Part D Question 1-
I for one wouldn’t want that power. But since this is homework I have no choice but to answer it. I would define the word “citizen” more clearly and I would make sure that equal rights for all races and both genders were included clearly and understandable in both the bill of rights and the constitution. I would also be very careful to not include laws and amendments that may contradict each other or other laws that other businesses may have i.e. MTA searching. I would also try and make the laws and amendments reasonable gaps from each other unlike the gap between voting rights (12th amendment) and abolishing slavery (13th amendment). Also I would make a law or amendment giving the citizens more power to have a say and input in what the government controls.
When the constitution was made it only benefited the rich people and white people. The amendments were made later to help include other races and females. That says a lot about the government. If it weren’t for the 27 amendments I have no idea how life would be now of how much worse life would have been for other races and females. The constitution alone just looks selfish, sexist and racist. I would change that anyway I could.
Part D Question 4-
I think the general and most common attitude and tone of the constitution is to try and be fair and to try and sound as stern as possible. When I read the amendments it sounded to me like the tone was forced. It gave me the impression that the amendments were slipped in last to attempt to be equal and fair. Even though the amendments do help out other races and females, that doesn’t stray, people to forget the inhuman way that people were living before the amendments were established. There were limits put on the government, which I believe is only fair since they have majority of the power. i.e. the separation of powers makes sure that no one part of the government has too much power. I don’t know about the betrayal of public officials. Take the 19th amendment for example. The right of citizens of the United States to vote shall not be denied or abridged by the United States or by any State on account of sex. But I just can’t believe that people honestly honor this amendment. I’m sure that women have been denied jobs just because they were women since this amendment was ratified.
But I would believe that the government isn’t exactly a beacon of honesty. The history of America speaks for itself, from slavery, to massacres, to segregation, to assassination to wars. When all this is going on it makes it hard to focus attention to a piece of paper with a few laws from over 100 years year ago scribbled down. I believe that sometimes we may look to the constitution sometimes for order and the basis of laws for our county, but I don’t think that we uphold them or even follow them the majority of the time. What good is a piece of paper, when American’s do what they want all the time?
Part D Question 5-
I think that it would be ridiculous to say that we follow all of the rule and law as stated on the constitution. I don’t think that the constitution makes America what it is today. Maybe when the constitution was written, the people back then lived their lives by the book and followed the laws of the constitution. But today I think in a way American’s have made their own laws. I’m not saying that the laws are useless and pointless, because for the most part the laws are important and in some way they do shape how we live, but I don’t think they make a huge difference in our daily lives. Up until 2 weeks ago I knew nothing about the amendments or the constitution and I was living my daily life just fine. I guess that’s why I believe the constitution and amendments aren’t all they are hyped up to be. But I could be wrong; maybe when I get older they may play more of a role in my life. But I’m sure that for countless other American’s the constitution and the amendments shape out important aspect of their lives.
4 comments:
Responding to part one, it was unclear to me about what you were saying about the constitution and the amendments. I didn't quite grasp what you were trying to prove about the amendments. I understand that you were saying that if had the amendments not existed the American life as it is now would be completely different but I don't see the connection between that and how you would amend the constitution.
The second part I completely agree with, I wrote similar notes on my blog about how the government tries to be really fair about things but it is not as fair as it looks and it tries to cover up a lot of things that they do not want the citizens to see.
The third part I disagree with, I think that the constitution is very much related to the American way of life, it might not be very clear but, how I did it, looking at the aspects of the American way of life and seeing how they are at least somewhat related to how we live today. You say that without the knowledge of the constitution, your life would not be any different but I think that it is something we were born into, we were born her in America and expected to live by these laws without even thinking about the origin of it. So I think there is a connection, it may not be easy to find but it is there.
Well I'm saying that having extensive knowledge of the constitution wouldn't really make any difference in MY life. It wasn't meant to be true for everyone, I don't think you understood what i was talking about in part one as I had meant it. I stated that alone without the adaptation of the amendments the constitution sounds selfish, sexist and racist. Had the amendments not been added, life would be completely different. Connecting it to how i would fix it, i would add basically what the amendments say, so that everything was equal from the start.
Jacara -
How could the Constitution be amended to give citizens greater power?
Occasionally your reading becomes sloppy - for instance you juxtapose the 19th amendment (which you correctly quote as involving voting rights for women) and imply that it has failed to prevent job discrimination.
One could make a better argument that the 14th amendment applies in that case.
I wonder if it would help you to have a pattern of thought like this, "X is what I think I heard/read. Is that accurate? I should check it twice." This is also true of your writing - sometimes your ideas seem vague and could benefit from a sharper re-writing.
Good luck.
For instance in re-reading what I just wrote I notice that I have a awkward use of "juxtapose".
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