Essential Question-What is the American Way of Life?
Thesis
AWOL is an abbreviation for the American Way of Life. Now, one might say that they know what that is, but how can one person's definition be the true meaning to all of America. In order to better understand what the American Way of Life is my class had discussions, asked random people on the street as well as family members, and did multiple stimulations to see if we could get down to the bottom of the traditions and customs that form our lives. My results led me to believe this: The American Way of Life is based on principles that are laid out for us by the Constitution and such documents but not reachable in most circumstances because of the social classes in which we are born into.
Other Perspectives
To better understand certain things, you must of course gather sources and information on the matter. That is exactly what we did. We set out to the streets of New York (well more like 22nd-23rd, 1st ave to Park ave) and asked pedestrians what they thought the American Way of Life was. Now, I wanted to keep variety in people I asked so that I could get a variety of answers but I just couldn't bring myself to stop a girl so these are all men responses. I did however vary in men. I asked capitalist, rich, worker, poor, black, Hispanic, and white (Asians are hard to stop). There responses to me were broad and not well thought out except for this one guy who kept taking forever to answer but, came up with the same answers as the others. From the capitalist, I got the most outrageous response which is how I knew he was a capitalist. First off, I had asked the gentlemen he was with to answer my questions but, he told me he didn't have time and his friend responded "You just go, I'll do it." with a sigh. I brushed it off and immediately wrote down rich. I asked him what he thought the American Way of Life was. He responded it was health, happiness, and freedom. Straight from the Declaration itself. I then asked what he thought were the good and bad aspects of AWOL. He said a good aspect was that we had "the best criminal justice system in all the world". At this point, I was erasing rich and writing capitalist. When he answered to the bad aspects was that I was really appalled. He told me that the bad aspect of the American Way of Life was the TRAFFIC. What?! We are in a recession and this guy thinks traffic's bad? That has capitalism written all over it because evidently he is financially secure enough to talk about traffic when thousands of families are losing their homes everyday because they cannot pay their mortgages. I was in such shock that I just said thank you and walked away.
From the working class, I received more sane answers. they told me that money was the main aspect of the American Way of Life and that corporations are always trying to take it all from the small guys. Some other responses were of course opportunity and freedom. One even said that smoking, drinking, and working were the American Way of Life. Who can deny that this is what a majority of Americans do? So is that what the American Way of Life is? I think not but if this is what people have in their heads then it must play a small part. They didn't really vary in what they said were the bad aspects of AWOL as most said war and related things. This just goes to show that AWOL is based on money, how we can get it, and what we can do with it.
My family has migrated from different parts of the country. I asked my father what it was like when he first came here from Mexico. He replied that it was extremely different. In Mexico it is based more on family values rather than money unlike here in the U.S. He told me his family moved here to live the American dream. Get a good job, make money, and live in happiness. What they found what they got here however was hardship and people that looked down upon them because of their ethnicity. They looked at them as immigrants that only deserved jobs that the regular Americans would not take. Because of their social class being the lowest of all (immigrants from Mexico) they did not get to live the American Dream that many immigrants want to live. Over the years, my family has struggled to work for what they have and although they tried not to Americanize themselves, the changing of generations has forced them too. Today we are seen as Mexican-Americans celebrating both Christmas and Three Kings.
Capitalism
One major aspect that are class studied was capitalism. Capitalism is an economic system in which the goods and services are produced, distributed, and consumed through the mechanism of a free market fixed deeply on the right to private property and the profit motive (says the dictionary). Andy's definition is that capitalism is an economic system in which the overwhelming majority toil for the profit of the tiny minority. In simpler words, "We work, they profit." In AWOL, we went over capitalism and tried to see if this was really the basis of the country we live in. If you think about it, it makes sense. For example, if you work in a clothing store. You work and put in the hours that can get you the type of money you need to survive, while the old, white man who owns the clothing store you work for, is sitting in his Malibu home sipping cocktails. I went into American Apparel (of course Americans must shop there as it is American). There was a very frustrated, opinionated saleswoman who started telling us what working in American Apparel was like. She said that in order to get a job there you must send in a picture of yourself with the application and was telling us how degrading and horrible the job was. My question was if the job was so horrible, why is she still working here? Simple question. She answered me simply with the answer "I do need to live." I was in shock that she would respond this way but in a way a totally understood. What else could she do but stick to the job that degraded her if she wanted to survive?! So here are thousands of Americans represented in this woman. We are not working hard and long for these corporations because we like our jobs, but are doing it so that when we go home we have enough money for the basic utilities. We work until we can no longer stand so that these rich families can go on vacation in Tahiti. However, we cannot do anything about it because that was how the American Way of Life was long ago created.
