Big Paper Draft 2

Intro:
Societies are molded based on ideals and values that differ based on where you go. It is essential a circle of influence between people and culture and beliefs. The influence then gives structure and a foundation for a society to grow. The rules of a place influence the way its people act which in turn effects their beliefs and so on. The American way of life in particular, is based on a number of dominant frameworks, which give America its "shape." Some of which include capitalism, the government, “great historic documents” and religion. Many people know of these aspects. They know information about each and live everyday lives knowing that they exist, but never paying close attention to them. Although these frameworks help shape our way of life, they mean nothing if we do not understand them. America otherwise known as “The Land of the Free and The Home of The Brave,” states that we have freedom and equality. To most, this is an extremely positive factor in how people perceive their way(s) of life and it fact it is. Without these things, Americans would have a whole different outlook on the way they live and run their lives. This leads us to wondering how Americans live their lives and if there is in fact a common structure or regulations we must follow. There may not be one definition of the American Way of Life (AWOL) or a set of guidelines for how to live it but, one thing is for certain:

Thesis: The American Way of Life is strongly based upon contradictions, false understandings and misinterpretations, ignorance and a false sense of values, which ultimately create a false sense of security and pride in our country.

Background – Capitalism (?):
Americans feel as if they understand the way our circle of influence works, but many aspects are very rarely FULLY understood. In order to grasp the reason we mistake aspects of our lives for other things, we must first interpret our dominant frameworks starting with capitalism. No one can really truly explain capitalism because only a select few fully comprehend it. When defined, we usually receive the answer that capitalism is an economic system in which goods and services are produced, distributed and consumed through the mechanism of free markets, based deeply on the right to public property and profit motive. This definition means nothing to us if we don’t understand certain aspects of capitalism such as profit motive and the ingredients for capitalism. Without land, labor and capital, capitalism wouldn’t be what it is today or be capable of giving us the things we need as a society to maintain our strong economy. The invisible hand gives us the land aspect of capitalism. The invisible hand is the “magic” aspect of capitalism, which creates the demand for workers and products to be produced. When someone wants to sell an item, there are always natural resources that just “appear” thanks to the invisible hand. The invisible hand also gives us labor because people of the world have a specific need for jobs and money, so the “rich people” will always have others to employ. Capital (which is the main word in capital-ism) is basically any resource or object that will aid one in the creation of their product. "A great part of the unprecedented wealth creation went into sanitation and more abundant food and later into the research necessary to produce vaccines and antibiotics." (Boaz) Thus proving how important Land, Labor and Capital truly are. Without the use and accumulation of Land, Labor and Capital, we would have never been able to find all the resources needed to advance our technology and aid the people of the world in becoming more aware and healthy. In the definition of capitalism we also see this concept of profit motive which is a concept in which provides “rich people” with some incentive as to where they can get the most profit for their product. But profit, as many people may think, is not the money that is received from selling products, it is the money left over after paying the workers and other business expenses. Depending on the consumer, the market and many other small aspects, profit may change due to Market price. Market price is the highest (or lowest) price the consumer is willing to buy and the seller is willing to sell. Depending on the supply (total amount of resources for sale at all prices) and demand (the total amount of resources that products will be bought at all prices) the market price will increase or decrease. "General stores don't close down because of big evil Wal-Mart. They close down because they can't compete. They can't deliver the quality good at the lowest price. The market mechanism dictates these losers be replaced with the firm that will best serve the public interest."(Bland) As described here, depending on the market price, supply and demand, low scale general stores will have to compete with bigger businesses and try and sell they’re products at a lowest price that the consumer is willing to pay for, but still make a profit. Once the store is unable to lower their prices anymore and still make profit, they are run out of business and lose their store. Large companies such as “Wal-Mart” do not force competitors to close, rather the demand for a reasonable Market price does. This leads to many other aspects of capitalism, which many do not fully grasp. These are the basics of economics. Although they may all not have been portrayed, these few will aid in the process of learning about the misinterpretations that occur.

