In: Social Issues
...the society--family, and then school. Human being without society are desperate to find sense of belonging, a sense of community. When people lose their sense of themselves in community, they go on to look for something that they belong to (gangs), the result of this can be a war. If society is not a material things such as trees and animals or machines? Why does it decline? I believe the decline of society could be concluded into three different aspect: decline of leadership, failure of ideas (failed to deliver the promises, or simply did not work out), and the change of mindset during generation. Every society goes through period of birth, rise, mature, decline and death. The most important factor to cause all this happening is change of leadership. What holds up a society? A strong voice that lead people into same direction (whether the direction is good or not) A leader that could practice the idea is the foundation of any society. And leaderships, in many cases, decline. Mao in china as an example, once a great leader of China, had made mistakes that caused huge impact in his older years. Decline...
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...importantly, they grow further apart from each other, unaware of the separation caused by these gadgets and new evolutions. A chronicler of the American experience, Daniel J. Boorstin, wrote a book called Democracy and Its Discontents: Reflections on Everyday America (1974). In the chapter called Technology and Democracy Boorstin argues that “the nation’s problems arise not so much from our failures as from our successes” (391). He insinuates throughout the whole chapter and in his thesis that he believes democracy in America has failed. Four specific consequences are discussed in this chapter, revealing the detrimental ramifications that technology has had on America. The most important being the lack of community and self isolation. Seeing the obvious metamorphosis that has taken place in this country since the rapture of technology— it is easy to say that America’s attempt to combine technology with democracy has failed miserably because it has caused such a severe decline in the assemblage and congregation among the people. The first consequence Boorstin writes about is “attenuation: the thinning or flattening of an experience” (391). He also refers to this as the democratizing of experience, the decline of poignancy and the removal of distinctions. He is implying that America has become desensitized, numb and has lost its sense of imagination and excitement for original experience. In his writing, Boorstin uses several examples to capture the understanding of the......
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...It is no strange fact that political participation is quintessential to a representative democracy. The United States employs this system of government in which leaders and officials are voted in by the people. However, the declining political participation in the United States over the last few decades has been an issue for quite some time now, leading to the question of whether or not democracy in America is working as effectively as it could be. This is a more serious issue than most realize, especially considering only about half of eligible voters have been participating in presidential elections and much less participation in lower level elections. The average citizen living today lives in a completely different world from what this country was since its birth; the average citizen today has many more personal and financial responsibilities to tend to, and consequently, many fail to fulfill their civic duty of political participation. This combination of a hectic lifestyle, lack of concern, or sometimes even distrust towards the government and political news leads to people not being able to make time, not interested in making time, or simply refusing to make time for political participation. There are numerous ways in which citizens can participate politically, each with varying degrees of difficulty and potential strength of messages conveyed. Voting and financial contributions to causes and campaigns are the two least sophisticated and most common forms of......
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...Essay "Is the United States following in the footsteps of ancient Rome’s decline?" There are many areas of similarity when contrasting the United States with the Roman Empire. The greatest nation on earth today is the United States. The main factors supporting this are that the U.S. is the economic leader in the world. At this time, the U.S. has the strongest military of any nation. There is relevance with what is happening in the United States today and what occurred during the fall of the Roman Empire. One common and provable fact is that in many ways history does have a tendency to repeat itself. Not only on a worldwide scale does this happen, but in the lives of individuals as well. After all, governments and their political entities are made up people. And as part of human nature, people are prone to make the same mistakes again and again, as the Roman Empire and the U.S. similarities and differences in the functioning of the state. The Roman Empire established a connection between the state and the people. The people were subjected respectively by pride in their country. Their pride was extremely strong in a nation who offered a stable and profound class society. They government’s hierarchy included a military emperor or Sacrificial King, senate, consuls, and the forum. The Romans also enacted a class society of peasant farmers, patricians and plebeians, who were among the higher level in the class society. Ruled by a dictator, the Roman Empire was under strict......
