalization.

The life of a student can be incredibly busy with constant tests, projects, and deadlines.

Regardless, it is important to recognize the privileges that many of us have. We complain about the unpredictable weather of St. Louis, but some must stay in it for longer than walks between classes. It’s also easy to complain about repetitive dining hall meals, but we are fortunate to have a stable source of food. These facets of our daily lives, which we often take for granted, would quite literally change the lives of the many underprivileged people in our community.

Everyone would like to help those in less fortunate positions, but it can be hard to recognize the need for action if we do not recognize why people are in such positions. For this reason, I would like to echo Laubengayer’s message: we as college students must get educated about homelessness. The first step in helping the homeless is understanding them.

Salil Uttarwar ‘21 studies in the College of Arts & Sciences. He can be reached at suttarwar@wustl.edu.

Wash U & St. Louis

Proud to Be in St. Louis: Wash U’s Brand and the City’s Reputation Nicholas Massenburg-Abraham, staff writer

“Why are you going to St. Louis?”

It was a question I was asked often when I announced to the family and friends closest to me that I would be starting at Washington University in the Fall of 2018. Coming from the Northeast, a region abounding with Ivy League and top university prestige, the prospect of leaving for Wash U and the city of St. Louis in general was confounding at best. Many people had never even heard of the school, despite its consistent top 20 ranking and an impressive endowment. It seemed I had fumbled my potential by choosing a university that was perceivably “beneath me.” Of course, I know this assessment is not correct—but the Northeastern ego cannot see that far beyond the insulated culture of its immediate range.

My family has been, and will always be, incredibly proud of me—but I imagine they had similar confusions about my college choice. This was especially apparent when we arrived to Wash U’s campus in the middle of August last year after a 14-hour drive across the country from my native New Jersey. My grandparents, jaws on the floor and eyes wider than is humanly healthy, were floored by the scenic beauty and imposing architecture of the campus, the seemingly limitless academic opportunities, and the chances I would have at professional success.

Their fears about my future were assuaged. I was equally shocked to find a world of academic prowess far beyond what I imagined when I visited Wash U for the first time during Celebration Days.

So why, if it is such an excellent and formidable place to receive an education, is the sentiment we eventually built for ourselves about Wash U not universal where I come from, despite the renown of its peer institutions? Say Georgetown, and the hairs on the most ambitious of college

applicants in my area immediately stand upright.

What gives?

A more obvious answer might consider that Wash U and the city of St. Louis are far away from where I come from. The argument I earlier posed is true—there are so many academic opportunities and such a strong identity in the Northeast, so many do not give Wash U and its city any special considerations. St. Louis’ isolation from the prominence and influence of coastal spaces exclude it from many conversations about American life and institutions.

Consider, also, that Wash U is in league with a small handful of universities that are constantly talked about in the college process, in the media, and in everyday conversation by people all over the country and world—no matter their locations. These excitements are not confined to the Northeastern United States. And yet Wash U is still almost never in those conversations, and struggles to etch a place on many of the best students' prospective college lists without urging from a college counselor or for the sake of convenience (the, up until recent, lack of a supplemental essay on the common application was a huge draw for many students I have spoken to). Enter the toxic cesspool that is College Confidential, and you get the perception that our campus is full of students who only ended up here because they did not get into their first choice Ivy League.

Part of the problem here stems from Wash U’s location in St. Louis, a city that peaked when our university was in its infancy. St. Louis today is not exactly a paragon of metropolitan success, and has a generally unfavorable reputation throughout the rest of the country. Troubling murder rates, economic downturn, and de facto segregation along racial lines are just some of the major problems which make the city an unattractive place to the rest of American society. I often wonder how that is, given Wash U’s location here as one of the wealthiest and most prestigious research universities in the world.

Is the university in any position to strengthen the reputation of the city, perhaps by strengthening the school’s brand recognition to draw more positive attention to the area? Given the complex and often problematic relationship between the two, I am not sure how empowered Wash U is to revitalize St. Louis as an engine of academic opportunity, financial success, and technological innovation. Connections need to be repaired, and a better rapport built between parties.

The question of how WashU’s location continues to hinder its reputation is to me, one of the greatest enigmas in the realm of America’s elite universities. From an outsider’s perspective, I definitely believe that Wash U could be doing a lot more strategically and financially given its means to reinvigorate the energies of this city and repair its reputation—providing, for example, more on campus sponsored programs for St. Louis students and their families to gain access to life changing academic and professional opportunities. Taking steps to contribute more impactfully to the city might just ease the blow of that annoying question some Wash U students get when it is time to start to school: “Why are you going to St. Louis?”

Nicholas Massenburg-Abraham ‘22 studies in the Olin Business School. He can be reached at nick.m@wustl.edu.

