America’s current policies Essay Example for Free

America’s current policies Essay Often, present generations, completely apathetic about their own sins, casts judgment upon the people who came before. This is not to say that, contrary to the prevailing wisdom currently choking our country, there are not absolute truths that were present during the inception of this country as well as in our present day. It is very unfortunate that some of our founding fathers held slaves; especially the author of the Declaration of Independence, Thomas Jefferson, who held nearly two hundred slaves at one time on his plantation at Monticello. We do not like that the father of freedom in America could not find it in himself to free his slaves. Jefferson’s own cousin, as well as a number of fellow Virginians freed their slaves. From 1780 until 1800, the population of free blacks in Virginia rose from just over 2,000 to more than 30,000. (Burns, 1997) Where is Thomas Jefferson? However, did those who contributed to the Constitution yet held slaves, serve to invalidate the Constitution or their own individual contributions? It would have to seem that it does. However, not to the same degree as some of America’s current policies invalidates our ability to even cast judgment on other generations in the first place. People in glass houses should not throw stones. This is a famous saying which can be applied to every person or generation who judges another while being less than perfect themselves. America is the 21st century is a far cry from America at its birth. The population, in 1776, was just under three million people. (McCullough, 2007 pg. 26) Last fall, America’s population exceeded three hundred million people. Technology has certainly made the world a much different place and America is not only the richest country in the world, it is also the most powerful. The founding fathers could scarily fathom what this country would become in a little more than two hundred years. However, would they be proud of what had been accomplished? In some ways, the founding fathers would be glowing with joy and pride. In other ways, they could not help but feel a great deal of shame and embarrassment at what America had become. In the past thirty years, revisionist historians have tried to tell Americans that this country was formed, not out of the pursuit of religious freedom as the Mayflower Compact reads but rather to make money and to expand their wealth and land holdings. Also, that the founding fathers were not deeply religious men but rather Deists who seemed apathetic towards absolute truths. These assertions are fallible to the core and scarily a student of history can accept such tripe. However, even the deists and atheists were still very moral men who were led by principles and not by what was convenient as they were men of the Enlightenment. Therefore, the question which should also be asked in conjunction with this theme is: Does America stand on any moral ground to even pass judgment in the first place on any past generation. Did our forefathers risk their lives so that more than thirty million babies could be aborted since 1973 and 40% of all children are now born without a father living in the home? Did our forefathers risk their lives so that more than 20,000 people could be murdered each year for the pursuit of money to buy drugs? When the forefathers secured freedom of speech, did that mean that pornographic movies could be shown on the television or curse words spewed at a dizzying rapidity? In a time when gay marriage is being pressed so heavily upon our members of Congress, would our forefathers; individuals who regarded the act as so impure, that they would go out of their way to describe such actions in an indirect way in their writings and all believed to be a sin? There can be added to this list, more than a dozen modern examples and whether or not one agrees that the aforementioned are problems in this country or not, our forefathers could not help but see them as grave mistakes and impediments on our history. It seems unlikely that those individuals, such as John Adams and George Washington, to name only a few; so fervent in their religious convictions, that they freely invoked the word of God in their writings and speeches, could have consented to such depravity. More than 35% of all of the quotes of America’s forefathers came from the Bible. Does America’s hunger for relativism and humanism disallow us from even being able to even ask the question: Were the actions of the forefathers pure enough to even form a country in the first place? For every person who would say no, there would be two of the aforementioned society which would say the same about us. Now, this is not to say that slavery was not extremely immoral which served as a cancer on our society at that time and created a legacy of racial hatred and inequality which is still present today. Anyone who believes that this country is one of the greatest in the world, if not the entire world as I do, such apathy towards our forefathers own words, has to invoke a degree of annoyance towards men who are revered for what the gave to future generations in the formation of a democratic, capitalist and free society. One wonders why a clear consciousness was not worth simply paying their workers a modest wage instead of forcing involuntary servitude. What was going through the minds when Thomas Jefferson introduced legislation to end slavery during the Constitutional Convention? Historians have argued that if Jefferson provided a hard line against slavery, then his other policies would have been pushed to the side and perhaps never passed. This is probably true. However, what stopped Jefferson from freeing his own slaves at Monticello? These questions may never be answered. So in the end, it would seem best for Americans to tread carefully when dismissing an entire generation and their works because of a sin which was all too apparent in 18th century America. Slavery was wrong? There is no doubt about that. However, has America lost most of its moral authority, as well as the rest of the West? This is to be sure. As more and more people turn away from the ideas of absolute truths and towards relativism and humanism, preferring instead what is convenient and not what is right, problems which America is now suffering, is its natural result. If the incompatibility of the actions and words of the slave holding forefathers invalidates their work, then it should be placed a top a very long list of this country’s ironic measures which have grown at an exponential rate in recent decades. WORKS CITED Burns, Ken Thomas Jefferson New York: Thirteen Productions PBS 1997 McCullough, David 1776. New York: Scribners 2007

