That Used To Be Us Thomas Friedman Summary

During the years between 1920 and 1960, America saw change in many aspects of life. The United States was a part of two major wars and a crash of the banking system that crippled the economy greater than ever seen in this country’s history. Also the country had new insecurities to tackle such as immigration and poor treatment of workers. These events led to the change of America lives socially, economically, and politically. The people of America changed their ideas of what the country’s place in the world should be. The issues challenging America led the country to change from isolation to war, depression to prosperity, and social change. The threats to American way of life, foreign and domestic, were the changing forces to the

In conclusion, America is losing superpower stature related to greed and over-consumption, bad politics and the need to remain in wars without ends. Americans need to unite as a political force and stop bickering like children between party lines. Instead of saying “no” to everything from the opposing party, be more constructive to find solutions. That shows strength instead of the weakness portrayed by arguing. American’s need to become a more industrial nation as we once were and stop sending the production to other countries to save on the bottom line. Also, a stop to borrowing for mere consumption needs to end. The borrowing should be put to advancing the country

Following the First World War, the United States went in search of a, “return to normalcy,” which many agreed was exactly what it needed. However, to the dismay of many, all the United States could find was a significant amount of tension that had developed between, “Old America,” and, “New America.” All in all, this tension that arose between old and new traditions and ideas did so in the form of religion, conflicts within society, and cultural values.

Following the conclusion of the First World War, America began to flourish, especially through changes in technology, morality, and civil rights. Accompanying these developments came widespread discontent. Some argued with the old adage, “'If it ain't broke, don't fix it,”, while others insisted that constant advancements would lead to a better future for all. Best put by Donald Rea Hanson, to pick out reason for America’s prosperity “...would be difficult, if not impossible” (Doc C).

The first source is a quote by Milton Friedman that criticizes the view of corporate officials needing to abide to a “social responsibility”. He claims that, in a free market economy, corporate officials only have one goal, to increase profits for their business. So long as it's done without deception, fraud and engages an open and free competition. It is obvious that Martian Friedman is a supporter of capitalism. Capitalism is an economic and political system in which a country's trade and industry are controlled by private owners for profit, rather than by the state or province. It is a right-wing ideology built on the foundation of individualism. It encourages freedom of action for individuals over government control. The source presents Milton is a supporter of individualism and classical liberalism. He favors an economy focused on making profits for the individual with little to no government intervention. Ideologies that

As Robert Penn Warren once stated, “History cannot give us a program for the future, but it can give us a fuller understanding of ourselves, and of our common humanity, so that we can better face the future” (Szasz). The comprehension of all historic events is crucial to society’s success. In order for The United States to reach favorable outcomes in the future, its citizens must be knowledgeable of its history to avoid catastrophe or to adopt a beneficial decision-making process. By understanding the background of this staggering nation, the American population can learn of the errors that have been made along with the characteristics of the route to success. Among the numerous significant events that have occurred in the history of The United

Keene, J., Cornell, S., & O'Donnell, E. (2013). Visions of America: A history of the United States. (2nd ed.) Upper Saddle, NJ: Pearson.

After the War of 1812, America initially sank into a time of economic regression and the public began to lose faith in the government. The United States was in debt, British products flooded the ports, and many citizens became more concerned of their own welfare compared to the country’s. However, through years of improvement and hard work, the United States began to prove itself once again to the foreign countries. Beginning in the 1800’s, the technological developments began to greatly transformed the United States. At first, many people considered America to be a weak and undeveloped state, however, throughout the years, America slowly began to prove to the other countries that it is becoming a strong and independent state. In the end, America became an industrialized country, domestic trade became popular, and the transportation system in the country was

The End of America, published in 2007 during the Bush Administration, is a non-fiction call-to-action for all American citizens to restore their constitutional values and stand up against an increasingly oppressive government rule. The book argues that the events and policies made during the early 2000’s closely parallel the careful steps taken by previous dictatorships before and through which they come into power. These steps are always exactly the same, occur in the same order, and are done in completely legally right under the noses of unaware citizenries.

Almost one hundred and fifty years after the birth of the United States of America, the country and its people stepped unabashed into the modern age. Following years of gloom and war, the public desired change. Though it took some years after the close of World War 1, the United States began to evolve. With high tariffs, federal tax cuts, and the increase of mass production among other things, America’s economy began to grow rapidly. Economic growth occurred simultaneously with social and cultural growth and these factors brought WW1 America toward the modern age.

As we approach the next Presidential election the topic of American foreign policy is once again in the spotlight. In this paper, I will examine four major objectives of U.S. foreign policy that have persisted throughout the twentieth century and will discuss the effect of each on our nation’s recent history, with particular focus on key leaders who espoused each objective at various times. In addition, I will relate the effects of American foreign policy objectives, with special attention to their impact on the American middle class. Most importantly, this paper will discuss America’s involvement in WWI, WWII, and the Cold War to the anticipated fulfillment of these objectives—democracy,

“America was conducting business as usual, but others were joining the game.” (Zakaria, 221). All this time we thought we were on top, we were actually slowly becoming less and less of leader and more a bystander as the rest of the world is slowly rising around us. Zakaria shows in that quote that as America has been continuing business like always, and because of this we have failed to realize our standing with the world around us. In the book The Post-American World, Zakaria shows us the challenges that America faces today. I believe the United States is most affected by our ignorance, competition, and worldly participation.

The Next Decade, a novel by George Friedman, talks about the predictions of countries in the upcoming decade and how the United States should react to the various challenges. The novel’s first major claim is that the United States is actually an empire, similar to how Rome and Great Brian were. However, unlike the previous empires, the United States refuses to acknowledge its status as an empire. “What makes the United States an empire is the number of countries it affects, the intensity of the impact, and the number of people in those countries affected.” The implication of this quote is that the US has gotten to be so large, if the US decided to draw out of global affairs, the impact would be detrimental. Instead of escaping its duty to the world, Friedman claims that the United States must acknowledge its status as an empire and function as such in order to maneuver the next decade. This claim is a wise claim made by Friedman, but it his only claim of worth in the novel. In The Next Decade, Friedman fails to make his thesis credible because he doesn’t his sources, provide logical arguments on his predications of the future, or examine alternative possibilities.

America has always been viewed as the richest and freest nation in the world. America has grown from thirteen self-governed states, to a nation with a strong central government of power and wealth. The change in society has allowed the U.S. to grow into what it is today. Without the change in views and the responsibility of the citizens the economy would have never grown to be strong and wealth. The nation is effected by many different variables. One variable effects the other. The nation was started and has progressed to where it is today, but with rises and downfalls in all areas of life from education and small families to economics and large businesses.

America is a substantially different world now than it was at the time of the initial “American Dream”. “The optimism of the