The seams of American society are not as strong as they used to be. Decay of good morals and values are evident all around us from actions of our children to adults. Our founding fathers put in place the standards that put America on the path as the most successful nation that has ever existed. Many Americans today do not take the time to realize that our nation is falling apart. There is always a debate about what is causing it, but what most people can agree on is that there is something profoundly wrong with America. Our government, which was founded to serve the people, has turned to targeting those who think outside the box. The statement during the IRS Committee on Oversight and Government reform still rings loud and clear almost a year later. “I am a born-free, American woman – wife, mother and citizen – and I’m telling MY government that you have forgotten your place” (Becky Gerritson). There is enough blame to go around from politicians to parents who do not make the time in their life to raise their children properly, but in reality they are only part of the problem. When examining patterns of behavior over an extended period of time, certain trends begin to emerge and we find that America has become a very cruel place. The America of today is very different from the America of past generations. The following are two incidents that prove society is falling apart all around us.
Weldon Gilbert, of Washington state, “enticed adolescent boys with exotic trips, rides in airplanes and boats, then allegedly lured them into his home where he filmed himself sexually abusing them” (Willmore). Gilbert defend himself against the state charges of child pornography, which is not a crime because he was acting as his own lawyer...
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...hem the right to defend themselves against their accusers.
Zonfrillo, Mark R., Kristy B. Arbogast, and Joel A. Fein. "The Knockout Game" The Lancet 383.9916 (2014): 513-4. ProQuest. 25 May 2014. The overall goal of the game is to result in the victim's unconsciousness, and assailants might video record the assault and boast about their involvement for notoriety. Internet queries identify six reported deaths as a result of the game, all involving head injury in adult victims, one with a secondary spinal cord injury, and another with a penetrating injury of the heart.
Lee, Tony. "Al Sharpton Condemns 'Knockout' Game." Breitbart News Network. N.p., 24 Nov. 2013. Web. 25 May 2014. Al Sharpton made his remarks at his weekly National Action Network meeting in Harlem. The victims of the knockout game have been predominantly white, of Asian descent and Jewish.
Thiel, Art. “NFL’s Plight on Brain Injuries Not Over.” Al Jazeera America. N.p., n.d. Web. 10
Smith, Rodney(2013).. Thomas Jefferson Law Review, Vol.35(2), 127-191 Solving the Concussion Problem and Saving Professional Football
In recent years, there has been an increase in research investigating the long-term effects of repeated head trauma on the brain, especially in athletes. Following his discovery of chronic traumatic encephalopathy (CTE), Dr. Bennet Omalu inspired a movement of research aimed at establishing better safety standards and protocols in football. It was not until 2002 that the initial connection between repetitive head trauma, such as concussions, and brain injury was suspected (Ott, 2015).
Society in America is exceedingly different compared to 1791, the government is not impartial, the poor are overburdened, and the rich are extremely privileged. First, 2014 is completely different than the year 1791. America has a truly strong government compared to 1791 when the government was extremely weak. But since America is stronger today, that does not mean it is fair. If any government were fair, it would be a perfect world; and a perfect world is what America’s government does not have.
While doing research on how concussions affected the brain, they came upon SIS. SIS raised concern in the sports community, they found that they need to be more cautious with the care and d management of athletes the suffered head injuries. '" occurs when an athlete who has sustained an initial head injury, most often a concussions, then sustains a second head injury before symptoms associated with the first have fully healed (Cantu and Voy 1995).'" Michael Bay was a athlete that got a concussions, shortly after he was hit again while being in practice. Mr. Bay die in a deep coma, after the medical examiner perform the autopsy it was found that Michael cause of death was a massive cerebral edema ( a cerebral edema is "the accumulation of fluid in and resultant swelling of the brain that may be caused by trauma, a tumor, lack of oxygen at high altitudes, or exposure to toxic substances." MedlinePlus). The next one is the intracranial injury, there are four major types of intracranial injuries: epidural hematoma, subdural hematoma, intracranial hematoma, and cerebral contusion. The epidural hematoma is a bleeding that develops between the dura and the cranial bones. Subdural hematoma is also a bleed, but it develops below the dura mater. The intracranial hematoma is a bleed that happens within the brain tissue. And the last one the cerebral contusion is
Mihoces, Gary. “Parents Weigh Risks of Youth Football Amid Concussion Debate.” USA Today. USA Today, 23 May 2012. Web. 11 Apr. 2014.
Adirim, Terry A. “Concussions in Sports and Recreation.” Clinical Pediatric Emergency Medicine 8.1 (2007): 2-6. Print.
"Incidence of Concussion in High School Football Players of Ohio and Pennsylvania." Journal of Child Neurology. Web. 28 Sept. 2011. .
Since the beginning of American history, citizens who resided the country lacked the basic civil rights and liberties that humans deserved. Different races and ethnicities were treated unfairly. Voting rights were denied to anyone who was not a rich, white male. Women were harassed by their bosses and expected to take care of everything household related. Life was not all that pretty throughout America’s past, but thankfully overtime American citizens’ civil liberties and rights expanded – granting Americans true freedom.
...c his short plays on the TV and his life story. In a much more recent story Sharpton was involved in the Trayvon Martin case where a young African American teenage had been Murder by George Zimmerman in the state of Florida where Mr. Zimmerman had been a part of a neighborhood watch in 2012 where many fellow Americans felt it was a racial profiling case. Mr. Zimmerman beat the case due to the fact of the gun law in Florida which a lot of people to this day deem unfair. One of the things that Sharpton is working on now is because of how Mr. Martin was killed in the state of Florida because of the gun law Mr. Sharpton as well as other have decided to protest that law and have it removed from the state of Florida Inclusion Rev. Al Sharpton has been about standing up for what is right and fair even at a young age and continues to seek equality for all African Americans.
players who has received a head injury and cannot participate in practice or the next game. The
The creation of a government that is out of control, and thus out of touch robs every citizen, preventing fulfillment of the original American dream. (Thomas, 2011)
Struggling to maintain consciousness as well as retain my vision after embracing a brutal hit enforced from an opposing player really makes me question the seriousness of football related trauma. How many injuries does it take until it really matters? For me, after having experience with concussions, I came to the realization that the positive externalities of football do not make up for the numerous negative externalities. Football, as well as any other contact sport, can be very dangerous and potentially threatening to a persons overall health and future.
One major issue with the nation is their emphasis on the importance of having a timocracy society where power is measured and gained through wealth. A common ideology shared among Americans is “You don’t share things in common; you have your own things” (Burgess 236). Through this statement, Burgess remarks about how American citizens no longer have the will to familiarize themselves with
Over the past few years, a number of occurrences have displayed the growing economic and political inequality of the United States. The currently dissipated Occupy Movement did draw the general public’s attention to the ridiculous strides made by the rich, whose incomes have skyrocketed within the past four decades. Those pertaining to the middle-income and poor have sadly had their incomes stagnate. According to Caroline Fairchild from the Huffington Post the middle class incomes steadily is on the decline. In 1968 the middle class earned about 53.2 percent of national income in 1968. This number has now fallen to 45.7 percent. Super PACs became a concern as more individual donors willingly wrote up enormous checks to support their particular candidates. As a result, this gave prominence to the growing political inequality, as well as highlighting the rich’s ability to have their words have much more weight over the average citizen in America.