Background – Government (?):
Another important aspect of AWOL that plays a major influential role in society is our Government. Our Government basically has full control over how AWOL is represented and lived and we as Americans sit idly by while the Government runs our lives. It starts off with “The Highest Law of the Land” or The Constitution. The Preamble states that people in America have the right to protection by the government and justice within the system. It states that the constitution was created in order to form a closer bond within America and its citizens, preserve liberty and ensure the safety and fairness that people deserve. The constitution itself, states that the government is split up between 2 houses that distribute the responsibilities and such equally between them. They balance each other and keep the rules “fair.” The Legislative branch is the only bicameral branch, consisting of “The House of Representatives” and “The Senate.” Although they reside in the same branch, both of these houses have semi-different responsibilities. The House of representatives, for example, is more closely related to the people of their state. The people elect them directly while members of the senate are chosen by state legislatures and there are only two senators elected. Both of these houses are responsible for keeping power equal within every branch as well as within every state. Senators ensure that larger states do not try to overpower smaller states. This branch (as well as the others) keeps a record of their own proceedings and determines laws for their own branch. Yet this house has the ability to create bills, which in turn may become laws. Other powers consist of collecting taxes, creating punishments for counterfeiting, determining the value of money, declaring war, laying claim to resources. They also have power over land and naval forces. The Executive branch consists of The President and The Vice President. The people do not directly elect a president, the legislatures from other houses have most of a say in the matter of a president. The president can be commander and chief of the army or navy should he decide to do so. The President mostly focuses on the states affairs with other countries and treaties and such. He may right pardons and reproves for army, navy or military officials should he feel the need. He may also make agreements and treaties with other countries. Although he is elected by the legislatures, the President elects members of the Supreme Court and has a right to change or add the number of justices on a Supreme Court council. Should a President do anything unlawful or unconstitutional, he can be impeached by the Congress. The president must be sworn into the White House and must abide by certain laws and rules. He may veto laws should he find them unacceptable or disagree with them yet he may be overthrown by the Congress in a case that 2/3rds majority disagrees. The Judicial Branch consists of members of the Supreme Court. The supreme court is only tends to cases that have to do with unconstitutional acts. The Supreme Court decides if a certain act is considered unconstitutional or not. They also deal with crimes having to do with treaties, treason or federal law. The Supreme Court makes sure that all states are at peace with each other and that they do not discriminate states based on their personal laws. The Supreme Court may rule an amendment or a law unconstitutional and may talk to congress so that they amend the law or amendment. The constitution is basically a giant list. It states that people have certain rights and that the government also has certain rights and powers and is written in a way that makes people believe it is the greatest document ever written. When we actually take a step back and look at the constitution we can see that it is basically a very craftily worded document that makes people feel powerful and important so that there are no rivalries in the system and ensures the security of the “rich people’s” power in society.

