Bernie Sanders’ Speech on Democratic Socialism Feel the Bern. We have all heard this political slogan this past year for the running Senator Bernie Sanders, who is known for his messy hair and crowd enticing speeches. The speech I have chosen to analyse is one that he professed to the students of Georgetown University in Washington D.C. last November. He speaks about how he is a democratic socialist and how many highly respectable persons of the past were as well, and that their socialist ideas are some of the defining beliefs that are held in the United States today. His speech touches on many issues that need to be fixed in America and the world today, those included are the wealth gap of the middle class and the top tenth of the one percent, …show more content…
By quoting King, Sanders references someone who is well known for his speeches on civil rights. He is able to compare his possible policies as president to an honorable figure’s own beliefs, which gives him the credibility when he states that “...true freedom does not occur without economic security” (Senator). It is important to realize that this quote was alluding to a speech by King himself. Notably, he also plays upon the audience’s emotions mentioning ‘freedom’ which is what the United States was essentially built upon. Equally important, in his speech he also references the current head of the papacy, Pope Francis. At the mention of the Pope’s name, he is able to draw in a religious crowd that might be on the fence about his liberal views in the upcoming election and emotionally sway them when he mentions he is also of that same denomination. Also among the large historical figures, Bernie Sanders references to President Franklin Roosevelt and his policies which are similar to his own today, 70 years later. News anchors and voters have questioned Sanders’ decision to call himself a democratic socialist, and in his response he mentions Roosevelt’s policies and how they were also socialist in nature. Using Roosevelt name and similar policies give him credibility to be the future president, as Roosevelt is rated the third best president in American history
A young man sits solemnly at a desk in front of a wall full of books, holding eye contact with the camera for the briefest of moments before lowering his eyes to the papers before him and beginning his speech. The young man is Ted Kennedy, and the speech he is about to share with the camera and with his viewers will come to be known as the Chappaquiddick speech. Following the car crash that claimed the life of Mary Jo Kopechne, and the court cases, the speech was intended to tell Kennedy's side of the story. He wished to explain his actions to the nation and to seek forgiveness from his people. The speech was televised at 7:30 pm on July 25, 1969, broadcast live from Kennedy's father's library, and reached the roughly 96% of American homes with televisions.
...visions and relates to us a powerful social evolution based on the ever-widening gap between the majority of the American population (“the 99%”) and the wealthy minority (“the 1%”) (Zinn, p. 619-621, 1995). Zinn’s “prophecy” of a society where the “rich get richer and the poor get poorer” has been attacked time and again by conservatives and others. Considering the events of the last several years, the banking crisis, and the rise of the Occupy Movement in 2011, Zinn’s theories regarding the 99% are amazingly perceptive, even predictive of 21st Century times.
The author of the “I Have A Dream” speech is Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. King, known for his work in Civil Rights during the 1960s. In this informative speech, Dr. King inspires individuals to have a change in both white and black citizens during the Civil RIghts era in the United States. Moreover, the premise of the speech is that both sides of the discussion must accept change in a non-violent yet effective way. He spoke about the injustices of segregation and discrimination of black citizens that was occurring in our nation. As he opened, “I am happy to join with you today in what will go down in history as the greatest demonstration for freedom in the history of our nation,” he explained what he was there to do for all citizens. He is
Dr. King brilliantly weaves so many subtleties into such a relatively short speech that almost 50 years later it still must be analyzed to no end. Dr. King was a southern Baptist preacher before he was sucked into the leading role of the civil rights movement, I’m sure that had a great effect on his ability to give a speech. Dr. King knew just what to say, when to say it, and how to say it. From this we can see Dr. King’s lasting effect, and the fact that although we have come far in the area of civil rights, we still have a long way to go and it will be Dr. King’s timeless words that usher us into a new era of prosperity and brotherhood.
In December 10, 1964, Martin Luther King addressed an Acceptance Speech, on the occasion of the award of the Nobel Peace Prize in Oslo, Norway. The quote that Martin Luther King mentioned was “I have the audacity to believe that peoples everywhere can have three meals a day for their bodies, education and culture for their minds, and dignity, equality, and freedom for their spirits. I believe that what self-centered men have torn down, other-centered men can build up”. It was significant because he accepted the Nobel Prize for Peace during a rough time when 22 million Negroes of the United States of America were involved in a battle to end racial injustice. He accepted it on behalf of a civil rights movement, which is moving with determination to establish freedom and a search of justice.
The idea of Freedom can be seen in Collection 2 in the textbook. Freedom can be seen in the speech “I Have a Dream” by Martin Luther King Jr. in the ideas/rights he introduces to his country. Freedom, or the lack of it, is in of the graphic novel “of from Persepolis 2: The Story of a Return by Marjane Satrapi when citizens rights to dress are limited. Lastly, in the short story “The Censors” by Luisa Valenzuela lacks freedom when the government’s safety rule is to proofread all letter that go through the system to avoid their secrets being revealed or gossip about them.
