Introduction

The fundamental idea of Americans sense of themselves as a nation is freedom. Freedom has always been invoked in mobilizing support for a war. America fought the civil war to be free and the cold war to defend the free world. The Iraq war recently concluded had the title Operation Iraq freedom. Everybody appreciate freedom, but it seems to be prominent in the United States than in other countries.

Civil rights events

The Civil Rights Movement, 1960-1980

In 1960, the struggle for equality by the African Americans reached its peak. African Americans became more focused on the direct action without violence. They sought peaceful confrontation with the authorities. In North Carolina, students sat at a Woolworth’s lunch counter and refused to leave in 1960 (Hall,2005). The media attention from this event led to increased demonstrations. Rallies were also organized with the largest one being the “March on Washington” in 1963. More than two hundred thousand people, with the intention to demonstrate equality for all, attended it. The then President John Kennedy was very reluctant to press the white Americans for support on equality since he needed their votes.

However, with time, he gave in and sent a Civil rights bill to the Congress to usher in the integration of public places. After Kennedy’s assassination, President Lyndon B. Johnson used his tactics to persuade the Senate to limit delaying tactics. Housing discrimination was banned by 1968.Other legislations were passed after this to ensure equality (Hall,2005).

The Women’s Movement

The civil rights movement inspired the women’s movement. The movement was made up of the middle-class women and fought for the outlaw of discrimination based on gender. The 1964 civil rights bill opponents proposed an amendment outlawing discrimination based on Gender or race. Both the amendment and the bill passed giving women a legal tool.

Media events

On May 29, 2015, the Newyork times published an article titled “After Divorce, losing veterans’ support along with a spouse” (Jackie, 2015). The article is about a woman whose husband was a member of the National Guard. The husband was deployed to Iraq in 2003 to fight for his country. As the article puts it, the wife had to fight for her husband to be treated after experiencing depression. It states that the doctors experimented with some drugs. After years of struggling through the system, the husband was diagnosed with traumatic brain injury (Jackie, 2015). The mentioning that there is struggling through the system means that the National Guard agency do not have good systems to care for the veterans. This can simply change people’s view on the Iraq war. The war, which was meant to free Iraq from militants, can be viewed by the people to have enslaved the veterans. This puts the agency as irresponsible.

On 15 May 2015, the New York Times again published an article titled “Don’t Be So Sure the Economy Will Return to Normal” (Tyler, 2015). The writer asserts that the current recession being experienced is more than just a normal economic downturn. The writer seems to feel that the current situation of slow economic growth can improve if the manageable issues such as public debt are solved (Tyler, 2015). This puts the government in the limelight as not being able to manage the public debt. In addition, the analysis states that the past policy errors will reemerge. This again means that the government has in the past made errors in policymaking. The title itself discourages the people from believing that things will be better. Such an article put the government as irresponsible since it is the sole cause of the prevailing conditions. Again, it seems to put it that the government might not be capable of solving the issue of recession.

Differences between the Republican and Democratic parties

America has a two-party system. Both the parties have different leadership strategies. The Republicans have the core belief that all Americans are responsible for their own place in the society. The government should not care for anyone rather it should grant all citizens the ability to secure their own benefits. This is based on limiting the government’s intervention in an individual’s life success (Miller & Schofield, 2008). The government should only intervene when the society is ineffective at the individual level. The Republican core belief is that one’s destiny is barely in one’s hands, resources should be close to the people through leaders and not through government agencies.

The Democrats on the other hand believe that it is the responsibility of the government to take care of all citizens even if it means passing some individual rights. Democrats favor government intervention as opposed to community-based solutions (Miller & Schofield, 2008). It is notable that the Democrats advocate for the giving up of some individual rights in the mane of government intervention. Human rights should be upheld no matter the reason or situation. This is surely against the public interest of the American people.

Concerning the Economy, Republicans believe that innovations and economic growth are brought by free enterprise. They argue that the government should stimulate a business environment where people are free to utilize their potential. Democrats on their part feel that the economy is sophisticated for an individual to cope alone. They argue that all business decisions should be under the guidance of the government and be in the best interests of the labor unions (Miller & Schofield, 2008).

References

Hall, J. D. (2005). The long civil rights movement and the political uses of the past. The Journal of American History, 91(4), 1233-1263.

Jackie McMichael (2015, May 29). After Divorce, losing veterans’ support along with a spouse. The New York Times. Retrieved from http://www.nytimes.com

Miller, G., & Schofield, N. (2008). The transformation of the republican and democratic party coalitions in the US. Perspectives on Politics, 6(03), 433-450.

Tyler Cowen (2015,May 15). Don’t Be So Sure the Economy Will Return to Normal. The New York Times. Retrieved from http://www.nytimes.com

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