Black Monday in China

   Should we freak out yet?

China’s stock market has been on a roller coaster this summer. Investors poured money into the market early in the year, which got it to its peak in June. But Monday, China’s stock market crashed, meaning that the prices of their stocks dropped dramatically. In fact, they’ve lost all their gains from earlier in the year.

So why should you care?

Well, maybe you shouldn’t.

It seems obvious that China’s market crash is going to have an effect on the U.S. economy. We get lots of stuff from over there and we send lots of stuff over there.

And while it’s true that U.S. markets are slumping a little in the aftermath of China’s Black Monday, some experts say that China’s market is pretty much isolated from the rest of the world and won’t affect us much further.

Crashes don’t always mean recessions. There is potential for disaster, but sometimes the long-term economic implications aren’t as terrible as we foresee them to be.

China’s stock market, money value, and overall economy do affect us. I’m no economics expert, so I can’t even pretend to predict what this will mean for us in the long run. We are okay for now, though.

So, unless you’re heavily invested or a company that was relying on huge profits from Chinese trade, you should be okay for the time being.

Don’t panic.

Local school bans flags

This week, West Monroe High School got serious about a new school policy.

The school, under the direction of Principal Shelby Ainsworth, removed confederate flags from student vehicles. The flags were returned to students at the end of the day.

“From the very beginning of the school year, we’ve simply asked our students not to fly the confederate flag on campus before school, after school, or during school hours,” said Ainsworth.

The news of the rebel flag banishment came as a bit of a surprise to the West Monroe rebels.

That’s right; their mascot is a little rebel man. He just better not be holding a little rebel flag.

Isn’t irony great?

As you can imagine, the West Monroe community isn’t all too thrilled about the decision. Several community members and alumni have said that taking away the flag is like taking away part of the school’s heritage.

Ainsworth is set in his ways, though, and he has a pretty good justification as to why.

Citing the nation’s friction on the subject of the confederate flag following the shooting in Charleston, South Carolina, Ainsworth said, “What we are trying to do is not do anything, deliberately, that would offend or rub salt in a national wound.”

This is just another neutralizing modification made to a high school environment. It’s nothing new. It’s a precaution, as are uniforms. They are in place to prevent turbulence (and, arguably, individuality.)

Hopefully the decision doesn’t cause more turbulence than it aims to prevent.

I’m not really very involved in the flag debate. I think that we have bigger fish to fry, if you will.

In this situation, I hope that not too many people get caught up in what they can and can’t do on school grounds. Making a huge deal out of this is just wasting your time.

West Monroe students will be just fine taking the flags off the backs of their trucks from 7 to 3 on weekdays. They can express their deep, southern heritage after school.