Demands of the Virtual Classroom :: Teaching Education

Demands of the Virtual Classroom Preparing online courses is not easy. In a study by the NEA, 53% of participating instructors admitted that courses online take more time to prepare and deliver. Much of that time is devoted to weekly e-mail contact, a task that 83% stated is part of their regimen. Rarely is additional remuneration given to compensate for the heavier workload. (Newsgroup Message 6/23/00) The additional effort on the part of the instructors does not necessarily facilitate the process for the students. Successful participants must be disciplined, able to work on their own, can deal with uncertainty, and are not easily distracted. (PCC)(Kleiner) In addition, students must be prepared to endure setup difficulties, hardware malfunctions, and Internet traffic (Neal) in addition to the burden of the acquisition of the required technology. The question of whether the return of the student and instructor efforts is worthwhile remains unanswered. To date little empirical evidence exists that proves that electronic technology improves learning. David Noble, a technology historian from York University in Toronto, avers that identity formation is a process that can only occur face-to-face. (Neal) In fact, research has shown that the social interaction in traditional residential programs contributes to the intellectual and ethical development of undergraduates. For the simple dissemination of information where knowledge is passed hydraulically from instructor to student, Internet instruction seems to be an unsuitable methodology. (Neal) Such theories seem to prove out in a retention rate that varies anywhere from 20% to 97%.(Kleiner) Considering the Costs With such doubtable results emanating from greater effort on the part of both student and teacher, the question arises about why Internet classes are becoming so popular. The push seems to come from a joint effort on the part of software developers, legislators, and college administrators who are eager to be known for their technological strides. The resulting trends are demanding that many schools jump on the bandwagon to cater to the non-traditional students. The University of Phoenix has an enrollment of 68,000 students from 15 states, more than Princeton and Duke combined. That figure is expected to triple by the year 2002 and includes only students who are at least 23-years-old and employed.(Marcus, A Scholastic Gold Mine) Peter Drucker has predicted that such trends will result in the "end of the university within 30 years". (Neal). On the opposing side, however, the National Center for Educational Statistics has predicted that the investment may not produce the results that Peter Drucker forecasted.