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WU Political Review

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Wash U & St. Louis

Artwork by Natalie Snyder, staff artist

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WU Political Review

Studying the Good Life Dan Sicorsky, editor-in-chief (emeritus)

I

t has come my time to go, but where to? what to do? who to be? how? To graduate is to sink deep into existentialism.

I had only to take five credits this semester to graduate, but I instead enrolled in eighteen: my heaviest load yet. I had a question—a jabbing thought—that I wanted to investigate: what does it mean to live a good life?

I chose three courses that would entertain the subject: Existentialism (taught by Prof. Evans), Positive Psychology: The Science of Happiness (Bono), and Buddhist Traditions (Grant).

All three offered answers. And a fourth, Contact Improvisational Dance (Marchant), also helped, if in unexpected ways.

Now, at the close of the semester, I want to revisit the question of the good life by pooling together what I’ve learned. Several themes arose in each of these course, which makes sense, since the four domains—philosophy, science, religion, and bodily movement—all declare the same mission: aiding the well-being and flourishment of human beings.

How is any of this political? Two reasons. First, Plato believed that in the individual we can locate a microcosm of the larger society. If we can understand what puts one individual’s life in order, we can know how to design a city that nurtures happy individuals.

Second, we are better poised to participate politically when we have first worked on ourselves.

Those who “selfishly” have their lives together can then serve their communities with resilience over the long term.

What follow are several “lessons,” rough takeaways, from my coursework. Each one is supported by literature, scripture, data, and my professors’ authority. But here I present them in my own voice, without citations. If this sacrifices credibility, it is in the service of candor and simplicity. (Any misinterpretations are my faults— not my professors’.)

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We are better poised to participate politically when we have first worked on ourselves.

In my life, writing often is a meditative, contemplative act. As the semester ends, I see personal value in reflecting about what is less an intellectual and more a spiritual matter: how to live well. Perhaps there is the added benefit that you also find some value in these words. So, without further ado—since there is no room, in the good life, for ado: Practice quiet solitude and meditation. As I write this, a party bellows throughout my apartment building. In our cities there is noise; traffic, televisions, music, and conversations make it difficult to concentrate. Rarely are we silent and alone. Why change that? To be alone is to force ourselves to be with ourselves, to confront our deepest worries and fears. In the company of me, I have no choice but to listen to myself.

We should do this precisely because it is not fun.

Confront your demons, the saying goes, and it is right. How else to overcome them?

It is for the same reasons that we meditate. It is no wonder it works: when we depart the cacophony of noise that follows us around, we get to listen to more peaceful things: our breath, the waves, the wind, the quiet of a world that mankind every other second rustles.

Develop meaningful relationships that help you grow. We need breaks from quiet solitude; the question is with whom to spend them.

Surround yourself with people who are better— smarter, more compassionate, healthier—than you, the paraphrased saying goes.

We should aim for the company of friends from whom we can learn and grow, those who challenge and hold us to a high standard, those with whom we can be vulnerable, open, and raw.

Do one thing. Do not multitask. Anyone who has downed coffee while typing an essay while listening to music can attest to the fact that the human body can do many things at once. But it cannot do many things at once well.

We like to go fast, to move about the world acceleratedly. We like to maximize our time and broaden our mind’s capacity. This way, we think, we can get more done.

Yet when we focus our minds’ attention, our performance and satisfaction increase significantly.

A meditative focus on one task or thought immerses us in that task, allowing us to direct all our energies, attention, and thoughts to it, and not to twenty other things at once.

Next time you eat a meal, do only that. Sit at your table and eat it. Don’t talk to your roommate, listen to music, or look out the window.

Think about your food: look at it, feel it entering your body, consider it in your mouth.

Resist the urge to seek constant pleasure. Every person sets aside time and money for activities that leave a smile on their faces: dessert, sex, vacations. But a “hedonistic” life focuses only on maximizing pleasure while minimizing pain. This approach creates problems.

I see personal value in reflecting about what is less an intellectual and more a spiritual matter: how to live well.

Wash U & St. Louis

If we can understand what puts one individual’s life in order, we can know how to design a city that nurtures happy individuals.

First, it fails because we adapt to pleasure. The “hedonic treadmill” refers to what happens when someone has something good, enjoys it, then adapts to it and seeks pleasure that is bigger, and bigger, and bigger.

Second, hedonism erases the small pleasures.

Particularly when great things happen to us—job promotions, new cars—it’s worth remembering the many small things that fill us, too: the sunrises, babies’ laughs, and smiles from strangers.

If hedonism is the maximizing of pleasure over pain, “eudemonia” is the pursuit of something more ambitious: long-lasting, stable happiness, independent of pleasure or pain.

Learn to love the bad times, too. “To live,” Nietzsche said, “is to suffer.” Pain is a natural part of life. Yet often we attempt to paint over it with pleasure. We seek to repress, forget, or avoid discomfort.

