Conversations Ongoing: The Beauty of Our Government: Reaction and Transition

Reaction

The one aspect of our Government is that it serves as a reactive body that listens to the people, in theory. Sometimes this has failed to occur. Sometimes it can't happen quick enough. But this safety valve on the pulse of America will kick into effect when the people decide it is time for something new. Barack Obama is sure to point this out in the first couple seconds of his acceptance speech here:



Transition:

A related aspect of this reaction is the transition of our leadership to a new President in these times of change. It is often overlooked and under appreciated, but we must realize the civility and peaceful nature of our government, in relation to the changing of the guard. This video illustrates this point perfectly:



Our Government may not be perfect. It may not be responsive enough for some. It may, even, be too responsive to others. But one thing is for sure, our Government is the best that this world has to offer. And we should appreciate it for it successes when they happen.

Comments

Jonathan said…
Not sure I agree this is the best government in the world. I guess it would depend on your paradigm of evaluation: equity? responsiveness? liberty? effectiveness?
I do think--as a liberal--that our government's traditions are the most to be admired, as the first attempt, however imperfect, at a truly democratica and egalitarian regime.
November 11, 2008 at 6:58 PM
Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Pyhton 3.4 - Continue

Continue keeps the loop going. It allows you loop to do whatever else it wants to do outside of that statement. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=68EhtQbgXRc Lakers_jerseys_taken = [ 8 , 24 , 32 , 34 ] print ( 'These are the jersey \' s still available:' ) for number in range ( 101 ): if number in Lakers_jerseys_taken: print ( 'You must be crazy' ) continue print (number)
Read more

Conversations Ongoing: Valuing Modernization in Early European History

Western scholarship has been known to focus on several metanarratives that define itself. These narratives can influence how we as historians view a certain time period, people, or event. Modernization in early European history can be seen as a major driving force in past and current scholarship. Influences of scientific progress, a fracturing Catholic Church, and growing capitalistic influences dominate the ideas scholars possess when viewing Europe during this time period. In regard to our own ideas about the narrative of modernization, its benefits and costs, one should be cognizant of this in viewing the social, economic, political and religious changes early "modern" Europeans faced.
Read more

Conversations Ongoing: A Bunch of Amateurs

Image
Jack Hitt's a Bunch of Amateurs To analyze the American character one must take into account the narratives of our country, specifically the three metanarratives that it is based on. In Hitt's analysis of our national character he finds an endless list of examples stretching back to our early Vaudevillian days of americans striking out, trying to get-rich-quick, seemingly fearless in the face of overwhelming odds. I believe that piggy-backing onto the narratives of scientific progress, manifest destiny, and modernization one can easily get caught up in them. Cherry-picking evidence of those who have succeeded, painting a picture of our collective desire to innovate is troublesome. Simply put, I can create the opposite narrative quite easily. Many people in the USA have little to no interest in innovation, modernization, or the like. Quite the opposite. This place is much more than a collective bunch of amateurs but rather it includes them into the fold o...
Read more