Reagan

  Reagan

The Reagan administration was defined by the phrase "government is the problem" and tried to remove all government regulation of businesses. Despite this, the budget deficit of the federal government continued to grow through the decade, along with an increasing trade deficit als growing rapidly since the 1970s, and despite Reagan' promises to tackle the "twin deficits." 

The budget deficit grew largely because of a combination of increased military spending and significant tax cuts given to the highest income brackets in the country. Reagan was later forced to reverse many of these tax cuts and ended up raising taxes several times.  Much of the increased military spending was used to finance covert wars in Latin America and the Middle East, but also to "outspend" the Russians on defense, a process that some commentators believe helped pushed the Soviet Union into its final downward spiral into dissolution.

This passage is about the new direction of the country that Reagan felt he needed to take the

country in. His economic philosophy supply-side economics (Reaganomics)   This theory 

suggest that give the rich, upper income brackets, there would then be a trickle down thereby

increasing the economy. The United States government was involved trying to be the protecter

of the world.  That has had a tremendous backlash, involvement in all of these covert wars.  I

don't know what effect the downfall of Russia has, since there were to many unsolved problems

the needed the attention wholeheartedly by the heads of the government.

Woodrow Wilson or Teddy Roosevelt

                            Woodrow Wilson

You know that it was Jefferson who said that the best government is that which does as little governing as possible, which exercises its power as little as possible. That was said in a day when the opportunities of America were so obvious to every man, when every individual was so free to use his powers without let or hindrance, that all that was necessary was that the government should withhold its hand and see to it that every man got an opportunity to act if he would. But that time is past. America is not now, and cannot in the future be, a place for unrestricted individual enterprise. It is true that we have come upon an age of great cooperative industry. It is true that we must act absolutely upon this principle (p. 439).

One thing that many working people have in common is no contact between employees and management. Wilson's central point is that the size and scale of American society is so large that  government intervention is necessary:

Who in this great audience knows his employer? I mean among those who go down into the mines or go into the mills and factories. You never see, you practically never deal with, the president of the corporation. You probably don't know the directors of the corporation by sight. The only thing you know is that by score, by the hundred, by the thousand, you are employed with your fellow workmen by some agent of an invisible employer. Therefore, whenever bodies of men employ bodies of men, it ceases to be a private relationship" (p. 440)

This paragraph is an attack on the size of government.  His perception is also an attack on the

framers  of the Constitution.  His progressive views sees the framers as not being able to 

comprehend the direction of the country at that time, he claimed that the Declaration " is of no consequence to us unless we can translate its general terms into examples of the present day"

It goes back to Thoreau, who said, " people are basically machines and do as they are told, with no use of their own autonomy or intelligence.  Wilson goes on to say that as an example the disparity in

connection between owner, management and employee and corporations, is what is happening

to government, because that is whats controlling the economy.  The only difference between the 

framers, and during his time is that the wealth was centered individually as opposed then

becoming industrialized,creating different problems like monopolies and corporations.

I chose this passage because, it appears that Wilson had tremendous foresight, In retrospect for him
not difficult to envision the future of  the country based on the realities of the day.  Government  was
so huge that it seems distant.   We've come to where major companies, and wealthy families control
so much of the direction of the country.The country is controlled by 5% of the population.  That
hasn't changed much since  since the beginning of the country.  The only change is the shifting of 
resources that gain wealth, from Agriculture to Industrial, and now the Information Age.  Government
will never be small, it will only get more complicated. The wealthy will never share adequately nor 
do they want too. There seems to be a shift, where there are entities to at least get a foundation to
sponsor their beliefs. If there is no change, I believe we are headed for anarchy.

POLITICAL IMPLICATIONS

The Depression had profound political implications. In countries such as Germany and Japan, reaction to the Depression brought about the rise to power of militarist governments who adopted the regressive foreign policies that led to the Second World War. In countries such as the United States and Britain, government intervention ultimately resulted in the creation of welfare systems and the managed economies of the period following the Second World War.

In the United States Roosevelt became President in 1933 and promised a "New Deal" under which the government would intervene to reduce unemployment by work-creation schemes such as street cleaning and the painting of post offices. Both agriculture and industry were supported by policies (which turned out to be mistaken) to restrict output and increase prices. The most durable legacy of the New Deal was the great public works projects such as the Hoover Dam and the introduction by the Tennessee Valley Authority of flood control, electric power, fertilizer, and even education to a depressed agricultural region in the south.

The New Deal was not, in the main, an early example of economic management, and it did not lead to rapid recovery. Income per capita was no higher in 1939 than in 1929, although the government’s welfare and public works policies did benefit many of the most needy people. The big growth in the US economy was, in fact, due to rearmament.