Argument – Alternate Views:
To comprehend the American Way of Life, it is important to learn other people’s views of it. While interviewing several people, I have found a general consensus as to what some aspects of AWOL may be. The points made were that in America, “People have the freedom to work hard and achieve their dreams whatever those may be.” Men like John Fanning (a principle at SOF) and Kate (a producer at the Play Company) agree that values of AWOL are family and making enough money to support themselves and their lives with their families. While everyone I interviewed agreed with this statement, there were many different answers when asked what influenced this ways of life and their thinking. An Employee at American Apparel (who claimed to be a Hispanic living in “the ghetto”) had this idea that “The only thing Americans value is money. Nobody can do shit in this country unless their rich. This whole damn country is a fucking hustle. All people want to do is get even because they hold grudges against the minorities. We can’t go to college or get good jobs because the cops are too busy putting our fucking people in jail. And we can’t fucking get jobs so we have to sell drugs in order to get money and then we get fucking thrown in jail because it’s cheaper to do that then send our boys to college.” In the meanwhile Lauren (another producer at The Play Company) suggests, “AWOL is now more than ever based on Materialism, Consumerism, easy answers and easy ways out. Americans are now expected to have their success and dreams handed to them. For example we have easy weight loss programs where you don’t have to do anything, college on the Internet and Internet dating. No one really has to do anything anymore.” While Lauren has a steady working job where she is, most likely, highly paid and held in high regard for what she does, The employee from American Apparel said she was struggling to put herself through college, to make enough money to support herself, she lives in “the hood” and she isn’t happy with her life. From all of this we can conclude that factors in one’s life such as financial status, social status and living environment greatly affect the category of AWOL they are placed under. Because Lauren is financially well off and has a good environment, her answers to the question of values and pros and cons were less cynical and angry for lack of a better word. The Employee from American Apparel shared that she was struggling and she was not financially secure and her environment left much to be desired so this influenced her to feel strongly about this topic and greatly desire change in America as a whole. From her cursing and gestures as she explained her harsh, cynical thoughts about how America is run we can see that harsh living arrangements and bad financial situations may drive people to be rebellious Americans who push for change, but never do anything about them. Although the employee from American Apparel leads this life, Isa Claudio-Abdul (My mother) led a very similar life and has different thoughts. Isa was born in Chicago moved to Puerto Rico and then moved to “the hood” in the Bronx. She was not financially stable, she had difficult family life and she, also had to deal with gangs and violence. She expressed that “AWOL is a myth. We as Americans have a right to grow up and be whatever we want, but we, as the ‘super society,’ know nothing of our culture. We glorify our society and cause immigrants to want to come here to lead a better life and when they get here, the Americans don’t feel like working and they get mad at the immigrants for taking jobs that they didn’t even want to do in the first place.” Living in Puerto Rico showed my mother how America was glorified and how people in Puerto Rico really wanted to be just like America. She expressed to me that in Puerto Rico, everyone wanted to sing the “American songs” and dress like kids in New York. The adults, (such as my Grandmother) wanted to move to America because they saw it as a better chance of “surviving.” She needed a job and money and she felt that moving to America would help her financial and environmental status. So, because my mother heard all of these good things about America in Puerto Rico, she inferred that other places in the world held America in extremely high regard and that we, to other countries, are –as she put it- “the super structure of the world.” In agreement with my mother, Linda (the third producer at The Play Company who also lived in Germany for sometime) spoke about the differences in society. “Europe used to think America was one of the greatest societies, but now they are becoming more and more fed up with us, yet they still are dependent on America. Some Germans admire the fact that in America, you can change your profession based on your dreams. This is extremely difficult in Germany due to finances. Although this is a positive aspect of America, a negative aspect is the fact that in America, politics and religion are combined more than they should be. Germany is less religious than America and while it is good that we get to express any religion, the Constitution states that church and state should be kept separate and this idea is getting more and more lost.” Living in other countries and states has shown these to women different views of America. They can see how America is glorified and, now that they have lived here for a while, what it actually is. While my mother spoke about ignorance and seemed more cynical towards ideas in America, Linda seemed more undecided because of the fact that she believed that you could only tell what the American way of life was if you compared it to something else. And of course if you compare America to a terrible regime, America will look wonderful. Not only is religion playing a big role in AWOL, but according to John Fanning, “Americans are being force fed a certain way of thinking and feeling about AWOL and being raised to think that they need to be patriotic and pass that down through the generations. The media is feeding people ideas of what AWOL should be and while the ideas like Family are good, they still don’t learn good aspects of America and the mistakes we’ve made. John has led an extremely interesting life, one in which he has seen Europe and the things that go on there and gotten to know what life is about. He explains negative aspects possibly because he knows what other countries think about America and he knows what America is actually like. This possibly makes it easier to see what things are good about America and what things are glorified and what needs to change.

