The Preamble and First Three Articles of The Constitution

The Preamble:
The Preamble is the part of the constitution before it begins to talk about the regulations and laws etc. it basically summarizes the goals for the constitution and what the constitution will help America achieve. It says that, as a nation, we want a country that is a perfect union: in order to do this, we must be fair, be peaceful and without chaos, defend ourselves, stay healthy, bless ourselves and the coming generations, and create a constitution to make this happen.

Powers and Responsibilities of Legislative Branch:
-Assemble with the congress annually
-Make a record of progress, what was said and accomplished
-Determine rules and punishments for breaking these rules
-Create bills to then become a law
-Deal with taxes, pay debts, and ensure protection for the country
-Regulate bankruptcies and immigration issues
-Regulate the value of money
-Establush post offices and post roads
-Copyright protection
-Deal with issues relating to war
-Protect the citizens from being punished for something they did not do
-Regulate the amount of money the government spends
-Come to conclusions as a congress
(The Legislative branch is most important because it is closest to the people, a group of 45 year old white men in a basement we call our founding fathers decided that our nation should be citizen based where people of the United States can have a say in society which is why this branch has many responsibilities while the other branches do not have very many)

Powers and Responsibilities of The Executive Branch:
-Make decision (with consent of senators)
-Provide information for congress

Powers and Responsibilites of the Judicial Branch:
-The have jurisdiction over cases involving forign conflicts, conflicts between two states, and conflicts between citizens of different states


Description of My Feelings About The Constitution:
When I was taking notes and reading about the constitution I found it very tedious because there was so much to it that did not seem very significant to me. I feel like the way it was worded was somewhat challenging but once I understood what it was saying, it sounded so simple and it made me wonder, why didn't they just say that to begin with?...unless I have it interpreted incorrectly and its actually as complicated as it sounds, if that were the case, just disregard that last comment. But overall it was just tedious and boring for me.

Insights and Questions:
-Is the constitution effective? Does it achieve the goals stated in the preamble?
-Has there been situations where the articles have not been abided by and the government got away with it? (Bush vs. Gore election?) if we can't abide by it then what is the point of it? is there anything we can do to change that?, Personally, I think that there is very little we can do but because we have such little power in society (which completely contridicts the first article, trying to have the citizens involved with government decisions as much as possible) so people will not pay attention to what we have to say (even congress people)
-What's good about the constitution? What's bad about it? What should be changed? and how will the alteration benefit America? What would the consequesces of these benefits be?...there's always a catch
-Is it possible for citizens to be involved in the government as much as possible wihtout having chaos?, I would imagine that there would be many disagreements causing conflicts
-Is it possible to follow meet the standards that the preamble holds for America?

Response to 2008 Election

I thought it was really interesting to see the different people who voted for each candidate. Generally I noticed the families with more money rooting for McCain and the working class families voting for Obama. But I did also notice that there were family feuds where half wanted McCain and the other wanted Obama which was also interesting. I also noticed how each candidate advertised their campaign. Obama had a very formal way of getting people to vote for him in his advertisement, saying what he plans to change in American whereas, McCain had citizens speaking for him and talk about why they want to vote for him and getting it from a different point of view. Obama's seemed to be more straight to the point and specific as to what he had planned as president and McCain's was repetative when it came to what the citizens were saying to emphasize that he plans to do good things for the country.
After Obama won the election, other people's reactions to the win was interesting as well. Those who supported him were screaming and very excited about him becoming president especially since history was made and he is the first black president. The next day at school many of the students were representing him and reciting "Yes we can" from his speach. Obama seems to have set high expectations for himself as president and he promised a lot for the country and I am curious as to if he can live up to these expectations and if American can handle that he may or may not keep his promises.

Dominant Frameworks of AWOL (With intro and new sources)