Critique of Capitalism
Karl Marx was a critic of capitalism. He came up with the ideas of alienation, labor theory of value, crashing capitalism and primitive accumulation of capitalism. The way that people started capitalism is the primitive accumulation of capitalism. Capitalist did this by enslaving, stealing, and genocide. The collecting of more and more capitalism leads to the capitalist of today. Alienation is something that was you but becomes not you. For example, doing something that you had once liked for a capitalism. The labor theory of value means that the source of all wealth comes from labor. Workers make less than the products they are making are worth. The surplus goes to the capitalists who build more capitalism from this money. Crashing capitalism is when the rate of return drops so low that people start to drop out. As people drop out, more people are left without jobs. The unemployement rate grows and in turn leads to a recession. This is the kind of United States we live in now. With so many people losing their jobs it is impossible to live a fulfilling American Way of Life that is promised to us in the Constitution. The Constitution gives us this fake sense of hope that we are able to accomplish many things because we have all these rights. In reality however, if you are not at the top of the economic ladder you do not get the same privileges as those on top.
Constitution
We also took time to go over the government. Stuff like the Constitution and how the powers are divided. This contributes to the American Way of Life because it divides us into our social classes. It is a base line for what is acceptable and what isn't. The government tells us the things we can do and what we can't but they trick us into believing they are doing it because we want them too. We elect our officials who are looking out for our best interest yet they are getting paid thousands with money that can be helping the working classes. This relates to AWOL because again we are working hard just in order to survive but we can't do much about it because after all it is the American Way of Life.
Sunday, January 25, 2009
Saturday, January 24, 2009
Karl Marx
Karl Marx was an analyst of critiicism. He went to the University of Berlin and became absorbed in Hagel's (one of the most important German philosophers of the time) beliefs. He wrote books about his beliefs and became famous for his ideas. He came up with the theory of base and superstructure, labor theory of value, the dialectic, crashing of capitalism, and alienation.
His theory of base and superstructure was about the basics of capitalism. He said that the most important part of any society was the relationship between the producers and the expropriators. From there we see the superstructure lead to wealth for the capitalist.
The labor theory of value is stating that labor is the source of all wealth. Marx said that capitalists suck the labor out of workers just like vampires suck the blood out of people. A worker works to make a product for a capitalist that ends up being worth more than what they actually work for. The surplus goes to the capitalist which in turn creates more capitalism. An example of this would be if you work at McDonald's. Your job is to make chicken nuggets that cost $1.50. You get $.75 for every order of chicken nuggets you make. The other $.75 go to the owner of that McDonald's. Not only does he get the surplus from your work but also the surplus from your coworkers. With all the money made from you guys he will eventually open another McDonald's and have to hire more people. This becomes capitalism.
The dialectic is the process of becoming. In simpler terms, it means that when you combine something with something else it becomes something greater. This was actually Halo's theory but Marx believed it too. For example, if there is a book club and a writing club. Both clubs read books and write stories according to that author's style. The book club however, doesn't share their stories out loud but discusses the books. The writing club doesn't discuss the books but share the stories. If these two clubs join together they would become a reading and writing club which would be a greater something because they would talk about both the books and the stories.
Crashing of capitalism happens when capitalists can no longer grow their capital. This happens when competitions lowers the rate of return which causes capitalist to have to lower their costs. In order to keep making money the capitalist have to make the workers work harder to make more products. What will happen sooner or later is that there will be too many supplies and not enough profit. When there is not enough profit people start to drop out. People dropping out leads to more people having no jobs. This in turn leads to a recession.
Alienation is when something that was you becomes not you. Like labor. If you are working at a job that yu hate but you are doing it in order to survive, you become alienated from your job. You are doing it because you have to and you having to just benefits the capitalists you are working for because they make money off of you.
His theory of base and superstructure was about the basics of capitalism. He said that the most important part of any society was the relationship between the producers and the expropriators. From there we see the superstructure lead to wealth for the capitalist.