Argument 2 –Religion in Society:
To follow up on John’s idea of Americans being “Force Fed” ideas, we can look at the Inauguration as a key example. The Inauguration in and of itself is a giant effort to force feed Americans this idea that because a president is sworn in and swears to protect the integrity and liberty of America, that the President is the most important and nicest person in the world and will strive to so the very best he/she can to preserve the “beauty” of the American way which is not always true. President Obama also invited a Priest to speak at the Inauguration. If you pay close enough attention, you will hear that God was mentioned many times during the priest’s speech. Obama’s talk of God was acceptable because that’s what he believes in, and he is “sharing” his God with us and asking “his” God to bless America. Yet to have a priest come to the Inauguration and pray to God for EVERYONE in America seems, in a way, unfair. It’s almost as if the priest was pushing Christianity and Catechism onto everyone in America at that moment. He was telling everyone about God and how he is watching over everyone and how he was going to help fix America’s problems. He said the “Our Father,” which is of course a Jewish prayer, but is also said by people of both Catholic and Christian religious backgrounds. This in some ways excludes other religions yet no one really gives this any thought. We see here that a religion is taking control of an event which is meant to celebrate the induction of a person who will give “peace and order” to our country into The White House, but because Americans are being force fed these thoughts of “a better tomorrow” and a better future, people will just pretend like this is not happening. Although these are small things, they count for a lot in terms of religious freedom even in the constitution. The constitution states that there will be no test of religion required to be qualified to become part of office. This is placed in the constitution so that people in the state feel that it is safe to practice any religion within the United States and no one will be penalized for it, not even those running for office. The “Framers” of the constitution wanted to make the constitution seem as though it opened the state to everyone and everything no matter how different. Yet, they contradict themselves because they don’t count slaves as part of the population; they call them “Person[s] held to Service or Labor.” They constantly refer back to the Indians and treaties that were made with the “savages,” as though they don’t exist or don’t matter even though these “savages” were the 1st to reside in the land. They later state: “Done in Convention by the Unanimous Consent of the States present the Seventeenth Day of September in the Year of our Lord one thousand seven hundred and Eighty seven and of the Independence of the United States of America the Twelfth.” We see that the “Framers” try and use religion in the constitution to make it “equal” for everyone, but obviously with the way they refer to slaves and Indians, they tried to use words that still give them the upper hand. They also say that the constitution was created “in the year of our Lord” meaning God. Although they say that religion won’t really matter, but then they “sneak” God into the constitution, although not a major part, still being biased and in a little way forcing Christianity into the lives of all who live under the constitution.

Argument 3 – False Dignity:
Another thing that is being forced into the minds of Americans is the false sense of pride and dignity in our country. When taking a step back and looking at the constitution, we can see that it shapes the basic emotions and look Americans have on their way of life. The constitution is written in a way that gives people a sense that they have a lot of power in the way their country is run. If asked what system of Government the United States is based upon, many people would proudly state “a Democracy.” This, however, is untrue because to the well informed, we know that the United States is a Republic. This little fact plays a big role in the American way of Life because everyone is pulled towards America because of our “Democracy,” but living under it shows people how unevenly balanced the power actually is. The constitution states that every state must have a representative (or 2) to help make decisions for that state. This gives and maintains the rich people’s power. American citizens don’t even get to directly elect their President. Although we vote, most of the decisions are based on the votes within the different branches of government. Our government tells people that they have certain rights that taking away will be unconstitutional. But the government uses excuses like protecting the country to break these laws without getting into trouble. They follow the constitution and penalize those that break it in order to maintain the rich people’s power and to make the “lesser people” feel as if they have some importance. Knowing that our country is run by a “great document” like the constitution, gives many citizens a sense of pride and dignity to be an American, yet no one ever really takes a step back and looks at exactly what the constitution says. They see that they have certain rights that cannot be taken away and that they have power to elect a senator and can vote for their President, but they don’t see that fact that the government states in the constitution that the Federal Government is the highest form of government and has the most power. If they find something not to their liking, they have the power to find it unconstitutional and find a way to put an end to whatever the “unlawful” act might have been. If the President finds that in the Supreme Court there is a case that he considers unconstitutional, he has the power to add as many justices as he likes and whomever he would like. He can elect a majority of people who agree with him thus making the Supreme Court rule a certain act as unconstitutional. This proves how easily rich people in power can manipulate the constitution and ultimately the lives of Americans. They can use power and the constitution to their advantage and not get in trouble for most things they do. They can simply do what ever they please and then turn their heads as if nothing happened and we as Americans still sit back with our false sense of pride and belief in the “liberty” of our country.