Americans live in a particular way just as any other living being would. As Americans we normally do not notice the way we live or why we live the way we do because we have grown to understand that's just the way it is. When studying about the American way of life, we can conclude that the dominant frameworks are capitalism and demorcracy. The main reasons us as Americans live the way we do is because of the economic system and the political system we follow and use to our advantage in our every day lives.
Most people abide by the basics of capitalism and look at it as a positive way to run our economic system, people favor it for the "freedom" it allows us to have. Capitalism provides the free market, opportunity for private property and profit motive. The free market, having the freedom to get into the business and sell what you want for the price you want (profit motive) and the freedom to buy from any businesses you want. To sell what you want, you have to opportunity to own factories and property to produce what you want to sell (private property). The three main components of business are, capital, labor, and land. Land being, the natural resources used to help the produce products and sell products, labor being the people working for the business and the work that is put into the production and selling of products, and the capital being the things used during the process that are not sold for example, the machinery used to produce a pencil.
Those who own businesses are free to sell their product for the price they want. But their main goal is to gain profit of at least one penny. One penny more than the amount of money spent on the process to make and sell the product. They can sell it for as high as they want but the consumer might not be willing to buy it for that price. The balance between the highest the seller wants to sell the product for and the lowest the consumer is willing to pay is called the market price. The seller wants to make as much money as possible while the consumer wants to spend as little money as possible, leading to supply and demand. Supply being the total amount of resources for sale that will be bought at all prices and demand is the amount of people willing to buy a product for a certain price. The graph above (argmax.com) shows the curves of both supply and demand in relationship with quantity and price, the point where supply and demand intersect is the market price or the equilibrium price. Variabilities causing either or both of the curves to alter causing a shift in the market price. If the market price is restricted from changing it could cause a shortage which is when consumers have the money for products but there are no products for sale.
Generally, in America businesses keep their prices fairly low and this is because of competition. Two companies who sell the same product (commodity--an interchangeable product that can be bought or sold) compete for the customers and most customers would buy for the cheaper price, making companies sell for the lowest they are willing to sell to attract more customers. This competition occurs because according to Milton Friedman, a famous economist, everyone wants a special advantage or more freedom than others, so business owners compete for the advantage of more customers and more profit.
The main players of capitalism are, households, the factor market, businesses, and the product market. Househlds are people selling their land, labor, and capital to the factor market to make money which then gets back to the household when they purchase stock and gain profit other companies make. The factor market gives its products to businesses which costs money for the businesses who sell the prodcts to the product market. The product market then buys from the households costing them money. This is the main cycle that capitalism goes though. This cycle can go out of whack when the distribution of money is not even, causing a depression or a resession. This can be fixed by the government balancing the cycle.
Conflicts in the economic system such as a resession or depression require help from the government. But other conflicts such as, competition in the free market are taken care of by "the invisible hand" which is, essentially, a situation taking care of itself without help from anywhere else, competition in the free market will just happen if two companies are selling the same product. They are naturally going to compete for more money and it is in the company's self interest to do better than the other company to get more profit.
Generally, most Americans agree with the idea of capitalism. A main reason could be the whole idea of being able to go from "rags to riches", having the chance to improve one's social status, or at least having the insentive to want to rise one's social status and having the freedom to move up the social laddar. Whereas in the government, already starting at the top of the social ladder, in cases where society believes they waste money which leads citizens to believe the leaders of the country are incompetent of leading the country and they are allowed to speak out and say their disagreements living in a democratic society. (Friedman)

Dominant Synopsis of Capitalism:

Most people look at capitalism as a positive way to run our economic system, people favor it for the "freedom" it allows us to have. Capitalism provides the free market, opportunity for private property and profit motive. The free market, having the freedom to get into the business and sell what you want for the price you want (profit motive) and the freedom to buy from any businesses you want. To sell what you want, you have to opportunity to own factories and property to produce what you want to sell (private property). The three main components of business are, capital, labor, and land. Land being, the natural resources used to help the produce products and sell products, labor being the people working for the business and the work that is put into the production and selling of products, and the capital being the things used during the process that are not sold for example, the machinery used to produce a pencil.
Those who own businesses are free to sell their product for the price they want. But their main goal is to gain profit of at least one penny. One penny more than the amount of money spent on the process to make and sell the product. They can sell it for as high as they want but the consumer might not be willing to buy it for that price. The balance between the highest the seller wants to sell the product for and the lowest the consumer is willing to pay is called the market price. The seller wants to make as much money as possible while the consumer wants to spend as little money as possible, leading to supply and demand. Supply being the total amount of resources for sale that will be bought at all prices and demand is the amount of people willing to buy a product for a certain price. The graph above (argmax.com) shows the curves of both supply and demand in relationship with quantity and price, the point where supply and demand intersect is the market price or the equilibrium price. Variabilities causing either or both of the curves to alter causing a shift in the market price. If the market price is restricted from changing it could cause a shortage which is when consumers have the money for products but there are no products for sale.
Generally, in America businesses keep their prices fairly low and this is because of competition. Two companies who sell the same product (commodity--an interchangeable product that can be bought or sold) compete for the customers and most customers would buy for the cheaper price, making companies sell for the lowest they are willing to sell to attract more customers.
The main players of capitalism are, households, the factor market, businesses, and the product market. Househlds are people selling their land, labor, and capital to the factor market to make money which then gets back to the household when they purchase stock and gain profit other companies make. The factor market gives its products to businesses which costs money for the businesses who sell the prodcts to the product market. The product market then buys from the households costing them money. This is the main cycle that capitalism goes though. This cycle can go out of whack when the distribution of money is not even, causing a depression or a resession. This can be fixed by the government balancing the cycle.
Conflicts in the economic system such as a resession or depression require help from the government. But other conflicts such as, competition in the free market are taken care of by "the invisible hand" which is, essentially, a situation taking care of itself without help from anywhere else, competition in the free market will just happen if two companies are selling the same product. They are naturally going to compete for more money and it is in the company's self interest to do better than the other company to get more profit.
Generally, most Americans agree with the idea of capitalism. A main reason could be the whole idea of being able to go from "rags to riches", having the chance to improve one's social status, or at least having the insentive to want to rise one's social status and having the freedom to move up the social laddar.

