You Cant Steal A Culture By John Mcworter

The diversity between Americans has always been evident, and not just by the skin tone or religion, but also by their backgrounds, as well as how their lives are like today. Especially in African Americans and those who wanted to change the ways of religion, and the prejudice against them continues to stick, even today.

The book “The Other America”, written by Michael Harrington, describes poverty in America in the 1950s and 1960s, when America became one of the most affluent and advanced nations in the world. The book was written in 1962, and Harrington states that there were about 50,000,000 (about 25% of the total population) poor in America at that time. The author did extensive research with respect to the family income levels to derive the poverty numbers, and used his own observations and experiences to write this book. This book addresses the reasons for poverty, the nature of poverty, the culture of poverty, the blindness of Middle Class America with respect to poverty, and the responsibility of all Americans in addressing the issue of poverty in America.

"Battleground America," written by Jill Lepore, provides a strong history of guns and the way they have changed in the eyes of the American through the years. She proves her point with strong evidence throughout her article, sprinkling it with opinion and argument that is strongly supported. She presents her argument to convince her audience that the open availability of guns allows citizens to undeservingly purchase them by displaying the credibility in her sources, using negative connotations in her speech, and the strength and objectivity only a strong logos appeal can provide.

People base their judgement of others through the way they talk, act, dress, and live. In the memoir Us and Them by David Sedaris, young Sedaris wants to know how the Tomkeys, his neighbors, live their lives without a television. His curiosity causes him to spy on the family during the day and night. Even though the Tomkeys may seem strange and not “normal,” Sedaris learns that he, himself, is not a perfect individual either. Sedaris uses allusions, irony, and first person point of view to deliver his message that people need to stop judging others and look at themselves instead.

There was a time when America was segregated; Caucasians and African Americans were forced to attend different restrooms, restaurants, and water fountains. However, the era of segregation has been terminated; now America embraces and appreciates the various cultures and ethnicities that create this melting pot several people call home. Likewise, it is this melting pot, or mosaic, of races that multitudes of individuals have identified themselves with. Thus, race and ethnicity does matter for it portrays vital and crucial roles in the contemporary American society. Furthermore, ethnicity and race brings communities together in unity, determines which traditions and ideals individuals may choose to value, and imposes an impediment for it categorizes humans unjustly.

“[A] recent author and public figure…[Colin Powell, wrote a] book, My American Journey, [that] helped me harmonize my understanding of America’s history and my aspiration to serve her in uniform…Powell gave me another way to think about the American dilemma and, more than that, another way to think about my own life” (Moore 131-2). Author Wes Moore wrote the book The Other Wes Moore, both an autobiography and a biography about a man who shares his name and has a similar backstory, to demonstrate how people’s destinies are primarily influenced by the environment into which they are born. Examining stories including and similar to those of both Wes Moores, as well as reflecting on one’s own personal experience, can provide insight into

Timothy Cole was a 24-year-old student at Texas Tech University. After completing two years of college, he had enlisted in the army for two years in hopes of serving his country. Timothy was an ordinary man with dreams of getting married and having children, but that dream never materialized. Upon his return to Texas Tech in 1985, he was convicted and sentenced to 25 years in prison for the rape of a 20-year-old girl named Michele Mallin. Mallin, then, a student at Texas Tech University Lubbock, was walking to her car when a man approached her and held a knife to her neck. He forced himself into her car and drove her to the outskirts of town where he raped her repeatedly. The next day the police investigator showed Michele pictures of the suspect where she pointed at Timothy Cole. When police showed her a lineup, again she picked Cole. “I was positive,” she said. “I really thought it was him,” but in fact she had accidently robbed an innocent man of his freedom (Lavendra 2009).

Many people today arrive in the United States of America in pursuit of achieving the American Dream. What is the American Dream, and what does it mean in today 's culture? The term “American Dream” was established since the Great Depression representing Life, Liberty, and the Pursuit of Happiness; the very values this great nation was founded upon. The Dream was said to be successful if a person worked hard to achieve his/her goals. Even though prior the American Dream has been terminated however, citizens have transform it in terms of personal goals since the 1930s. Author Brandon King describes the American Dream as an, “Opportunity for each according to ability and achievement”(610). The American dream has to do with the concept of achieving success; being able to perform daily tasks to provide a brighter future for a person, and his/her family. Essentially, if you are passionate enough about what you do, success is always possible even with manageable obstacles. Although, hard work is one of the factors in achieving the American Dream, self-motivation has also made an impact. The reality is every citizen has the opportunity of achievement depending on his/her choices, and access to education.