The labor theory of value is stating that labor is the source of all wealth. Marx said that capitalists suck the labor out of workers just like vampires suck the blood out of people. A worker works to make a product for a capitalist that ends up being worth more than what they actually work for. The surplus goes to the capitalist which in turn creates more capitalism. An example of this would be if you work at McDonald's. Your job is to make chicken nuggets that cost $1.50. You get $.75 for every order of chicken nuggets you make. The other $.75 go to the owner of that McDonald's. Not only does he get the surplus from your work but also the surplus from your coworkers. With all the money made from you guys he will eventually open another McDonald's and have to hire more people. This becomes capitalism.
The dialectic is the process of becoming. In simpler terms, it means that when you combine something with something else it becomes something greater. This was actually Halo's theory but Marx believed it too. For example, if there is a book club and a writing club. Both clubs read books and write stories according to that author's style. The book club however, doesn't share their stories out loud but discusses the books. The writing club doesn't discuss the books but share the stories. If these two clubs join together they would become a reading and writing club which would be a greater something because they would talk about both the books and the stories.
Crashing of capitalism happens when capitalists can no longer grow their capital. This happens when competitions lowers the rate of return which causes capitalist to have to lower their costs. In order to keep making money the capitalist have to make the workers work harder to make more products. What will happen sooner or later is that there will be too many supplies and not enough profit. When there is not enough profit people start to drop out. People dropping out leads to more people having no jobs. This in turn leads to a recession.
Alienation is when something that was you becomes not you. Like labor. If you are working at a job that yu hate but you are doing it in order to survive, you become alienated from your job. You are doing it because you have to and you having to just benefits the capitalists you are working for because they make money off of you.
Tuesday, January 20, 2009
Inaguration Day
On January 20, 2009, the United States of America named Barack Obama the first African-American president of the U.S. This was an extremely, important historical event for Americans everywhere. It signifies a new beginning for America as a whole. It opens up doors for minorities and shows them that they can achieve many great things even if they are at the bottom of the human chain when they are born and through their childhood. The Inaguration, also shows a sense of national unity that can be dangerous (as Andy said).
What the Inaguration shows us about the American Way of Life is that it can be altered to change with the coming generations of American citizens but, it cannot be changed entirely. For example, our president is African American now compared to the white presidents we have had in the past, due to the fact that our coming generations are more open minded to change then the past generations. This shows we can handle some change but as President Obama said we will not change it indefinitely. His Inaguration speech speaks much of America as this high power in the world. How we must lead into this and that. For example, he says "America must play its role in ushering in a new era of peace." when he is speaking of all the war going on in different parts of the world. You can find the words to the speech at http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/americas/obama_inauguration/7840646.stm.
How can we possibly play a role in ushering other countries to peace when we are in a state of chaos as our economy collapses and our men and women die overseas? This shows that Americans are stubborn and want to remain on top of the world no matter what may be going on inside of our country. Politicians want to make us puppets for their little plays of how perfect and well put together America is. To show what I am talking about I chose this passage from his speech. "Know that America is a friend to every nation, and every man, woman, and child who seeks a future with peace and dignity, and we are ready to lead once more." Here we see him acting as if we have it all together when in truth we are falling apart. This also shows us that Americans are determined to not be dominated by a higher power.
What the Inaguration shows us about the American Way of Life is that it can be altered to change with the coming generations of American citizens but, it cannot be changed entirely. For example, our president is African American now compared to the white presidents we have had in the past, due to the fact that our coming generations are more open minded to change then the past generations. This shows we can handle some change but as President Obama said we will not change it indefinitely. His Inaguration speech speaks much of America as this high power in the world. How we must lead into this and that. For example, he says "America must play its role in ushering in a new era of peace." when he is speaking of all the war going on in different parts of the world. You can find the words to the speech at http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/americas/obama_inauguration/7840646.stm.
How can we possibly play a role in ushering other countries to peace when we are in a state of chaos as our economy collapses and our men and women die overseas? This shows that Americans are stubborn and want to remain on top of the world no matter what may be going on inside of our country. Politicians want to make us puppets for their little plays of how perfect and well put together America is. To show what I am talking about I chose this passage from his speech. "Know that America is a friend to every nation, and every man, woman, and child who seeks a future with peace and dignity, and we are ready to lead once more." Here we see him acting as if we have it all together when in truth we are falling apart. This also shows us that Americans are determined to not be dominated by a higher power.
