Sunday, November 23, 2014

Due 11/22/14

"Tonight, we gather to affirm the greatness of our nation not because of the height of our skyscrapers, or the power of our military, or the size of our economy; our pride is based on a very simple premise, summed up in a declaration made over two hundred years ago: "We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal... that they are endowed by their Creator with certain inalienable rights, that among these are life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness. "That is the true genius of America, a faith... ... a faith in simple dreams, an insistence on small miracles; that we can tuck in our children at night and know that they are fed and clothed and safe from harm; that we can say what we think, write what we think, without hearing a sudden knock on the door; that we can have an idea and start our own business without paying a bribe; that we can participate in the political process without fear of retribution; and that our votes will be counted -- or at least, most of the time."
I choose this passage from the "Transcript: Illinois Senate Candidate Barack Obama". In this passage Senate Candidate Obama is addressing the nation on behalf on John Kerry he is giving us back ground information of Mr. Kerry and the issues that he plans to deal with when he enters office. He is explaining or informing us the listeners(readers) what he know our nation is greater or is know for. Mr. Obama does this by quoting lines from the "Declaration of Independence." Senate Candidate Obama is letting us know that American is built on ideals such as "faith" and a "simple dream". He is letting us know that to make America great we the people have to do the work along side the leaders of our nation. We have to work hard in order for to live the American Dream, and in order to do that we have to vote in Mr.Kerry in office so that progress can be made. 


I choose this passage to write about because I because of the person that gave the speech. One of the things that Senate Candidate Obama is know for his giving the nation a brilliant speech that hits on key point in our lives. He know the current issue and are willing to point them out in a way that everyone can understand and is willing to support anyone that is able to make the lives of everyone better.  I also choose to write about this because I can visualize current President Obama giving this speech to our nation and seeing everyone relate to what he is saying. Senate Candidate now President Obama work and is currently working hard still to get these issues resolved. I choose this passage to write about because quotes a line from the Declaration of Independence that we are all still trying to fulfill.  

Saturday, November 8, 2014

Repost-POL166-H01: Due 11/1/14-Accidentally deleted

Due 11/1/14
“ What, to the American slave, is your 4th of July? I answer; a day that reveals to him, more than all other days in the year, the gross injustice and cruelty to which he is the constant victim. To him, your celebration is a sham; your boasted liberty, an unholy license; your national greatness, swelling vanity; your sounds of rejoicing are empty and heartless; your denunciation of tyrants, brass fronted impudence; your shouts of liberty and equality, hollow mockery; your prayers and hymns, your sermons and thanksgivings, with all your religious parade and solemnity, are, to Him, mere bombast, fraud, deception, impiety, and hypocrisy -- a thin veil to cover up crimes which would disgrace a nation of savages.There is not a nation on the earth guilty of practices more shocking and bloody than are the people of the United States, at this very hour”.

   The passage that I choose to write about is  from  “The Meaning of July Fourth for the Negro” by Fredrick Douglas. In the above passage the author is reminding us that the 4th of July has different meaning to African Americans. The author is recounting the horrifying actions that led to him not celebrating this day the way many Americans choose to celebrate it, but choosing to looking back and reflecting on the things that made the day what it is. In the passage the author states "your celebration is a sham".  Frederick Douglas goes on to list all the feeling and actions on this day and says to us that those actions and feeling shows how "heartless" they are. He states to us and government that its not a day to forget the unjust that has been done to the fellow man and pretend that it did not happen. The way in which this passage relates to the theme of the lectures in class is that it hits upon subject such as civil liberties, the government, and political views.

           I choose this passage because it gives me a chance to reflect on what the Fourth of July actually means. It's not just a day to celebrate and watch the fire works, its also a day to reflect on what went on during those time. To remember all the things our ancestors had to go through for us to be where we are today. I also choose this passage because it reminded me of one of our online lectures when you state "Republican majority House of Representatives began their session by reading out the Constitution, however they omitted these controversial passages".

Due 11.8.2014

"Citizenship is a status bestowed on those who are full members of a community. All who possess the status are equal with respects to the rights and duties with which the status is endowed. There in  no universal principle that determines what those rights and duties shall be, but societies in which citizenship is a developing institution create an image of ideal citizenship against which achievement can be measured and towards which aspiration can be directed. the urge forward also the path thus plotted in a urge towards a fuller measure of equality, an enrichment of the study of which the status is made and an increase in the number of those on whom the status is bestowed. Social class, on the other hand, is a system of inequality. And it too, like citizenship, can be based a set of ideals, beliefs and values. It is therefore reasonable to expect that impact of citizenship on social class should take the form of a conflict between opposing principles. If I am right in my contention that citizenship has been a developing institution in England at least since the latter part of the seventeenth century, then it is clear that its growth coincides with the rise of capitalism, which is a system, not of equality, but of inequality.  Here is something that needs explaining. How is it that these two opposing principles could grow and flourish side by side in the same soil? What made in possible for them to be reconciled with on another and to become, for a time at least, allies instead of antagonists? The question is a pertinent one, for it is clear that, in the twentieth century, citizenship and the capitalist class system have been at war. "
    In T.H. Marshall "Citizenship and Social Class" he stress to us the difference between Citizenship and the Social Class.  Marshall because this passage by explaining that citizenship is a status that is bestowed upon those who are a full member of the society, not to those who are visiting or have been there for a short period. He express to us that with citizenship everyone who possess it "are equal with respects to the rights and duties with which the status endowed." You are equal in your claim and pride  of belong to that nation but that is all there is. He lets us know that there wasn't or isn't any "principle that determines" your do and font's but it is an "ideal". Marshall goes on compare citizenship and socials class to capitalism. He believed at that time that there was no difference between citizenship and capitalism. A person can claim a right to something but that does not mean that he can get it without working hard to get it.

    I choose the following passage because it highlights to us the meaning of citizenship. It  gives me and those who  read this article a clear view of what the meaning of citizenship is us today and how it was in earlier times. It also shows us that many of these principles regarding citizenship is still in affect today. They are many individuals think that being a citizen means that it comes with all the rights and privileges that everyone else has, only to find out that there is still a separation in the socials status and many other aspect of our lives . Another reason that I choose this passage is because its telling us the reader to stop living with the fantasy of being a citizen and look at the facts and truth of what belongs to a nation entails.