Chapter 10 of The Case for Trump by Victor Davis Hanson is titled “End Trump!”, and therefore, is about the hatred and opposition towards President Donald Trump. The chapter starts off when Hanson explains that there has never before in the history of the president of the United States been as much effort by the opposition to remove the elected president during their first term in office. Hanson does note that the hatred and idea of impeachment for Bill Clinton occurred during his second term as president. There are a number of reasons why people do not like, and even hate, Trump. In fact, Hanson goes as far and states, “the efforts to delegitimize or even destroy him seemed to have ushered in a veritable second American civil war” (281). An interesting point about Trump being elected is that he lost the popular vote to Hillary Clinton, however, he easily won the Electoral College. Therefore, it was clear that he faced intense opposition when being elected from the citizens in the nation. There were even thoughts and jokes about killing Trump from celebrities as well as other public figures, as they were meant to bring down Trump’s popularity and hurt his image. Additionally, both celebrities and politicians have routinely mocked and shown hatred towards Trump in a number of ways, such as on TV talk shows as well as social media. Democrats and others tried to charge Trump for policies and other reasons and ultimately get him in trouble, such as for his issues with Russia. It is clear that people have tried to get him in trouble and out of office since being elected. Despite this, Trump has remained the same person with the same manners and lifestyle. The author also mentions the Resistance, which are those who are against Trump, as Hanson discusses some of their strategies to weaken Trump from even before Inauguration Day. A good portion of the people that are against Trump are left-wing, however, an interesting point made by the author is that those opposed to Trump are not all left-wing. Therefore, some Republicans do not like Trump, as these people are known as “Never Trumpers”. Towards the end of the chapter, Hanson discusses in more detail the investigations of the Trump-Russian collusion. With this information in mind, how do you think people’s opinions on Trump have changed since he was elected or are they similar? Do you think that all of the hatred and opposition towards Trump is deserved or is some of it unfair? What are the chances of Trump being elected for a second term?
Author: Russell Katz
In chapter 11 of Who Are We?, Huntington starts by giving four trends that will shape American identity when looking into the future. These include ideas about ethnicity, race, the influence of the Hispanic community, and the gap between elites and the general public. The ending of ethnicity can be seen with a number of groups who used to be seen as inferior, such as Irish, Italian, Slavic, and Jewish immigrants. However, these groups are now considered white and of equal status even though they used to be discriminated against because they were viewed differently. Another interesting point made by the author is how marriages have changed over the years, furthermore, the increase approval of marriage between different faiths as well as other ideas about marriage between different groups. Also, Huntington explores how Asian-Americans are “becoming white”. This does not have to do with their skin color, but because of their values which has allowed them to easily assimilate to American society. It was interesting to read about how humans have different features, such as height or weight, but these factors are generally not the way people categorize others as they generally use race instead. Despite this, Huntington believes that in the future race will still exist but to a much lesser degree, especially compared to the past. There are a number of causes for this, as one possible reason could be an increase in popularity as well as acceptance of multiracial people. Additionally, there has been a continued growth of Hispanic people and an increase in their influence. Therefore, many of them want to prevent other Hispanics from assimilating to American society, which would make America a bilingual and bicultural society. This would obviously have a huge impact on the nation, as some may argue for better or worse. A positive is that students may learn about various cultures and languages, however, a negative is that it also may cause more division within the nation. Another important aspect is the differing views and ideas of the elites and the general public. This can be seen as Huntington describes the elites as more liberal and less nationalistic than the American public. This can cause differing ideas and views on the world, such as America’s role globally, policies, and many other important factors. With this information in mind, how do you think these trends will affect our society going into the future? Will they help or hurt the nation?
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Short Essay #6
In the book Cheap Sex by Mark Regnerus, he describes sex and the mating market in America. Furthermore, Regnerus explores how it has evolved over the years, especially because it is in many ways become cheaper as well as easier for people of various ages and sexual preferences. This can be seen with different technologies and opinions about sex, which has changed the way people pursue sexual actions. On one hand, men often enjoy this easier access and new abilities as they are more interested in the pleasure of having sex as opposed to having genuine relationships. On the other hand, women are more interested in having emotional attachment and long-term monogamous commitment, which has been less evident in recent history. Of course, these are generalizations as some men and some women have different opinions. Regnerus explains how this change has come about due to a number of reasons, such as applications like Tinder or the replacement of having sex with pornography and masterbation. Many people do not believe this is a healthy and correct way of life. While I do believe the use of this newer and cheaper sex can have some benefits, it should be only used to a certain degree. Therefore, as a society, we should rethink this piece of our culture and try to find ways to adjust it so that the experiences for all people are more fulfilling and healthy. This will allow the current mating and dating culture/market to be less harmful to the interests of most women and make it less easy for men to get the central good they want from women (sexual access) without any real exchange of other goods that women desire.
