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
From colonial times there were differences in geography that gave rise to variations in culture and economy in the United States. Due to the differing characteristics, a sectional economy molded the United States into two distinct regions: the north and the south. The north, a commercial society, which supported industry and commerce while the south, an agrarian civilization, flourished in the production of raw materials with use of slaves. The two economies were both self-supporting and capable to create a stronger, more productive nation. The regional differences sought to build America, in turn threatened to destroy it. Many Historians believe that the Civil War was constructed over the issue of slavery. However, the concerns of states'
To start off, Paine explains to his audience about the different nationalities held in America in 1791. He states, "Made up, as it is, of people from different nations..." (Paine). This in comparison to now holds true to a very high extent. Today in the U.S. we have a huge variety of people from all over the world. There are people in America from Asia, Africa, Europe, etc. This is very true based on the fact of the am ount of different cultures that still exist in America and thrive today as and important part of our society. America was founded by immigrants, so it proves true that there are still millions of immigrants in America today. Lastly, he explains about all of the different cultural traits that have followed and the different worship ideals and other concepts that still are very prominent in American society today.
Since around the creation of the Republican party and the Democratic Party, politicians and other Americans have divided our states into red and blue states. During the Presidential Election, you could tell who had the most electoral votes due to the color of the state and how many due to the numbers at the top of the state. President Obama, who became a vision of hope for those needing a change in the establishment, said this,”“The pundits like to slice and dice our country into … red states for Republicans, blue states for Democrats,” he said. “But I’ve got news for them … We worship an awesome God in the blue states, and we don’t like federal agents poking around in our libraries in the red states. We coach Little
America may be a young nation compared to those around those around the world and we as a nation have achieved a lot in our years. One battle that we have been fighting since the birth of our nation however is one against our own people. For years we have been divided by the colors of our skin and our heritage. Although Caucasian people may be the majority of our population, individually there are just as diverse of people in their origins as the minorities of this country. It just isn’t as apparent as having a culture branded into a skin tone. America is known as a melting pot of races from all over the globe. A lot of people seem to have forgotten where they came from after generations of searching for the “American Dream,” thus creating a typical “white American”. One instance where the white Americans banded together and discriminated against one race occurred after the bombing at Pearl Harbor. The racism that occurred against Japanese Americans is not as talked about as slavery, but the fact that it is talked about so little just goes to show that Americans are willing to sweep horrendous acts against our own people under the rug.
Thomas Paine’s characterization of America from his book, Rights of Man, does not completely hold true in today’s American society. His description of social class relationships as well as just government is currently not a reality for Americans. However, his description of diversity is something that we do have in America today.
The Divided States of America is a documentary by PBS Frontline, in which they analyze the stalemated America that Obama took over in 2009 and issues he faced, and later divided America that Trump took over in January. The documentary purpose was to show the effect of the division within the United States and encourage listeners to consider the future effects of Trump’s presidency, It elaborates on what actions Obama took which led to such a polarized nation, where some strongly supported him, while others strongly disagreed.
The structure of our American Government was founded in the Constitution of the United States. The Constitution was written to be the “supreme law of the land,” and produces a democratic republic, where citizens govern themselves (Our American Government, n.d). The purpose of our government, is to “establish justice, insure domestic tranquility, provide for the common defense, promote the general welfare, and secure the blessing of liberty to ourselves and our posterity” (Our American Government, n.d.). For our country to accomplish this purpose our Founding Fathers created three principles, “inherent rights, self-government, and separation of powers” (Our American Government, n.d.). The government was developed to ensure order in society and protect its citizens, but with all systems, there is strengths and weakness, let’s examine those strengths and weakness. Let’s first look at the strength and weakness of the U.S. Constitution.
Upon turning on the news in America, the media is not reporting stories of wholeness and community, which one would expect upon reading Thomas Paine 's passage. It instead is littered with videos of protests and fights, church shootings, riots, racist graffiti, and other hate crimes. Paine has an idealistic view of America, and while Americans have the capacity to join together (as shown following the 9/11 terrorist attacks) we also have struggled throughout history with racism, and continue to today. At the time Thomas Paine wrote his passage, America was hard set in its racist ways, and has continued its history of oppression to modern day.