Monday, January 5, 2009
The Rest of My Winter Holidays...
Let me continue on about what I did for the holidays. So for New Years, I stayed at home by myself. Kind of sad, I know. It was okay because it was my choice. I've had a rough year so I thought ending it by myself might help the healing process. I came home from work and took a shower, then watched a movie until the ball dropped. I got plenty of phone calls with people asking me if I was okay and making sure that I wasn't committing suicide, I guess. It was quiet and enjoyable.
I don't think my New Years was an example of a typical American Way of Life. Most Americans went out to parties, drunk, and smoked all night. My evening was quieter and less eventful. I think how other people spent it shows that the American Way of Life involves drinking, partying, and enjoying holiday seasons with their loved ones. My evening may show that there is also a quieter type of American Way of Life because I am sure I wasn't the only American at home alone. It may show that Americans also have a side that includes sensitivity and self-reflection. Although most Americans do not show it, I think that this side does exist.
Friday, January 2, 2009
Big Paper that is going to take forever...
AWOL is an abbreviation for the American Way of Life. Now, one might say that they know what that is, but how can one person's definition be the true meaning to all of America. In order to better understand what the American Way of Life is my class had discussions, asked random people on the street as well as family members, and did multiple stimulations to see if we could get down to the bottom of the traditions and customs that form our lives.
To better understand certain things, you must of course gather sources and information on the matter. That is exactly what we did. We set out to the streets of New York (well more like 22nd-23rd, 1st ave to Park ave) and asked pedestrians what they thought the American Way of Life was. Now, I wanted to keep variety in people I asked so that I could get a variety of answers but I just couldn't bring myself to stop a girl so these are all men responses. I did however vary in men. I asked capitalist, rich, worker, poor, black, hispanic, and white (Asians are hard to stop). There responses to me were broad and not well thought out except for this one guy who kept taking forever to answer but, came up with the same answers as the others. From the capitalist, I got the most outrageous response which is how I knew he was a capitalist. First off, I had asked the gentlemen he was with to answer my questions but, he told me he didn't have time and his friend responded "You just go, I'll do it." with a sigh. I brushed it off and immediately wrote down rich. I asked him what he thought the American Way of Llife was. He responded it was health, happiness, and freedom. Straight from the Declaration itself. I then asked what he thought were the good and bad aspects of AWOL. He said a good aspect was that we had "the best criminal justice system in all the world". At this point, I was erasing rich and writing capitalist. When he answered to the bad aspects was that I was really appalled. He told me that the bad aspect of the American Way of Life was the TRAFFIC. What?! We are in a recession and this guy thinks traffic's bad? That has capitalism written all over it because evidently he is financially secure enough to talk about traffic when thousands of families are losing their homes everyday because they cannot pay their mortgages. I was in such shock that I just said thank you and walked away.
From the working class, I recieved more sane answers. they told me that money was the main aspect of the American Way of Life and that corporations are always trying to take it all from the small guys. Some other responses were of course oppurtunity and freedom. One even said that smoking, drinking, and working were the American Way of Life. Who can deny that this is what a majority of Americans do? So is that what the American Way of Life is? I think not but if this is what people have in their heads then it must play a small part. They didn"t really vary in what they said were the bad aspects of AWOL as most said war and related things. This just goes to show that AWOL is based on money, how we can get it, and what we can do with it.
One major aspect that are class studied was capitalism. Capitalism is an economic system in which the goods and services are procuded, distributed, and consumed through the mechanism of a free market fixed deeply on the right to private property and the profit motive (says the dictionary). Andy's definition is that capitalism is an economic system in which the overwhelming majority toil for the profit of the tiny minority. In simpler words, "We work, they profit." In AWOL, we went over capitalism and tried to see if this was really the basis of the country we live in. If you think about it, it makes sense. For example, if you work in a clothing store. You work and put in the hours that can get you the type of money you need to survive, while the old, white man who owns the clothing store you work for, is sitting in his Malibu home sipping cocktails. I went into American Apparel (of course Americans must shop there as it is American). There was a very frustrated, opinionated saleswoman who started telling us what working in American Apparel was like. She said that in order to get a job there you must send in a picture of yourself with the application and was telling us how degrading and horrible the job was. My question was if the job was so horrble, why is she still working here? Simple question. She answered me simply with the answer "I do need to live." I was in shock that she would respond this way but in a way a totally understood. What else could she do but stick to the job that degraded her if she wanted to survive?! So here are thousands of Americans represented in this woman. We are not working hard and long for these corporations because we like our jobs, but are doing it so that when we go home we have enough money for the basic utilities. We work until we can no longer stand so that these rich families can go on vacation in Tahiti. However, we cannot do anything about it because that was how the American Way of Life was long ago created.
