Urban America

From 1930's america to today the urban sections of america  have changed vastly.
Traditional views that the poor sticks with the poor, in the poor areas while the rich stick with the rich in the wealthy areas both creating their own communities with what they could afford and, in the case of the poorer families, a strong sense of community and  the importance of survival even though they lived in terrible cramped conditions that most of them would never escape. By the 21st Century this reality is largely dead however; in America's individualized culture collective efforts to keep poor people in a single house in probably the best living conditions that they could have hoped for, are a thing of a past. It is every man for himself now on the streets and hidden in the back alleys.
 with more homeless people around everyday lives if civilians as the modern picture suggests, this should make poverty in modern day urban America easier to spot because the poor live among the rich and privileged, only not in the same conditions. People living on the streets in ht numbers that they do  have however lead to (wealthy) people managing to condition themselves to ignore the issue that is staring them so blatantly in the face, which unlike the 30's where the problem was confined to poor areas so much more so and the government did more to directly benefit the poverty stricken than they do currently. the issue is that when the poor were grouped together it was easy to see how many of them there were all at once; action needs to be taken and its clear where to focus. When the homeless and poor are spread out among the cities and rich people its easy to ignore, a single homeless man would hardly affect most people, because they simply can't see the scale of the problem that they are involuntarily encountering and its difficult for the media to judge and report on it.
In both images it shows the utter fail of the american dream, as I don't think its possible for people to be so lazy that they cant even feed themselves and so these people are poor because of circumstance and rotten luck  and none of it had anything to do with how hard they worked or how much they sought after their dreams.

Urban America- Great Depression/Great Recession comparison

This photo shows the building of a shack being built in New York during the Great Depression. Considering the term 'American Dream' was first coined at a similar time to when this photo was taken, it is surprising that there was still such a belief in the supposed American Dream, given that thousands of people were living in 'homes' such as that in the photo- Hoovervilles- due to the Wall Street Crash, and the collapse of the stock market. However, the fact that these types of homes were being built in such circumstances, shows that there may have still been hope within the American community. Hope that there were still opportunities for the jobless in the US, perhaps why so many people continued living in, or moved to New York in search of work. 

This image of a tent village in a US city, that was suffering economically due to the recession of 2008. Some viewed this recession as the 'Greater Depression'. And it is easy to see why with images such as this, which show the deprivation that many people suffered, as a result of the collapse of many banks. Millions of people were left jobless, subsequently unable to afford to keep their houses. 

Despite the 80 year time difference, these images both show similar situations, and both question the notion that America is the land of opportunities, and just how realistic the American Dream is. Supposedly, the American Dream is about how happy someone is with what they have achieved, though is it clear from these images just how important material possessions are, in relation to someone's happiness and success, showing that the ideology of the American Dream is flawed.

Comparing Images of Urban America

This first image is of a line for a food bank in California in 2009, a year after the Great Recession hit America. This image portrays the massive impact of the banks collapsing, meaning that the economy fell and many people lost their jobs, leading to families not being able to afford food. With unemployment up to 10% in 2009, it is a real indicator as to how severe the US was
economically hit by the crisis.


This second image is of a line for an employment agency in New York in 1937, a few years after the Wall Street Crash. The fight for any job in the city was a difficult one, being that 19% of America were unemployed and were so badly effected by the Crash.  It shows the desperation that people in the city felt and how important a job meant to them as it was a path to any sort of prosperity.

Comparatively, both these images, even being about 70 years apart, give an insight into the holes of the 'American Dream'. They show that there are limits to the opportunities that are available in America, and even in the US, it can be affected badly economically. These images make people critical of the 'land of opportunity' and questions whether moving or living there would give you any more of an opportunity of prosperity than if you lived anywhere in Europe. Both of these photos show how America has let the people down and that they have to revert to desperate measures just to survive. It must be pointed out however, that the photo taken in 2009 makes the situation of the American citizens look worse than in the photo from the 1930's. This is interesting as the Great Depression was far worse than the Great Recession as there was higher unemployment and there was hardly any welfare to help them at the time.


