Saturday, January 25, 2020

Constitutionalism: The Tyranny Of The Majority :: essays research papers

In this excerpt from Democracy in America Alexis Tocqueville expresses his sentiments about the United States democratic government. Tocqueville believes the government's nature exists in the absolute supremacy of the majority, meaning that those citizens of the United States who are of legal age control legislation passed by the government. However, the power of the majority can exceed its limits. Tocqueville believed that the United States was a land of equality, liberty, and political wisdom. He considered it be a land where the government only served as the voice of the its citizens. He compares the government of the US to that of European systems. To him, European governments were still constricted by aristocratic privilege, the people had no hand in the formation of their government, let alone, there every day lives. He held up the American system as a successful model of what aristocratic European systems would inevitably become, systems of democracy and social equality. Alth ough he held the American democratic system in high regards, he did have his concerns about the systems shortcomings. Tocqueville feared that the virtues he honored, such as creativity, freedom, civic participation, and taste, would be endangered by "the tyranny of the majority." In the United States the majority rules, but whose their to rule the majority. Tocqueville believed that the majority, with its unlimited power, would unavoidably turn into a tyranny. He felt that the moral beliefs of the majority would interfere with the quality of the elected legislators. The idea was that in a great number of men there was more intelligence, than in one individual, thus lacking quality in legislation. Another disadvantage of the majority was that the interests of the majority always were preferred to that of the minority. Therefore, giving the minority no chance to voice concerns.

Friday, January 17, 2020

American Popular Culture – Essay

American Popular Culture Leonel Gutierrez SOC/ 105 September 11, 2012 Gregory Shrout American Popular Culture Our communities are built on a foundation whose culture we build. Through our culture, we define who we are as individuals and how our societies influence our communities. American popular culture has a great influence on our personal decisions and is a very important aspect of our lifestyle. Through television, magazines, newspapers, music, sports and countless other sources, we learn a culture that create who we are and what we decide. One way to resolve this seeming dilemma is to think of culture in an anthropological sense, as the distinct practices, artifacts, institutions, customs, and values of a particular social group† (Petracca, 2007). Undoubtedly, we all practice different ways to assume a culture. Through generations, we learn the different aspects that make up who we are. As children some us learn how to play sports and implement that into our daily habits. Kicking a ball becomes part of daily routine and soccer becomes part of who we are and what we share with that community.Perhaps going to church is part of our social normality. The qualities learned by attending that community helps us obtain our values as a person, developing who we are. Culture is much more than just a practice, it’s an illustration of who we are, where we belong to. Whether it’s part of a soccer club whose reputation we hold dearly and work daily to win for, or a religion whose practices and laws we follow to make up our values and feel our sense of purpose. Popular culture encompasses the most immediate and contemporary elements in our lives—elements which are often subject to rapid changes in a highly technological world in which people are brought closer and closer by the ubiquitous mass media† (Petracca, 2007). American popular culture consist of the different customs, communities and values that make up the different trends that exist through the mass of the population, driven through the media. When we refer to what is popular among Americans, we have to involve the medias influence.The common popular culture results from television, music, sports and many other significant media driven influences. Television has one of the biggest influences that create what is â€Å"popular† among people. Through commercials, in many cases with popular athletes, the media sends messages to the general public, which directly influence each person individually. An athlete, like Derrick Rose drinking a popular beverage like Gatorade or Eli and Peyton Manning representing Direct TV as their choice of network, has a direct influence on what we drink or what network we chose to what Television with.People see their favorite athletes representing these different brands and taking part in commercials and make decisions based on that message by the media. Another popular trend in today’s American popular culture is our fashion influence. Kim Kardashian is a big fashion influence in this day in age and has captured the hearts of many young women. Without a doubt, she’s a role model for todays fashion sense in our female youth. Many females want to dress in the same clothes, style their hair the same way, fix their makeup to reflect what she does.Kim Kardashian has become an icon whose media influence has developed habits worldwide. Women have adopted her style, sometimes even her values and show in today’s female youth. In addition, music is indeed another big influence among the popular culture. Rick Ross will tell you that he’s a â€Å"Boss† and show off his thousand-dollar jewelry, fancy cars and million dollar homes. After the bright camera lights turn off and the thundering bass amplifying through the speakers dies out, we’re left with the message brought behind the music. How many people can afford all these material things? Only a selected few I would s ay.Although this is the case, you see many people out there buying expensive cars on credit, maxing out their paychecks to maybe try to be a â€Å"Boss† while all their saving seize to exist. Although we may not put much thought into the decisions we make on a daily basis, American popular culture directly influences what we chose to be part of our lives. What we see on televisions, read in newspapers, hear through the music we listen to, directly reflect the medias influence towards every person individually. Whether it’s the television network we chose, the music we listen to or the clothes we chose to wear, we are a product of those nfluences and are the make up of our community and social normality. References Petracca, (2007) stated, â€Å"One way to resolve this seeming dilemma is to think of culture in an anthropological sense, as the distinct practices, artifacts, institutions, customs, and values of a particular social group† (p2). Petracca, (2007) stat ed, â€Å"Popular culture encompasses the most immediate and contemporary elements in our lives—elements which are often subject to rapid changes in a highly technological world in which people are brought closer and closer by the ubiquitous mass media† (p2).

Wednesday, January 8, 2020

Comparing Brontes Wuthering Heights and Dickens Coketown

Comparing Brontes Wuthering Heights and Dickens Coketown Throughout British Literature, compositions created by honored literary artists reflect current dominant lifestyles. The differences in prevailing environments are visible when comparing Emily Brontes Withering Heights and Charles Dickens Coketown. Bronte reveals the wild unbinding freedom available though country living predominate in the late 17th and early 18th century, whereas Dickens explains the disheartening effects of industrialization, which caused massive urbanization and numerous negative consequences. Within both works, the authors portrayed the lifestyles their culture encouraged. Rural households, spaced several miles apart, were common during†¦show more content†¦Cramped living quarters with insufficient plumbing, long work days in physically dangerous facilities, and drinking water filled with industrial pollution were a few of the daily obstacles each city dweller at that time had to endure (Longman 1791). Dickens, like Bronte, wrote of his time and portrayed the environment he experienced daily. The city Dickens wrote of in his work, Manchester, was so named because of the coal residue that blackened it (Longman 1827). Where Bronte characterized emotions through the weather Dickens used the destruction of nature to describe the concerns and frustration of modernism. As opposed to the comfortable and leisurely lifestyle of Withering Heights, Dickens states You saw nothing in Coketown but what was severely workful (Longman 1829). This statement inferred to my subconscious the images of women and children working tirelessly in factories. This role of women was much different from that of Brontes time. His descriptions invoked a worrisome and dreadful feeling upon me; he must have felt similarly. Dickens describes a black canal#8230; and a river that ran purple with ill-smelling dye, and vast piles of building full of windows where there was a rattling and trembling all day long, and where the piston of the steam-engine worked monotonously up and down (Longman 1829). I believe this imagery describes the