In Germany Hitler adopted policies that were more interventionist, developing a massive work-creation scheme that had largely eradicated unemployment by 1936. In the same year rearmament, paid for by government borrowing, started in earnest. In order to keep down inflation, consumption was restricted by rationing and trade controls. By 1939 the Germans’ Gross National Product was 51 per cent higher than in 1929 — an increase due mainly to the manufacture of armaments and machinery.

Second Inaugural Speech Abraham Lincoln

Second Inaugural Speech  Saturday, March 4, 1865


     On the occasion corresponding to this four years ago all thoughts were anxiously directed
to an impending civil war.  All dreaded it, all sought to avert it.  While the inaugural address was
being delivered from this place, devoted altogether to saving the Union without war, insurgent
agents were in the city seeking to destroy it without war-seeking to dissolve the Union and divide effects by negotiation. Both parties deprecated war, but one of them would rather than let the nation survive, and the other would accept war rather than let it perish, and the war came.

    This passage is being historically summarized by Lincoln.  He has taken all the years that have
led to the war.  He explains to the country the different factions that led to the war and their reasons.

     I chose this because, this was about the different factions, pro and con, on slavery and against.
A lot of people did not condemn slavery but considered it morally and religiously wrong. There
was also the economic benefit that the north no longer had from slaves.  The North was becoming
more industrialized. That alone did not allow the advancement of the South to progress  for the nation.The South"s wealth was primarily invested in agriculture, and I think this has proven to
be true, since after the war, there was a influx of he population to he north.  That attitude has continued for a long time, with the saying the north being the promised land. Today though there is a recent surge
in the population shift of returning back to the south.

Lincoln Speech Dred Scot

Lincoln Speech on The Dred Scott  Decision


    " No man can vindicate the character, motives and conduct of the signers of the Declaration of
Independence except upon the hypothesis that they referred to the white race alone, and not to the African, when they declared all men to have been created equal-that they were speaking of British subjects on this continent being equal to  British subjects born and residing in Great Britain- that
they were entitled to the same inalienable rights, and among them were enumerated life, liberty and
the pursuit of happiness.  The Declaration was adopted for the purpose of justifying the colonists in the eyes of the civilized world in withdrawing their allegiance from the British crown, and dissolving their connection with the mother country."

This passage refers to Lincoln giving Justice Douglas view on the the subject of slavery and the question of what to do with the slave. The question of slavery had been plagueing the country since
even before the formation of the union.  His view is that (Douglas) the framers did not intend to
include the African,  as equal.  It was believed that slaves would then be assimilated into white
society, miscegenation would soon follow. He suggest that the framers only meant when it was said of being equal that it was meant for only the British, to be be equal as citizens. Consequently only then having allegiance to the union. There seemed to be great fear in the mingling of white and black
blood.

I write about his because, it relates to us still today.  Although slavery has been abolished in the
de jure sense, it is still de facto.  The climate has shifted from slavery, that now there is e.g.
immigration.  When in reality we are all immigrants.

These articles show how the slave believed that their participation in the war would eventually
allow them freedom.  Not knowing deep rooted prejudices and white male superiority would
ultimately curtailed all those efforts. The slave was by no means able to fight those prejudices
off for the institution of slavery had embedded a system that  would still be prevalent today.
It has keep the African from ever extolling the virtues of societal equality, by never the letting family
structure to develop.  Whereby that important fact would help in the slave mentality for freedom
as opposed to equality.

"Contraband of War"--African American Fugitives To Union Lines

Alfred R. Waud. Contrabands Coming into Camp. Drawing. Chinese white on brown paper. Published in Harper's Weekly, January 31, 1863. Prints and Photographs Division. Reproduction Number: LC-USZC4-6173/LC-USZ62-14189 (4-1)

As Union armies moved into the South, thousands of slaves fled to their camps. Although some Union officers sent them back to their masters, others allowed them to remain with their troops, using them as a work force and dubbing them "contraband of war." Of this sketch, Waud, who photographed the "contrabands" and then prepared the drawing for the newspaper, wrote: There is something very touching in seeing these poor people coming into camp--giving up all the little ties that cluster about home, such as it is in slavery, and trustfully throwing themselves on the mercy of the Yankees, in the hope of getting permission to own themselves and keep their children from the auction-block. This party evidently comprises a whole family from some farm . . . .