The alternative approach is simple acceptance: This is how I feel. How interesting, that this is how I feel right now. When we recognize our emotions as natural, temporary states of existence, we recognize, Okay, this is how I feel right now. We can ask: Why? Negative emotions serve important purposes in our lives; they indicate to us our dissatisfaction with our environment and nudge us to make

changes so that we feel better. If repressed, these signs go unread.

Find mentors and teachers. Few people know things off the bat. Fortunately, we do not live in a world where we are limited to what we intrinsically know. In such a world, growth stagnates; knowledge cannot be diffused, and minds cannot flourish.

In our world, people follow health coaches, go to school, and learn from work colleagues. People know that other people have something to offer.

In our world, no one knows everything, and everyone knows something, so we ask for help in the form of a book, a training regimen, a therapy appointment, a university course.

However it looks, help entails a loss of pride. Too often, we stop short of reaching out to others because we believe, individualistically, that, It is upon me to improve. Seeking help, through this lens, amounts to an admission of weakness.

The real weakness is the inability to admit imperfection. Strong are those who seek help knowing it makes them more, not less.

But recall your responsibility to something bigger. This is about more than just me, we realize amid all the talk of independence. We exist, and not by accident, in groups—families, ethnicities, political factions. They rise and fall with us; we participate in our communities’ fates.

People feel compelled to contribute to causes beyond themselves. Faced with an excess of time, resources, or wealth, many people find themselves drawn to aiding communities, whether directly or indirectly. The communities benefit, and so do they; selflessness creates feelings of purpose.

This world is about more than just one of us.

It is about the billions of humans, the quintillions of animals, and the uncountable number of plants. It is about wellbeing broadly, and not about one “happy” person at the center of it all.

Questions about the good life won’t end. What does it mean to you? Write me. I’d love to know.

Never be a blind follower; live your own life. The best teachers are those who lay out options, and then allow the student to decide their own next move. They tell the learner, You are in charge of choosing for yourself.

It is all too easy to conform to how others have told us to live. Pastors, parents, friends, fashion figures—all want to push upon us their ideas of what it means to live (and dress) well. They wouldn’t have audiences if they didn’t have some wise things to say.

Yet existential philosophers and Buddhist figures emphasize that blind devotion to another person—no matter how intelligent—amounts to loss of autonomy.

No person can know better than me how best to live my life. To strive for independence from those who help us is to assert that others will not decide my life for me.

Dan Sicorsky ‘19 studies in the College of Arts & Sciences. He can be reached at dan.sicorsky@wustl.edu.

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St. Louis: Home of the Garrett Cunningham, treasurer and Michael Fogarty, editor-in-chief (emeritus) Artwork by Michael Avery, staff artist and Leslie Liu, design director

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Union Station opens Louis IX of France statue added in Forest Park

Forest Park opens

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or the second year in a row, St. Louis was named the city with the “Best Beer Scene”

by USA Today. St. Louis has a long history as a major beer industry hub, but the city’s ties to Anheuser-Busch aren’t driving the awards.

Over the past decade, the number of breweries in the US has grown exponentially, from just over 1,800 in 2010 to almost 7,500 in 2018. St. Louis has followed suit and is now home to dozens of small and medium-sized craft breweries.

The story of St. Louis’ beer industry is a story of the city in microcosm. The city has long been associated with Anheuser-Busch, the beer industry heavyweight behind Budweiser, Bud Light, Natural (“Natty”) Light among others. The original brewery was located near the Mississippi River for water access essential

to the brewing process. Anheuser-Busch represents the city’s past as a river trading hub south of the Missouri-Mississippi confluence.

More generally, AB’s rise, dominance and decline mirrors the rise, dominance and decline of St. Louis as an industrial powerhouse. But the recent growth of the highly innovative craft beer sector might also signal the city’s potential in the post-industrial 21st century.

Over time, AB’s connection to St. Louis has weakened. From its founding in 1852 through the 1950s, every Anheuser-Busch beer was brewed in St. Louis. However, over the second half of the 20th century, Anheuser-Busch began constructing breweries across the country, eventually creating a dozen more production facilities in the U.S. Meanwhile, St. Louis lost

Fox Theatre opens

St. Louis World Fair St. Louis hosts 1904 Summer Olympics and 1904 Democratic National Convention

more than 11,000 manufacturing jobs in the mid-1950s in the wake of a mass exodus of textile, apparel, shoe, machinery, wholesaling, and meatpacking firms.

Although AB’s expansion to other breweries served a logistical purpose, it started to break the links between the city and the brewery that came to symbolize it. St. Louis went from producing all of the nation’s Budweiser to just a small fraction. Now that Anheuser-Busch’s breweries are spread from coast to coast, there is no longer a unique connection between each can of Budweiser and its hometown.

