American Liberalism

"The Big Uneasy," by Nathan Heller addresses one of the biggest topics on college campuses today: the safe space vs. the need for diversity of opinions. “Shielding students from unwelcome ideas (is) unhealthy for the workforce and the democratic commonweal.” Students believe they have a right to decide what information they learn and liken it to their choice in diet. However, just as the body needs a varied diet to thrive so too does the mind. Many of the educators struggle how to balance the demands of students with their lesson plans and learning goals. “The trick is to find a way to get us open and receptive rather than defensive,” says Wendy Hyman. The other side of the coin is that many of the students protesting for changes came from

The essay “A New Liberal Arts,” which was written by Sanford Ungar, first appeared in the Chronicle of Higher Education on March 5, 2010. In his essay, Ungar uses many different rhetorical strategies to convince his reader that a degree in the liberal arts is not a lost cause but can actually be very beneficial and lead to success. In Ungar’s opinion, there are many wrong ideas and misunderstandings about the usefulness of a degree in the liberal arts. In the essay there are seven specific misperceptions that he addresses specifically. By listing out these misperceptions, Ungar is addressing them individually in order to give each one proper attention. He offers explanations to why people may think these things and why he believes that they are incorrect. Ungar’s use of style, format, and emotional and logical arguments help him to create a persuasive and influential essay for his audience and convince them to agree with his opinion.

According to my perspective the character in the movie that resembles the thinking of liberalism is CIA Agent Young. Although the character was only present in one scene so far, his presence and more importantly his actions shaped much of the second part of the film. I have two main reasons to support my point. First, as Doyle points out, the essential principle of liberalism is the freedom of the individual, which comprises moral freedom and the right to be treated and treat others as ethical subjects. The clearest example of this argument is given when Agent Young confronts Brean and Ames in a Mexican restaurant. They discuss on why both Brean and Ames are trying to get the US into a conflict with the inoffensive Albania. Young points out

There are many polarizing debates over the quality and content of the curriculum taught in Public Schools and Universities, typically there are two clearly predictable groups that emerge and square off for battle, the conservative orthodoxy and the secular or liberal progressives. As each side vigorously defends the extremes of their positions, they have apparently and unwittingly created a silent majority that may also wish to be heard.

The strength of a liberal arts education is the strong, varied foundation it provides over a wide spectrum of subjects. A liberal arts education is aimed at teaching you how to think. It helps you to develop strength of mind, and an ordered intellect. This broad-based education allows students to create new theories, discoveries, and connections between fields. With such expansive roots, great innovators can build and expand from what others have learned, instead of wasting effort on rediscovery of what is already known. With the knowledge of a subject's strengths and capabilities, and weaknesses and restrictions, students can combine traits of different subjects to formulate new and more complicated concepts. New colors can only come from mixing those which already exist. The pigment of a new color depends on the shades and hues of the colors used to create it. Such is true for education. The resulting ideas are a sterling product of the compatibility of the subjects blended to create it. What vocational schools have in central focus, they lose in direct focus. Enormous concentration in one area pigeon-holes, severely limiting the range of career opportunities. A liberal arts education on the other hand, teaches one how to think, and how to apply this to a variety of subjects. Both aspects have their strengths and their downfalls. However, one can hardly say the liberal arts is useless and should be tossed aside in the modern day.

Terry Fox Do you think you could run 3,336 miles with an amputated leg? Perseverance is the willingness to keep going no matter how hard or how long you will have to wait to achieve your goal. Passion is a very strong emotion to do something. Effort is the attempt to try something.

Chief Justice Charles Evan Hughes states that “learning is not [liberal education’s] aim so much as intelligence served by learning.” I propose this statement can be broken down into two parts, one being the aim of liberal education is not learning and the other being human intelligence is in fact served by learning. I also find this statement to be strongly compatible with my ideology towards the college education system in America.

The debate over whether or not a student should receive a liberal arts education has been prevalent in society since its first appearance. As previously shown, some people see it as a waste of time, while others see it as having value in the balance that it gives students. Still, others hold a liberal arts degree in high esteem. Each group has different reasons for their argument, but the essence of each inquiry is the same; are the skills that a liberal arts education teaches profitable enough to receive one? A much needed factor not included in the discussion, however, is how it affects one’s life later on. This should be one of the most influential aspects of deciding whether or not a liberal arts education is worthwhile gaining because where one wants to go establishes what one should do to get there. Therefore, the effects of a liberal arts education should be further examined to accurately determine its worth.