"I, Pencil" response:

The article, "I, Pencil" by Leonard E. Read is mainly about the simplicity of a pencil, or what seems to be simple about a pencil actually relates to many controvercies that we see in our own lives. Read begins the article by talking about how most people take pencils for grated, no one knows how its made even though it is so simple. Then he goes back and talks about the ancestory of the pencil speaking from the point of view of the pencil itself, "My family tree begins with what in fact is a tree, a cedar of straight grain that grows in Northern California and Oregon..." describing how the pencil came to be and what is involved when making it. He then got into the fact that "Actually, millions of human beings have had a hand in my creation, no one of whom even knows more than a very few of the others." sugesting that none of these millions of people understand how to make a pencil completely, they just know a portion of it. Read then talks about the natural resources needed to create a pencil, still speaking from the point of view of the pencil, "I, Pencil, am a complex combination of miracles: a tree, zinc, copper, graphite, and so on. But to these miracles which manifest themselves in Nature at even more extraordinary miracle has been added: the configuration of creative human energies..." then getting into religious ideas of how we got here as human, how we were made and so on, Thus proving how something as simple as a pencil can suggest or imply a controversey such as religion.
The idea of a pencil, where it comes from, how its made, and ideas that come along with it can be related to capitalism, the different aspects of it, and how it works. For example, a portion of the article talks about how the pencil is made, briefly talking about the machinery used which costs $4,000,000, the machine being the capital in the process of selling and buying of pencils and the profit wealthier people get is based on the money they spend on machinery and other costs to make the pencils, their profit has to be at least one cent more than they spent to make the profit in order to stay in the market. Then there is the fact that millions of people have only had a hand in the creation of a pencil, no one really bothers to understand how to make the pencil as a whole, people are only concerned with the part they are getting paid to make. This holds true in capitalism, most workers are not concerned with the work they are doing at all, their main focus is what they are getting paid to do and what will help them make a good amount of money to survive. People working with machines in factories is part of capitalism as well, rich people who own these companies hire people to work the machines for a small amount of money so they can get a good amount of profit from selling pencils. Relating to Andy's definition of capitalism being, "we work for their profit," those who are in the middle or working class work for rich people who get more money from the work the lower classes do. There is also the natural resources brought up in the article which relate to capitalism as well, the natural resources used to make products are considored "land" in the process of capitalism. The article simply talking about pencils can be related to capitalism and how the system works.

AWOL Essay: Assignment #3

Everyone has their own view of America and the way Americans live. Their perspectives vary depending on experiences they have had, where they were raised, and the country they originally come from. Different events and aspects that come up in their lives influence what their idea of what the American way of life is. Because everybody’s experiences and lives are different, people are bound to have conflicting points of views, specifically focusing on the American way of life.
When brought up the topic of class, race, and gender relating to the American way of life, my older brother Guido says “generally people in the richer class are white men”, not so much ethnic people or women. This is suggesting that money, wealth, and social class are the main aspects of the American way of life. Similar to a class discussion, Kati and Francesca agreed that social class plays a big role in the American way of life. Richer people get to travel, they do not have to work and they live the “good life,” while the lower classes struggle to get by. Gender and race play a role in determining which Life you’re going to live. Focusing on gender, my grandmother Esperanza thinks that the inequality between man and women specifically in the work force has improved, she says “Before I was the only woman worker, everyone else was male, but now it’s getting better.”

While Jakob disagreed in the class discussion he thought it had more to do with commercials marketing. No matter what class you are in, you deal with capitalism; buying and selling to get the things you want. It is true that what you are buying is different but the process is the same. Similar to another student who goes to School of the Future, Marco (my twin brother) agreed that advertisement and commercial things are a big aspect of the American way of life but he also thinks it is focused more by the culture of America whereas social class is focused on more officially and it seems to be more important.