The ties between the brewer and the city it had represented frayed even further in the 21st century. The acquisition of AB by InBev, a Belgian

Brews e Blues 1940

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Side Project

Pruitt-Igoe housing built

InBev acquires AB Busch Stadium

Campbell House Museum opens

St. Louis Blues formed

Urban Chestnut

Schlafly opens

4 Hands

Gateway Arch

Perennial 2nd Shift

beverage conglomerate, in 2008 was the symbolic end of the 150-year relationship between AB and St. Louis. Although the Budweiser brand has a large presence in the city, the company is now officially headquartered in Belgium.

the financial crisis. Other big players in the St. Louis craft brewing scene—Urban Chestnut, 4 Hands, Perennial—all opened their doors in 2011, with dozens more opening their doors in their wake.

Even as the city’s status as an industrial brewing powerhouse has declined, over the past decade the city has become a hotbed for small to medium sized craft breweries. The first modern craft brewery to open in St. Louis was Schlafly in 1991. Schlafly opened as a brewpub and expanded to bottling beer within the first several years. It is now the largest independent craft brewer in the region.

St. Louis’ craft brewing scene has risen out of the city’s industrial heritage. Many craft breweries took advantage of abundant empty industrial space leftover from the city’s industrial heyday, as well as depressed real estate prices in the wake of the Great Recession, to open up new breweries. For example, Urban Chestnut’s Grove location on Manchester Avenue is located in a renovated paper goods warehouse, and 4 Hands is located in a warehouse space in a light industrial neighborhood just north of Soulard. An abundance of cheap real estate in the city has

The real expansion of craft brewing in St. Louis started about a decade ago, in the aftermath of

lowered the barriers to starting and scaling up a brewery.

Now, St. Louis is home to a wide variety of high-quality, innovative craft breweries ranging from Side Project, a world-renowned microbrewery that focuses on barrel-aged beers to larger regional craft breweries like Urban Chestnut, 4 Hands and Schlafly.

Garrett Cunningham ‘19 studies in the College of Arts & Sciences. He can be reached at cunningham.garrett@wustl.edu.

Michael Fogarty ‘19 studies in the College of Arts & Sciences. He can be reached at michael.fogarty@wustl.edu.

Side Project

2nd Shift

Quite literally the side project of former Perennial brewer Cory King, the brewery

2nd Shift was founded in New Haven, in Missouri’s wine coun

has since become home to a unique style of barrel-aged beer. Originally seeking

in The Hill in 2016. The brewery is owned and operated by the

a career in winemaking, King began experimenting with homebrewing before

have made an effort to integrate the business with the St. Loui

opening his dimly lit cellar in Maplewood. Upon walking inside this brewery, you’ll

released a special “Thoughts and Prayers” beer, in which the p

encounter casual drinkers playing board games to glass-swirling snobs enjoying

insecurity in Normandy School District. Inside, you will find an

what might be the most unique and exquisite pour in St. Louis.

delicious onsite food provided by Guerilla Street Food, and a q

Garrett’s pick: Skip & Whistle IPA

Garrett’s pick: Sub-mission IPA

Michael’s pick: Saison du Blé

Michael’s pick: Hibiscus Wit

Perennial Located in far South City near the riverfront, Perennial is one of the staples of the St. Louis craft beer scene. Perennial serves a wide variety of styles, from lighter saisons and witbiers to heavy Imperial Stouts, including coffee stouts in collaboration with Sump Coffee. Perennial offers a variety of Belgian and barrel-aged styles, as well as collaborations with other local breweries. Perennial’s tasting room is a more warm and relaxed environment than many other local craft breweries.

Garrett’s pick: Saison de Lis Michael’s pick: Distant Land (Saison)

ne country, and moved to its current location by the couple Steve and Libby Crider, who

St. Louis community. Last year, the brewery

ch the proceeds were given to alleviate food

l find an impressive collection of table games,

Schlafly

and a quirky, family-friendly atmosphere.

The one that started them all—St. Louis’s first craft brewery.

Garrett’s pick: Raspberry Hefeweizen Michael’s Pick: Pumpkin Ale

Urban Chestnut Brewmaster Florian Kuplent is German, apprenticed at German breweries, and used to work at AB. Urban Chestnut offers two lines of beers: a series of are excellent recreations of traditional styles, and a line of more innovative American craft styles. Inside the brewery is a German-style bierhall, where you can find rowdy St. Louisans drinking from steins the size of toddlers. Across the street from the Grove Bierhall is the Urban Research Brewery, where you can taste and give feedback on experimental brews, as well as purchase delicious wood-fired pizzas.

Garrett’s pick: Hollow Pointe Gose Michael’s pick: Schnickelfritz (German Hefeweizen)

4 Hands Before opening 4 Hands, Will Johnston was a brewer at Goose Island in Chicago for five years before its acquisition

by Anheuser Busch. Now, he crafts the local favorite City Wide, an American Pale Ale, and the Chocolate Milk Stout, a wintertime classic. Located a stone’s throw from downtown, the brewery is a frequent post-game for Cardinals fans.

