Trans-National America by Randolph Bourne: Assignment 2#

                                               Trans-National America




   Trans-National America was suppose to be a place where different race and cultures live together and form different communities. I think Bourne was trying to state this in the passage and he also was stating the the immigrants was going to adapt to the Native American ways of living. Immigrants quest of a new life and better way of living was there goal.



   To me this was article was trying to that America is great with all the different type of people and nationalities. Which I totally believe this what America was suppose to be about people from our countries coming here and fine there dreams of better life better job and education or just freedom to have rights and opportunities. So with that everyone in America has there own beliefs there own language and even down to there own type of food they want to eat. All this immigrants help build and America and it also helps America grow in population and in economy to make America one of strongest nation in the world.



  I chose this article because it relates to what is going in America to with immigration being a major to in America today. People have come to America for years and most immigrants come for the same things immigrants came here in the past for a better life. Most immigrants are trying to escape there own country due to the poverty or wars that are going on in there country. I think everyone should have a chance to better them self and there family life in this country immigrants built this country up from slaves to immigrants coming to america to looking for a better way of life.

Excerpt from Despite Negativity, Americans Mixed on Ideal Role of Gov't

Excerpt from Despite Negativity, Americans Mixed on Ideal Role of Gov't

                “A majority of Americans (56%) say they would be willing to pay less in taxes and accept fewer services, rather than either leaving things as they are now or paying more taxes for more services.

                This supports the general position of some conservatives and libertarians, including GOP presidential candidate Ron Paul. They argue that citizens should want their government to do less, and thus collect fewer taxes. Liberals, on the other hand, have focused on the value of the services the government provides, particularly in terms of creating jobs and providing a social safety net, and the necessity of keeping tax revenue flowing in order to fund those services. Fewer than half of Americans, however, currently want to keep or add to the level of taxes and services they have now.

                As would be expected, 81% of Republicans would opt for reduced taxes and fewer services, as would 58% of independents. Democrats have more mixed reactions, but about two-thirds would either keep things as they are now (36%) or would opt for more services and more taxes (30%).”

                This passage shows the results of when Americans were asked would you rather have more government services if that meant more taxes, less government services in order to reduce taxes, or services and taxes as about we have them now.  Most Americans were willing to pay less taxes in exchange for fewer services. That means that most were not happy with the way things are and didn’t want to pay more taxes to get more services. This thinking is more in line with the Republican conservative agenda. Republicans as expected wanted reduced taxes and fewer services as well as most Independents. The majority of Americans wanting to pay less taxes in turn accepting fewer services is partly due to the Democratic Party’s mixed reaction to this question with approximately 36% choosing to keep things as they are now and 30% opting for more services and more taxes.

                Americans find it hard to be confident in our government structure and political leadership because we are so unhappy with the state of the economy.  With Americans being so unhappy with our financial state they are less inclined to give more money to the government. However there are still some people like myself who, even though aren’t we secure with our financial state, still recognize the need for the services these taxes provide. Especially for those citizens who are less fortunate. In times like these cutting back on services just create more problems. Like an increase in crime and homelessness. Many of the negatives views of government trickle down to issues we the people have with political issues and leaders. It is worth mentioning that the survey was taken during the time Obama was president and a whopping 81% of Republicans opted to reduce taxes. I feel that with the United States being such a powerful nation we need to show more of a united front when it comes to domestic matters. We need to support good programs and offer services to those who need them.

Source: http://www.gallup.com/poll/149741/despite-negativity-americans-mixed-ideal-role-gov.aspx

Government According to the People

Government According to the People

       The United States government is based on the principle of federalism, where power is divided between the federal government and state governments. However how federalism is interpreted and power divided has been up for debate for as long as we've had a government. This ongoing debate prompted website Gallup.com to conduct several surveys as part of a series on Americans' views on the role and performance of government.

      

      Based on a Gallup.com survey, conducted in 2010 and 2011, Americans are pretty much split down the middle on how involved the government should be. With 35% preferring a more involved government and 37% feeling that government should only provide the most basic functions. This was when asked to think more broadly about the purpose of government. According to another survey when asked if the Federal government has too much power by 2011 57% of Americans believe the federal government today has too much power. This particular survey spanned from 2003 – 2011 and it’s worth mentioning that Americans were least likely to be concerned about the government's power in the years immediately after 9/11. Views on government power also fluctuated with who was controlling the government at the time. For example is you were a democrat during the years when George W. Bush was president you most likely felt government had too much power.

       

      The surveys then started to be more specific. Asking if there is too much government regulation of business and industry. This survey spanned from 2002-2011 and in 2011 50% of Americans felt there was too much regulation of business and industry by the government. Numbers did dip drastically in February of 2002 but other graphs based on other surveys in this series proved that post 9/11 and during potential high terrorism times Americans were more trusting of government.  Republicans have been more likely to say there is too much government regulation of business than Democrats, but in Obama years, the difference between Democrat and Republican views on government regulation of business and industry greatly differed. Ironically the last two survey question yielded the same results. Most likely because they were so similar in nature. 56% of Americans feel that the government is trying to do too many things that should be left to individuals and businesses and the same amount said they would be willing to pay less in taxes and accept fewer services. These surveys demonstrate the difference between conservatives and liberals. While conservatives feel that Americans should want to do more for themselves and give less taxes. Liberals feel there is a value to the government taking taxes and doing more. Like providing services and programs not only the impoverished need

       

      Americans find it hard to be confident in our government structure and political leadership because we are so unhappy about the state of the economy.  Just seems like the divide and sometimes straight split demonstrated in many of the surveys pits us against each other. Many of the negatives views of government trickle down to issues we the people have with political issues and leaders. With the United States being such a powerful nation we need to show more of a united front when it comes to domestic matters.  

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