If you liked last week's spotlight on Stories About NATO, get ready for another great source of catchy video news clips. This time, we're staying on the homefront with AAA Country, an interactive platform to provide information and promote dialogue about the United States credit rating and current economic events. This channel contains about two dozen short videos, created from facts provided by the White House and other international institutions, presented in an engaging and visually interesting way.
The videos on AAA Country highlight political events, such as Michelle Obama's address at the Designer Awards ("Designing America") and President Obama speaking with Indian Prime Minister Singh about the trade partnership between India and America ("Oldest Democracy Inspiring the Largest"). The videos themselves are quick and easy to comprehend, but what makes AAA Country an even more effective interactive platform is the series of questions that accompany each video (located in the About section below the video player). For the Obama-Singh video, for example, you are asked to consider whether India is a valuable economic partner for the United States, and what you might expect from such a partnership. In the case of other political video sites, it's possible to understand the video but remain intellectually detached. AAA Country, on the other hand, poses stimulating questions you cannot help but consider, thereby coaxing another level of engagement out of its viewers.
Personally, my favorite video is "Mr. President, Can You Raise My Taxes?" President Obama appears on a talk show to speak about the economy and take questions from a studio audience. The video focuses on one audience member, who asks the president to raise his taxes even though he is "unemployed by choice."
As someone who makes a living as a freelancer, this video made me think about my own position on taxes. I don't have a lot of cash to spare, but if it meant helping the country, would I be willing to pay more? I haven't come up with a good answer yet, but if I keep thinking about it, maybe I will. In the end, that is the purpose of channels like AAA Country: to show us that there is value in asking the questions, regardles of whether you know the answer right away or not.
To view the videos mentioned in this article, visit my WebTVChannel or go to www.aaacountry.com.