Upstairs you’ll find a full-size (free!) arcade with Skee-Ball and first-person shooters.

Garrett’s pick: Contact High Michael’s Pick: Chocolate Milk Stout

WU Political Review

Impossible Trinity Rohan Palacios, programming director | Photo by Brittney Butler on Unsplash

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he most important election in St. Louis was decided in nail-biting fashion on March 5, when 12-year incumbent Lewis Reed retained his position as President of the Board of Aldermen (BOA) by winning the Democratic primary. Reed won the primary with only 35 percent of the vote; his two opponents, Missouri State Senator Jamilah Nasheed and St. Louis Alderwoman Megan Green, each received just over 31 percent of votes cast. The election was virtually ignored at Wash U. In fact, it may have passed by most St. Louisans. Even as the election generated surprising headlines, voter turnout remained below 20 percent. Yet looming fights about the privatization of Lambert Airport and the possible merger of St. Louis City and County mean that Reed’s retention of the President’s office has massive implications for the future of St. Louis and Missouri.

President of the Board of Alderman is not a title that inspires much enthusiasm or even recognition. But the officeholder has as much, maybe more, power than the Mayor of St. Louis. The Riverfront Times framed the election by saying, “If St. Louis’ government were a game of chess, the president of the Board of Aldermen would be the queen.” The President of the Board can both sponsor bills and vote for them. Aside from their legislative powers, the President also sits on the “Board of Estimate and Apportionment,” the city’s executive branch which approves all budget and contract decisions. The other two votes are held by the mayor’s office and the city comptroller. The product of this governmental structure is a powerful executive in which a few individuals hold immense legislative power.

In 2020 the nation will hold an election with global consequences. The lessons learned here in St. Louis shed light on how that contest will be decided.

She rose to prominence as a forceful advocate for Missouri’s black community, chairing the Missouri Black Legislative Caucus, and was arrested during the 2014 protests in Ferguson.

Her campaign focused on representing St. Louis’ underserved black communities. Her critics point to her record of voting with Republicans multiple times early in her career, and Nasheed has responded by styling herself as a pragmatist, albeit one whose advocacy for the black community will not be sidelined.

The race was also notable because of the three candidates who contested it, each representing different constituencies that shape the city.

Reed, the 12-year incumbent, is a longstanding member of St. Louis’ powerful Democratic establishment. His unpopularity stems from his perceived loyalty to special interests, which drew criticism from both his rivals throughout the campaign.

Rounding out the trio is Megan Green, an avowed Democratic Socialist who represents a different movement within the Democratic Party. A former public school teacher, she joined the Board of Aldermen in 2014, representing parts of Tower Grove with Reed’s endorsement. In her five years as an Alderwoman, Green has developed a reputation for speaking out on corruption and the insider politics that characterize governance in St. Louis. She courted controversy by alleging that a potential deal to build a new stadium for the then-St. Louis Rams was being pushed through by “legalized corruption.” Green’s outspokenness earned her enemies among her colleagues. She and Reed had a very public falling out. Their feud culminated in a bizarre 2016 interview that Reed, a black man, did with infamously racist St. Louis radio host Bob Romanik, host of “Kool Killer Kountry Radio.” While on air, Romanik lobbed insults at Green, referring to her as "alderb***h" and "a low-life” who made him "ashamed to be white” while Reed laughed awkwardly in the background. Reed later apologized for the interview, but the relationship between the two aldermen never recovered.

The second candidate, Jamilah Nasheed, won a seat in the Missouri State Senate in 2013.

With this backdrop in mind, it is no surprise that the race took on a nasty tone, a reflection not just

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of the candidates involved but also of the high stakes of this election. Both challengers attacked Reed for his unwillingness to oppose airport privatization and his closeness to Conservative donors. Nasheed took the fight to Reed during one particularly vitriolic debate, calling his leadership “broken” and “laughable.” Reed responded by labeling her “double agent Nasheed,” referring to his campaign’s repeated charges that Nasheed is in league with Conservative billionaire Rex Sinquefield who is spearheading efforts to privatize Lambert and funds the controversial Better Together proposal for city-county unification. In response, Nasheed labeled the incumbent “lying Lewis” for the rest of the debate. The tone of that debate reflected the larger themes of the race. Nasheed and Green leveled similar attacks at Reed, but also sharply criticized one another. Green’s campaign attacked Nasheed’s record of voting with Republican legislators during her early political career. Nasheed implied multiple times that a real ally to the black community would stand aside and help ensure progressive, black representation for the community on the BOA. These debates, while less bitter than the allegations of corrupt and self-serving leadership leveled at Reed, may have had more of an impact on the final result.

