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Essays about the history behind the constitution
The american constitution: its origins and development summary
Essays about the history behind the constitution
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Walter Lippmann's The Public Philosophy
Walter Lippmann begins his The Public Philosophy by expressing his concern for the state of the Western Liberal Democracies. The West, he writes, suffers from "a disorder from within." This disorder has its roots in the long peace between 1812 and 1914, and was further exascurbated by the great population increase of that era and the coinciding industrial revolution. The latter changed the nature of armed struggle, which in turn intensified the "democratic malady." The situation Lippmann describes is the "paralysis of governments," the inability of the state to make difficult and unpopular decisions.
This paralysis is the product of both the long peace and the great war. The period extending from Waterloo to 1914 lulled the West into believing that the age of Man's aggression had passed. Because the "hard decisions" of taxation, prohibition, and war were not often faced in these years, the Jacobin concept of the desirability of weak government was instilled in the West. When the first world war did come about, the West was unable to deal effectively with its costs. The new technologies spawned by the industrial revolution, as well as the greater populations involved, had made war infinitely more costly than in the past. Consequently, the executive aspects of Western governments were forced to "democratize" the appropriation of men and money by handing their power to the representative assemblies. The assemblies too were forced to cede their power to "the People," who channeled them to media powers and party leaders. The result was "Disastrous and revolutionary. The democracies became incapacitated to wage war for rational ends or to make a peace which would be enforced."
Lippmann holds that the major malfunction of the West is this acquisition of executive and representative powers by the masses. This is a fundamental distortion of the rights of the governed. Lippmann contends that the People have but two natural rights: to decide whether or not to by governed, and to choose who shall govern them. "This breakdown of the constitutional order is the cause of the precipitate and the catastrophic decline of Western society."
Why then, cannot a mass govern effectively?
...y Him give great stories of their experiences through a change in government at the hands of corrupt and brutal regimes. They both tell how the regimes had no sense for the individual rights of the people in society. In the end, both regimes eventually fell, but not before millions of lives were taken. These stories shed light on how correct both Bastiat and Marx were about how government should be run. They show how a government that is too controlling and too forceful on its people will never have a long lasting existence. The power of government must have limitations, and the individual rights of the members of society must be taken account for and respected. Government is needed in society and plays a very crucial role in the longevity and successfulness of a nation. However, too much or too little government control will ultimately be the demise of a society.
Troy, without the use of force, wishes Lyons, would change his ways to match his new ideology; on the contrary, Troy attempts to force Cory, his youngest son, to adopt these beliefs. In fact, Troy wants Cory to exemplify a more developed and enriched ideology than he himself has. Telling Lyons his point of view, Troy says the following:
...y as a responsible person. He overlooks Cory?s efforts to please him and make a career for his son, learned from his past with his own father, is responsible for the tension that builds between him and Cory. This tension will eventually be the cause of the lost relationship that is identical to the lost relationship that is identical to the lost relationship between Troy and his father.
World War One was greatly influenced by many factors, and in many ways. National interest ignited the mistrust and insecurities within nations, which in turn led to the creation of strong alliances and immense military forces. The growing suspicion Britain had of Germany only heightened the wariness and uncertainty of nations. The means, by which individual nations dealt with the issues within themselves, and outside of their boundaries, in the years preceding World War One, were irrational and improperly thought through. Nations fell into a strong ultra nationalistic point of view, and acted in a way which expressed interest in themselves only.
Troy is a very self-centered individual. He is only concerned with issues regarding him. For instance, he wants to be able to drive the trash trucks at his job like the white men do. In Act One, scene one, Troy tells Bono that he talked to his boss, Mr. Rand, about driving the trucks. “How come you got all the whites driving and the colored lifting?” (1332). If things in Troy’s life aren’t going the way he wants them to, he makes himself into the victim and searches for sympathy from others. In addition, if he ever does something erroneous, he never accepts responsibility, never admits his wrongdoing and no matter how much anguish he causes someone, he never apologizes for it.
...eless, he essentially lived his life in a constant low point. Troy’s anger is undoubtedly misguided, but entirely permissible considering his hardships. The story of Troy Maxon begs the question: is it ever justifiable to pass judgment on someone without understanding his or her life story? After analyzing Troy’s struggle and resulting attitude, it seems that passing judgment is exceptionally risky. Without recognizing the early hardships of Troy’s life, it is easy to dismiss him and his cynical outlook. What can be learned from his story is evident. Never judge someone for his or her seemingly unwarranted attitude because there is a good chance it is completely defensible.
