America's Misunderstood

America is commonly characterized as the greatest country in the world, the glorious “land of the free and the home of the brave”, “indivisible, with liberty and justice for all”. This idealization of the American identity conveniently focuses on what people want to hear and blurs out most everything else. In reality, Americans do not live up to the dreamscape created by our views, and we never really have. America is no longer characterized by its freedom and democracy, nearly every first world country can afford that luxury. Nor are we set apart by the great opportunities given to our people, for those are far from universal. We aren’t equal, we aren’t unified, we aren’t kinder or smarter or richer than any other country across the board. It’s easy to find the shortcomings of American culture, all the things we aren’t, but the things we are have proven to be more elusive. First, let’s examine the nots.

“What happens to a society that cannot distinguish between reality and illusion?” As our country crumbles and our economy crashes, Chris Hedges asks this one question to his readers. Throughout his article, “American Psychosis,” he provides hit after hit of shocking proof that reveals the United States to not only be in desperate need of change, but also that the American people, with their obtuse nationalism and selfish greed, are blissfully ignorant of what could possibly be the downfall of this country. Hedges wants his reader to be shocked at the startling facts that he throws at them, to be angry at him for saying what must be blatant lies and exaggerations, and then to be inquisitive, to discover for themselves just how real the problems of the United States are and how dire the consequences can become. Hedges uses this article as a warning, he desperately wants his readers to understand just how bad things really are and he wants them to be inspired to change it, to stop whatever dark future that could happen. In this article, Hedges touches many subjects: Americans and

The author directs a scathing degree of indignation toward the blinded American people and, equally, the evil celebrities who are misleading them, while letting the root of the problem slip right between his accusatory fingers. He rattles off half a page of governmental failings that are slowly killing our economy, our families, and our globe at large, and then proceeds to blame the American people for…

Have you ever been in a situation where you have to choose one side or another, but agree and disagree with both sides? Everyday American citizens deal with this problem everyday of their lives. There are two sides, or parties, of America, Republicans and Democrats. These two parties hardly, if ever, agree with a particular issue. However, they always find ways to disagree, and explain why the other side is simple minded with a particular issue. In the Ted talk, “Can a divided America heal,” it explains ways how our divided America can heal, as well as ways why our divided America will not heal. I believe that American citizens are too stubborn to be able to come together, and heal America.

Generally speaking, anyone who lives in the United States of America knows that there are two main political parties—the Republicans and the Democrats. Having two main parties has its advantages and, of course, its disadvantages. For example, in By the People James E. Monroe and Rogan Kersh (301) point out having this type of system creates “predictability and stability.” However, they also declare (301) it can “lead to a gridlock.” This is not a new concept either as there has been a divide since the beginning of both parties. The two parties more often than not disagree on various issues, while rarely agreeing on what is best for the country.

The growing ideological gap between the United States’ two major political parties, in other words, rising levels of political polarization, has had a negative impact on American politics as it results in Congressional inefficient, public apathy, and economic inequality.

Concluding, This following essay has explained the key differences and key similarities that Democrats and Republicans have. The only question that still stands is will Democrats and Republicans ever be able to agree to disagree? Will the country always be divided between Democrats and Republicans? Will American citizens always have to pick a side? Will Democrats or Republicans ever be able to unite? These questions will be answered as politics and our government continues to grow and progress. Democrats and Republicans are more different and similar than anyone may

She tells a story of Roger Griswold, a federalist “attacking” Mathew Lyon, a Vermont representative with a “cane”. Page paints a picture of the Democratic-Republican never-ending battle of “chamber fire pit” and “fire tongs” as threatening objects and violence used amongst the opposing political party. Her vivid illustrations through charged and detailed diction creates a violent image. This creates a more in depth understanding of the issue. Page’s strong examples of of imagery conveys the audience of the abuse and destruction that is causing our country to become more and more divided. The contrasting opinions between one another should have nothing to do with the separation of our country. The public is “reflected in everything” from whom “they marry to where they get their news.” In reality we “spend time around those who think differently than we do”, however we seem to shun anyone who may think differently than ourselves. More than half of Republicans are reported to watch “Fox News at least a few times a week” while “Democrats are watching MSNBC [...].” Page uses these examples to show the audience that American citizens watch and pour their time into the things they agree with. This affects the audience by showing they have the tendency to gravitate towards things they agree with and not look at the

