Reflective Post: Week 2

This wasn't the greatest week for me.

Anyone in my section on this class (actually any of my classes or anyone who has been within a 100 foot radius of me in the past week) will undoubtably have noticed me hacking my lungs out in intermittent but violent fits of coughing. The bug that has been sweeping the campus like the plague got me pretty bad and it put a damper on my entire week.

Just kidding. I don't have swine, it's a cold. You can remove the biohazard suits and come out of the bomb shelters

But enough about my woes. This week in class, we started by defining and discussing 4 essential elements of sovereignty; power, authority, capacity and autonomy. The discussion was interesting and all of the groups came up with compelling definitions. Unfortunately I was unable to open my mouth for fear of an unpleasant episode that would end with me curled up in the fetal position under a table, bleeding vocal chords on the floor next to me (do you have a nice mental image of that now?).

By the next class I was feeling marginally better and I don't know how anyone could help themselves but participate in that discussion. Unbeknownst to me, the floor had been divided into nation-states (so to speak) and resources had been appropriately partitioned to both sides. But meanwhile, trouble was afoot. A third nation, a renegade nation devoid of borders or rules, had sprouted up and was recruiting citizens to its rebel ranks.

It is rumored that the blue army's fearless leader was none other than Che Guevara, Marxist revolutionary and centerpiece for innumerable hipster T-shirts

Unfortunately, I spent this period of socio-politco upheaval locked away in my room, slaving away at endless hours of homework and trying desperately not to die. Despite my personal civic failure, I greatly enjoyed the in-class discussion, especially when it would mysteriously find its way to the greater context of world politics. Funny how it worked out like that.