Graham was a smart boy, very charming and bright. Such a pleasure to be around, an aura of happiness seemed to surround his every move. His parents, Stella and George, were both well known scientists. They were always quick to brag about his many, outstanding achievements. Chess, piano, and math competitions always resulted in a first place trophy. Out of all these these activities, Graham loved math. His perfect future consisted of a job as a mathematician. His parents knew, his teachers knew, that job was practically meant for him. * * * I felt a hand rest on my shaking knee. It was my father. “Calm down. I have connections with the Founders. You know you can’t lose.” “It’s nicknamed ‘The Lotto’ for a reason, dad.” George Spencer looked up at the Drawing stage with an uneasy gaze. I sighed softly and prodded my father’s hand off my knee. Connections with the Founders, he says. He’s just trying to make me feel better. I know the Founders and scientists have never really gotten along. There have been plenty of stories about increasing your odds in the Drawing. It’s a rumor, It has to be, or else the Drawing would lose it’s purpose. I lift my head up to view the large stage ahead of me. A banner reads “83rd Annual Drawing” across the top of it. “It’s not all that bad. Look at the jobs me and your mother got out of this!” I sighed and turned away from my father. A pitiful attempt at cheering me up. I knew what was at stake here, and I prayed that I wouldn’t be the one unlucky one. “Kinny Martin.” A tall, slim guy stood up. His face was ghostly white as he walked up the chrome stairs. A slightly chubby man greeted him with a forced smile. Most likely a Founder. He motioned for the guy to press the large, square button, wh... ... middle of paper ... ...Livingston snapped me back to reality. My train of thought was lost and I continued the horribly tedious process of picking potatoes. I continued to ponder in my daydreams when Graham Dystion’s speech came to mind. “In order to create a nation of equality, we must make the aspect of money and occupation an equal chance for all to achieve.” It was the perfect speech. The perfect idea that blossomed from the man whom I was named after. Even after all these years, it continued to prosper under the power of the Founders. The Founders were completely fair to give us this chance. A chance for everyone- “Honestly, Graham..” Instead of anger, disappointment sounded from Henry’s now weary voice. I groaned softly and kept on picking my row of russet potatoes. I cursed my bad luck, but knew that it was only fair I got this job. I took the same chance that Tyler took. Right?
“Life, Liberty and the Pursuit of Happiness”, three common goals immigrants came to America seeking with hopes of the promise to prosper and gain success. However, during the Gilded Age it seemed as though these were attainable only for the select few, while others left the land they knew to spend their lives toiling away in pursuit of the American dream, many never understanding how unattainable it really was. While the Gilded Age was a time of an industrial boom and a growing economy, those working by the sweat of their brow to make the success of this time possible, were not actually ever grasping this wealth, but rather putting right back into the pockets of the wealthy. The Gilded Age compromised the American Dream by limiting the chances of the immigrant working class, and thus creating a cycle of missed opportunities keeping the immigrants from progressing much further then when they came to America to begin with.
America has always been a land of opportunity ever since the pilgrims first arrived. During the infancy of America’s history, the country was under developed and would be considered a third world country today. Even though America was under developed compared to the previous motherland of Great Britain it always had the potential to exceed the many limits set upon by others. For example, Andrew Jackson, also known as the man of the people, was raised by a single mother who struggled to raise two other children and struggled with economic hardships. Regardless of his upbringings, Andrew Jackson became the seventh president of the United States in which he invited the public to his inaugural ball. Some people who migrated from other countries to America, such as Frances Trollope, failed to recognize the potential that America had. Instead of Mrs. Trollope acknowledging the promises the newly found country had, she decided to critically compare it to her homeland.
America has forever long been looked upon as the land of opportunity, yet for just as long struggled with the actual attainment of equal opportunity by all of its citizens. The lines of this inequality have b...