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...Democracy index 2010 Democracy in retreat A report from the Economist Intelligence Unit www.eiu.com Democracy index 2010 Democracy in retreat The Economist Intelligence Unit’s Index of Democracy 2010 Democracy in retreat This is the third edition of the Economist Intelligence Unit’s democracy index. It reflects the situation as of November 2010. The first edition, published in The Economist’s The World in 2007, measured the state of democracy in September 2006 and the second edition covered the situation towards the end of 2008. The index provides a snapshot of the state of democracy worldwide for 165 independent states and two territories—this covers almost the entire population of the world and the vast majority of the world’s independent states (micro states are excluded). The Economist Intelligence Unit’s Index of Democracy is based on five categories: electoral process and pluralism; civil liberties; the functioning of government; political participation; and political culture. Countries are placed within one of four types of regimes: full democracies; flawed democracies; hybrid regimes; and authoritarian regimes. Free and fair elections and civil liberties are necessary conditions for democracy, but they are unlikely to be sufficient for a full and consolidated democracy if unaccompanied by transparent and at least minimally efficient government, sufficient political participation and a supportive democratic political culture. It is not easy......
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...Michael Hargrove Soc 4010/5010 Instructor Montez de Oca 10/19/12 Beyond Capitalism America Beyond Capitalism: Reclaiming Our Wealth, Our Liberty, and Our Democracy, by Gar Alperovitz claim’s that our political/economic system can no longer sustain equality liberty, and democracy to the American working class. Alperovitz argues that a radical change to our political-economic system is needed. He also believes that it is at the lower or grassroots level that this change has to take place, but that it is going to take some time and a lot of commitment on their part. An analysis of Alperovitz’s book America Beyond Capitalism provides a unique but radical perspective on overhauling our political/economical system. However, his perspective depends on the American working class people to create a new political/economic system in order to restore equality, liberty, and democracy. This idea is plausible, but reducing the federal government down to the city and state level is highly unlikely. Alperovitz claims that our political/economic system can no longer sustain our equality, liberty, and democracy for working class Americans. Alperovitz’s first argument is on equality. His concern is that globalization, changing technologies, and sectoral balances are creating a widening gap of inequality. The decline of labor unions has enabled the corporations to lead a number of campaigns that have challenged redistribution programs. Globalization has increased the influence of large...
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...zero), the subsequent rift between the capitalist allies (Britain, France and America) and the communist allies (Russia) formed two opposing democratic Germany’s; The Federal Republic of Germany (FRG) and the German Democratic Republic (GDR). This is significant, due to foreign powers controlling Germany’s political system, as well as the departure from Sonderweg, meaning Germany no longer followed a unique path of development and that nationalism and militarism were on the decline. The significance of the previous German eras, Kaiser Reich (Semi-Autocratic Empire), Weimar Republic (Federal Democracy) and the Third Reich (Dictatorship) are also significant, however in political terms they are not as significant as post 45. The significances of post 1945 can be seen by its success of creating a working democracy in Germany after 1945, the FRG. One reason why the FRG was successful revolves around the sudden decline in German militarism and nationalism. This is evident in the fact that the FRG’s constitution was based on the Weimar Republics concept of ‘Grundgesetz’, which means basic law. The implications of this is evident in that German nationalism after WW2 no longer believing in Sonderweg after the defeat of the Third Reich. This caused the abhorrence towards western democracy (being seen as weak and disorderly) to fade and in turn allowed the Germans to become more open towards the ideas of democracy and made them see themselves as an important part of the West. In the......
