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There have been many discourses over the past several years on whether authoritarianism is on the rise, both in the United States and the world. There are many articles and opinion pieces published saying that authoritarianism is increasing in the United States and our world and others that disagree. Interviews with other citizens also contribute to the lack of clarity on the question- is authoritarianism on the rise?

A significant contributor to the feeling of many, that authoritarianism is on the rise, was the 2016 American presidential election. For example, an opinion piece was published by The Washington Post during this period. In the piece, the author, Yascha Mounk, describes the increasing share of young people critical towards democracy [Appendix A], Americans being more open to a “strong leader”, and increasing radicalism within the American populace. But are the worries of Yascha Mounk credible?

Other’s disagree with Mounk, such as Staffan Ingemar, a professor at the University of Gothenburg. Ingemar agrees with many of the statistics that Mounk presents, but Ingemar still has hope. Many countries were able to revert their autocratic evolution and strengthen their democracies, such as Bolivia, Moldova, Ecuador, the Maldives, North Macedonia, Slovenia, South Korea, and Zambia.

Reflecting the inconsistencies amongst those who have published on the topic, normal citizens also disagree on the question. Senior history major at the University of Alaska Anchorage believes, “authoritarianism is on the rise.” Where other senior history major from Morningside, Austin Freiberg, says,  “I think there are masses that just want to have control and they speak their minds,” but still remained confident in democratic freedoms lasting. Other citizens, such as Blake Brown, a senior at Clarkson College, see authoritarianism rising in other countries, but not the United States

Citizens of democracies seem to be conflicted on the nature of authoritarianism and if it is rising. Outside of the statistics, as Mounk notes, people are complacent towards the idea. Is there a need for action against a perceived rise in authoritarianism? The scope of the question is broad, and the feelings of most conflict.

[Appendix A]

An hour after feeding this morning, at 7am, the oldest polar bear of Midland zoo Homer had passed away. Zoo Keeper Sara N. Getty mourned Homer saying, “He was a very curious and playful bear.”

Homer was found floating in the swimming pool this morning. He was 16 years old at the time of his passing, and was survived by fellow bears 9-year-old Yukon and 10-year-old McKenzie.

The loss was felt by Zoo director Chris P. Bacon this morning, he said, “We will do everything in our power to determine how this bear[Homer] died. Animal welfare and the preservation are our primary goals here at the zoo.”

It is sad to see a such an adventurous bear pass away. Polar bears have thrived at the Midland Zoo since 1985 and will continue on. The Midland Zoo prioritizes the quality of life of the bears, offering them as many ways to engage in their natural behavior as possible, with their habitats catering to their needs.

The green hard candy was distributed in chains of separately enclosed units. The units are meant to be ripped off one another to reach the individual serving.

The layered candy offers different experiences based on the duration of the consumption. The first phase, of the candy I observed, was mute and sweet. There were no other affects. The second phase was where the fizzing began. In addition to the sweet ‘green apple’ taste of the first phase, the second phase added a pop like sensation. The sensation lasted approximately a minute before returning to the first stage.

Hello and welcome. I am Joseph Ciriaco and this is Contemporary Events. Today we will be talking about AI and the many ways Artificial Intelligence is creeping into our society today

For the first story, we are going to take a look at AI in the medical industry. Recently, as reported by the New York Times, AI programs have been used to predict if or when a patient would develop sepsis with many problematic results and “false alarms.” AI technology has also been used with the hopes of improving patient follow-up care, also with troubling consequences.

Dr. Jesse Ehrenfeld, president of the American Medical Association, spoke about the exciting but worrisome nature of AI in the medical industry saying, “we’re going to have to have some confidence that these tools work,” reported the New York Times. 

Morningside senior biology major, Megan Keller, spoke on AI in the medical industry that she wishes to go into- *play soundbite*

Moving on now, AI has been in the news recently with many talks about regulation.

Nick Clegg, the president of Global affairs for Meta, spoke at the Athens Democracy Forum on October 3^rd about AI and its compatibility with democracy as reported by the New York Times. Clegg, after being asked if the public should be worried about the development of AI, said that the worries are currently not needed. 

Clegg spoke on the nature of AI programming and development saying, “because these are systems, remember, which don’t know anything. They don’t have any real meaningful agency or autonomy… But it doesn’t know what the inherent meanings of those words are. So I think we need to adjust some of the somewhat breathless fears.”

Clegg’s main concern, after being asked about the potential for AI influence over the coming world elections, was the lack of a standardized watermark system. Clegg proposed that content generated by AI should have some form of watermark so that users can identify how it was generated.

Lastly, a quick story on President Biden’s executive order dealing with recommendations for AI regulations.

As reported by the New York Times, President Biden is following suit to things similar to what Nick Clugg had said in Athens, that the US government was concerned about watermarks on content generated by AI. 

Following the push for regulations by the European Union, the White House is looking to create systems using independent government agencies, like the Federal Trade Commission, to approve of private developments. The official rules are set to go into effect within 90 days.

I am Joseph Ciriaco, and I hope that you have a wonderful rest of your day.

In an article by the New York Times, Maggie Astor details proposed GOP crackdowns over anti-Israel speech on college campuses. Donald Trump, Ron DeSantis, and Tim Scott have state that international visas of students who speak against Israel should be revoked. Other candidates say that universities should lose public funding. Nikki Haley joined in with other G.O.P. speakers, “No more federal money for colleges and universities that allow antisemitism to flourish on campus,” Haley wrote on X.

Only one candidate, Vivek Ramaswamy, does not call for censorship. Ramaswamy disagrees with the measures other candidates are willing to take, “Colleges are spaces for students to experiment with ideas & sometimes kids join clubs that endorse boneheadedly wrong ideas,” Ramaswamy wrote on X.

This story has impact and conflict. The conflict of this story is shown in a variety of ways. Both the conflict between Israel and Palestine and the conflict between how to interpret the situation are present. Political parties and candidates within political parties disagree on how to handle this issue. The impact is derived from these potential solutions. Calls for censorship impact all Americans.