John Locke had hope for the People of the United States of America. People were supposed to be well-mannered, polite, and chivalrous. That didn’t turn out to be the case, at least for some time. John Locke once said “ He that uses his words loosely and unsteadily will either not be minded or not understood.” Civil discourse was in our past, it has left us currently, and it will hopefully return in the future. Civil discourse is part of America, our job now is to bring it back and restore the common good of the people. The Founding Fathers of the constitution knew that civil discourse was a crucial part to our government running smoothly and satisfying everyone. Civil discourse is being engaged in a conversation in hopes that the knowledge is enhanced by the end. It involves sitting down and not just listening to the information being told but comprehending it and responding with a sense of respect and intelligence. During the …show more content…
People are doing outrageous things to get their point across. Protests are happening all over the place, just when people don’t like what is going on or even if they don’t like the speaker at the certain time and place. The civil discourse has been thrown out the window. There is hardly any such thing anymore. Now a days it is their opinion or none. No one wants to hear what anyone else has to say or even take it into consideration. It is especially getting out of hand in colleges across the United States. Speakers are coming to Universities and speaking about an assortment of topics. When a group of students disagree with the speaker or are against what is being addressed or talked about there are riots and protests. Sometimes there are extreme measures made to prove the point that they don’t want the speaker there or even physically trying to kick the speaker out. There is no students willing to sit down and listen to what is being said, instead student’s emotions take
But the teenager raged about the house, hurling insults at her mother, slamming doors, and wailing about how it was all “so unfair”. It was then that her agitated father rose from his slumber, stomped to her room and raised that dreaded one-week sentence to a month. Daniel J. Boorstin warned of behavior such as this in his book The Decline of Radicalism. It describes how dissenting behavior is a “symptom, an expression, a consequence, and a cause of all others” and how it differs from civil disagreement. Disagreements show two opinions presented out of logic, producing new ideas and change.
Discourse communities are groups of people with a unique point of view. There are many discourse communities around your everyday life. These communities are part of the entire human environment. Many discourse communities are distinctly large due to all the societies wanting the same things. My discourse communities are mostly Facebook.
In the middle of the nineteenth century bloody battles broke out all over the United States, pitting brother against brother and father against son. The causes of this war were the issues of slavery and state’s rights; but most importantly, the catalyst for the Civil War was the tension in the air cause by the dissention of the South from the North. Dissention is a radically different concept than the idea of disagreement. Had the Northern and Southern states merely disagreed about slavery and states’ rights issues, the Civil War would only be a wisp of what could have been. Disagreement leads to arguments while dissent leads to quarrels, and the distinction Boorstin makes between the two is entirely accurate.
The documentary, Shouting Fire: Stories from the Edge of Free Speech, shows us just that: stories from a range of people who have danced on the line of what is considered “free speech,” a first amendment right. The first amendment, according to the US Constitution, reads: “Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press; or the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the government for a redress of grievances.” The two stories that jumped out at me were the stories told by Debbie Almontaser and Chase Harper. Though each of their stories are very different, each story has a similar lining to it in regard to the
1. The measure of a great society is the ability of its citizens to tolerate the viewpoints of those with whom they disagree. As Voltaire once said, “I may disagree with what you have to say, but I will defend to the death your right to say it” (Columbia). This right to express one's opinion can be characterized as “freedom of speech.” The concept of “freedom of speech” is a Constitutional right in the United States, guaranteed under the First Amendment to the Constitution:
Persuasion Throughout history there have been many struggles for freedom and equality. There was the civil rights movement led by Martin Luther King Jr. There was the fight against government censorship in Argentina, spoken against by Luisa Valenzuela. And there was the struggle for women's equality in politics, aided by First Lady Eleanor Roosevelt.
Imagine a time when one could be fined, imprisoned and even killed for simply speaking one’s mind. Speech is the basic vehicle for communication of beliefs, thoughts and ideas. Without the right to speak one’s mind freely one would be forced to agree with everything society stated. With freedom of speech one’s own ideas can be expressed freely and the follower’s belief will be stronger. The words sound so simple, but without them the world would be a very different place.
