Philosophies In The 1970s Essay

The early years of the United States once held a Christian philosophy in which laid down the foundation for the American government and social institutions. Nevertheless, American society gradually shifted from a philosophical view on the nature of reality to be absolute and unchanging, to welcoming a philosophy that recognizes the nature of reality as consistently changing and progressing. From supernaturalism to naturalism, all aspects of recent American society—especially civil-social areas—has been naturally and unequivocally affected and transformed by process philosophy.

Deresiewicz believes that “The purpose of education in a neoliberal age is to produce producers.”(1) In his introduction, Deresiewicz compares the ideologies of colleges from the 1920s to today’s thoughts. He concluded that “College is seldom about thinking or learning anymore.”(1) He also believes that there is only one value of education now and that is commercial. The other values are tolerated only when they pertain to commercial value. With the new beliefs in neoliberalism, Deresiewicz determines that “The world is not going to change, so we don’t need young people to imagine how it might.”(3) This leads to education just being about information rather than free thinking. He then goes into discussing how there are others who have come to the realization that not everyone can have high paying jobs as well. Deresiewicz concludes that students only care about the skills needed to start their career not obtaining general knowledge. Colleges teach their students to be leaders for their own benefit not the benefit of others. The neoliberal society, Deresiewicz believes, has begun to give students “a sense of helplessness”(5) so they have no

Educational policies researcher Joel Spring (1996) discussed many arguments and historical background about various education topics found in the United States. For example, Spring tells us about the historical development of the Common Schools movement and the underlying groups—such as workingmen and political parties—that influenced the movement. In addition, Spring points out some of the implications the movement had on religious, ethnic, and multicultural groups. One particular idea that caught my attention was from the chapter entitled, “The Ideology and Politics of the Common School.” Indeed, my entire conceptual understanding of K-12 education had been predicated on the idea that high schools were part of the original conception of public

1984, a novel by George Orwell, represents a dystopian society in which the people of Oceania are surveilled by the government almost all the time and have no freedoms. Today, citizens of the United States and other countries are watched in a similar way. Though different technological and personal ways of keeping watch on society than 1984, today’s government is also able to monitor most aspects of the people’s life. 1984 might be a dystopian society, but today’s condition seems to be moving towards that controlling state, where the citizens are surveilled by the government at all times.

As a first generation child whose parents immigrated from another country, I was fortunate enough to receive excellent education and opportunities that was not offered to them. During that era, those privileges may have been difficult to obtain due to racial segregation, poor living circumstances, and/or lack of time and commitment due to work. As of today, these issues are no longer a major problem. Although, education has never been better and opportunities have been even more achievable, David Brooks argues that the upper/middle classes are preventing the lower class from “joining their ranks” because of the egocentric methods that modern day families now utilize to their advantage. In his New York Times editorial “How We Are Ruining America,” Brooks explains how we (as the upper/middle class) have been ruining America by preventing the lower class from receiving the same privileges. Brooks then elaborates his argument by giving several examples like: improved parent supervision and planning, zoning restrictions, cultural codes, and even gives a personal experience. Even though Brooks provided a substantial amount of evidence, he mostly utilizes his powerful tone and writing skills to support his argument.

The novel I have chosen to write about that is set in a different time but is still relevant to this day is “1984” by George Orwell. Orwell effectively uses theme, characterisation, imagery and symbolism to help us appreciate the themes he runs throughout the book that have just as much relevance then as they do now. This is despite Orwells’ book being first published in 1948.

Sometimes I wonder if my personal political ideology will be a challenge to my teaching; as much as Americans try to boast about getting involved with and supporting their community, that wars with their personal piece of the American dream pie. To have their own success, particularly financially as that seems to be the direction for most, doesn’t mean sharing their personal wealth with the less fortunate in the community. Understanding that I tread precipitously close to the edge of socialism and communism, I still don’t see much in the way of society as a whole here in the U.S. sacrificing their personal gain [financially] for the advancement of the poor. Not only these chapters but study after study, article after article, can make a clear connection between wealthy suburbs with wealthy tax bases supporting the best schools with the best facilities and the best teachers producing the best students. So why can’t the money be redistributed more appropriately? Why don’t Americans want to share their fortune with the lesser? It’s because that is not the American dream: what’s theirs is theirs and will only serve to make them more successful. If others cannot succeed with what they have or what they can do, that is on them. The lack of a

Parents are entrusted with their children and raise them the best they know how, even as the children follow their own path in life. The American culture encourages youth to make the transition to independency, to find

Fascinating as these two subjects may be when they intertwine, philosophy and politics are possibly the two most polarizing things in both academia and throughout society in general, from Karl Marx arguing the idea that all human beings are loyal to their respective socioeconomic classes in some way to Henry David Thoreau proposing that all people should be self-reliant and that society prospers when there is little to no state control. On the other hand, there are two opposing principles of ethics that still find themselves in heated debate among politicians and philosophers alike today, with these two principles being utilitarianism and Kantian ethics (otherwise known as “deontology”). Meanwhile, The Founding Fathers were also polarized on how to best govern the newly formed United States of America; eventually, they settled on the principles of freedom, democracy, and most interestingly, equality. Fast-forwarding to the year 2081 is a new dystopian United States characterized by physical equality in Kurt Vonnnegut, Jr.’s 1961 satirical short story, “Harrison Bergeron”.

Education has been the subject of some of the most heated discussions in American history. It is a key point in political platforms. It has been subject to countless attempts at reform, most recently No Child Left Behind and Common Core. Ardent supporters of institutional schools say that schools provide access to quality education that will allow the youth of our country to gain necessary skills to succeed in life. Critics take a far more cynical view. The book Rereading America poses the question, “Does education empower us? Or does it stifle personal growth by squeezing us into prefabricated cultural molds?” The authors of this question miss a key distinction between education and schooling that leaves the answer far from clear-cut. While education empowers, the one-size-fits-all compulsory delivery system is stifling personal growth by squeezing us into prefabricated cultural molds.

What is doublethink? Orwell describes doublethink as “the power of holding two contradictory beliefs in one’s mind simultaneously, and accepting both of them.'; In 1984, doublethink is the normal way of thought, and as a result everyone understands it and practices it. Doublethink is different from changing ones mind, lying, and self-deception in many ways. Doublethink involves believing in the two contradictory ideas at the same time. This is different from lying because lying is saying something that is wrong and knowing that it is wrong but still saying it anyway. For example lets say you broke a vase. When your mother asks you who broke the vase and you say the dog did it that would be lying. The reason it is not

out of his way to respect the white men. You can tell this as in the

based on love can rarely exist in the right tense as it use to years

The 1960’s impacted the United States in profound ways. With the seventy million baby boomers growing into their teens, they brought with them change that is still evolving in our society today. The sixties was a time where American culture moved from being conservative to new and insightful ways of thinking. With these changes, it brought a new counter culture that would be known as the hippie culture. The hippies led way into a new sexual revolution that would break the old fashioned boundaries. The hippies also ushered in a new era where drugs became popular to a large public as well as within their own culture. Drugs were becoming a part of American culture, as well as new scientific research, into the benefits

The 1970s can be best understood as a transitional period in America. Starting in the 1950s, the power of the youth was on the rise, through civil rights activism and anti-war protests. This decade’s ideal citizen seemed to be the person helping others. Then the 1980s are more financially centered and individualistic. This decade’s ideal citizen is the one who measured success by how much money they made. The 1970s proved to be a time of bitterness, cynicism, and increased interest in one’s self for most of the people in America. Some of the events that contributed to this were the Kent State Massacre, Roe v. Wade, and the economic stagflation that happened in the latter part of the decade.