Blog #1 - Athena Bardis - Period 7 - 2/5/20

February 5, 2019

Athena Bardis

Period 7

Aim: Why is the “Declaration of Independence” symbolized as a valuable document
in our society?

Notes:

In today’s do now we explained our rights as individuals living in the United States of America. In addition, we discussed why those rights are so valuable to society. I noticed a common theme in our do now discussion. Many people seemed to believe that our most valuable rights as citizens of the United States are freedom of speech, freedom of religion, and freedom of press. We believed that these were most valuable rights because every human should get the opportunity to express themselves and follow what they believe. As the lesson went on, we continued to discuss and evaluate each of our rights as an American citizen, and determined whether or not equality actually existed.

1)Interpret what you believe the writers of this paragraph meant by “life,” “liberty,” and “the pursuit of' happiness”?

Evaluate whether or not the typical person in the United States today has these rights.  Why/Why Not?

By saying “life”, “liberty”, and “the pursuit of happiness”, the writers wanted to show that all Americans have the right to be happy. They can do whatever it is that makes them happy as long as they do not violate others rights and it is legal. I believe that everyone in the U.S. has these rights, and doesn't realize how fortunate they are to have them. Of course, there will always be room for improvement, but life here in America is very fair, and many people take that for granted. 

2)Identify and explain the variety of things we do in the U.S. (today) to try to guarantee “equality”?  How would you grade/determine their success/failure? Why/Why Not? 

The United States, especially compared to other countries, does a lot to try to guarantee equality. One very important thing offered here in America is free education from grades 5-12. Every American has the right to an education. By getting an education, Americans can then go to college, which will lead to them getting jobs. By working hard at these jobs, they can succeed. In addition, every American citizen has the right to vote. This gives every American a voice. Many other countries do not have these opportunities. 

3)What alternative(s) would you suggest? 

Do you believe these alternative ideas/methods might be more effective? Why/Why Not?

I believe that all Americans should be given equal opportunities, no matter their gender, ethnicity, etc. Attempts to achieve this have already been made, but I do not feel that these methods are fair. For example, now it is required to put your ethnicity on certain applications and tests. Since America is focusing a lot on diversity, they want to show that their schools have a wide variety of ethnicities . By doing this, they might not accept students completely based off of their hard work and dedication. This takes away other children’s opportunities who work harder for them. 

Reflection:

Today’s lesson made me realize that equality is a very broad topic. While discussing my ideas with my group, we found it difficult to understand the exact meaning of “equality”. We came to the conclusion that it would be very hard, maybe even impossible, for everyone to be completely equal. Of course, I believe that every American citizen should have equal rights, but at the end of the day making everyone completely equal would be a challenge. History clearly shows that making everyone the same was disastrous. Although absolute equality would be very challenging to achieve and wouldn’t work out, I think every American should be offered equal opportunities. Everyone deserves the chance to achieve their goals. They should be given the proper resources and education needed to achieve them. If they work hard using those resources, they can succeed.