Martin Luther King Junior’s famous speech “I have a Dream” has many amazing memorable references. For example one reference is “let freedom ring” which is in the last sentence before the last paragraph of his speech. Another reference according to Standord.edu is borrowed from a speech given by a minister by the name of Archibald Carey which was a politician and family friend of Mr. Kings. That speech was delivered on 8 July 8, 1952 at the Republican National Convention. One of the best references that Mr. King mentions in his speech is from the United States Constitution itself, he said “This note was a promise that all men, yes, black men as well as white men, would be guaranteed the “unalienable Rights” of “Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness.” I believe King was inspired by all the men he referenced in his speech therefore he decided to honor them by using their words to prove a point to his entire beloved country and all of it’s people.
King said, “Five score years ago, a great American, in whose symbolic shadow we stand today, signed the emancipation proclamation.” He used Lincoln in his speech. Lincoln was one of the most powerful and greatest president we ever had. He participated in the civil war which gained trust of America and established freedom. King is trying to invoke Lincoln because Lincoln brought the civil rights towards America. In addition, he also said, “the negro community must not lead us to the distrust of all white people, for many of our white brothers, as evidenced by their presence here today, have come to realize that their destiny is tied up with our destiny.” He referred to the bible and the bible at this time was really popular because everyone was Christian. He is trying to say that the colored and white community should be living together happily.
The issue of income inequality is a crucial piece of your upcoming re-election campaign this fall. Similarly to the Civil Rights Movement and the War on Poverty in the 1960s, a high level of inequality can hamper social cooperation, encourage intra-elite competition, and ultimately during wartime, as illustrated in the Vietnam War, can further exasperate the American people’s frustrations with income inequality.
Martin Luther King Jr. and Cesar Chavez were civil rights leaders who fought for the rights of people facing oppression in America in the mid 20th century. King attempted to end the segregation of African-Americans, and Chavez worked to improve conditions for migrant farmworkers, who often lived in terrible conditions earning below minimum wage. King was assassinated in 1968 in Memphis, Tennessee, where he was supporting the rights of black sanitary public works employees. Following King’s assassination, Chavez gave a speech honoring King, with the purpose of convincing his audience to put King’s views into practice by boycotting California grapes and fighting oppression.
Martin Luther King uses a lot of repetition in his speech. They are scattered throughout but very close. One of the repetitions in his speech is “I have a dream.” He uses this phrase to show what he sees in the future of America. One of the phrases he uses with it is: “I have a dream that one day this nation will and live out the true meaning of its creed: we hold these truths to be self-evident: that all men are created equal.” Another is “I have a dream that my four children will one day live in a nation where they will not be judged by the color of their skin but by the content of their nature. I have a dream today.” (King, M. L. Jr. (1963, Aug.28) Para 12) Two other repetitions he uses is “Let freedom ring” and “Free at last.” (King, M. L. Jr. (1963, Aug.28) Para 16&17)
These protests haven’t been centralized to a single country or region but rather have appeared throughout the globe. Egypt, Tunisia, Libya and Syria emerged in the form of the Arab Spring protests that swept across the Middle East in 2011. Labour movements in North America, economic austerity resistance in Spain, injustice protests in Greece and Israil, and the ‘YoSoy123’ movement in Mexico all sprouted around the same time(Basok, 2014). Then in late 2011 these movements seemed to have blended together and culminated in the Occupy Wall Street movement. Each of these movements share a common goal in the form of increasing the bleak economic situation that plagues the globe. Basok notes that it was the dichotomy between economic classes that motivated the movement and sparked the notorious ‘1% versus 99%’ motto. Causes for such global disparity can be traced to decisions made decades prior. Levine Marc noted in 1996 that since the early 1970’s “there has been an unprecedented surge in income inequality and a polarization of earnings in the United States”. The western middle class had been shrinking for almost four decades but at a rate that, while not
Martin Luther King, Jr. was a minister and a social activist. He was known as the man who led the Civil rights movement. He applied philosophy, religion, and laws in his arguments. He quotes the clergymen when they say his activities are “unwise and untimely” (King 411) The clergymen are pretty much saying King should have waited. He goes against that statement by saying, “Actually time is neutral; it can be used either destructively or constructively” (King 418). Ultimately King was responding to the clergymen’s letter and addressing the problem of segregation. King utilizes literary and rhetorical strategies in order to get his point across and he does it
In Martin Luther King, I Have a Dream speech and Bernie Sanders, presidential speeches, “Rhetoric is the art of ruling the minds of men” (Plato). This is part of the theme in both Martin Luther King and Bernie Sanders speeches. Using Rhetoric, it does not only influence the words, but also the audience. Martin Luther King and Bernie Sanders are both great inspirational leaders that want their audience to hear their voices. Martin Luther King is a civil right activist that is for the people from wanting equal rights. He wants the blacks and whites to come together and end segregation and non-violence. Bernie Sanders is a democratic socialist that is for the people by wanting human rights. He wants all people to live a better life with no struggles.
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.