A problem with these new developments is that the relationships seem less genuine and authentic. Furthermore, this has led to more casual sex and one night stand type of interactions instead of long term relationships. This is especially harmful to women, who generally seem to want the typical style of dating. Consequently, this can lead to men taking advantage of womens’ bodies and only using them for their own benefit. Alyssa, a twenty-seven year old woman from Milwaukee who is interviewed throughout the book, often answers questions in regard to her own sex and mating history. She explains how when she was younger she was into pornography, and how it has influenced her and many others in her generation who grew up with the internet. Despite her admitting to watching pornography, she explains how it has hurt sexual interactions in many ways as it has become more mechanical as you do not have to be connected to your partner. Therefore, it has turned into much less of a loving or emotional act, which certainly hurts the value of relationships. As she has gotten older, she explained that she is looking to settle down (118-119). This demonstrates that women sometimes do take advantage of cheap sex, however, when the time is right they often want to have a long term relationship and ultimately get married.
With this information in mind, there is no clear answer or way to make these experiences more fulfilling and healthy. One possible solution would be to provide more education and information available on this topic, especially to young adults and those who are starting to take part in these actions. Ultimately, any possible solution would likely involve limiting the access to these new factors that allow for cheap sex, however, this would need to involve self control and honesty. Therefore, in many ways it is up to the individual on how to go about their own sexual life, but being educated and well informed may be the best possible option. By rethinking and reshaping our culture, it will lead to more authentic relationships where the partners truly love each other. As a result, it will lead to women, as well as all types of people, feeling more fulfilled and healthy with their relationships in our society.
In the book Cheap Sex by Mark Regnerus, he explores how technology has had an impact on sex life in the United States in the third chapter, which is called Cheaper, Faster, Better, More? Contemporary Sex in America. This is especially relevant today because technology seems to be involved in some way or another in our everyday lives. More specifically, he discusses how an application like Tinder transforms dating life, which can be used for people of different ages as well as sexual preferences. Furthermore, applications like this one allow for short term relationships, which can be seen as these sources allow for individuals to find a partner for cheap and easy. Therefore, people can argue that this leads to both positives and negatives in terms of relationships. An interesting part of this book is how Regnerus explains that men are more likely interested in having sex, while women are more interestd in love as well as having relationships and ultimately getting married. Therefore, these sorts of applications may be more beneficial to men, as it does not seem like they are used to find your soul mate but rather to find someone to have sex with. In fact, one may argue that it can be detrimental to long term relationships because men may be busy and more interested in this cheaper and easier alternative. This means that the number of typical and traditional relationships may be lower than in previous years in the United States. The different graphs and charts throughout this chapter and book provide more detail on the topics and how different genders are involved in their relationships. Overall, this chapter was both interesting and informative by providing details about the dating scene that are very relevant in our lives today.
This documentary was about the journey and process people from Central America have to go through when immigrating to the United States. During their travels, they have to go through Mexico, which can lead to very risky and dangerous obstacles they have to face as they ultimately put their lives in jeopardy. This documentary focused on interviews of the people making the journey, as one of them was a woman named Maria from Honduras. She had four children who she had to leave behind, and therefore, this may be the toughest part of the journey for many people who have to do it as they do not know how long or if they will ever see loved ones ever again. Additionally, they have to deal with other mentally challenging aspects as well as physical challenges, as they do all of this knowing that they may not even make it to the United States. Other people go along the journey with Maria who also have to deal with the tasks of avoiding the brutal gangs, the police, the trains, hunger and dehydration, and other factors to not only stay healthy, but also alive.
This documentary was really interesting to actually see a first hand experience of what happens during these journeys. These issues are certainly important in our society today, as there are different stories, pictures, and other ways of communicating about what happens when immigrants come to the United States and have to go through tough obstacles. However, it was way more meaningful to actually see an entire documentary on what happens and see them along the way. This truly demonstrated not only the physical harm, but also the mental and emotional difficulties as well. While these people leave their homes in hope for a better life, it leads to the question whether it is even worth it due to the stressful journey and not guaranteed successful outcome? Additionally, was this experience and journey what you thought it would be like or was it more challenging than what you expected?