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...In his argument, Emery employs an interesting analogy: San Dominick is a symbol of the Spanish empire. Its “disorderliness” stands for the “anarchy” found by American expansionists in Latin America, while this confusion is attributed to Cereno’s incapability as leader and his weak style of command. Delano’s plot to take control of Cereno’s vessel anticipates American interventionism in the Caribbean, it is argued. However, Manifest Destiny is portrayed in an adverse fashion, considering the fact that the invasion of San Dominick is not motivated by the desire to change the condition of the oppressed, but by mere desire for material gain. The term exceptionalism is not explicitly mentioned, but Emery is clearly hinting at it being the justification for territorial expansion. Manifest Destiny is, as claimed by Emery, a mere rhetorical camouflage for a largely political enterprise (54). Another interesting political instance, according to the author, is when Delano attempts to buy Babo. Emery calls this attempt “embarrassing”, clearly positioning himself as opposing the doctrine of American exceptionalism. This attempted exchange of goods may be seen as a mission to extend America’s democracy in the Western hemisphere. However, Emery immediately points out that Delano scarcely extends democracy to blacks (55). Delano seems, therefore, as a double agent, both a...
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...Matt Belcher Darket and Slingerland Humanity October 29, 2015 America’s strong! America is one of the strongest in the world, but Rome was at one point as well. America has many strong components that can keep it from falling just like Rome did. This great land has its faults but it also has things to keep it properly functioning and keeps having tourists visiting from all over the world. It is the land of the free and nothing can or will change the fact of that. If there is a thing that does make America fall it is the diversity within its border. The Roman Empire was a strong civilization but ended by tearing itself apart from diversity. Although America has that problem it can make up with the strong military, a powerful leadership, and a strong economy to keep America strong and stable. America may as well be the strongest that there ever was or ever will be. Its military is like no other and pretty much unstoppable. It was recorded in “2010 that there was at least 3 million people that was in the American military! America could be like the Persians up against the Spartans because it’s that strong. If America is to go it’s better to burn out in glory then to go down without a glimpse of hope. The strongest and the best have to die some time, even if America fights with the best soldiers they still have a chance of losing everything. There are many similarities and differences between the United States and Rome. Both were and are major powers in society. They......
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...ISI Transformation: political changes: Wage increase Improved working conditions Political inclusion in the … Negative of ISI: (characterized by two different stages) Agricultural becomes uncompetitive -exchange rate: money is over-value, the price will be higher than the other countries. Keep the domestic currency strong relative to foreign currencies Need to import capital goods (machinery) to produce consumer goods Overvalued exchange rate made commodity exports artificially expensive and therefore less competitive in the international market - agricultural production and its social consequencs: agricultural production stagnated rural wages declined –migration to the cities migrants resided in urban slums increase in the size of the informal sector Exhaustion of the first stage - limited dynamism 1st stage: production stage : substitution industrialization light industries- the easy phase required little technologies most financed by domestic business 2nd stage: deepening of industrialization required more sophisticated technology and know-how domestic business (main loser) could not finance the second stage multinational corporations were invited to invest in Latin American tensions within populist multi-class coalition Inflation Erodes the purchasing power of currency Affects the poor, who can’t store their wealth in assets that do not lose their value (property) A highly organized and politically mobilized working class demands......
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...Although Latin America has faced many social, political, and economic issues within the last three centuries, inequality remains one of the most important, historical, and omnipresent aspects of the region’s culture. As Europeans took over Latin America during the time of colonization, they implemented many elitist social structures that have held strong and are evident today (Harris). Income inequality is the most visible and greatest disparity that the region faces; yet inequality between gender, ethnicities, and education remain strong and significant problems with a necessity for improvement. Inequality of wealth and disparity of power and influence are Latin American’s greatest curses and are at the root of many of the developmental, social, criminal, and political problems that continue to plague the region (De Ferranti). Since inequality has pervaded into every feature of Latin American society, it is important to measure inequality accurately in order to obstruct the causes of the discrimination and prevent new ones from beginning. The Gini Coefficient is an effective way that people indicate the inequality of a country by measuring a frequency distribution of income or wealth. Using the "Gini Index" of inequality in the distribution of income and consumption, the researchers found that Latin America and the Caribbean, from the 1970s through the 1990s, measured nearly 10 points more unequal than Asia, 17.5 points more unequal than the 30 countries in the......