The current American education system has its flaws. Public schools struggle, private schools charge exorbitant prices, and the status quo dictates that a college degree acts a golden ticket to success in today’s workplace. This ideal contrasts from history’s viewpoint. During previous centuries, only upper-class men received education, as classrooms barred their doors to women and the poor. Renaissance men, who dabbled in numerous arts and sciences, gained their fame and glory more from the monetary power backing them than their intellectual prowess and knowledge. Straying from the past, elementary education is now a fundamental right, available to those with and without money, and a large— but not complete— population continues their

From a political perspective or more specifically the Democratic side of the American Liberal Democracy, we can also find examples showing that the USA did not show favourable behaviour towards its practice of Liberalism. A law can be created, passed or vetoed by three different arms of the government: the president, the House of Representatives and the Senate.

Now that I am in college, I have pondered upon whether a liberal arts education is better than a vocational education; a topic that did not cross my mind in high school. A liberal arts curriculum includes the studies intended to primarily provide general knowledge such as language, philosophy, literature, and abstract science and to develop general intellectual capacities, such as reason and judgment, as opposed to professional or vocational skills (merriam-webster.com). As students wanting to achieve a higher education, we have to think about what we want for ourselves. Either you want to grow as an individual and obtain a major in whichever field you chose, or just learn what best interests you. People have many misconceptions toward what the liberal arts are and how they can benefit you. We often hear things like, “A liberal arts degree will not get you a real job.” or “A liberal arts degree is a luxury not a necessity.” Although this is what the majority of the people who are not aware about the actual facts say, this is not true. An examination of, The New Liberal Arts by author Sanford J. Ungar, and Are Too Many People Going to College? by author Charles Murray, will reveal to us why one gains more knowledge at a liberal arts school. Murray argues that a liberal arts education is only for the elite, but I believe that they shouldn 't be the only ones to attend because my vision of a liberal arts college is one where all students come in with the appropriate amount of

Liberal craftsmanship education implies arts subjects, for example, writing and history, as unmistakable from science and innovation. Generally, in the United States, there has constantly existed a pressure in advanced education between the liberal arts education of the individual and the accomplishment of particular and down to earth targets. Liberal arts education schools in the United States have generally tilted the equalization for instructing the entire individual. Character building was seen as equivalent in significance to scholarly improvement. The center of the liberal arts education experience is a guarantee to the energy of learning.

Many people examine ‘liberalism’ in different interpretations by liberty, its core commitment (Guide, Pg 2). It challenges the intimate connection between personal liberty and a private property based market order (Guide, Pg 9). But what we are really concerned about it how liberalism affects us today. The ‘New Liberalism’, in contrast to classical, is also known as ‘revisionist’, ‘welfare state’, and ‘social justice’. The New Deal by FDR signaled a blunt transformation in government. It was now seen as being responsible for ensuring the economic well-being of the nation for providing basic material guarantees to citizens of unemployment insurance, social security, Medicare and Medicaid. Also within our lecture it was learned that Market Failure

The source supports principles of classical liberalism. For instance, principles such as private property, and individual freedoms. The political cartoon support for individual freedom is demonstrated by the statement “if you want to call your soul your own vote conservatives”. Additionally, the source exaggeration of the men’s noses who surround the individual’s house represents how nosey or curious the socialist party would be towards every englishman’s household if they are voted for. Furthermore, the exaggeration of the outstretched noses and the officers watchful eyes on the house symbolizes how private property would be under the watchful eye of the government which would be invading the privacy that should exist within a private property.

Liberalism and conservatism have been political ideas and thoughts from the very birth of our democracy. Their views and points of the government's role in a democratic society have changed over the years, but the basic ideas and principles have remained the same. There are many different degrees of liberalism and conservatism as almost anyone can be labeled. Some individuals are radical and extreme while others stand on more of a neutral territory, but the debates between the understood ideas of each group have continued throughout the history of the United States. We will take liberalism's Gary Doore and conservatism's Irving Kristol as modern day examples and compare and contrast the