 

The American Dream

This is a map showing the influx of people into America from different countries. Just from this image alone, it is clear that the "American Dream" still exists. This concept is no myth. People travel from far and wide in order to follow in the footsteps of others who have prospered from the tit provided by the United States of America. This is not to say that it is easy, hard work is required, but it is also key to be in the right place at the right time.. A certain luck and pluck as it is historically referred to as.



http://www.businessinsider.com/american-dream-immigrants-made-a-fortune-in-the-us-2014-2?op=1&IR=T 

This article outlines 12 foreigners who have come from Rags to Riches, a similar concept provided in the book Ragged Dick. The founders of huge companies such as Yahoo, Google, Whatsapp and Forever 21, all immigrants who's family came to America in search of a better life. What a decision that turned out to be. Ragged Dick also put forward the idea that sacrifices must be taken in order to gain success. Dick's sacrifice comes in the form of helping others before helping himself, this is huge personal sacrifice, that eventually pays of for him. In the same way these figures sacrificed to get ahead, Sergey Brin, the co founder of Google dropped out of Stamford University. This image of how to gain success was suggested in Ragged Dick and is constantly being implemented by millions on a day to day basis.


Whereas books like Ragged Dick are more applicable to those born in the United States and books such as Double Luck: Memoirs of a Chinese Orphan are more applicable to foreigners. Both uphold very similar ideals, that hard work and the correct behaviour take you places that laziness and rudeness will generally not.                                               


Is this American dream still entainable today? I personally believe so, their is so much innovation left for the world to experience. History dictates that it does not matter what type of background you may come from, it is still possible to be a success in life. So many entrepeneurs starting with nothing but a mere idea, hard work and luck can cause that idea to blossom in a huge enterprise worth millions, just ask Starbucks' Howard Schulz. He has a story not to dissimilar to Ragged Dick, he infact lived in a housing complex for the poor, now he has a net worth of 2 Billion. As if the American dream is dead.....

American Studies Blog 9

Business Insider Article

I believe that the American Dream is still in existence, however not all are successful in making it. Although it is interesting to debate what ‘it’ is. To many having a disposable income is making it, but interestingly, can some people be living this American Dream through happiness. My article presents twelve immigrants who have ‘made a fortune in’ America. Interestingly, it refers to their income and not necessarily their ‘dreams.’ It is definite that the rich do get richer, however, not everyone who is currently rich started off rich. People like Ralph Lauren, who now has a net worth of 7.7 billion (2013), to begin with dropped out of college to join the army. The article includes stories of: Sergey Brin (co-founder of Google), Andy Grove (co-founder of Intel Corporation), Jan Koum (co-founder of WhatsApp), Jerry Yang (founder of Yahoo) and Do Won Chang, (co-founder and CEO of Forever 21).

The article states, ‘13% of the U.S. population is foreign born, for a total of more than 40 million people’. This very much reflects the time that Ragged Dick was living in, where people from all over the globe fled to America to be a success of this idea. Most of these people had the same kind of lifestyle like Dick did. They came from poor backgrounds where their parents didn’t have much money to live off. In contrast to Dick, most seemed to be in the position to gain an education, although some did drop out. In addition to this, many were rather lucky and the opportunities provided to them were successful, unlike many. Andy Grove’s story can be one to relate very much to Ragged Dick. He arrived in America with little money like a lot of European’s and had to work hard to survive. He was fortunate enough to get an education, although worked as a busboy whilst doing this. Where as he was not as good as English, he thrived in other subjects such as Chemistry. Although he made his living in California State and not New York, he was lucky enough to be in the right place at the right time. Much like Dick with the little boy who gets knocked overboard. Here, he became the company’s chairman and CEO of Intel Corporation. He is currently helping it towards becoming a billion-dollar company and is one of the most important drivers of the information economy. Forbes estimates that he is worth $400 million.