We also took time to go over the government. Stuff like the Constitution and how the powers are divided. This contributes to the American Way of Life because it divides us into our social classes. It is a base line for what is acceptable and what isn't. The government tells us the things we can do and what we can't but they trick us into believing they are doing it because we want them too. We elect our officials who are looking out for our best interest yet they are getting paid thousands with money that can be helping the working classes. This relates to AWOL because again we are working hard just in order to survive but we can't do much about it because after all it is the American Way of Life.
To better understand certain things, you must of course gather sources and information on the matter. That is exactly what we did. We set out to the streets of New York (well more like 22nd-23rd, 1st ave to Park ave) and asked pedestrians what they thought the American Way of Life was. Now, I wanted to keep variety in people I asked so that I could get a variety of answers but I just couldn't bring myself to stop a girl so these are all men responses. I did however vary in men. I asked capitalist, rich, worker, poor, black, hispanic, and white (Asians are hard to stop). There responses to me were broad and not well thought out except for this one guy who kept taking forever to answer but, came up with the same answers as the others. From the capitalist, I got the most outrageous response which is how I knew he was a capitalist. First off, I had asked the gentlemen he was with to answer my questions but, he told me he didn't have time and his friend responded "You just go, I'll do it." with a sigh. I brushed it off and immediately wrote down rich. I asked him what he thought the American Way of Llife was. He responded it was health, happiness, and freedom. Straight from the Declaration itself. I then asked what he thought were the good and bad aspects of AWOL. He said a good aspect was that we had "the best criminal justice system in all the world". At this point, I was erasing rich and writing capitalist. When he answered to the bad aspects was that I was really appalled. He told me that the bad aspect of the American Way of Life was the TRAFFIC. What?! We are in a recession and this guy thinks traffic's bad? That has capitalism written all over it because evidently he is financially secure enough to talk about traffic when thousands of families are losing their homes everyday because they cannot pay their mortgages. I was in such shock that I just said thank you and walked away.
From the working class, I recieved more sane answers. they told me that money was the main aspect of the American Way of Life and that corporations are always trying to take it all from the small guys. Some other responses were of course oppurtunity and freedom. One even said that smoking, drinking, and working were the American Way of Life. Who can deny that this is what a majority of Americans do? So is that what the American Way of Life is? I think not but if this is what people have in their heads then it must play a small part. They didn"t really vary in what they said were the bad aspects of AWOL as most said war and related things. This just goes to show that AWOL is based on money, how we can get it, and what we can do with it.
One major aspect that are class studied was capitalism. Capitalism is an economic system in which the goods and services are procuded, distributed, and consumed through the mechanism of a free market fixed deeply on the right to private property and the profit motive (says the dictionary). Andy's definition is that capitalism is an economic system in which the overwhelming majority toil for the profit of the tiny minority. In simpler words, "We work, they profit." In AWOL, we went over capitalism and tried to see if this was really the basis of the country we live in. If you think about it, it makes sense. For example, if you work in a clothing store. You work and put in the hours that can get you the type of money you need to survive, while the old, white man who owns the clothing store you work for, is sitting in his Malibu home sipping cocktails. I went into American Apparel (of course Americans must shop there as it is American). There was a very frustrated, opinionated saleswoman who started telling us what working in American Apparel was like. She said that in order to get a job there you must send in a picture of yourself with the application and was telling us how degrading and horrible the job was. My question was if the job was so horrble, why is she still working here? Simple question. She answered me simply with the answer "I do need to live." I was in shock that she would respond this way but in a way a totally understood. What else could she do but stick to the job that degraded her if she wanted to survive?! So here are thousands of Americans represented in this woman. We are not working hard and long for these corporations because we like our jobs, but are doing it so that when we go home we have enough money for the basic utilities. We work until we can no longer stand so that these rich families can go on vacation in Tahiti. However, we cannot do anything about it because that was how the American Way of Life was long ago created.