In the novel Guns Germs and Steel, an American biologist named Jared Diamond is attempting to answer a question from a New Guinean politician named Yali, in July 1972. Yali asked him: (1)“Why is it that you white people developed so much cargo and brought it to New Guinea, but we black people hat little cargo of our own?” For over thirty years, Diamond was investigating our inferred history for clues, to answer Yali’s question. He published a scientific opinion that explains how geography is to blame for the dispersal of power, as few societies and civilizations inhabiting in the Middle East had access to resources, such as the seeds of highly nutritious crops alike wheat and barley, and useful livestock such as cow and sheep, which others

White privilege is the societal privileges that specifically benefit white people. White privilege is why white people can get pulled over by the police and escape a ticket with just a smile and apology. White privilege is also why whites are in charge of a company and they see a black person, they bypass the application. Whites carry a certain privilege not available to people of color. Marilyn Frye describes how whiteness is a form social and political power.

Rome is known for its’ empire (The Roman Empire). Rome started out small and ended up becoming this huge and undefeatable force of nature. Rome received their success by either attacking other nearby towns/neighbors or granting them treaties or citizenships. E. Badien, the author who created an article called, The Organization Of Italy, explains how Rome organized Italy, and got their neighboring cities and nations to join them and turn ancient Italy into a leading state of power. In Badien’s observations, he finds that granting citizenship and the Latin’s helped Rome to become powerful and assisting Italy to be more structured.

In “Monster Culture”, Jeffery Cohen develops an idea that “monsters” are essential to society. In fact, they construct what is “normal”, “rational”, and “civilized”. Specifically, “monsters” are foundational to how we view ourselves. “Monsters” contain all the traits deemed unacceptable and odd. It can be concluded that every outlier is a “monster”. In St. Lucy’s Home for Girls Raised by Wolves, Karen Russell tells the story of a pack of wolf girls who are transitioning into young ladies. Russell delves into society’s need for conformity, gender roles, and change. The story is told from the point of view of the middle wolf girl, Claudette, and follows her on her journey from wolf to woman. In relation to Jeffery Cohen’s idea of monster culture, Claudette’s journey applies to Thesis IV “The Monster Dwells at the Gates of Difference” and part of Thesis I “The Monster’s Body is a Cultural Body”. Claudette is torn between two worlds and she has to learn how to successfully “move between the two cultures”. Through Cohen’s theses, Karen Russell uses character development and dialogue to depict the inner and outer battle of societal femininity and individualized femininity and the decision of accepting either side. The presence of “monsters” are essential for this acceptance.

The phrase, “We the people”, holds a lot of meaning to American citizens. As the first three words of the United States Constitution, it signifies a core value intended to act as a unifying factor in America’s democratic society: popular sovereignty. This is the idea of a majority rules, or to put more simply, the one with the most votes wins. The U.S. system of government relies upon the fact that the American people are capable of coming together to make informed decisions about matters that will ultimately better the lives of everyone. Despite this, however, there are certain instances in which a minority group will impose on or have more influence than the majority group. This phenomenon occurs all the time in politics, as politicians tend to regard the predilections of small groups of citizens as opposed to the general populace.

The United States of America is, “a nation of immigrants” as John F. Kennedy called it. Apart from the Native American ancestry, all others trace their culture back to somewhere else (Soerens, M. 2013). In my opinion, the U.S has increasing rate of immigrants, than any other country. It is also successful in providing facilities like education, employment and various career opportunities for global immigrants even today.

In “Man Has No Nature,” Jose Ortega argues that man must earn his life metaphysically. Ortega’s strongest argument towards this belief can be seen as the process that one must go through to earn their life. Ortega has the ability to, through only four pages of writing, describe man’s nature and how that seems to effect his choices. In this paper, I will make evident all of Ortega’s evidence that, man must determine what he is and then make him that belief in order to earn his life metaphysically.