To conclude, I believe that the tools of becoming a part of this ‘American Dream’ are still how Horatio Alger Jr. describes in Ragged Dick. As the article writes, the key attributes are of ‘determination, grit and a bit of luck’ in order to achieve this success. Interestingly, eleven out of the twelve people who have been picked for this article are male. Which linking to Ragged Dick, implies that women are still being treated unequally, mirroring the widower and the little girl characters from the narrative.

The American Dream

This song I feel is a positive representation of the american dream despite the lyrics 'what ever happened to the american dream' and 'cause jack left Dianne 30 years ago'. This song expresses the changing nature and flexibility of the American Dream, which inadvertently shows its lasting nature. In our world, as much as we'd like to imagine, nothing stays the same way for long, opinions change, feelings change, economic climates, fashion, architecture, race relations, music, art even the way that people talk change all the time, Nothing man made with out flexibility can continually function in our world even an idea. The american dream is no different.
From simple times when all people wanted to succeed in life was a functioning farm and children to care for them when they got older, the american dream evolved with the world to be a decent job for males in the city with a wife at home to take care of the children in the 50's to what it is today where all genders have dreams and careers of varying natures and not all of them want children or even marriage, the american dream facilitates them in succeeding in their paths and making it 'big time'
In the video we can see five different people (aside from the artists) all from different walks of life, almost all from different ethnicity's each perusing their own dreams, all of which are less often pursued careers, its evident all of the people in this video (Artists included probably) are living and/or working on their dream and doing well to overcome the challenges they have or are facing. For example the first challenge they faced was probably their families telling them to 'do something [normal] with your life' (i.e get a normal job in an office and have a family, the traditional dream Alger's dream) as mentioned at the beginning of the song. The song later includes lyrics like 'we don't want two kids and a wife' and 'say goodbye to the white picket fences' which has the through movement from the traditional dream to the modern one(s)
At the end of each chorus the song says 'so tell me whatever happened to the american dream?' talking about the traditional american dream as depicted in Ragged Dick, the idea that anyone can make it in the only way possible (by getting a normal job and then a house (or a room in Dicks case)and eventually I'm sure Dick would have found a wife and had children then been living the true american dream however we only see him when he is young and thus no marriage takes place in the book.)
the answer to this question of what happened to Alger's American dream truly is 'it evolved' and that is the beauty of the American dream and what the song depicts hence this is why I think it is such an excellent example of the american dream in the modern day.

The American Dream

10 Business Icons Who Have Lived The American Dream

This website shows examples of 10 business people in America who are living the supposed 'American Dream'. These people are as follows: Sergey Brin, Ursula Burns, Oprah Winfrey, John Paul Dejoria, Guy Laliberte, Don Thompson, Kirk Kerkorian, Larry Ellison, Sean 'Diddy' Combs and Chris Gardner. Not all of the people listed come from poverty, some having been brought up in quite respectable households. All the people focused upon in this article come from quite different backgrounds, but the main aim of this article is to show people that the American Dream is still very much attainable. However the thing they all have in common is that they are all self-made million and some billionaires. 

The beginning of the article states that 59% of Americans 'say it will be "somewhat" or "much" harder for their children' to live the American Dream. Showing that the belief in the American Dream is not nationwide in America. This could be because of the aspect of luck that is involved in self-success. For instance, in Ragged Dick many of the opportunities Dick is given are situations of coincidence and luck, and this luck is what is realistically needed for anyone to feel as though they have achieved the American Dream. 

The stories of success from Oprah Winfrey and Ursula Burns in my opinion are the one's that are most relatable to the story of success in Ragged Dick. Both Oprah and Ursula come from difficult backgrounds, of poverty and discrimination, and were both raised by single mothers. Both these women overcame the obstacles that their family situations put them in, and used their education to advance in life. Similar to Ragged Dick, Oprah and Ursula understood the importance of education to better their lives, and through this they were able to complete their school educations, and for Ursula, her degree in mechanical engineering, and both became hugely successful African-American women. 