In the end, Nasheed and Green appear to have split the progressive, anti-incumbent vote. Over 62 percent of voters cast their ballot in support of one of Reed’s challengers, yet he will continue to hold one of the most powerful offices in the city. The lessons of this race are relevant to anyone thinking about the upcoming national elections. For one, Reed’s ascension with only 35 percent of the vote has led to renewed calls from advocacy groups for St. Louis to implement ranked-choice voting, which would allow

Wash U & St. Louis

voters to select a second-choice candidate, and provide the winner with a more clear mandate.

Implementing this system might help avoid a repeat of the last mayoral election, which Lyda Krewson won with 32 percent of the vote, less than 2 percent more than her closest competitor, Tishaura Jones. It also might help boost the city’s miserable voter turnout by guaranteeing voters that their ballot would not be wasted.

The debates raging about the electoral method mirror the national debate about the democratic implications of the electoral college in a country in which two of the last three presidents lost the popular vote.

Another takeaway is that over ten thousand people voted for a committed Democratic Socialist, a fact that, combined with Bernie Sanders’ strong showing in the 2016 Missouri

Democratic primary, provides further evidence for the viability of left-wing candidates in the Midwest. However, it is worth noting that, despite good performances, both Sanders and Green lost their races. For supporters of Green and the politics she stands for, dismissing support for Nasheed as misguided identity politics is a mistake. Nasheed, while to the left of Reed on issues like privatization and Better Together, has a decidedly more centrist vision for the city than Green. Nasheed’s appeal among black voters is also significant. One major reason Sanders failed to defeat Hillary Clinton in 2016 was the lopsided margins she enjoyed among black voters. The Sanders 2020 campaign has made adjustments to diversify campaign staffing and improve messaging to black voters. However, the St. Louis BOA election provides another reminder that it is crucial for the Left to both

articulate how its platform will benefit minorities and, perhaps most importantly, recruit minority candidates to represent their own communities. The BOA election is over, and, for better or worse, Lewis Reed now has the power to make some of the most consequential decisions to ever face St. Louis. In 2020, when the nation will hold an election with global consequences, the lessons learned here in St. Louis might shed light on how that contest will be decided.

Rohan Palacios ’21 studies in the College of Arts & Sciences. He can be reached at rpalacios@wustl.edu.

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WU Political Review

Wake Up: The Effects of Linguistic Convenience on Political Polarization Daniel A. Berkovich, staff writer

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recent study found that 59 percent of links shared on social media aren’t actually clicked by the person sharing them, implying that—six times out of ten—only the article’s headline was read before deciding that “Katie has to see this.”

It’s hard to condemn this behavior when headlines like “Birth control makes women unattractive and crazy” clearly don’t require any further reading. Indeed, such headlines are designed to be provocative and oversimplified, to appeal to a generation that demands instant gratification, and to survive in a world where convenience is the new greatest commodity. Now that we can binge-watch an entire season of Stranger Things as soon as it’s released and find our next boyfriend by swiping right from the comfort of our own couch, why should we need to read an entire article to understand its message? The Internet has conditioned us to crave as much information as possible in the shortest amount of time, so that we can get what we need and keep browsing.

Recently, this ‘convenience virus’ has spread from the land of social media to the alreadyfragile world of politics. Take the concept of socialism, for example. Everyone from Joseph Stalin to Barack Obama has been described as a socialist, and while both are left-leaning to various degrees, they have markedly different political philosophies. But under the tyranny of political convenience, the term “socialism” has been thrown around so carelessly that it has inevitably lost all concrete meaning. As a consequence, people defer to the meaning of the word that best fits their personal ideology, creating a division not only in politics but in language.

How did we get here? According to the Oxford English Dictionary, in the early twentieth century socialism was defined as “collective ownership and regulation of the means of production,” referring to policies of complete wealth redistribution, à la the Soviet Union. Eventually, though,

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societies decided they wanted the best of both worlds: a capitalist nation with some strong social welfare policies, à la Norway or Denmark.

This sort of system is called “social democracy” in Nordic nations, while the American adaptation—popularized by Senator Bernie Sanders—is called “democratic socialism.” The key distinction is that, while the Nordic system uses the adjectival form “social” to reflect their aims, the American system uses the noun form “socialism” to describe their own.

That is a huge difference. The difference between adjectives and nouns is the difference between “he’s Black” and “he’s a Black”: the former is an accepted way to describe someone’s race, while the latter is a pejorative method to define someone by their race. We understand that a person’s race does not inform the entirety of their identity, but may describe it to some degree, so we use “Black” as an adjective. Similarly, socialism does not define Bernie Sanders’ platform or Nordic society as a whole, but instead describes some facets of them, so the Nordics use the adjective “social.” The adjectival form implies a nuanced political approach and discourages any comparisons to the extreme methods of nations like the Soviet Union. Meanwhile, the American system uses the noun form “socialism” because our politicians realize that citizens at both ends of the political spectrum are rallied by the very comparisons the Nordics have desperately tried to avoid.

Our politicians understand that—in the era of convenience—the headline is all that matters.

