Media Edge

"2015 High School Scholarship Essay Contest" (79 minutes)

In 2015, the Physicians for Social Responsibility (Sacramento Chapter) received 170 entries from high school seniors in Sacramento and surrounding counties, describing their thoughts on the words of United Nations Secretary General Ban Ki-moon, who said, "The world is over-armed, and peace is under-funded."

Each finalist in this year's contest, chosen by a panel of distinguished judges, received a $1,000 scholarship.

After each finalist read their essay at this April 26, 2015 event and responded to a question from one of the judges, the panel selected the First Place winner ($3,000 scholarship), Second Place winner ($2,500 scholarship), and Third Place winner ($2,000 scholarship).

"Treatment vs. Jail" (6.5 minutes)

David Moss was arrested 14 times for drug possession and never offered treatment. He finally got clean on his own. How much taxpayer money got wasted arresting this guy instead of helping him fix the problem? Can California afford to keep spending so much on criminal justice while getting so little in return?

This video was produced by Brave New Films in partnership with the ACLU of California.

"Glenn Greenwald on America's Surveillance Society" (10 minutes)

Perhaps no one has stirred the pot on the reach of the national security state than journalist Glenn Greenwald when he released information about the NSA from whistleblower Edward Snowden. A “surveillance society” is a society where people become much more afraid and cautious to speak out against their own government. In our quest to defeat terrorism, are we sacrificing free speech and creating a conformist society?

"Linda Bilmes on the True Cost of War" (10 minutes)

War is expensive, both in human and financial costs, but how much money are we actually spending? The pentagon budget, not counting wars has increased by about a trillion dollars over the last decade. We’re not even sure how much money the pentagon spends because it’s flunked its annual audit year after year. How much will our “War on Terror” actually cost us in the decades to come and can we afford to keep solving international crisis through military action?

"Noam Chomsky on American Empire" (10 minutes)

Many Americans are not accustomed to the idea that America sits atop a global empire, but with military bases and forces spread out across the world, interventions in dozens of countries – there’s simply no other way to describe our “empire.” Expansion is the path to security, and to achieve security you have to control everything of value. This is the blueprint that has guided US leaders for decades, but is this empire worth building – and at what cost?