There were many problems, events, and situations that led to the Civil War. One of the major reasons for the outbreak of the war was sectionalism. Once the United States was split, many of the country's fundamental issues were disputed, with slavery being at the top of the list. Some of the other major issues in dispute were representation, tariffs, and states' rights. Sectionalism is defined as, the sharp socio-economic differences that divided the Northern and the Southern states in the U.S.
The structure of our American Government, was founded in the Constitution of the United States. The Constitution was written to be the “supreme law of the land”, and creates a federal democratic republic, where citizens govern themselves (Our American Governement, n.d). The purpose of our government, is to “establish justice, insure domestic tranquility, provide for the common defense, promote the general welfare, and secure the blessing of liberty to ourselves and our posterity” (Our American Government, n.d.). For our country to achieve this purpose our Founding Fathers created three main principles, “inherent rights, self-government, and separation of powers” (Our American Government, n.d.). Government was developed to ensure order in society and protect its citizens, but with all systems there are strengths and weakness, let’s examine those strengths and weakness. Let’s first look at the strength and weakness of the U.S. Constitution.
the ideas that there was a crime wave due to alcohol and that it was
On Christmas Eve in 2010, my grandmother received a gift from a hospice nurse who was assisting with my grandfather’s deteriorating health. Initially both surprised and embarrassed by the gesture, her emotions quickly changed once she removed the wrapping. A single package of Ramen Noodles was revealed. Embarrassment changed to confusion as she attempted to wrap her mind around what she had received. The hospice worker drove a 1997 Plymouth Voyager that she regularly complained about not being able to run properly for more than a week. She wore old worn out clothing and my grandmother claims she had never seen the woman wear jewelry before. It was evident that she was not wealthy. Although she could not afford a gift, the nurse in her
Thomas Paine, a revolutionary, intellectual, and supporter of American independence from England published a book titled, “Rights of Man” which deals with the government shielding the natural rights of its people. Initially, the book captures the diverse aspect of this nation, but it fails to reveal the struggles that arise to preserve and adapt to such a society. Paine expresses his optimism towards the supposed perfection of American society, as one “made up...of people from different nations,” with certain expectations. Additionally, the time gap between “Rights of Man” and modern America cannot be neglected. Paine wrote during an era in which “constructing a government on the principles of society and the rights of man” was the essential objective of the country. However, modern-day America experiences opposite ideals and Paine’s theory no longer remains true because of the educational gap between the rich and poor, terrorism, and racial profiling.
The American government is known to promote democratic values throughout the world. Though the ideals America was fighting for during the Cold War, the government still managed to participate in the overthrow of democratically elected Prime Minister, Mohammed Mossadegh. Mossadegh threatened to nationalize Iran’s oil in 1951 and later gained the support of the Iranian government. The British companies had many investments in Iranian oil. It is with the approval of nationalization that the economies of both British and Iran were ultimately harmed. The British government requested the help of the US so that they could perform a coup to overthrow Mossadegh. With suspicions of Mossadegh supporting communism, and being supported by the Tudeh Party, the United States government was willing to sacrifice their democratic ideologies and credibility in the region for the insurance of an anti-communist leader. This would prove to cause problems that still resonate in today’s political and military negotiations in this region.
The government in the United States supposedly revolves around American ideals such as equality and diversity; however, this is simply not the case as perpetuated by class inequalities. The meaning of democracy has been skewed in the United States to represent something entirely different than it did in 1776. Today, American democracy behaves more like an aristocracy, where the upper class exercises power within the government and state, influencing discourse and therefore the laws and resources in our country, which are purportedly “for the people”. Democracy is presumed to provide everyone with equal political power, but the government in today’s America, although seemingly following this ideal model, does not. Instead, the elite upper class has a monopoly over the political influence and are the sole benefactors from public policies due to their influence over the policy making process. The upper class has an overall benefit from class inequality, as it greatly impacts American ‘democracy’ through the significant power gained through money and status, leadership roles that impact government, and the influence in the policymaking process that creates upper class advantages.