Brown v. Board of Education

In the broad scope of the hundreds of thousands of cases decided by the United States Supreme Court in decades past, few measure up to the historical significance of Brown v. Board of Education. The decision of the judges in this particular dispute challenged the mainstream views of the people of our country, changing the times, and shaping the future of America. Not only did the Court’s ruling protect the rights of millions of African American students in our country, moreover Brown v.Board of Education launched the civil rights movement that produced the America we know today. Had the judges ruled other than the way they did, one can only imagine how the history of our country would have played out, or how different our nation would be as a result. In the years leading up to the 1950’s, as a whole, the people of our country were severely discriminative towards the African American race. People of different colors were forced to shop in separate stores, eat in separate restaurants, live on opposite sides of town, and even drink from different water fountains.The same held true for the public school system, which unfairly segregated students according to their color based on the laws that Brown v Board of Education changed. Tragically, the schools reserved for white children were in far better condition than the schools for those of the minority, usually lacking decent books and properly trained teachers, and often teaching an inadequate curriculum (The Brown Foundation).It is no surprise then that the affliction of these minority students did not settle well with the race as a whole, and in 1951, after long suffering, four complaints were filed in four separate states against their respective school boards (Brown v. Board 486). As summarized by The Brown Foundation, the first action arose out of Delaware, where the segregated schools were considerably unequal. There, black students were bused from their homes to schools hours away, rather than at tending the schools for white children where they lived.After being denied access to the white schools near their homes, suit was filed. The second case came from Topeka, Kansas, where the number of white schools greatly outnumbered the amount of black schools. As a result, parents in Topeka tried to enroll their black children in white schools, only to be denied. The third case was filed in South Carolina, where the schools were also substantially unequal. When the parents of black children filed suit against their school board, the Court ordered that the schools be equalized. The schools however, refused to comply. The final case arose out of Virginia.There the schools were far too small to accommodate the number of students that attended them, and once again were grossly inadequate, lacking even indoor plumbing. After suit was filed locally, the school board was ordered to make the segregated schools equal, however black children still were not admitted in to white schools (The B rown Foundation). The facts regarding each case were different, but the issue at hand was the same, young African American children had been denied access to the schools reserved for their white counterparts per the laws that were written to protect them from such injustices.The very government that was intended to protect their rights and freedoms denied the relief of the children, holding to the â€Å"separate but equal† doctrine of Plessy v. Ferguson. That doctrine stated that the separation of black and white students was within the law, so long as the segregated schools were equal. After defeat in federal district courts, on appeal, the four cases were consolidated into what is known as Brown v. Board of Education of Topeka, to be heard in The Supreme Court in 1952 (Brown v. Board 487,488).The Supreme Court Justices looked in depth at the fourteenth amendment, more specifically the right of the equal protection of the laws that the fourteenth amendment guaranteed to all Americans, of which the minority children claimed that they were deprived of. The justices pondered the question, â€Å"Does segregation of children in public schools solely on the basis of race, even though the physical facilities and other ‘tangible’ factors may be equal, deprive the children of the minority group of equal educational opportunities? † (Brown v.Board 493). The Justices addressed the equality of the education in public schools overall, throwing out the idea that if books, desks, and classrooms were similar, then children received an equal education. Considering the fact that separated black children are educated in a way that makes them feel inferior to white children, the Court held that the feelings of inferiority, which were enforced by the laws of our country, effected the driving force behind the students that urged them to learn and therefore to receive an equal education.On May 17, 1954, the Court ruled that the â€Å"separate but equalâ €  doctrine was irrelevant when it came to education, thus holding that the segregation of students based on race did in fact violate the rights set forth by the fourteenth amendment (Brown v. Board 495). Then a few weeks later, on May 31, the last day of the term, the judges elaborated on their decision, ordering that the desegregation of schools take place with â€Å"all deliberate speed† (The National Archives). As news of the Court’s decision spread across America, as expected, people of the white race were extremely unhappy.Rather than doing as the Justices had ordered, most states simply refused to comply with their judgment. The years following proved to be a battle for the African American race. Brown v. Board of Education seemed to affect the race as whole rather than only the students who longed to attend equal schools. In Virginia, the Governor shut down all public schools in an attempt to avoid their desegregation. Instead of simply allowing the black ch ildren access, the state issued vouchers to white families so they could send their children to private schools, leaving the black children without any education at all.In Arkansas, the National Guard had to accompany several black students, whom we now recognize as The Little Rock Nine, on their walk into a newly desegregated school as white students verbally and physically abused them. To prolong the desegregation, states attempted to enforce a â€Å"freedom of choice theory†. By which black students had the option of attending any school they wanted in the district. Nevertheless, when parents sent their minority children to white schools, they were tortured by angry whites, who threatened them and even burnt crosses in their yards.The National Education Association estimates that in the decade following the landmark Supreme Court decision, nearly 38,000 black educators lost their jobs (The National Education Association). With the ruling of Brown v. Board of Education, it seemed the minority had won the battle; unfortunately the war was far from over. What ensued following Brown v. Board of Education was one of the most imperative eras in the history of our country, what we now call the civil rights movement. The judges who ruled in the case could not have predicted the relevancy of their verdict, nor the outcome that would eventually come to pass.Brown v. Board of Education has proven to be a case that greatly impacted the lives of millions of African Americans and the freedoms that all people, despite their race, now experience every day. Works Cited The Brown Foundation, â€Å"Brown v. Board of Education: About the Case. † The Brown Foundation. 11 Apr 2004. The Brown Foundation. 29 Apr 2008 . The National Archives, â€Å"Timeline of Events Leading to the Brown v. Board of Education Decision, 1954. † The National Archives. 2008. The Federal Government. 30 Apr 2008 . The National Education Association, â€Å"50th Anniversary, Brown v. Board of Education. † Public Schools for Every Child. 2008. The National Education Association. 30 Apr 2008 . Patterson, James. Brown v. Board of Education: A Civil Rights Milestone and its Troubled Legacy. Oxford, New York: Oxford University Press, 2001. The United States Supreme Court, â€Å"Brown v. Board of Education of Topeka. â€Å" United States Reports 483 (1954) 486-496. 29 Apr 2008 .