We also took time to go over the government. Stuff like the Constitution and how the powers are divided. This contributes to the American Way of Life because it divides us into our social classes. It is a base line for what is acceptable and what isn't. The government tells us the things we can do and what we can't but they trick us into believing they are doing it because we want them too. We elect our officials who are looking out for our best interest yet they are getting paid thousands with money that can be helping the working classes. This relates to AWOL because again we are working hard just in order to survive but we can't do much about it because after all it is the American Way of Life.
Thursday, January 1, 2009
Parte D de La Constitution
Amending the Constitution would be a huge responsibility that is definitely not at the top of my Christmas list. This question could be answered in many different forms and I'm sure it already has been. I don't think that amending the whole Constitutiion would be the answer to all of our problems but here are some suggestions that might help the average citizen and the big legislators maybe find a compromise. One thing that I would amend if I had that power would be how the Constitution refers to African Americans. They use terms such as "indentured servants, 3/5 of slaves". Terms that are extremely offensive and for no reason need to be put in the Constitution as are all equals to each other. I would also change some other terms that may cause people confusion. Like the first three words, "We, the people". We the people who? Who exactly are the people that our founding fathers were talking about? It then goes on to say "of the United States of America" but what exact people are they describing if people like the African Americans and Indians were part of the U.S. and they weren't given those rights that the Constitution insures to it's people. Things like that are what find us confusion and fighting because they are not exactly clear.
I would also use my power to revise Article 4 which is about how states have their own rights and the federal government leaves certain rights up to them. One of these rights I would think is gay marriage. Now it first begins with saying that all the states may make their own rights and that all other states have to abide the other states laws. So say if you are gay and get married in Conneticut, your marriage is legal in California but not honored. What that means I have no idea because if it isn't honored doesn't that make it illegal? The Article then goes on to say that citzens have the same rights everywhere in the U.S. Wouldn't that be contradicting the first Section of Article 4? I would change the wording to not make it so confusing. Say exactly what kind of rights are up to the state and what are the same everywhere.
The tendency of the Constitution is to be fair (but not too fair) and stern. I say this because our beloved founding fathers use the pronciple of the division of powers in order to start the Constitution (after the lovely preamble of course). They make it so that not one branch or people in that branch get too much power and decide to rule the government. I think this was a good idea and our founding fathers did this so that the same thing that happened in England would not happen here. If they had done it for this reason then it would have been completely fair. Now if one looks at it from a negative point of view (like Andy's) they may say they did it so that they could keep the power within the rich and so that nothing would ultimately get done because it has to go through so many stages. If it was done so that this could be accomplished, well then let's be serious, it would not be fair at all to the average citizen. Which is why I say that there are some fair points of views and some that aren't so fair. Another example of this would be how the House of Representatives and Senate are set up. Now the Constitution says that the House of Representatives is more the people's voices because they change so frequently and they are due to population. Why though? Why could it not have just been the Senate where there are two Senators from each state? Wouldn't that have made it easier? That to me is unfair because ultimately the state's with more population usually get more say because they have their number in the H.O.R. and the Senate. Yet it can also be seen as fair because if there are more people living in the bigger states then shouldn't they have more say in what goes on?!
The Constitution is also stern. It does this by making everything in order to change it so difficult which disables you from doing so which then makes it that much more of a powerful document. For example, say you want to amend something. You must propose a bill to the H.O.R. who must then vote on it. When one side has the majority they then vote on it. It goes on to the Senate, who can ignore it or vote on it. From the Senate it goes to the president himself, who then can veto it, pass it to become a law, or ignore it completely. This prolonged task could take months or maybe years to finally make it's way into the "book of laws" (informally speaking). With it taking so long, most people may give up or just forget about it. Which makes it a problem for the average citizen to really get their voice in. Thus, making the Constitution much more vigorous then it actually needs to be. By making it more vigorous it becomes strict and forceful.
How the Constitution relates to the American Way of Life is really quite simple. The Constitution can be seen as the foundation to the American Way of Life. They are both formed around the same beliefs. Beliefs known as freedom, happiness, social classes, and oppurtunity. The Constitution plays into all those but adds the rules that our society must play by. If you don't believe me, just think about the Constitution and how it affects your life. As Andy has said the Constitution does not make the rules that affect your lives it affect the rules that affect your lives. I see this as true because most of us are not directly affected by what requirements there are in order to become a Senator but, we are however limited to the people we can vote for by these requirements.