Another aspect of this article that confirms that the American Dream is still very much alive is the number of people stated in this article who, themselves, or their families moved to America, in pursuit of a better life. One key example of this is Sergey Brin, who was born in Soviet Russia, and emigrated to the US with his family due to the Soviet Union being in economic decline at the time. From this, it is evident that there is still a global belief that the USA is the land of opportunities. However, the success of Sergey Brin as the co-founder of Google, can be seen to negate the way in which Alger creates Dick to be successful as Brin dropped out of university to create Google with a friend, and this was a huge risk for him, and it can be seen as mere luck that Google went on to be a global corporation and hugely successful. Though it does affirm the ideology of the American Dream as through hard work and perseverance Sergey Brin has achieved wealth and global success. 

Contemporary Example of the 'American Dream'

The contemporary source is an article called '10 people living the American Dream' from the online magazine 'The Street': http://www.thestreet.com/story/11173382/1/10-people-living-the-american-dream.html

The idea behind the article, is that it give examples of celebrities and wealthy people "whose poor, mundane or troubled pasta didn't hold them back from becoming American success stories". It is trying to show that anyone, who has a dream and the drive to get it, can achieve anything and that the right attitude is key to success, as promoted in Ragged Dick.

The 10 people the article look at is John D. Rockefeller, Andrew Carnegie, Oprah Winfrey, Ursula Burns, John Paul Dejoria, Jay-Z, Arnold Schwarzenegger, Michael Oher, Chris Gardner and Tyler Perry. As you can see they range from film stars to sports stars, so the article is trying to give an overall view of all different pathways to fame, fortune and a better life.

A central theme running through the cases studies written in the article, is that a main part of these peoples success, as well as the right attitude, is the opportunities that they were either given or earned to get to where they are today. This is similar to Ragged Dick as Alger promotes the idea of taking every opportunity that is given to you which could make you go further in life. However, it seems that these opportunities are ones that may happen once in a lifetime, meaning that their success can said to be that of luck. Again, this relates to Ragged Dick as it seems like the events and opportunities that he was exposed to during his adventures are those of coincidences and luck. This could suggest that even if you do work hard for your dreams, it seems like having a 'lucky break' is what sets apart the every day to the super rich and famous.

Another theme in the article is that of these celebrities coming from a poor or dysfunctional background and childhood. It focuses on the fact that they were at a disadvantage as a child, but fought through their hardships to come out on top. This was either through having a talent or having the right genius idea, but then went forward and used that to their advantage to move up in life. This message is put forward by Alger also as he shows Ragged Dick coming from the worst background imaginable; being orphaned from 7, having to live on the streets and having to shine shoes to earn money, but then using the opportunities that present themselves to him and the perseverance to pursue an education which then lead him to bigger and better things. As the book ends on him getting a job that pays $10 a week, it is hard to say whether his life leads him to even better things, but it is assumed that he does as he already has the right attitude to get him there.

American Studies Blog 8

There is a lot of debate in the United States about whether guns should be legal or not. However, it is hard to ignore the fact that there seems to be an importance of guns in American life. Whether this is down to America having a violent History or events such as settlement or slavery, many opinions have not altered over the almost worrying concern for increase of gun crimes.

Pro gun control – http://gunowners.org

There are many pro gun control websites found on the Internet. Many American use their main arguments of gun ownership, of it providing protection for one another and of course, it being on the second amendment. Looking at figures, statistics show that gun use for hunting has declined (2013, three in ten people wanted to use guns for hunting in comparison to 49 per cent of population in 1999.) Looking at the ‘Gun Owners of America’ it is interesting to see guns almost implying a sense of community. There is merchandise available and memberships available in order to try and appeal to audiences. On the front page of their website, interestingly it states “tools to defend your rights.” Interestingly, it talks about politics a lot and seems to keep up to date with what it going on. In addition to this, there are no statistics on gun kill and suicide; all of its stores are forms of when gun helped protect someone in a bad situation.

