Incivility, though mostly overlooked as a concern for older times, plagues modern-day countries more often than not. According to French philosopher Jean de Bruyere, the cause of incivility "...is not a vice of the soul, but the effect of several vices; of vanity, ignorance of duty, laziness, stupidity, distraction, contempt of others, and jealousy" (“Incivility” 1). Many of these aspects mentioned play a role in the modern society of the United States. Overall, what makes a nation civilized is based on the opinion of the person analyzing, as well as the comparison between more than one country. Although the United States is a rather young nation in contrast to many others, there are multitude issues that have been encountered before that, …show more content…
The current president of the United States was elected on a promise of fixing the country and making government work better as a whole. Rather than feeling better in the security of the country, however, a clear majority of people in America now say that things have become worse. A recent study done by Transparency International shows that “...government institutions and officials in Washington are perceived to be the most corrupt in the country. The results show that 44 percent of Americans now say that most or all of those in the Office of the President are corrupt, up from 36 percent who said the same last year” (“Corruption” 1). According to this statistic, more people than ever before believe that the presidential position is the most corrupt within the government. This, though just an opinion, shows that the actions of the most well-known place of authority within the United States are the least trustworthy and credible. The country is truly only as good as its leader, and what the president does and says is a representation of the country whether the people want it to be or not. The incivility of the president ultimately stems down to the people and reflects their true
It is clear that while political scandal, primarily the 1974 Watergate scandal, played a large role in the rapidly declining confidence in government between 1968 and 1980, it is not the sole or even the dominant factor. The Watergate scandal only impacted on the Nixon era, and subsequently lead to measures that should have prevented further distrust in the government. Instead, the role played by the four presidents who held office in those years was the main reason behind the decline in confidence. The role of the presidents and their White House administrations encompassed political scandals, and also clearly influenced other factors such as the role
The Watergate Crisis concludes that the profoundly memorable and intensely appalling atrocity, Watergate, “tested our system and ourselves.” Genovese does not merely tell of the events of Watergate, he goes on to dissect the effects of the incident. In the preface, the author tidily summarizes the influence of this crisis by stating that “time has not altered the sting of Watergate. It remains a profoundly sad and unnecessary scar on the political landscape.” This book delves into how presidential corruption is the worst possible offense because it results in the deep-seated distrust of the government.
Stephen Medvic, In Defense of Politicians, discusses why Americans feel that politicians are dishonest. In 2007, a Gallup poll about honesty and ethical standards for occupations, showed that only 12 and 9 percent of people felt that Congressmen and State office holders held high standards, (Medvic p. 2). In addition, Americans tend to like their representatives more than the members of Congress because they view them as actual people. Americans view Congress as a group of politicians who are greedy and not representing their interests, (Medvic p. 4).
Political leaders of the United States were, at one time, thought of as crucial members of our society. Ideally, their main goal was to represent and satisfy the needs of the American people. Unfortunately, over the last fifty years, our trust in our administrative representatives has drastically declined. Beginning with the great conspiracy theory that President John F. Kennedy’s assassination in 1963 was actually planned by political leaders, America had, for the first time in history, begun to question its faith in its very own government. Consequently, the American people became extremely hesitant when it came to electing officials into office. Despite his loss to JFK in the 1960 presidential election, in 1968, Richard M. Nixon was elected as the thirty-seventh president of the United States. He was praised by many for his comeback after previously losing an election and seemed to be an admirable man. While in office, Nixon made many achievements and followed through with all of his promises made during his campaign. For the first time in what seemed like forever, the American people had finally elected a leader who seemed unquestionably trustworthy – or so they thought. Unfortunately, shortly after Nixon was elected to his second term of presidency in 1972, the Watergate Scandal changed America forever by creating a sense of mistrust toward the government for the American people because of The Nixon Administration’s actions.
The American Presidency is undoubtedly one of the most widely recognized popular icons throughout the world. Although to most foreigners or those who have never resided in the United States or know little of its history, the executive branch of government may seem to be as dull and unyielding as the rest of the American politics, for those few rare individuals who have taken the time to examine and closely scrutinize this office of the American political system and its recent history, quite the opposite will be said. Unlike Congressional or local elections where typically a number of individuals of the same ideological background must be elected in order for a particular issue to be addressed by the government, when it comes to the presidency, one person, although checked by various other divisions of the same government, has the power and responsibility to literally, as history has proven, change the world. The American people, "like all people everywhere, want to have our (political) cake and eat it too. We want a lot of leadership, but we are notoriously lousy followers" (Genovese). In other words the expectations the public has of the executive office are ever-changing since we demand that our leaders keep up with the evolving world around us and them. Throughout the past seventy eventful years alone, the American people's views, perceptions and demands of the Executive Office of American government have evolved simultaneously with the political and social events of that same time period.