If you think about common things that people would say when you ask them what the American Way of Life guarantees them it includes oppurtunity. Oppurtunity to work, go to school, and better your future all together. The Constitution gives us these oppurtunities. It makes sure there is no discriminating in race, gender, ethnicity, etc. The 10th amendment gives us the right to an education and because of amendments that abolish slavery and make sure all are treated as equal, we have the oppurtunities to work and get an education. Happiness is also a big answer that people say the American Way of Life guarantees them. You can be happy with your job, the money you are making, the fact that you cannot be denied things (according to the law not certain people) because of race, gender, etc. The Constitution gives us the basis of things to be happy with by making sure that everyone has somewhat of a fair share.
Freedom to certain things are given to us in the 1st amendment. We as Americans believe we have the right to do anything. The Constitution gives us this idea that because "we, the people of the United States..." are the people that run the government we have the right to do as we please. This of course is wrong as murder is illegal but, it's being broad. Social classes are most definitely an important part of the American Way of Life because they determine where you are placed on the human food chain. They are what people look at when they see you, how you are judged, and how you are treated (and I don't care what anyone says this is true). Social classes where developed even further when the Constitution was made because it put these old, white men on top and they decided how the chain formed from there. So take a look at the facts and compare the Constitution with the American Way of Life and eat your results.
I would also use my power to revise Article 4 which is about how states have their own rights and the federal government leaves certain rights up to them. One of these rights I would think is gay marriage. Now it first begins with saying that all the states may make their own rights and that all other states have to abide the other states laws. So say if you are gay and get married in Conneticut, your marriage is legal in California but not honored. What that means I have no idea because if it isn't honored doesn't that make it illegal? The Article then goes on to say that citzens have the same rights everywhere in the U.S. Wouldn't that be contradicting the first Section of Article 4? I would change the wording to not make it so confusing. Say exactly what kind of rights are up to the state and what are the same everywhere.
The tendency of the Constitution is to be fair (but not too fair) and stern. I say this because our beloved founding fathers use the pronciple of the division of powers in order to start the Constitution (after the lovely preamble of course). They make it so that not one branch or people in that branch get too much power and decide to rule the government. I think this was a good idea and our founding fathers did this so that the same thing that happened in England would not happen here. If they had done it for this reason then it would have been completely fair. Now if one looks at it from a negative point of view (like Andy's) they may say they did it so that they could keep the power within the rich and so that nothing would ultimately get done because it has to go through so many stages. If it was done so that this could be accomplished, well then let's be serious, it would not be fair at all to the average citizen. Which is why I say that there are some fair points of views and some that aren't so fair. Another example of this would be how the House of Representatives and Senate are set up. Now the Constitution says that the House of Representatives is more the people's voices because they change so frequently and they are due to population. Why though? Why could it not have just been the Senate where there are two Senators from each state? Wouldn't that have made it easier? That to me is unfair because ultimately the state's with more population usually get more say because they have their number in the H.O.R. and the Senate. Yet it can also be seen as fair because if there are more people living in the bigger states then shouldn't they have more say in what goes on?!
The Constitution is also stern. It does this by making everything in order to change it so difficult which disables you from doing so which then makes it that much more of a powerful document. For example, say you want to amend something. You must propose a bill to the H.O.R. who must then vote on it. When one side has the majority they then vote on it. It goes on to the Senate, who can ignore it or vote on it. From the Senate it goes to the president himself, who then can veto it, pass it to become a law, or ignore it completely. This prolonged task could take months or maybe years to finally make it's way into the "book of laws" (informally speaking). With it taking so long, most people may give up or just forget about it. Which makes it a problem for the average citizen to really get their voice in. Thus, making the Constitution much more vigorous then it actually needs to be. By making it more vigorous it becomes strict and forceful.
How the Constitution relates to the American Way of Life is really quite simple. The Constitution can be seen as the foundation to the American Way of Life. They are both formed around the same beliefs. Beliefs known as freedom, happiness, social classes, and oppurtunity. The Constitution plays into all those but adds the rules that our society must play by. If you don't believe me, just think about the Constitution and how it affects your life. As Andy has said the Constitution does not make the rules that affect your lives it affect the rules that affect your lives. I see this as true because most of us are not directly affected by what requirements there are in order to become a Senator but, we are however limited to the people we can vote for by these requirements.