(TS) To have freedom, a country needs people who are willing to speak up. (M1) Some might say that there will be riots and fights over speaking up. (m1) Not everyone will agree because each person has their own opinion. (m2) "...see someone behaving violently...", (Ghonim 345). People will get violent during protest as was present in Cairo, Egypt (M2) But things will not change if people stay silent. (m1) A country needs different ideas, thoughts, and opinions to grow. (m2) "We must discipline ourselves and refrain from foolishness or any violations of
The Deaf President Now protest used a few theoretical concepts covered in lecture and the readings. The first concept applied is tactic which also unites well with another concept, political opportunity. The tactic Gallaudet students used is called the ACT-UP disruptions. Meyer (2007) describes the ACT-UP tactic, “…it also demands a response from authorities. The disruptions are impossible to ignore because they interrupt the everyday routine of both targets and bystanders, and they often involve explicit transgressions of the law”. The protestors projected change in the structure of leadership and took advantage of political opportunity and the use of contentious politics. Meyer explains that tactics can be an attempt at change or an outlet to send a message to an extensive community often through the attention of media. This movement utilized the resources of formal organizations as well as the use of informal social networks within the c...
Clayton describes the idea of civility in The United States of America today. Strategically Clayton uses politics to display his issue, by doing this he appeals to his audience’s emotions since politics is a strong-willed area of discussion in America today. Clayton begins his essay by expressing the lack of civility in The United States today, however, continues by declaring that in some cases the lack of civility is a positive and that incivility and democracy go hand and hand. Clayton expands Louis C.K.’s reasoning that world is changing by describing the incivility in today’s world. Clayton provides evidence from how South Carolina representative Joe Wilson shouted in the middle of President Barack Obama’s speech calling him a liar. Another example, of this are the “shouting matches that now pass for political [debates]” (Clayton). Louis C.K. would most likely accredit these acts of incivility to the digital age. Clayton does, he states that social media has “radically changed the way Americans communicate with each other, altering the norms of discourse” (Clayton). Clayton claims that yes, there is an increase in civility partially due to Internet
Good Morning Miss. Mendez, it was a pleasure listening to you and your group members share the research that you all completed on Historically Black Colleges and Universites: Relevancy in Post-Civil Rights Era America. It was very mind blowing to hear the results that you all found . It was interesting to have learned that Predominantly White Institutions (PWIs) graduate more black students overall and the black males that graduate from Historical Black College and Universities (HBCUs) are more likely to further their education due to the supportive and nurturing environment of their HBCU. The lack of support that blacks have at PWIs play a major role in their academics and it is noticeable . If you look at several different PWIs majority
Currently in the world today, everyone is fighting in a cloud of smoggy and jumbled politics and of general life. This cloud is so dark and hazy that it blinds everyone, which makes it so that no one can see another person’s side or view. This causes people to continue to argue and never come to a consensus, like trying to swim through ice - it’s impossible to agree. This cloud has evolved so much and become so much like the norm that many people do not see the problems that it’s causing. People need to be more aware that being one-sided will only bring more tension and not allow for anything to be done. It is time to take action and clean out the smog and haze from the cloud. It is time to be able to see each other from opposite sides of the cloud and respect each other’s views and opinions. To do this, we must have a more open mind, and have the mindset that is more willing to accept differences. Therefore, civility is a very important necessity that our society needs currently and for the future, and can be achieved through efforts to change our mindsets.
The institutionalised violence and murder of young Americans with dreams of a better future enraged Americans nationwide calling forth and demanding a change. The call for change began with an African American taking a seat in a restaurant or another public building as a demonstration of peaceful civil disobedience. Civil disobedience as a whole has been a positive addition to our free society because people can see that there is a problem worth their attention. Doing is more effective and attention grabbing than just saying what one believes in and actions speak louder than words for a reason. According to Newton's laws of motion, objections at rest will stay at rest until acted upon by an outside force. That outside force can be one person who does one thing that may seem insignificant but as that motion gains momentum, when the object hits its target, the impact will be far too large to ignore. Though civil disobedience may be illegal, as time progresses our laws need to progress with
Imagine yourself in a world where you could not say what you wanted, or express how you feel. Everyday thoughts that are said out loud like, “Man, this lesson is dumb” were no longer permitted to be anything other than thoughts. Many people in other countries have rules and regulations on what they can and cannot say. The First Amendment of the United States Constitution gives Americans the right to free speech (Lakoff 260). Learning to speak is something our parents praise us for when we are little. Why, after all the waiting time they endured, would parents let strangers decide what their child could or could not say. Censorship of language and speech is becoming too strict.
Freedom of speech has long been one the most important issues brought before the Supreme Court due to its importance in our everyday lives and society as a whole, but what specifically makes this topic such a namesake in our nation 's highest court? Simply stated, the underlying reasoning pertains to only two basic components, these being that of how far should freedom of speech be allowed to go and what actual representations fall into the category of speech. Cases based on these two crucial pieces of our nation 's puzzle have been taken to trial from the beginning of our country all the way into cases extending unto us today. Being that it is a basic unalienable right, it is likely to always be debated and be part of legal arguments for years and generations to come.