The 1970’s was a time of change marked with scars following the end of the Vietnam War and the ever shifting race relations. The unsettled times led to Americans beginning to question their trust in the American government and the politicians in office. In “The Post-Traumatic Decade,” Keys et al. writes, “Watergate… undermined the nation’s sense of purpose in the world and inspired a search for moral renewal that shaped political, social and cultural discourse throughout the decade.” This quote shows how the turbulence felt by the shocking events of the Watergate scandal changed the views of American citizens in regards to the government. After putting so much trust in the government in previous years people
Why should citizens of their native country trust a government that lies, cheats, and steals from families? Back then, in past centuries, it used to be a very common thing to do. The American government is not the kind of people we should be trusting. “We the people” need to open our eyes and should elect politicians who can be trusted and reliable with good intentions of making this country back in tip top shape. The actions that the government makes sometimes raises more questions rather than answering them. Confidence has been declining steadily over the last couple of decades. Statistics shows that in 1964, three-quarters of the American citizens trust the government. Today, only one-quarter of American
The United States’ government has played a large and very influential part in the countries’ growth and development. Public opinion of American politics has swayed in many ways since 1789, and was completely reshaped in 1972 when the Watergate Scandal made one of the most powerful political impacts in our country's history (Guernsey). The media had also changed how Americans perceive the government, controlling how much people know, and influencing their opinions. The Watergate Scandal of the 1970’s negatively affected the way American citizens viewed the United States’ government prior to, during, and after the catastrophe.
Despite the fact that people in today’s society view diversity as a beneficial factor, many in the colonial period despised the immigrants. Because many Irish came to the state in penury, they faced discrimination, resentment and suspicion (New York City 26). Many non-Irish thought of the Irish as brutal and cruel cowards. Contrastingly, many German immigrants were not hated as much because they came to the state wealthier and had more Protestant backgrounds. One specific encounter of intolerance was when a non-Irish male stated, “This Celtic beast with many heads is driven back to his hole for the present” referring to the Irish as the Celtic beasts (Jackson and Dunbar 204). Another example of intolerance is the tragic event in 1643 when Puritan
Often times, Americans do not realize the corruption that surrounds them in their nation. Capitalism is an economic and political system in which the country’s trade and industry is controlled by private owners for profit, rather than by the state. Business owners, CEO’s, corporations, and large businesses have the propensity of taking extreme advantage of the power capitalism brings. For decades companies and corporations have been taking unexplainable benefit of the power they have. Capitalism in the Unites States leads to corruption.
America is well known as the richest country, where you can enjoy your life with your family or your friend. However, the inequality in this country is getting bigger day by day. The result we are able to get through this issue is the nutritional disparity between rich and poor people. What is the lesson for us? What can we learn from this problem in America? The answer is the human rights in America do not exist in America anymore. In addition, we can learn that there are two types of Americas. One is America with money to receive healthful diets, a good food system. Most of people, who come from the high-income groups or middle-income groups, are able to access the food they want anytime. On the other hand, one is America with no money and human rights in their hand to receive a good food system, the only thing they are able to have is unhealthful diets, such as, processed food and junk food. Moreover, the results poor people get is a disease in specific is NCDs. According to the research in America, if we do not change the way the poor children eat, this generation will be the first generation has a shorter life than their parents because of nutritional disparity. Every day, America wake up and realize they have to face with food
Some people said that corruption is rampant in all governments, So that it is not unknown to any ethnic group, region and continent. It cuts across faiths, political systems, religious Denominations and affects both young and old people. Fraud can be found in public and authoritarian rule;...
Culture can simply be defined as ‘way of life’ of a group of people. It is about the way groups do things. There can be several ways of thinking about and studying culture. Gail McDonald studied the culture of America through four concepts that include “big, rich, new and free”. (McDonald)For this essay, I would like to define and analyze the American culture in terms of ‘freedom’. I selected this dimension because it has been one of the most distinct dimensions of American culture and it has contributed a lot in making what America is today. It will be interesting to analyze how this cultural dimension has contributed shaping the culture of the United States through the course of time.
Montesh, M. (n.d.). Conceptualizing Corruption: Forms, Causes, Types and Consequences. Retrieved May 4, 2014, from
“We the people are the rightful masters of both Congress and the courts, not to overthrow the Constitution but to overthrow the men who pervert the Constitution”, line from Abraham Lincoln [online] that indicates a nation’s corruption.