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The Disunited States Of America Essay

Satisfactory Essays

Lauren Solouki
Mr. Martin
AP English Language and Composition
June 8, 2016
The Disunited States of America
As you walk through the streets of Los Angeles, it is impossible to let the cultural diversity escape you. You can hear snippets of conversations in Hebrew, Farsi, French, Mandarin, and about every other language in existence. This diversity is not just confined within the walls of Los Angeles. It is pervasive throughout the United States. Thomas Paine’s characterization of America in The Rights of Man as a country made up of “people from different nations, accustomed to different forms and habits of government, speaking different languages, and more different in their modes of worship” still holds to be true in modern times. However, Paine’s assertion that “by the simple operation of constructing government on the principles of society and the rights of man, every difficulty [that evolves from these differences] retires” no longer applies in today’s world. Though our government has a constitution that upholds these “principles of society” and “rights of man,” difficulty has certainly not “retire(d)”. As Paine’s book proceeds to evaluate the consequences of our society, it fails to capture the struggles that have arisen in our time to face increasing multiculturalism and inequality. America’s united front is beginning to dismantle as inequality and discord increases on the basis of wealth, race, and political partisanship.
We have declined in social mobility and

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