The US: A powerhouse or trailing behind?

One concept that appears numerous times when discussing the origins of the United States is freedom. Each step the colonies made towards shaping our country worked towards protecting the rights of every citizen. While there was still oppression of certain groups such as woman and black men, the government did not recognize them as full citizens and therefore did not feel inclined to protect their rights. Many of these rights can also be viewed as a liberty, or protection from the government. The Bill of Rights works to protect these liberties. Looking back at our countries history we can see that there are many times when these rights or liberties clash with another important principal for our democracy, equality.

In the 1800’s, when the morality of slavery was coming into question, people began working towards a country with more equality at the expense of people losing their rights to own slaves. Designed as a country built to protect its citizens from an overpowering government, it is not a surprise that each time the progression of the country threatens anything that could be considered as a right, there is outrage.

More recently this clash can be seen in discussions about gun laws and neo-nazi or ALT-right groups. Each time an issue appears that in anyway threatens one of the freedoms promised to members of our country, people fight back. Recent demonstrations by groups who intend to make others feel un-equal or inferior, have been combatted by political condemnation but the groups cry out, everyone has the right to free speech from the Bill of Rights. At some rallies counter protesters have even been allowed to speak and share their view to prove the point that everyone has a right to share their message and have an opinion. How is the government supposed to act in a situation such as this, where the message is hateful and violent, yet three of the most important elements to our political culture are freedom, populism and a distrust of government?

Can we still say that our government is working when there is a constantly a fight between what was promised to us by those who founded the US and improvement. As mentioned in chapter 4 of the textbook, the US has always been a powerhouse with regards to our military and our economy. Is it not time though to look at other countries and their success in other categories compared with ours. Education and gun violence are two categories where the US trails behind, yet due to the fear of allowing the government to take away any of our basic liberties, the gun laws in the US remain the same. In countries with more harsh regulations it is 10 times less likely to be killed by gun violence than in the US with very literally arms restrictions. Internationally, people are amused by the drive americans have to protect their freedoms which results in hate, a huge gap in wealth, and less improvement. Without such a strong pull towards liberty, America could possibly pass legislation to bridge the wealth gap, protect people from hate and violence, and lower the death rate due to gun violence as other countries have done.

https://www.cbsnews.com/news/how-u-s-gun-deaths-compare-to-other-countries/

http://www.cnn.com/videos/politics/2017/09/16/black-lives-matter-pro-trump-rally-sanchez-nobles-nr.cnn

Grant Golden says:

September 24, 2017 at 9:29 pm

Alyssa, i have read and seen many articles that make these exact claims and I agree with some of the statements you are making. As you said, education and gun laws are two big question marks in America today. Educationally we continue to fall behind more and more specifically in Math and Reading. Also, unfortunately, our country has seen an increase in gun violence that has been saddening. But with that said, I do not think things like this take us out of our position of the “powerhouse”. We are still seen as the leaders of the free world and I do not think that will change anytime soon. Because of our economic and military standing we will always be looked upon in times of need and destruction which i think is why we are a powerhouse in the first place. In terms of some of the things you are talking about, education is something that should be important in our country and needs to be improved. In terms of gun violence, I am a firm believer that guns do not kill people, people do. For gun violence to be controlled, instead of taking away gun rights for all people, the US should find a way to regulate who gets them and keep them put of the hands of people who do not have the intention of using them properly.

Spencer Yacos says:

September 26, 2017 at 2:26 pm

There was an interesting point you brought up, Alyssa, about the possibility of government action against these far-right nationalist groups. I think the really important phrase to remember here is “clear and present danger”. If these men are openly threatening the government or the lives of citizens, the government draws the line and will arrest them, as outlined in Schenck v. United States. They can say how much they hate minorities all they want, but unless they’re saying how they’ll imminently threaten those people, they’re free to exercise they’re right to free speech (this was further outlined in Brandenburg v. Ohio). Given their small number, the only real danger that these “neo-nazi” protesters pose is getting too much attention from the media and growing. The fact that such fringe groups are protected and put down the right way (through counter protests) displays the strength of our democracy.

https://supreme.justia.com/cases/federal/us/395/444/case.html
https://supreme.justia.com/cases/federal/us/249/47/case.html
http://www.crf-usa.org/america-responds-to-terrorism/a-clear-and-present-danger.html