1) Why do Americans "express ambivalence toward the political process" while taking pride in their form of government at the same time?
2) If many are unhappy about the slow pace that the government deals with the nation's problems and "often seem unwilling to accept the realities of democratic practice," why don't they try and change it?
3) Why were the fifty thousand immigration slots only set aside for the people in countries where a low number of visa requests had been granted in the previous five years? Why not allow more people who come from other countries in "crisis" come in?
4) Isn't questioning Arab and Muslim men living in the country legally, as well as fingerprinting and photographing people coming from certain North African and Middle Eastern countries, a bit too extreme?
5) Isn't it a bit unfair that there is less economic security for children than for senior citizens? Will more people look out for the children who don't have a say in the government?
6) Would the "political machines" in the United States back in the day be an example of identity politics?
7) Why has identity politics "intensified" even though racial and ethnic boundaries began to blur?
8) Why is a basic function of government to establish rules under which interests can compete? Isn't it to simply just establish rules?
9) Would the founding fathers disagree greatly with the government we have now? ("....Spoke of a united country, a people with common ancestry, a shared language, the same religion, and a commitment to the same political principles.")
10) Would the law that was passed in early-twentieth-century Iowa an abuse of power? Why weren't people living in the United States allowed to speak the language they wanted? Is there something in the Constitution that is against this?
11) Why were Mexicans "whites" in the 1920 and 1950 census?
12) How come people considered themselves different races than what others thought they were?
13) How is the government sure that each household filled out its census truthfully?
14) What is the limit for immigration?
15) Are there many immigrating to the United States today?
16) Would rejecting people (who tried to immigrate to the United States) from entering the United States a violation of their unalienable rights? Or does it not count because they are not citizens?
17) Is too much American pride a bad thing? (Eg celebrating the death of bin Laden)
18) What is that "one" idea from "E Pluribus Unum"? It seems like many people disagree on a variety of topics.
19) Does diversity have a "limit"? How far are Americans willing to go?
20) Were the Founding Fathers slightly hypocritical? While each person was supposed to have their own say, Jefferson "argues that only educated citizens would be able to understand public issues, elect virtuous leaders,..." etc.
"Why has identity politics "intensified" even though racial and ethnic boundaries began to blur?" I believe that they have intensified to make sure everyone is accounted for and that people are represented equally, actually. I don't think there's any hidden motive there.
ReplyDelete"Is too much American pride a bad thing? (Eg celebrating the death of bin Laden)" Yes, I believe that this is a bad thing. No one should celebrate the death of another person. Did is REALLY make ANY difference? In my opinion, no. It's good to be proud of one's just morals, but not necessarily to be too proud of one's citizenship.
~Hope
"17) Is too much American pride a bad thing? (Eg celebrating the death of bin Laden)"
ReplyDeleteIn reaction to this, I think yes there is such a thing as too much American pride. I suppose sometimes it's good to be patriotic, but blindly following the country isn't a good thing to do. There was way too much hype and gross celebration after Bin Laden was killed.
"20) Were the Founding Fathers slightly hypocritical? While each person was supposed to have their own say, Jefferson "argues that only educated citizens would be able to understand public issues, elect virtuous leaders,..." etc."
In my opinion, yes the founding fathers are all very hypocritical. They wanted to live in an idealist society where everyone was equal, but only rich white land-owning men were allowed to vote. It's totally hypocritical, as was the style of the day.