The Pledge of Allegiance, created over a century ago, contains one of the most problematic statements in society: “liberty and justice for all”. Despite the remote attempts of the government to alleviate the obstacles that Richard Wright, an advocate of civil rights, endured in 1937, Michelle Alexander, another advocate of civil rights, in 2012 unveils that up to this day the obstacles are nearly the same. In essence, disregarding the 125 years of difference the situation has not changed radically, thus allowing the challenges of inequality to remain under the table. In particular ways, the United States is moderately becoming more racially just and ethical, with actions taken by the government such as affirmative action and the abolition of
“This dream of equality and fairness has never come easily—but it has always been sustained by the belief that in America, change is possible. Today, because of that hope, coupled with the hard and painstaking labor of Americans sung and unsung, we live in a moment when the dream of e...
New Nationalism focused on eradicating economic inequality. In 2007, the top 1 percent of Americans owned 23.5 percent of the nation’s wealth (Pear, 2011). This problem has increased, not gone away, since Roosevelt addressed it in 1910. Unfairness in the tax code has become a prominent topic of political discussion. President Obama called for alterations to the U.S. tax system, which allows millionaires to pay lower rates than middle-class workers like teachers and firefighters, in his 2012 State of the Union address (“Remarks of President Barack Obama – As prepared for delivery State of the Union Address,” 2012.). In December, the president traveled to Osawatomie to speak. He echoed Roosevelt’s New Nationalism, saying he believes “this country succeeds when everyone gets a fair shot, when everyone does their fair share” (Fox, 2011). Although he spoke in Os...
Historians and political theorists have delineated the concept of equality into two categories: the competitive individualist notion of equality of process and the egalitarian ideal of equality of results. The former is concerned with providing a level playing field for all, while the latter focuses on a just distribution resulting from the process. Richard Ellis, in his book American Political Cultures, challenges the Hartzian thesis that historically Americans favored equality of process over equality of results, making them competitive individualists. Ellis argues that “what is exceptional about America is not that it lacked a results-oriented vision of equality but that those who favored equalizing results believed that equal process was a sufficient condition for realizing equal results” (Ellis 1993: 44). In other words, the egalitarian spirit was not absent from American history, but Americans believed that justice would best be served through competition. Ellis is correct in making this fine distinction, yet it is important to note that historical evidence suggests that some factions clearly emphasized equality of results regardless of equality of process. In The Souls of Black Folk, W.E.B. Du Bois’ recounting of the political debate regarding the Freedman’s Bureau, clearly highlights this ideological difference.
In the anonymous poem Sir Gawain and the Green Knight, the character of Sir Gawain is portrayed as the imperfect hero. His flaws create interest and intrigue. Such qualities of imperfection cannot be found in the symbol of the pentangle, which he displays on his shield. This contrast between character and symbol is exposed a number of times throughout the poem allowing human qualities to emerge from Gawain’s knightly portrayal. The expectations the pentangle presents proves too much for Gawain as he falls victim to black magic, strays from God, is seduced by an adulterous woman, and ultimately breaks the chivalric code by lying to the Green Knight.
Martin Luther King Jr. made many claims about the American society in his famous "I Have a Dream" speech in 1963 that were all legitimate. Today, we have made many advances toward the racial equality that he sought. As a nation, however, we still have not "opened the door of opportunity to all God's children", as King so eloquently put it. In part, this is due to the fact that although our society has reached a degree of political nondiscrimination, this political nondiscrimination has not led to economic nondiscrimination. What it has led to, though, is affirmative action policy and awareness among the people of this country that justice is a complicated process that has yet to be realized. King made us aware that Blacks weren't receiving equal treatment under our laws, and this awareness led to equal rights policy. These equal rights policies have, in turn, led to affirmative action policies. Affirmative action policies of equal opportunity were necessary because political equality was not resulting in economic equality. Today's citizens are still not satisfied, however. This is because affirmative action policy, to date, has been based on egalitarian policy, which has not resulted in economic security nor a sense of balanced justice. In this paper, I will show how Martin Luther King Jr. initiated a growth process in our country by creating an awareness, and that this awareness is gradually evolving toward a justice that we have yet to realize. I will show that Americans are still in the midst of growing pains, and that equality, opportunity, and justice are complex issues that we are slowly working out over ti...