Anti gun-control - http://theprogressivecynic.com/debunking-right-wing-talking-points/refuting-gun-enthusiasts-anti-gun-control-arguments/

Likewise, there are many websites found on the Internet, which are against gun possession. Interestingly as a majority Americans are in favour of gun ownership due to it being part of their rights – James Q Wilson in his article for the LA Times, brings up an interesting point on politicians not wanting to change laws due to it leading to less support from followers. This article, in comparison, has a lot of statistics to back up the idea of gun possession being a bad idea. Currently in America there are 88 guns for every 100 people, but that is not counting for the illegal weapons of which the government could not begin to account for.

In my opinion, gun ownership will never be illegal in America, simply due to the fact it is what makes their country unique. America has had simply astonishing statistics to prove that gun possession is a bad thing, however if it hasn’t been stopped now, it won’t ever be stopped. I do believe that they should be looking at taking more precautions with selling weapons, for example back up checks and looking at the stability of the person wanting to sell drugs. As well as gun crime, there are a majority of people who use this freedom to take their own lives.

Comparison of Pro and Anti

Pro Gun Control- http://www.bradycampaign.org/
Anti Gun Control- http://www.wagc.com/ (Women Against Gun Control)

This is an issue that is increasing in importance day after day in America. Statistics state that over 30,000 are killed by firearms each year in the USA, 1/3 of them are under the age of 20, and is the primary cause of death amongst African-Americans. Not only are countless numbers of lives being taken but they are usually the young population that are dying far to quickly. Not only does this cite gun control as a clear problem but also delinquency amongst teens aswell which is also rife in the States. 

The Brady Campaign is a website to promote the control of guns. What is important to point out is that they are not clamouring to disallow guns on a whole scale they are taking a different approach. They talk about not wanting to take away anyone Second Amendment Right which is a huge source of debate in America. They also say that Policies such as “universal background checks” on all gun sales would keep guns out of the hands of felons, domestic abusers, the dangerously mentally ill and other illegal purchasers and in doing so prevent the unlawful and preventable killing of innocent people. 

In clear contrast to this when we take the view of the Women against gun control website, the views are slightly different. If you read the women's pledge on guns it is farcical  to the fullest, one of the things that they pledge is that "you don't believe that guns cause crimes". As they say denial isn't just a river in Egypt as events laden throughout the USA past would suggest that this is not true. On the website they also send a message to politicians, particularly females ones. The website carries with the theme "We do not support gun control" and "teach politicians some manners" "the second right amendment is equal rights amendment" these are some outrageous statements, particularly the last two and highlights their feeling on gun control perfectly. It seems to suggest that democratic politicians are being discourteous for wanting to implement gun control measures to prevents the killing of innocent people

To conclude, I don't even think its necessary to state which one I agree with. All I will do is point to the story of Trayvon Martin who lost his life because one man hadn't lost his right to own a gun. 

Mayors Against Illegal Guns vs. Keep and Bear Arms

Pro-Control - Mayors Against Illegal Guns (Pressure Group) - Everytown.org
Pro-Gun - Keep and Bear arms - keepandbeararms.org

Both of these websites protesting about guns have the same clear message which is 'we know how to keep america safe, and let us teach you' the crucial differing factor is the means in which they intend to do so.

The Pro Gun website quotes the second amendment directly in its title and therefore its position on protecting the constitution is clear, it even has close ties with the second amendment foundation (saf.org). However once opening the first few pages its evident that protecting the American individual and family is very important to these people the main stories are centered entirely on people who have protected something or someone by carrying or owning a gun for example 'Concealed Carrying Mom Opens Fire on Man Who Shot Her 13 Year Old Son in Public' and 'Marine Veteran Uses Shotgun (While Carrying a Pistol) to Stop Home Invasion in Texas'. Both of these stories show that the pro gum movement is first and foremost (according to this website) about safety despite protecting the right to own something capable of killing another in less than a second and without a second thought in most cases.