The English Civil War in the 1600’s was fought between two parties in the government, the Tories and the Whigs, that either supported the king or disapproved of him. This violent show of political partisanship may have warned the Founding Fathers that political parties had the power to divide governments and lead to tyranny. Aside from the possibility of leading to a violent power struggle, political parties have the potential to draw away politicians’ loyalty from the American population as a whole to the benefit of their political group. Thomas Jefferson wrote that he never wanted to adhere to a group when he was capable of thinking on his own. He called submitting a whole opinion to a party, “the last degradation for a free and moral agent.” (Hatzenbuehler 32) Arduous bipartisanship also leads to a stalemate in Congress. According to a study by the Brookings Institute, in Congress seventy-five percent of salient issues in 2014 were in gridlock. (Binder 2016) Attitudes become increasingly sharp in politics as the political sides compete, each trying to prove the other a radical. If there were no political parties every member would most likely treat their fellow members with civility in the hopes that they would choose to support mutual

Shelters may be the final safety net, but that net scrapes perilously close to the ground. To be in a shelter is to be homeless, and the more shelters we build, the more resources we divert from the only real solution to homelessness: permanent housing.

In his book Where Do We Go From Here: Chaos or Community?, Martin Luther King Jr states that “The great majority of Americans are suspended between these opposing attitudes. They are uneasy with injustice but unwilling yet to pay a significant price to eradicate it.” These words still ring true today. Many Americans are comfortable in their lives and are unwilling to change, even if it means hurting someone less fortunate than themselves. For America to work more efficiently and cohesively, lawmakers need to accept that there will never be a single party system as long as there is democracy. Once lawmakers realize this, they will be more able to compromise with one another and represent their constituents more effectively. The American people will also need to put effort into unification. They must be able to recognize their own privilege and use said privilege to help the less

The Earth itself is being neglected and abused by thoughtlessness and waste products of American Feed corporations. There is so much pollution that the atmosphere and Earth are being destroyed. This is a world hit by environmental disasters, the severity of which can only be read between the lines. There can only be synthesized clouds now that the atmosphere will not allow actual clouds to form and is not able to support natural weather patterns. This is a world where living creatures can no longer reproduce without assistance. And this is a world where startling

Political parties have grown increasingly polarized over the past decade leading to a rise in party unity and divided government. Political gridlock has made it extremely difficult to pass legislation as well. This concept can be used to explain the recent failure of two major pieces of legislation in the United States: the “Border Security, Economic Opportunity, and Immigration Modernization Act” and the “Safe Communities, Safe Schools Act of 2013.” This assignment seeks to answer why these bills have failed to make it through Congress. The rise of political polarization in the past decade has led to our current political landscape: one marked by increased divided government that highlights the undeniable fact that a President can only get things done when the political environment allows for it.

Context: 2014- This is during a time of great political and social divide in American culture. The clear rift in political thought and hard-lined party divisions described as “left” and “right” are becoming more

R. Crumb is showing America in its infancy to its rapid decay all in the name of what we call progress. From wide open land with thriving wild life (birds) and rich forestation to a crowded polluted concrete jungles that we call cities. Furthermore, R. Crumb’s depiction shows that we forgot about the environment on our road to riches. From the railroad polluting clean air with its coal burning engines to big oil companies drilling beneath earth’s surface for fossil fuel (oil) destroying the land and the sea to fuel our modern day forms of transportation (planes, trains and automobiles).