Oedipus The King By Sophocles - 950 Words

The people throughout Oedipus’ life trues very hard to allow him to escape his fate of killing his father and then marrying his mother. In the epic poem Oedipus the King, Sophocles tells the story of the tragic downfall of Oedipus. Although many people see the role of free will that brought upon Oedipus’ doom, no matter what choices were made throughout his life, his ultimate fate would always return. The choices made at the beginning of Oedipus’ life set him up to fulfill his prophecy. His parents learned of his destiny from the oracle and â€Å"pinned his ankle joints together, then had him left, by someone else’s hands† (Sophocles 685). Instead of killing the child themselves, they left him to the responsibility a herdsman. This choice to give the child to another person at the beginning of his life allows the gods to remain deciding Oedipus’ fate. Allowing him to live ultimately permits him to return back to his home city to fulfill his fate. The herdsman in turn had pity on Oedipus and decided to give him to the King and Queen or Corinth. This choice made by the herdsman again allowed Oedipus to continue in life to allow his destiny to live on. Oedipus ‘determinism to get away from fulfilling his destiny causes him to run right into it. The â€Å"ignorance of his own actions† led him to advance into what the oracle predicted (Fosso). After he was told of his prophecy, Oedipus decided to escape his adoptive parents without asking for answers. Instead of â€Å"delaying and possiblyShow MoreRelatedOedipus The King By Sophocles848 Words   |  4 PagesOedipus the King, written by Sophocles, follows the tragic story of a king named Oedipus who goes from an all-powerful ruler to a hopeless blind peasant. Oedipus the King was written as a play and performed in front of an audience. Sophocles shows in Oedipus the King that one cannot escape the fate of the gods. Throughout the play Oedipus struggles to find a solution and change all the troubles in his life. The play observes the story of Oedipus who defies the gods and through the journey experiencesRead MoreSophocles Oedipus The King884 Words   |  4 PagesKing of Thebes, owner of a family tree that identically resembles Medusa on a bad hair day, and the inspiration for a psychologically-riveting complex, Oedipus, tragic hero of Sophocles’ Oedipus the King, exposes troubling truths about the human condition and, acting as an exemplary precaution for the entirety of humanity, demonstrates how a self-destructive struggle between love, anger, and fate, conveyed through an unorthodox love affair between mother and son (Who gets custody in a divorce?),Read MoreSophocles Oedipus The King1714 Words   |  7 Pagesâ€Å"ideal tragedy† is the play â€Å"Oedipus the King† written by Sophocles. 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Their answer does not come from a deity, but from Oedipus himself as he enters the palace and says, â€Å"You have prayed; and you prayers shall be answered with help and release ifRead MoreOedipus the King by Sophocles1393 Words   |  6 Pages Sophocles’ play, Oedipus the King, has risen many questions concerning the main character and whether or not he acts on free will or if his future is predestined by the gods. I am going to test the theory that although Oedipus believes he is acting on his own free will, he is in fact a victim of the gods. I will analyze several different sources that discuss fate and human agency in Oedipus the King and then proceed to build my original argument on the archaic debate. There has been a great dealRead MoreOedipus The King By Sophocles904 Words   |  4 Pages In Sophocles play â€Å"Oedipus the King† a deadly plague has descended upon the kingdom of Thebes, and because of this plague a dark and iniquitous secret begins to unravel itself only to reveal a web of events connecting Oedipus and others as the culprits behind all the havoc ensued. No one is the sole source responsible for the unfortunate events that befall Thebes, as well as the royal family; In fact, those who unknowingly paved the path of destruction were themselves trying to prevent it fromRead MoreSophocles Oedipus The King Essay1960 Words   |  8 Pages This would have been excellent advice for the main character in Sophocles drama, Oedipus the King. However, the drama was written as a result of Sophocles life and the influence of the humanistic culture in which he lived. Throughout Sophocles life, he gained military knowledge as the son of a wealthy armor manufacturer and received an excellent Greek education with emphasis on Homeric poetry (textbook). Furthe rmore, Sophocles was very involved in politics and served as a treasurer, a generalRead MoreSophocles Oedipus The King871 Words   |  4 PagesThe plays written by Sophocles, â€Å"Oedipus the King â€Å"and â€Å"Antigone† are bodies of work displayed the meaning of what Aristotle defined as a tragedy. â€Å"Oedipus the King† is a story of a king trying to avoid the fate of his life that has been prophesized before his birth. In â€Å"Antigone† is story of a girl who devoted to her family, and regardless of the orders made the king Creon. In these stories the archetypes and hamartia of Antigone and Oedipus play a major role in the story. In â€Å"Antigone† the characterRead MoreOedipus The King, By Sophocles1407 Words   |  6 PagesWhen we think about a tragic play or protagonist, most people would think Shakespeare for his common theme of his plays to end with a tragedy. In Oedipus the King, written by Sophocles, tells the tale of the protagonist Oedipus. Throughout the play, Oedipus searched for his past to discover the reason why his kingdom is plagued with wilting crops and illnesses. In the end, he becomes a tragic protagonist after discovering his past was related to the previous king’s death. While the search progressedRead MoreSophocles Oedipus The King2037 Words   |  9 PagesSophocles’s Oedipus the King features a chorus that sings several odes over the course of the play. In Sophocles’s play, the chorus is composed of old Theban men and represents the population of Thebes as a whole. The chorus recites a parodos, four stasima, and a brief exodus. Through the choral odes, So phocles reflects on the events and motifs of the play, including piety and faith in the Gods, the inevitability and the uncertainty of fate, and the dichotomy of right and wrong. After Sophocles establishes