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...AMERICAN HISTORY POST CIVIL WAR American History Post Civil War Test 2 Growth Of Education In The United States In Nineteen Century Education in the United States has faced great changes toward development in the past hundreds of years. A society that was coming to depend increasingly on specialized skills and scientific knowledge was, of course a society with a high demand for education. The late nineteenth century, therefore, was a time of rapid expansion and reform of American school and universities. One example was the spread of free public primary and secondary education. In 1860, there were only 100 public high schools in the entire United States. By 1900, the number had reached 6,000, and by 1914 over 12,000. By 1900, compulsory school attendance laws were in effect in thirty-one states and territories. But education was still far from universal. Rural areas lagged far behind urban-industrial ones in funding public education. Also, in the south, many blacks had access to no schools at all. The post-Civil War era saw, too, an important expansion of educational opportunities for women. In the years after the war, many of the land-grant colleges and universities in the Midwest and such private universities as Cornell and Wesleyan began to admit women along with men. The female college was part of an important phenomenon in the history of modern American women; likewise, the anthropologists, sought to provide educational opportunities for the Indian......
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...Term Paper Spring 2012 The neoconservative model for foreign policy has always been based on a desire to spread the gift of democracy to other nations so that they too may enjoy the fruits that democracy and free markets bear. Going a step further, Robert Kagan presents the neoconservative belief that ‘the great spread of democracy, the prosperity, and the prolonged great power peace- have depended directly and indirectly on power and influence exercised by the United States.’ To ensure that this is the case, the Bush doctrine was created to preemptively strike countries in order to prevent a conflict further down the road. While it may be true that the developing world has directly and indirectly been affected by United States influence, the United States isn’t the sole arbiter of prosperity around the globe and its purpose for influence shouldn’t be mistaken for ‘spreading democracy’ but rather the neoconservative desire to leverage influence for economic and political gain. While much of this had previously been achieved through unofficial intervention and covert operations, the Bush doctrine represented a significant departure in that it used preemptive strike as a forerunning option in preventing potential future wars. While Robert Kagan's quote reflects the ideal interpretation of the neoconservative model in that it ‘spreads democracy,’ history has shown its intent to much more in the self interest of the United States relative to that of the host country in......
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...American Exceptionalism is a belief that America is exceptional and does not conform to the norm. It is the uniqueness of our country which sets us apart from all of the rest. American Exceptionalism can be traced back to the 1830s when Alexis de Tocqueville who was the first to use the term “exceptional” to describe the United States and the American people in his class work Democracy in America. However, the idea of America as an exceptional entity can be traced back to the earliest colonial times. The idea American Exceptionalism has changed over the decades and many Americans in recent years do not believe in it. In the opinion editorial, “Decline of American Exceptionalism,” written by Charles M. Blow, he believes that Americans should realize what our nation has come to and to restore what was once the greatest country in the world. He also believes that people have fallen into deep pessimism about our country because the country is in “the start of a longer-term decline where the U.S. is no longer the leading country in the world.” (Blow) Even though America is known for opportunities arising and our hope for humanity, I believe that the belief of American Exceptionalism has changed because Americans have forgotten what it means and what it looks like. Therefore, American Exceptionalism will be gone unless, America as a whole takes the initiative to change the country back to its mighty state. For example, a country who once had everything the other countries......
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...industrialized nations. Our voter turnout is less than half of the turnout in Belgium and Australia for example and it is getting worse. "Starting in the early 60's, the proportion of the population that turns out to vote in the U.S. steadily decreased, to the point where only slightly more than half the electorate voted in presidential elections in the last three decades of the 20th century" (E.S. 370) [pic] Although there are several factors that contribute to low voter turnout in the United States, three factors appear to have the most direct influence. • Voter Registration and Voting Processes in the United States make it more difficult to vote as compared to other nations. • The Decline of Social Capital in the United States • The decline in the strength of our political parties has contributed to voter apathy Voter Registration, the Voting Process and the Electoral System Our registration and voting processes are difficult and inconvenient and we are asked to vote too frequently. The first issue is our registration process. “Convenience impacts voter turnout. In the United States, in all but one state, voters must go through...
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