Has America become a culture of entitlement, where people expect Essay

Has America become a culture of entitlement, where people expect society--parents, teachers, governmentto provide for them regardless of their own efforts - Essay Example Research has it that this culture is more prevalent among men and women of the present day generation than those of the past generations. It is quickly gaining ground and could even be more established in the years to come. Many people have in the earlier generations pursued the dream of America through commitment and inventiveness. They achieved success through strife and serious enthusiasm for their courses. In case they became successful, they counted themselves to be very lucky (Arguelles Web). The trend and mentality are quite different today. Most students today tend to think that they have an entitlement to success, and they do not have to work for it. Students in the present generations tend to focus on what the society should give to them instead of concentrating on how they can make the society better. Their sense of ability and skills is kind of inflated in comparison with that of the students of the older generations. One Jean Twenge, a popular American Psychologist with her team, has in the past gathered information on the subject of entitlement. She notes that in the last four decades, there was an interesting increase in the number of young people who take themselves to be ‘above average’ in certain fields. Such fields include; academic potential; their motivation to success, arithmetic prowess as well as self-confidence. Upon evaluating some of the traits that are taken to be more individualistic, the statistics either lowered or remained constant for the same period. Such traits may include; spirituality, personal cooperativeness and getting to know others (Arguelles Web). The opinions of these people (mostly students) and their actual potential have been found to be incongruent. The situation is known as ‘ambition inflation.’ It means they talk or think big about themselves but perform miserably on the actual

The struggle for equality Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 3750 words

The struggle for equality - Essay Example Civil rights are freedoms and rights guaranteed to a member of a community, state, or nation. Freedom of speech, of the press, religion, and of fair and equal treatment are the basic civil rights. The constitution of the United States contains a Bill of Rights that describes simple liberties and rights insured to every person in the United States. Although the Bill of Rights is the first ten amendments to the Constitution, civil rights were not always respected to all human beings, especially blacks. When the Constitution was first written, many Americans understood the meaning of the famous inscripture â€Å"all men are created equal† to mean that all white males were created equal, likewise with other civil rights guarantees as well. As a result, blacks were enslaved and persecuted throughout the late 1700's and early 1800's.After the end of Civil War the Constitution was amended to give former slaves freedom and the rights of citizens. This passing of the 13th, 14th, and 15th Amendments to Constitution were supposed to give the African-Americans equal protection under the law. They were also intended to give the new citizens the right to vote. During the 1850's abolitionists in the North questioned the morality of southern slavery by writing and preaching about the rights blacks were denied. Abolitionists such as William Lloyd Garrison, Fredrick Douglass, and Sojourner Truth, paved the way for the first civil rights movement that occurred after the Civil War, during Reconstruction. ... segregated societies, separating themselves from blacks in every humanly way possible. The old Jim Crow laws governed all aspects of their existence, from the schoolroom to the restroom. Southern blacks faced new discrimination every day whether it be economically, socially, or politically. America was destined for another, more far- reaching civil rights movement. The civil rights movement during the late 1800's and early 1900's provided the foundations for the current civil rights laws achieved throughout the 1960's. Black Americans made significant gains in their struggle for equal rights during Reconstruction, the 12-year period after the Civil War. In 1868, after southern president Andrew Johnson vetoed a Civil Rights bill, the radically republican influenced congress transported the principals of the Civil Rights bill to the 14th Amendment. The 14th Amendment conferred civil rights and citizenship for all former slaves, and was incorporated into the requirements for a southern state to regain its statehood. After the 14th Amendment was passed; however, the radical faction of congress was disappointed that it did not grant blacks the right to vote. When the fear that southern states might amend their constitutions so as to withdraw blacks from the ballot was recognized by moderate Republicans, Congress formally placed the ballot in the hands of blacks with the 15th Amendment, passed in 1869. With the passing of breakthrough legislation, several leaders emerged to lead this new civil rights movement. Ex-slave, Booker T. Washington put his newly acquired freedom to use when he started a black industrial school at Tuskegee, Alabama. He taught his students useful trades so they could