“Socialism” is the headline they’ve chosen.

Click on the link and you’ll discover that Bernie Sanders isn’t a full-blown socialist, but that he merely supports some social policies. But, most likely, you won’t click on the link. Instead, you’ll just read eye-catching headlines like “Socialist fairytale could destroy the American Dream” and “Women Have Better Sex Under Socialism,” and your brain will light up with either anger or elation. You’ll then share your newfound pseudo-understanding of politics with your equally

The term “socialism” has been thrown around so carelessly that it has inevitably lost all concrete meaning. credulous friends. Soon the entire country will stand—pitchforks and tiki torches in hand— ready to die for the beliefs we’ve cultivated out of thin air and linguistic trickery. Such a climate, while valuable for politicians trying to galvanize their base, squanders the potential for compromise or resolution.

Infected with the convenience virus, we have forgotten that we can describe things without defining them, that we can use adjectives instead of nouns, and that we can be nuanced instead of absolute. The media and politicians aren’t eager to remind us, for it is much easier to catch a comatose frog than a conscious one.

Thankfully, the cure is simple. Pick up a few adjectives from the local dictionary and set the nouns aside, read past the headline before sharing an article, and learn to differentiate between the sensible and the sensationalized. Snap out of this comatose state and start squirming; they can’t hold on for long.

Daniel Berkovich ‘21 studies in the College of Arts & Sciences. He can be reached at dberkovich@wustl.edu.

National

The Southern Border: A Humanitarian Crisis Ryan Martirano, staff writer

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n January of this year, U.S. Customs and Border Protection impounded 254 pounds of fentanyl—the largest seizure of the drug at any port of entry—at the Nogales Commercial Facility in Arizona. This amount of fentanyl is lethal enough to kill 57 million Americans. A few weeks later, President Trump declared a national emergency on the southern border in response to the “invasion of drugs and criminals coming into our country.” The Washington Post’s editorial board in response to Mr. Trump’s declaration said, “So let’s stick to one big basic truth: There is no crisis at the southern border.”

Under the Nation Emergencies Act, the president is empowered with wide-reaching privileges. The powers granted include, but are not limited to, the capability to authorize and construct military construction projects using any existing military defense appropriations, and to draft any retired Coast Guard officers or enlisted members into active duty.

An opposing judgement to this declaration claims that this is an attempt by the Trump Administration to circumvent the Democrats’ aversion and Trump’s failure to strike a $5 billion deal with Congress to build a border wall.

Many claim that this is an unconstitutional order and that a political dispute about border security has now devolved into a dispute over the separation of powers. However, media outlets

Kevin K. McAleenan, Commissioner of Customs and Border Protection, has said that the border is at a “breaking point.”

that Mr. Trump critiques as “fake news,” such as CNN and the Huffington Post, may now be readjusting previously-held scrutinies. Kevin K. McAleenan, Commissioner of Customs and Border Protection, has said that the border is at a “breaking point.”

At the moment of the commissioner’s announcement, Customs and Border Protection reported that more than 76,000 migrants are being directly released into the country.

These migrants are not being turned over to Immigration and Customs Enforcement, do not have electronic ankle monitors, and are simply given a notice to appear in court at a later date.

The detention system cannot adequately house the overflow of migrant families. According to the commissioner, processing centers are “well beyond capacity” with facilities lacking sufficient resources and border agents having difficulty addressing medical needs.

A typical opposition to the necessity for greater border security is that drug trafficking is effectively handled by seizures at ports of entry.

For the fiscal year of 2018, 432,000 pounds of drugs were attempted to be crossed but were seized at points of entry along the southern border, and 476,000 pounds were seized at points of non-entry.

The southern border is a humanitarian issue.

There is a national emergency as it comes to the thousands of migrant families and the lack of resources to deal with them. There is a national emergency with regards to the plentitudes of Americans that could be affected by the illegal trafficking of drugs. The initial Democratic response, to reject the legitimacy of this emergency, reveals not only the divisiveness of bipartisan extremism, but also an attribution of racial politics to this issue by both sides.

Mr. Trump launched his 2016 presidential campaign with a provocative speech where he described immigrants from Mexico as “bringing

drugs. They’re bringing crime. They’re rapists.

And some, I assume, are good people.” This statement was frank and lacked the courtesy of political correctness that is usually afforded with candidates. This rhetoric is crass, but the normalization of publicly and irresponsibly labelling figures as racists negatively impacts political discussion as well.

Social hysteria surrounding illegalities such as illicit drug usage has been defined by racial associations stemming from President Nixon’s “war on drugs,” and the Reagan administration’s doubling down on this policy. John Ehrlichman, once Chief Domestic Advisor for Mr. Nixon, later disclosed that the administration’s two most competitive social adversaries, Black Americans and the antiwar left. The allegedly devised remedy to the situation was to influence the American public to associate the social identities generally categorized as “hippies” with marijuana and Black Americans with heroin, and then implementing codification to heavily criminalize both. Cannabis was even designated temporarily in the most restrictive category of drugs, Schedule One. The emergency at the southern border is considered to be a partisan issue—but it is not. Though racial identity and drug usage are associated in our nation’s history, this does not mean that the Trump Administration’s declaration for policy action is rooted in this prejudiced agenda.

