Trans-National America

We are all foreign-born or the descendants of foreign-born, and if distinctions are to be made between us they should rightly be on some other ground than indigenousness. The early colonists came over with motives no less colonial than the later. They did not come to be assimilated in an American melting-pot. They did not come to adopt the culture of the American Indian. They had not the smallest intention of "giving themselves without reservation" to the new country. They came to get freedom to live as they wanted. They came to escape from the stifling air and chaos of the old world; they came to make their fortune in a new land. They invented no new social framework. Rather they brought over bodily the old ways to which they had been accustomed. Tightly concentrated on a hostile frontier, they were conservative beyond belief. Their pioneer daring was reserved for the objective conquest of material resources. In their folkways, in their social and political institutions, they were, like every colonial people, slavishly imitative of the mother-country. So that, in spite of the "Revolution," our whole legal and political system remained more English than the English, petrified and unchanging, while in England law developed to meet the needs of the changing times.

What this passage is saying, is that America was built on immigration. The first colonists that came and settled, was to escape from their homeland to be free. Not to be assimilated into the idea of a melting-pot or a hyphenated American. They came here with the intentions to create a new life, a better life than their home lands. They created a new social framework but on the other hand, they happened to be more conservative. As the passage also says, the political system remained more English than the English. Even though they were here, their system still fell back into their mother-country, and even more strictly enforced.

I picked this passage for a few reasons. First is the idea of the melting pot or the hyphenated American. When immigrants come here, they are coming to be free, just like the first colonists. So if we are doing the same thing, that they once did, why are they pushing their traditions and customs onto other immigrants? It’s not fair for immigrants to come here and be told to be more American. What is American? The idea that we bring our traditions and customs together and mix it up to become one does not work. America needs to understand that this land was built on immigration. The passage even says that we are all foreign-born. So if someone tells me I need to be more American, they need to explain to me what that is. In a history course that I took we learned about the melting pot and how many people didn’t agree with it. In the nineteenth century America became the tossed salad. Since we couldn’t mix together and become one, the suggestion of the tossed salad is that we are one, with our own distinctive characteristics. Another reason why I picked this passage is because this literally shows how hypercritical America has become. They left their mother-country to be free from their laws that was being enforced. To only come here and to enforce even more strict rules onto other people. That also makes me feel like America was built on power to only control those who are less than them. This passage has really made me question the history and the foundation that America has built.

Power

American Political Science
9/12

Partisan views about government power are highly dependent on which party controls government, and on the political and social environment at the time of the survey. At this point, 77% of Republicans say the government has too much power, compared with 63% of independents and 32% of Democrats -- which reflects the current Republican position that there is too much government spending and power in domestic and economic affairs.

Depending on who is in power it can have a major effect on the political and social environment within the society at the time. There might be areas, where one political party would feel like the other is getting too involved. That’s because their party is not the ones controlling the government. For many obvious reasons they would have a different view than the political party that is in office.

Some of the things that I have learned from my previous courses is that Democrats and Republicans differ on the way the government should be handled. Democrats favor social services, they are much more involved with trying to fund services for people who are in need. The negative side to it, is that it can raise taxes and it can also take away the flexibility of big businesses such as being able to set up their own budgets so that they can in hopes hire more people. On the other hand, Republicans are more for a trickle-down effect. The more they support big businesses it can in hopes impact other businesses and their employees. But it also can be negative because it takes away from social services through budget cuts. It can also have a positive effect within the society by decreasing taxes. Society has to pay close attention to who they put into office because it can have major effects on society that can be both negative and positive.