Jakob’s and Marco’s thoughts on advertisement and commercial things suggest that money also plays a big role in the American way of life mostly in the system of economics. My cousin Amanda and Grandma Esperanza agreed that the economy right now is not in the best place and will be a problem for all social classes thus affecting how Americans live. If Americans cannot go on with their lives without a job or money, the main basis of the American way of life then it will be a problem for them.

Shown that class, race, gender, and capitalism are aspects of the American way of life, the other portion that people seem to agree on as the basis of the American way of life includes “School, college, job, family, same shit every day” (Amanda), “Working, having a family, meeting everyday needs” (Caucasian woman), “Wanting a job and a family which is directed by education,” said the principal of School of the Future, John Fanning who believes that his job ensures the American way of life: educating the next generation. All agreeing that a job/career, good education, and family are basic aspects of the lifestyle of the average American, Tim, a college student thinks that the typical American way of life can differ depending on where you come from. Tim came from a privileged environment, giving him a better education leading him into another path that falls under the typical American way of life.

Mr. Fanning would agree with Tim, thinking that the choices you make, and the opportunities you have affect where you go in life, in the American way of life. Mr. Fanning believes that opportunity is an important aspect of the American way of life, being able to make the decisions you want and taking your life where you want it to be whereas in other countries they do not have that option. We have the option to “challenge authority.”

Coming from a non-American point of view, my grandmother, Esperanza who emigrated from Cuba especially enjoys the freedom knowing what it is like to live without it. When I asked those who live in America they speak of it without the knowledge of the absence of freedom. From a perspective of a man from Switzerland, agreeing with my grandmother thought freedom of speech was a main positive aspect of the American way of life.

Generally, there are many controversies on this topic of how Americans live. Specifically the main controversies that I noticed based on my findings are, class/race/gender’s role in AWOL, money’s role in AWOL, economics, freedom, marketing, a typical way an American lives, and opportunity.

Rough Draft: People's response to AWOL

When brought up the topic of class, race, and gender relating to the American way of life, my older brother Guido thought that generally people in the richer class is white men, not so much ethnic people or women. This is suggesting that money, wealth, and social class are the main aspects of the American way of life. Similar to a class discussion, Kati and Francesca agreed that social class plays a big role in the American way of life. Richer people get to travel, they do not have to work and they live the “good life” while the loser classes are struggling to get by and gender and race play a role in determining which Life you’re going to live. Focusing on gender, grandmother Esperanza thinks that the inequality between man and women specifically in the work force has improved, it is not so bad compared to how it used to be where she was the only female worker when she was working.
While Jakob disagreed in this class discussion he thought it had more to do with commercials marketing, no matter what class you are in, you deal with capitalism and buying an selling to get the things you want, it is true that what you are buying is different but the process is the same. Similar to another student who goes to School of the Future, Marco (my twin brother) agreeing that advertisement and commercial things are a big aspect of the American way of life but thinks of it focused more by the culture of America whereas social class is focused on more officially and it seems to be more important.
Jakob’s and Marco’s thoughts on advertisement and commercial things suggest that money also plays a big role in the American way of life moving towards the system as a whole; the economy. Cousin Amanda and Grandma Esperanza agree that the economy right now is not in the best place and will be a problem for all social classes affecting how Americans live. If Americans cannot go on with their lives without a job or money, the main basis of the American way of life then it will be a problem for them.
Shown that class, race, gender, and capitalism are aspects of the American way of life, there are other portions that people seem to agree is the basis of the American way of life. Including, school, college, work, family and routine things we do every day to get by said by my cousin Amanda, a Caucasian woman, a Caucasian man, and the principal of School of the Future, John Fanning. All agreeing that a job/career, good education, and family are basic aspects of the lifestyle of the average American, Tim, a college student thinks that the typical American way of life can differ depending on where you come from. Tim came from a privileged environment, giving him a better education leading him into another path that falls under the typical American way of life.
Fanning would agree with Tim, thinking that the choices you make, and the opportunities you have affect where you go in life, in the American way of life. Fanning believes that opportunity is an important aspect of the American way of life, being able to make the decisions you want and taking your life where you want it to be whereas in other countries they do not have that option. We have the option to “challenge authority.”
Coming from a non-American point of view, my grandmother, Esperanza who immigrated from Cuba especially enjoy the freedom knowing what it is like to live without it while when I asked those who live in America they speak of it without the knowledge of the absence of freedom. From a perspective of a man from Switzerland, agreeing with my grandmother thought freedom of speech was a main positive aspect of the American way of life.




-->to me it seems like I need to work on maybe ordering it differently like it does not flow very well, and I'm not quite sure how to start or end sooo please take a look and add any suggestions you have thanks :)