If you think about common things that people would say when you ask them what the American Way of Life guarantees them it includes oppurtunity. Oppurtunity to work, go to school, and better your future all together. The Constitution gives us these oppurtunities. It makes sure there is no discriminating in race, gender, ethnicity, etc. The 10th amendment gives us the right to an education and because of amendments that abolish slavery and make sure all are treated as equal, we have the oppurtunities to work and get an education. Happiness is also a big answer that people say the American Way of Life guarantees them. You can be happy with your job, the money you are making, the fact that you cannot be denied things (according to the law not certain people) because of race, gender, etc. The Constitution gives us the basis of things to be happy with by making sure that everyone has somewhat of a fair share.
Freedom to certain things are given to us in the 1st amendment. We as Americans believe we have the right to do anything. The Constitution gives us this idea that because "we, the people of the United States..." are the people that run the government we have the right to do as we please. This of course is wrong as murder is illegal but, it's being broad. Social classes are most definitely an important part of the American Way of Life because they determine where you are placed on the human food chain. They are what people look at when they see you, how you are judged, and how you are treated (and I don't care what anyone says this is true). Social classes where developed even further when the Constitution was made because it put these old, white men on top and they decided how the chain formed from there. So take a look at the facts and compare the Constitution with the American Way of Life and eat your results.
Black Friday otra ves...
As custom in the American Way of Life the day after Thanksgiving is a day in which stores have these huge sales and all Americans must go out and buy tons of items that they need and start Christmas shopping. Black Friday for 2009 was cliche in the fact that Americans went out and bought a whole load of new things to satisfy their greedy llittle needs but the sales (if that's what you call them) were ridiculous. Sales were no different then they would have been on a regular day and yet Americans were tricked by the big corporations into thinking that it was this big break for us. As a result of this day I have realized that Americans, from the richest to the poorest, are selfish and need material things to make themselves feel worthy. The poor are very gullible into thinking that corporations care about the struggling that they are going through. Who could blame them though? These big names with these big companies, of course they care. Not. Americans are all looking out for themselves and what is in their best interest. I have learned this from watching tv and seeing it first hand. Can we really blame Americans however? Who else is going to look out for them if not themselves? This is how Americans have been taught to live. This is the American Way of Life. Look out for yourself and buy pretty, shiny things.
Thanksgiving Over Again...
I guess I'll start where I left off. Thanksgiving is a day that Americans spend with their loved ones in this big, joyful, food-filled, celebration. We eat and give thanks to all the blessings that have been recieved and just enjoy this beautiful holiday season. But, when was the last time you stopped and asked how did this beautiful holiday really begin?! Who started? We have all heard the stories about the Pilgrims and the Indians and how they came together that wonderful day. However, my first time hearing what really happened was in Andy"s class. The Indians of course shared their meal with the poor, poor Pilgrims. They had this great meal and celebrated that both races could live happily. Or so they thought. The Pilgrims however were planning on how they could kill the Indians the fastest. Of course they didn"t do it the same day, that would have been rude but shortly after they began killling and spreading diseases so that they could all die off and the wondeful, grateful Pilgrims could have all their land and teach those savages how to live. Now of course me wanting to inform my family of what we were celebrating told my family me new discovery and was quickly shut down by my stepmother who felt offended. I shrugged it off because let"s be real, it wasn"t that serious but this showed me something about Americans. We do not like to be told that what we are doing is wrong. Celebrating what we believe should be up to us because even if it has a horrible meaning, it after all is the American Way of Life to celebrate it. Americans also do not like to be proven wrong, because as my stepmother came up with excuses defending the Pilgrims she became frustrated that I was not agreeing with her. My question is how are Americans celebrating this holiday when it has such a miserable past (for the Indians at least)? Do most Americans know? It dawned on me though that most must not know because they don"t teach us that in first grade when we go over the Mayflower and alll those things. Do teachers see that as a tiny, unimportant detail in American History? Then I realized even though I knew what it meant I still celebrated it. I still ate until I was about to burst. What does this say about Americans. That we are selfish and not at all interested in the horrible past that are Native American friends had to endure. We concentrate on things that will make us happy and deny the things that will take that joy away from us. But then again, we're just living the American Way of Life.
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