September 11, 2001, changed America. …show more content…
There has been much mention to that day in lots of Americans speech, largely for the reason that the terrorist attacks on the World Trade Center and the Pentagon had such an impact on the everyday lives of Americans. Not only did the American economy change, but so did its laws, foreign policy, and the peoples sense of their selves changed. In spite of an individual’s religion or politics, no one in America had gone unaffected after 9-11
America is a nation of diverse people with varying opinion as to how the nation should be governed, but regardless of the dissimilarity between its inhabitants, Americans since the beginning of time have always liked to think that we have some obligatory national principle on which we stand, that sets American apart from any other nation. For instance, Republicans, Democrats, Greens, Libertarians, Independents, and others, despite differences in other areas, would agree that the Constitution of the United States and the Declaration of Independence are to be held in the utmost sense. Nevertheless, disagreements over matters of law and policy have often led to the finger pointing that those on the other side of the feud are untrue to the founding fathers dream of what America ought to be. While conflicting factions have inferred these vital documents in a different way, in recent times the rift connecting the contrary outlooks obtained by Americans has broadened greatly and taken on a new importance.
What exactly should we constitute as being American? America is not a nation formed on the merit of the birthrights of royal lineage, but on the foundation of the idea of democracy. The idea of democracy is not just a conceptual thing. The idea of democracy must be taught to succeeding generations in order to create and sustain a practical nation that resides in its founding principles. Since September 11, 2001, Americans, both young and old alike have been conveying their kinship for national principles with extraordinary drive. By the evening of September 11, 2001, as an act of mingled defiance, mourning, and pride, individuals across the United States seeking to express their feelings turned to displaying the American flag. The flag turned up on houses, cars, clothing just about anywhere one looked. And with greater than before interest in showing the national flag came thought of patriotism suddenly; loyalty to America was of the essence.
But the question is, was American democracy founded with the innermost endeavor of protecting the utmost feasible sovereignty for individuals or the purpose of housing a well-built political society?
Scholars have different names for these ideological ways of life within democratic consideration. The first is often called individualism, or classical liberalism, the second is dubbed communitarian thought or classical republicanism. For the most part they share the same stance, but deviate on a vital issue: who should delineate the good life? That is the American way of living. Classical liberalism says only individuals can do so, and that the government must stay as impartial as possible when it comes to right and wrong, but classical republicans obtain that several standards and ways of living are better than others, predominantly in a democracy, and hold that community can and must define those …show more content…
virtues
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It is very important not to confuse these ideas with contemporary definitions of "Liberal" and "Republican." Classical liberals emphasize individual rights above all, and believe government's only valid purpose is to enable individuals to be as free as they can be. They are suspicious of arguments about the good of the group, fearing restrictions on their ability to seek the good life as they define it. "Small-r" republicans, meanwhile, can also be found all over the American political map. Etymology gets us quickly to republicanism's core: "republic" comes from the Latin phrase res publica, "public thing," and indeed republicans tend to imagine the "body politic" to be a real entity. Citizens form that body together, and our actions make it healthy or sick. Where liberals believe the self-interested, rights-bearing individual going her own way is the democratic ideal, republicans argue that self-government can only work if citizens develop specific civic virtues, and learn to act in a public-spirited way. The idea at the heart of republicanism, then, is virtue. On the right, advocates of a greater role for religion in American public life believe spiritual values will make the country strong; on the left, supporters of big increases in education spending believe the public schools can and must build responsible citizens if American democracy is to succeed.
The two philosophies are not mutually exclusive and overlap considerably - part of why both have endured in American thought.
Most of us find different elements of each appealing. But if one or the other could lay claim to the heart of the American founding, the consequences would be tremendous and would reach far beyond the classroom - into contemporary debates over free speech, and educational and tax policy, among many others.