One would expect that social equality would just be the norm in society today. Unfortunately, that is not the case. Three similar stories of how inequality and the hard reality of how America’s society and workforce is ran shows a bigger picture of the problems American’s have trying to make an honest living in today’s world. When someone thinks about the American dream, is this the way they pictured it? Is this what was envisioned for American’s when thinking about what the future held? The three authors in these articles don’t believe so, and they are pretty sure American’s didn’t either. Bob Herbert in his article “Hiding from Reality” probably makes the most honest and correct statement, “We’re in denial about the extent of the rot in the system, and the effort that would be required to turn things around” (564).
... equal opportunity before the law and in society, but his idea was equal opportunity to succeed. He felt “it [was] the exceptional people who improved society” (Labin). Harrison Bergeron is his frightening caricature of what society would become if people continue with the absurd equalization ideas of the sixties.
For many around the world, the United States have become known as the country of opportunity and success. Consequently, many believe in the idea of the American dream, a life abundant with opportunities and with success coming from hard work. The Declaration of Independence further confirms this idea, stating that, “All men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights that among these are Life, Liberty, and the pursuit of Happiness.”(Declaration of Independence)
The idea of justice although obvious for philosophers like Locke, Rousseau, and John Rawls, proves itself to be a labyrinthine issue for Americans; nevertheless, ones thing is clear: the people are guaranteed the ability to pursue happiness. Sometimes searching for American equity juxtaposes the American Dream to the pursuit of happiness with a paralytic justice. However, justice in all forms plays a part through the governments duty; who does the government serve and protect? Despite this, opportunity continues to play a major role in correlation to the hopes and aspirations of many Americans; what freedoms to pursue happiness would Americans receive if they were striped of their rights?
"In the Middle Ages men were united by custom and prescription into associations, ranks, guilds, and communities of various kinds. These ties endured as long as life lasted. Consequently, society was dependant, throughout all its details, on status, and the tie, or bond, was sentimental. In out modern state, and in the United States more than anywhere else, the social structure is based on contract, and status is of the least importance." This quote by William Graham Sumner in his 1883 speech "What Social Classes Owe to Each Other" illustrates my main focus of this week's proposed question, "Does American Government have an obligation to provide for the poor?" Sumner supports that the American Government does not have an obligation to provide for the poor because in America, all people have the opportunity to work hard and bring themselves out of poverty, where in Europe and their other native lands, people were trapped in a caste system in which they could not escape. In America, there was is a defined class system in which those living in the society were confined and hard work, followed by success, is a luxury offered in America. By living in a free state like America, Sumner says, its citizens live equally among one another in a society based on a contract, which allows the most leeway for individual developments and successes. Every man must fend for himself in this society that allows for personal establishment. Sumner also says, "It follows, however, that one man, in a free state, cannot claim help from, and cannot be charged to give help to, another." He directly says that it cannot be imposed upon the American Government that hard-working tax-paying citizens should have to financially assist the plight of the poor. The Populist Party Platform of 1892 says in its second declaration that "Wealth belongs to him that creates it...If any will not work, neither shall he eat." The Populist Party realized that men were fully entitled to their earned keep and should they not work, they should not be provided for by the government, especially not by collected tax money.
"A picture can paint a thousand words." I found the one picture in my mind that does paint a thousand words and more. It was a couple of weeks ago when I saw this picture in the writing center; the writing center is part of State College. The beautiful colors caught my eye. I was so enchanted by the painting, I lost the group I was with. When I heard about the observation essay, where we have to write about a person or thing in the city that catches your eye. I knew right away that I wanted to write about the painting. I don’t know why, but I felt that the painting was describing the way I felt at that moment.