"Contrabands" at the Nation's Capitol

Contrabands, Camp Brightwood. Washington, D.C., ca. 1863. Carte de visite. Gladstone Collection, Prints and Photographs Division. Reproduction Number: LC-USZC4-6158 (4-9)

Black slaves who fled to Union lines, or "contrabands," often proved themselves extremely useful, even before the government enlisted them into service. A group of "contrabands" appear on this calling card. Calling cards, or cartes de visite, with photographs were popular during this era partly because photography was relatively new and the cards provided a means of sharing likenesses with friends and relatives. This one includes images of white officers of the 2nd Rhode Island Camp at Camp Brightwood in the District of Columbia. On the left is Capt. B. S. Brown. In the center is Lt. John P. Shaw, killed in action at the Wilderness, Virginia, May 5, 1864, and on the right is Lt. T. Fry. The "contrabands" with them are not named.

Anthony- Stanton - Douglas

The Working Woman"s Association

     The Working Woman"s movement in the city is already assuming an importance unlooked
for the few who met together searce one month since in the office of the "The Revolution" to
discuss the necessity of doing something for the protection of woman's labor.
     A Working Woman"s Association was organized by Susan B. Anthony, Which now numbers over two hundred members. They are to meet once a month to devise ways and means to open to
themselves new and more profitable employments, that thus by decreasing the numbers in the few
avocations now open to women, they can decrease the supply and raise the wages of those who remain.  They propose, also to demand an increase of wages in all those trades where they now work, beside
men for half pay. This can only be done by combination, for one person alone demanding higher wages can effect nothing, but 5,000 women in any one employment, striking for higher wages, would  speedily bring their employers to terms.

     One of Miss Anthony's most cherished plans is to have magnificent printing establishment, and
a daily paper, owned and controlled and all the work done by woman, thus giving employment to hundreds and making the world ring with a new evangel for women.

Elizabeth Cody Stanton   pages 105-106     November 5, 1865

    This passage is specifically about the equality of the woman, in all aspects of society.  I don't think
you can separate the two. They were very good friends, who shared the same intensity for this equality.
Both of them heavily influenced by Thoreau.

I picked this because it coincides with our lectures, and the learning of philosophy. We get a different
perspective on our own opinions after learning of the struggles of others, which include not just rhetoric but actions.  Each of this persons gave more than lip service.

Frederick Douglas

    Tremendous orator, who was a staunch advocator for he rights of slaves.  Synonymous with the plight of Anthony and Stanton, understood the difficulty in addressing the problems of equality of the slave.  Each one having learned of Thoreau, and used his practices for advancement.  I see the similarities in all three, with all having basically the same qualities.

Henry David Thoreau

     The mass of men serve the state thus, not as men mainly, but as machines, with their bodies.
They are the standing army; and the militia, jailers, constables, posse comitatus, etc. In most
cases there os no free exercise whatever of the judgement of the moral sense; but they put themselves
on a level with wood and earth and stones; and wooden men can perhaps be manufactured that will serve the purpose as well.  Such command no more respect than men of straw or a lump of dirt.They have the same sort of worth only as horses and dogs.  Yet such as these even are commonly esteemed good citizens.
 

This passage relates to the mass of people, who no matter the proffesion they seem to just follow
direction, even though it may be against their own moral principles.  A lot of his writings were based
on his Puritanical religious beliefs.  He feels that one should stand up for their beliefs.  He shows his
validity by not paying his taxes and going to jail. He alludes to the fact that the masses only listen to the leaders, even though they may be wrong. This passage suggest that tou must follow your own mind
and convictions.

     I chose this passage because his words have stood the test of time.  From his support of John Brown,   Who based on his writings may have taken it a too the extreme.In the words of Ganhdi,"I became
convinced that noncooperation with evil is as much a moral obligation as is cooperation with good"
No other person has been more eloquent and passionate in getting his idea across than Henry David
Thoreau, as a result of his writings and personal witness,  "We are heirs of a legacy of creative protest
Martin Luther King, Jr. " (autobiography)

                            Fugitive Slave Law  -  Militant Abolition

    These two topics relate to his writings where he alludes that people are machines, They don't use their own minds to do what is morally right.  John Brown's action although he may have known Thoreau, according to his writings on Civil Disobedience were very extreme, he did not advocate violence.  It gives back to writings on Civil Disobedience  where men follow the corrupt government
without any conscious.

           Anti- Slavery Activism - Plea for the Suppression of the Slave Trade

     Thoreau's writings call for activism.  Which is possibly why many learned people have used his writings to develop a platform.  Ganhdi, Martin Mc Carthy, to name a few.  His writings suggest that you should not let government tell you what to do, when the leaders have their own agenda, one should
follow their own mind.

Anti Federalist Essays