Not only do people force feed lies to other Americans, but the constitution also gives us a false sense of power. From Article 4 in Sections 2-3, we see that the “Framers” say that states must respect the rules and regulations of every other state. The states are allowed to have their own laws, but they cannot go against the constitution. It is also stated that the government has the only rights in creating a new state and the Congress has the power over which of their new states becomes part of the union. In Section 4 we see that the “Framers” wanted people to know that the government still has most of the power. Federal Government is said to be the most powerful government. It protects states from all “enemies” and ensures that people have a representative government. From this, we can contract that the “Framers” wanted people in every state to feel as though they have most of the power in how their lives were run. The states make their own rules and that’s ok and they will be respected, as long as they abide by the constitution. The government lets people deal with the prosecution of a criminal in their state and ensure that their laws are abided by, but should the government dislike the occurrences and find them unconstitutional, they are able to change what they disagree with. They give people rights, yet they still say that the Federal government no matter what, will be the most powerful government. They will create new states and decide who gets to join the union and should they feel that a state is “unworthy” they may deny them access to the union. This article shows how the government is afraid to give the people a lot of power because they want to ensure that the rich people stay in power and don’t lose their superiority. The government tricks the “lesser people,” saying that they can have rules and they can make up whatever type of laws they want for their state, but they MUST abide by the Governments “outlines.” This actually takes AWAY from the rights that the people have than adds to them.

Argument 4 – Freedom Being Challenged:
A leading component of our differences from other countries is our freedom and right to do as we please without any consequences. This however is another part of our Constitution that is constantly contradicted. For example, the 14th amendment states that: "No State shall make or enforce any law which shall abridge the privileges or immunities of citizens of the United States; nor shall any State deprive any person of life, liberty, or property, without due process of law; nor deny to any person within its jurisdiction the equal protection of the laws." This means that no state may create a law that takes away a citizen’s right to be happy or to make decisions for them that will better their situation. This amendment strongly conflicts with certain rules that state that gay marriage is illegal and that abortion is illegal. The 14th amendment gives people the right to better their lives and make decisions that will make them happy. Should any state ban gay marriage, they are taking away a person’s “liberty” and the right to be happy. The conflicts in this amendment are great and can cause many issues. The amendment states that “we the people” have the right to choose what we need, want and will make us happy. Enforcing this amendment will be extremely hard because there are many, many different people with views that support and are against gay marriage, abortion and a female’s rights to her body so no one will ever agree on an amendment to this amendment. States will have their own laws because it is their constitutional right, but their laws may go against this amendment. It is stated in the constitution that the federal government has the most power over every government, yet the federal government can’t enforce this amendment because within the Federal Government, many people disagree with the idea that gay marriage and such should be legal.

Similarly, the 4th amendment states that people of the United States have the right to their privacy. They may not be searched or investigated unless the government has a warrant with a sufficient reason as to why they are searching this person and only a select few places may be checked. The 6th amendment states that should there be a criminal convicted who does not have a lawyer; one will be provided for them. This amendment is often contradicted because of the hunger for power. These amendments distort our society because they show us that the government promises us that we will have privacy and we can do what we please, but in actuality when we enter the subway station or an airport, we are randomly checked because the government is “trying to protect the country.” Police officers often discriminate who they check based on gender or race and possibly religion which goes against the 5th amendment. In terms of the 6th amendment, when criminals (or innocent people) are convicted of a crime and cannot supply their own lawyer, they are provided one. But if the court and police find the convicted guilty no matter what, they can provide the convicted a lawyer who is unhelpful. Although the Bill of Rights states that we have privacy and will be helped in a case where a person cannot help themselves, the government takes over these amendments and gives themselves power. They create it so that they control people’s fate in terms of trials and such by giving a person a bad lawyer and they control who and what is private in the lives of Americans and cover it up with the idea that they have to “protect the people from enemies.” This amendment gives people the right to their privacy; they may not be searched without just cause. Section 4 Article 4 of the constitution states that the government ensures the safety of the people of the United States from enemies. These 2 rules conflict with each other because it is not defined what is just cause to search a person. People are randomly searched in the U.S. all the time based on what they look like. The Government uses this excuse that they want to protect its people so that they have a “just cause” for searching whomever they please. Being able to randomly search through people’s belongings gives police and in turn the Government a sense of power because they write amendments and parts of the constitution that make people feel safe and free. They’re happy because they can have privacy and be protected by a strong government, but they don’t realize that they are stuck under a government which thirsts for power and obtains it by raiding peoples belongings for no just reason.