The southern border needs to be observed as a bipartisan issue and a humanitarian issue, where a lack of address could lead to damaging, if not fatal, societal consequences.

Ryan Martirano ‘21 studies in the College of Arts & Sciences. He can be reached at rtmartirano@wustl.edu.

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WU Political Review

China’s Impossible Environmental Dilemma Yiran Cheng

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hina’s pollution problem has eclipsed the allegations of its human rights violations.

In recent years, the international community has harshly criticized China’s worsening pollution and overuse of fossil fuel. It is of no doubt that China’s enormous carbon footprint and industrial pollution heavily strain the environment. Yet, contrary to what many would believe, this current situation does not come from a lack of effort on the government’s behalf.

Unlike the current United States government, China considers the challenges posed by climate change to be real and substantial; in fact, it seeks to be the leader of the world in this matter. Consequently, China has taken measures to cap its carbon consumption, sometimes to a fault. For example, in major cities of China such as Beijing and Shanghai, citizens cannot simply purchase a gas-powered car—they must enter a lottery for a permit, which usually takes up to eight years. Meanwhile, there are almost no such restrictions on electric cars, providing a great incentive to buy them.

Some other actions are more questionable in their execution, such as the construction of the largest dam in the world, the Three Gorge Dam. This dam is so massive that it can power several provinces at the time with almost no input and little need for upkeep. Once the government saw this great potential, there was nothing that could stop the motion—not the complaints from the coal industry and not the caution voiced by geologists. When the dam was finally completed in 2003, it brought both bounty and distress: on the one hand, it boosted hydro-energy to 20 percent of China’s total energy production. On the other hand, it also caused the forceful dislocation of hundreds of thousands of people and a critical blow to the local biological equilibrium, pushing several species to the verge of extinction.

Some of China’s environmental policies are downright inhumane. In the last winter, the government banned using coal power for

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China considers the challenges posed by climate change to be real and substantial, and seeks to be the leader of the world in this matter. heating in Hebei Province (its winter temperature is like St. Louis’) to try to shock the market. This ridiculous policy caused hundreds to catch serious frostbite and several alleged deaths as the people simply couldn’t afford alternative fuel sources for heat.

As for the issue of pollution, China faces challenges in regulating the underdeveloped steel sector. Steel factories can be typically found in China’s northern regions near the capital, such as Shandong Province and Hebei Province. They operate extremely inefficiently and use primitive production methods. This results in high energy consumption, low-quality products, and byproducts of pollution such as smog. The Chinese government has many incentives to shut down these factories. The obvious reason is that the smog created by these factories stirs up great dissatisfaction among the population, especially after the release of the documentary Under the Dome. The backlash against the government’s lack of regulation of PM2.5 (the major detrimental particles within smog), as well as the intentionally falsified monitoring data, were hotly discussed issues back in 2015, dealing a huge blow to the government’s credibility.

Another reason the Chinses government wishes to regulate these factories is the ‘market-flooding’ problem caused by the low-quality of steel

production. As a massive amount of low-quality steel enters the market, the price of steel sinks to the point at which there is barely any profit left for the producers. This creates a negative feedback loop: the producers get no profit, making them unable to upgrade their factory, preventing cleaner and more efficient methods, and ultimately forcing them to stay inside the mire of this status quo.

Despite all these reasons, the government barely did anything to mitigate the problem for a very simple reason: these people have nothing else to do. Take Juxiang, a small town within the Shandong Province, as an example. An overwhelming majority of the town’s 2,000-person working population relies solely on the mega steel factory for its livelihood—working within the plant, delivering raw material for it, cooking lunch for the workers, etc. Were the government to forcefully shut down the plant, all of them would become unemployed. They would have virtually no viable alternative solution in sight as they lack skill, education, and opportunity. Needless to say, this would cause serious shock to the stability of the region, which would definitely be an unfavorable outcome for the Chinese government. Furthermore, Juxiang is but one within the thousands of towns that are facing an identical dilemma in the region. Any drastic change in environmental policy regarding these factories might as well be an invitation for social unrest or even outright uprising at the gates of the capital.

Of course, China should continue to listen to the criticism of the international community and make itself more environmentally friendly.

However, the next time you question the environmental policy of China, a developing country with the 36th largest per-capita carbon footprint in the world, perhaps first ask yourself this: is your own country doing nearly enough?

Yiran Cheng '21 studies in the College of Arts & Sciences. He can be reached at yirancheng@wustl.edu.

Wash U & St. Louis

Artwork by Selina Wu

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