In “Freedom of the Will and the Concept of a Person”, Harry Frankfurt illustrates the concepts of freedom of will and freedom of action, but more importantly, Frankfurt has refined the compatibilism theory. Compatibilism allows the freedom of will to exist in the deterministic world. According to determinism theory, the future state of worlds is determined by some events in the distant past (E) and the laws of nature (L). More specifically, E refers to the history, such as experiences or states whereas L refers to scientific or physical law like gravity. For example, an alcoholic’s action is determined that he will not stop drinking. Here E is that he had been drinking in the past, and L is the physiological addiction effect caused by alcohol. As we can control neither E nor L, then it follows that we can never act free. The thesis of compatibilist, however, states that we may have free will, even if all of our actions are determined by forces beyond our controls.
Troy is a mixture of two very different parenting styles, Authoritarian and uninvolved. A psychiatrist named Diana Baumrind describes Authoritarian parenting as parents that are “demanding, expect unquestioned obedience, are not responsive to their children’s desires, and communicate poorly with their children” and a uninvolved parent is a parent that “minimizes both the time they spend with their children and their emotional involvement with them and provide for their children’s basic needs, but little else” (Griggs 301). When it comes to his children’s everyday life and need for love and comfort Troy is not there. When Cory ask Troy why he doesn’t like him Troy responds with asking Cory, “Who the hell say I got to like you? What law is there say I got to like you?” Troy believes that all he has to do is provide food and a roof, and that is it when it comes to raising his sons. This is how Troy is an uninvolved parent, but on the other hand Troy can be an authoritarian parent when he is demanding of his son’s careers and life choices.
The supreme present of militarism, "a policy of aggressive military preparedness" , in this period of time gave all countries great reason to feel the heavy weight of an oncoming war. Great Britain's naval policy (to always be twice as big as the next two largest navies put together), along with the predominate feeling of war provided countries with a strong reason to try and create an incredibly strong military force. This led to an arms race, which made the impending war seem inevitable. The military planning in some countries also caused an increased fear of war. Since military machines were being developed, each country was appointing a general staff of experts. The greatest problem with this was that there was a fear that "some chief of staff, in order to maintain the schedule on his 'timetable', might force an order of mobilization and thus precipitate war." These two factors also led, in part, to the alliance system. If two or more countries are allied with each other then they have a better chance of defeating their common enemy if war is declared.
Many people will speak freely and act as opposition and it is a noble ideal rather than a practical necessity. Walter argues about the freedom of people and how they used it. Most people talk about freedom as a right but others matter of toleration They have to tolerate the opinion of other people making them feel like the freedom of speech isn't worth it..In 1939 an article was published in The Atlantic Monthly by Walter Lippmann named”The Indispensable Opposition”. This article was about the freedom of speech in the society we live in making a demanding view for the rights in the society.. Walter Lippmann used ethos, a simple sentence, and a antithesis to make up his argument.
This is the reason why Troy fights against his family and himself, because he feels like he is the only one who can protect them. To Cory and Rose, Troy is destroying the family because of his stubborn thoughts but to Troy he is saving the family from falling apart and this distrust causes the family to eventually fall apart. Troy really does try his hardest to be a good father and is bothered by the fact that Rose and Cory do not see it as him trying to protect them but more of him destroying the family. This hurts Troy because his family is his everything they are what he “fights” for he works day end and day out to put food on the table and try to give them a life he thinks the deserve. August Wilson in “fences” Troy says, “ I love this woman, so much it hurts. I love her so much… I done run out of ways to love her.”(1.1) Wilson uses to show how much Troy actually cares for his wife, to Troy Rose is his everything, she is the light in his darkness, she try’s to guide him back to a sane man. Another Way Wilson shows how much Troy loves his family is when Troy is talking to his family and says that “ You all line up at the door, with your hands out. I give you the lint from my pockets. I give you my sweat and my blood…”(1.3) Troy is saying that he will give them everything until he has absolutely nothing but the lint from his pockets. He will go out of his way to make
Troy tries to control everything because he is the man and puts food on the table for his family. Troy feels as if he provides for them he can also tell them to do whatever he wants to, but his family think otherwise. For example In act one scene one page five troy
The first one, refers to democracies. Waltz puts in doubt the peace thesis arguing that the increase number of democracies will not assure peaceful intentions of states towards others. Indeed, Waltz argues that, contrary to peace thesis defenders, the United States and Great Britain, the predominant democracies in the nineteenth century, instead of using force, they used their influence ov...
The most important cause, and symptom, of the decay of any government or institution is the loss of prestige and respect among the public at large, and the loss of self-confidence among the leaders themselves in their capacity to rule” (p. 79).
The politicizing of economic and social life means that every dispute and every disagreement were now become the matter of national interest. This rivalry had started a vast armament race in the whole world.