The pro control website however is also primarily interested in protection however it takes the stance that America is similar to the rest of the world in the fact that if it bans some types of guns then maybe just maybe less people will be shot and killed prematurely in school shootings or just general related gun crime. Although I am an advocate for this theory I have my doubts that this would work since guns are such a huge part of American culture legal action could theoretically have very little effect.

Commonly Pro-Gun websites are better funded than Pro-Control ones (this is partly due to wider support in the US for the second amendment and partly due to the members of the supporting group tending to be rich people who can afford to spend money on political influence where pro-control groups often have to rely on smaller donations by larger sums of less wealthy people which they don't have at their disposal for many reasons I shan't go into here) but this isn't the case here evidently by the pro gun website has the appearance of being unprofessionally made where the modern design on the pro-control. I feel the fact that mayors run it is a large factor in this.

Ultimately the pro-gun movement (as exemplified in this website) relies on protecting life as they know it i.e. Protection of the constitution, Protection of the individual, Protection of the American family and Protection of American culture through ideals and history. these people are scared of change even if its shown itself in other countries to be for the better.

Gun control- For and against

Pro-gun Control - Coalition to Stop Gun Violence
This website promotes gun control and shows this through raising many issues that come hand-in-hand with gun violence. The main issue this website raises is gun violence, and how gun-control laws and education on the danger of firearms would help to reduce this violence. One of the main things stated is that shops such as Walmart should not be allowed to sell guns for young children, as it is seen to be promoting the use of guns to children, which it obviously is. The argument here is that by allowing people to buy guns for their young children, it is promoting gun violence from a young age. Not just that but it is seen to be a main reason for so many accidental shootings involving children. This is because when children are young they are unable to maintain concentration for a long period of time, this combined with their lack of understanding of the real dangers of firearms causes way too many fatal incidents, and even deaths. One particular article draws attention to the fact that places such as Walmart that sell guns designed for children, sell them in bright colours, which makes them seem like toys, rather than a dangerous weapon, which does not help with a child's understanding of this. Many American's believe that it is important for children to learn how to defend themselves in the world, and in a country that allows the ownership of firearms, the only way to do so would be to teach them how to use a gun from a young age. This website aims to promote the reduction of gun violence and gun deaths, of which children are so vulnerable to, given the high number of child deaths to shootings, whether accidental or not. 

Anti-Gun control - Gun control is not the answer
This article talks about the issue of gun control in relation to the Sandy Hook elementary school shooting, by saying that if there were more gun laws, the shooting would still have happened. The article goes on to talk about other instances of random gun violence, after which there was much discussion about imposing more gun control. It is interesting that they call the act of trying to rid the USA of guns 'unconstitutional', going back to the argument that owning a gun is a constitutional right that every American has. The argument posed here states that not all gun-related deaths are the same, arguing that there are many different reasons for which someone would go on a shooting spree, and enforcing a law meaning that every person who tries to purchase a gun must have a background check would not solve this issue. This is a fair argument, as obviously someone has a clean criminal record until the day that they do go and shoot someone, making background checks pointless. Also, someone who was part of a criminal gang is unlikely to purchase a firearm through honest means, making background checks pointless. However, I disagree that gun control is not the answer. This is because though criminals are not going to get hold of a gun through honest means, it would make sense for the government to focus on stopping the market of illegal weaponry. This website also draws attention to the issue of mental health in regards to gun violence, by saying that for gun violence to be reduced, the government should focus more resources into mental health research and institutions to ensure that there are less mentally ill people on the streets who have access to firearms. This is because there are so many deaths from gun incidences that are not mass shootings, and this website argues that before the government tries to impose more gun-control laws, they should focus on the other factors that contribute to the thousands of gun deaths, such as accidents involving children with guns. Overall this website focuses on the ways in which the government should try and crack down on gun violence by considering the other factors that cause these incidents rather than trying to impose more gun-control laws. 

Pro-Gun and Anti-Gun website comparison

Pro-Gun website - https://www.usconcealedcarry.com/
Anti-Gun website - http://momsdemandaction.org/

The Pro-Gun website promotes the right for Americans to carry concealed weapons on their person where ever they go for protection of themselves and their families. The website is for the USCCA (United States Concealed Carry Association) which is an organisation that people can be members of so to gain insurance if you may need to use a concealed weapon for self defence. By offering this service, it encourages people to buy a firearm for protection without worrying about using it if needs be. The organisation promotes carrying by giving examples of stories and scenarios which could threaten the safety of family and the home. As home invasion is a huge fear in modern America, the idea of owning a gun to protect your family is used by the USCCA as another way to encourage people to carry guns. The idea behind the campaign is to try and get people to defend themselves if an incident involving a gunman e.g. the Loby's restaurant shooting and multiple school shootings, some one with a concealed weapon would be able to either have a better chance of surviving, or be able to defuse the situation so that it wouldn't escalate to resulting in multiple deaths. The website also promotes gun safety and training by providing tips and literature on how to train yourself and how to make sure children practise safe use of guns. One of the reasons the idea of concealed carry is suggested by the website is because it doesn't provoke others to challenge people with a visable gun or creates fear for other citizens. Overall, the website and organisation is trying to have people prepared for the increasing amount of guns and the danger they carry and encourage people to exercise their right to carry guns as a way to defend themselves as well their family.

The Anti-Gun website is used to promote a campaign created by mothers to try and get laws passed to restrict children's access to guns in America. One of the issues that the campaign wants to be restricted is the law that allows people to be able to openly display firearms in a public place. Moms believe it is unnecessary for people to have them on display and it may encourage people to become violent in public places as seeing a gun on show wouldn't ring alarm bells with anyone. One of the ways they try to get their message across is by appealing to mothers not to allow their children near guns or to encourage gun use by buying a youth rifle. They try to convince them by  telling them and reminding them of stories of fatal incidents where guns and firearms have been involved. Another one of their campaigns is trying to end the selling of firearms online as it means the people buying aren't having background checks so anyone is able to buy a gun, even if they are a criminal. Overall, this website is run by and for mothers who want to promote the restriction of guns to children as they believe that allowing a child to have that access could cause a fatal accident.

American Studies Blog 7

Emma Watson UN Speech

A YouTube video on an aspect of American Liberty

This video presents the aspect of freedom of speech within America. Emma Watson is not only an actress and model but also a United Nations Goodwill Ambassador. Her speech entailed her new initiative ‘HeForShe’, all about gender equality.

The freedom of speech, the first Amendment on the Bill of Rights, is displayed in this dialogue. This aspect of liberty is denied to many across the world and therefore I feel it is an important discussion point. To me, this is one thing America has done right. However, this ‘freedom’ comes to a price. With opinions, come disagreements, as everyone is entitled to their own thoughts and are consequently allowed to express their view. Emma Watson states “feminism by definition is the belief that men and women should have equal rights and opportunities. It is the theory of political, economic and social equality of the sexes.” This is a strong statement which would be disagreed by many for a variety of reasons, whether persona belief, religion or political and would have caused outrage by many.

Gender equality is an on-going issue and to me, one that needs to be firmly addressed. When you think of gender equality you think of women not receiving equal pay, but this equality needs to be reversed in other ways. A way that Emma Watson states “men don’t have the benefits of equality, either.” And she continues; “Both men and women should feel free to be sensitive. Both men and women should feel free to be strong.”

This video is only one of billions of presenting American Liberty. Singers are another good example of freedom of speech as they’re allowed to sing about what they want. Directors can make films about what they want and to me this aspect of freedom of speech within American Liberty is key. There are some place which would not have allowed Emma Watson to express her views, which are so important to address in todays society.