An Overview of Cultural Conservatives

There are no solid dates for when cultural conservatism arrived on the American political scene, but it was certainly after 1987, which lead some people to believe the movement was started by writer and philosopher Allan Bloom, who in 1987, wrote Closing of the American Mind, an immediate and unexpected national best seller. While the book is mostly a condemnation of the failure of the liberal American university system, its criticism of social movements in the US has strong cultural conservative overtones. For this reason, most people look to Bloom as the movements founder. Ideology Often confused with social conservatism - which is more concerned with pushing social issues such as abortion and traditional marriage to the front of the debate - modern cultural conservatism has strayed from the simple anti-liberalization of society Bloom espoused. Cultural conservatives of today hold fast to traditional ways of thinking even in the face of monumental change. They believe strongly in traditional values, traditional politics and often have an urgent sense of nationalism. It is in the area of traditional values where cultural conservatives most overlap with social conservatives (and other types of conservatives, for that matter). While cultural conservatives do tend to be religious, it is only because religion plays such a large role in US culture. Cultural conservatives, however, can be affiliated with any American sub-culture, but whether they are of the Christian culture, anglo-saxon Protestant culture or African American culture, they tend to align themselves tightly with their own. Cultural conservatives are often accused of racism, even though their flaws (if they surface) may be more xenophobic than racist. To a much larger degree than traditional values, nationalism and traditional politics are primarily what concern cultural conservatives. The two are often strongly intertwined, and show up in national political debates under the auspices of immigration reform and protecting the family. Cultural conservatives believe in buying American and oppose introducing foreign languages such as Spanish or Chinese on interstate signs or ATM machines. Criticisms A cultural conservative may not always be a conservative in all other matters, and this is where critics most often assault the movement. Because cultural conservatism isnt easily defined in the first place, critics of cultural conservatives tend to point to inconsistencies that dont really exist. For example, cultural conservatives are largely silent (as Bloom was) on the issue of gay rights (their main concern is the movements disruption with American traditions, not the gay lifestyle itself), critics therefore point to this as being contradictory to the conservative movement as a whole -- which it isnt, since conservatism in general has a such a broad meaning. Political Relevance Cultural conservatism in common American thought has increasingly replaced the term religious right, even though they arent really the same things. In fact, social conservatives have more in common with the religious right than cultural conservatives. Nevertheless, cultural conservatives have enjoyed considerable success at the national level, especially in the 2008 presidential election, where immigration became a focus of the national debate. Cultural conservatives are often grouped politically with other kinds of conservatives, simply because the movement doesnt tightly address wedge issues like abortion, religion, and as noted above, gay rights. Cultural conservatism often serves as a launching pad for newcomers to the conservative movement who want to call themselves conservative while they determine where they stand on the wedge issues. Once they are able to define their beliefs and attitudes, they often move away from cultural conservatism and into another, more tightly focused movement.

Solutions for the Social Problem of Poverty in the United...

Poverty is a common social issue that has troubled the United States for a countless number of years. Poverty is considered deprivation. It is when we are deprived of the things we need to function properly in society. Education, food and shelter are things that individuals struggling through poverty lack. Poverty is subjective because anyone can differ on the level of deprivation we suffer that describes the state of poverty. Some people even want to include the ability to go on foreign holidays as people are deprived of something the majority up till quite recently could do. Unsurprisingly, it still widely exists and has been a consistent problem. No matter what the overall prosperity level is, there will always be millions of†¦show more content†¦Absolute necessities are anything ranging from the essentials, such as heat and shelter. An example of relative poverty would be taking a random group of people off the street to classify their wealth; otherwise, basing judgment off on something as simple as shoes. Another example could be the poverty you may find in another country. People who live in poor accommodation, cannot afford luxuries, struggling to make ends meet, are said to suffer from relative poverty. Several issues in the world including illness and thirst are causes to poverty. Many times people underestimate the word poor. However, poor is more than just seemingly not having money. One literally has no food or water to eat nor drink and live homeless on the streets begging for money and supplies. Furthermore, the effects of poverty are most often interrelated so another follows that one problem. An example of this would be bad sanitation, which makes it easier to spread around diseases but lack of supplies make people more vulnerable to them. 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How does Shakespeare make you feel increasingly sympathetic towards Juliet Essay Example For Students

How does Shakespeare make you feel increasingly sympathetic towards Juliet? Essay During Act 3 scene 5 Shakespeare enables the audience to feel increasingly sympathetic towards Juliet and her current situation. To do this Shakespeare employs many dramatic devices and completely isolates her from the rest of the characters. At the opening of the scene Romeo must leave Juliet. However it is in the middle of the night and emotions are heightened. Romeo and Juliet cannot establish whether it is night or day. This could be symbolic of the predicament they are in. Juliet tries to persuade Romeo that it is not yet dawn, and therefore he does not have to leave yet. Yond light is not daylight, I know it. At first Romeo is sceptical and says that he must go, but then resolves to stay and face capture and even death. I must be gone and live, or stay and die. The time of their departure enables the audience to feel increasingly sympathetic towards the couple. Romeo is frightened and worried about being captured as he is banished. He faces a death penalty if he is caught. Tragically all this is happening on their wedding night, it should be the happiest time of their lives and both Romeo and Juliet want it to last forever. Sadly it is tainted by the fact that they do not know when they shall next speak again. The audience would also feel sympathy towards Juliet on her wedding day, supposedly the happiest day of her life, as she has lost her cousin, found out her newly wed husband is a murderer and then at the end of her wedding night just to add insult to injury she is, about to loose her husband as well, due to banishment. The majority of the audience will understand how heart-rending it must be for Romeo to be banished on the day of the young couples wedding. As many members of the audience would have been married, they would probably be imagining their wedding night and realising how terrible the timing is of this quandary. Shakespeare uses musical imagery with words like, discords, unpleasing sharps and out of tune. All these musical terms mean things are going very wrong in a piece of music. However in the case of Romeo and Juliet things are not going wrong in a piece of music, but in their lives. A precise indicator of the situation facing the young couple is typified by the following quote, More light and light, more dark and dark our woes. It is ironic how we consider light to be associated with happiness and good; however in the case of Romeo and Juliet it is used to signify loss and cruel division. As Romeo departs from Juliets bedroom, we fear the couple will never see one another alive again. Although Romeo appears to be fairly positive, and looking forward to their sweet discourses, Juliet adopts an attitude quite to the contrary. When Juliet asks Romeo whether he believes they shall ever meet again, Romeo replies, I doubt it not. However as Juliet says her goodbyes her words are filled with foreboding and she has a premonition of Romeo lying dead in a tomb. Methinks I see thee now, thou art so low, As one dead in the bottom of a tomb. This echoes Juliets previous statement as Romeo goes to leave let day in, and let life out. Although Romeo is still being quite positive considering the situation the couple are facing Juliet is not. She seems to be focusing on all the terrible things being cruelly separated in this way has forced upon her. An example of this is the way she centres on how slowly the time will pass whilst they are apart, saying, For in a minute there are many days. Juliet correctly summarises her attitude and character when she states she has an, ill-divining soul. This suggests that she believes she is in control of the fate of her own character. However it is a statement that must be questioned throughout the play. As an audience we are aware from the very beginning that the play is a tragedy due to the prologue, What makes 'Twelfth Night' a Comedy EssayI will drag thee on a hurdle thither. He then gives her a choice, marriage or rejection from the family. As the audience are well aware, this is not much of a choice. Lady Capulet is also very cruel and abusive towards Juliet when she becomes aware of her refusal to marry Paris. I would the fool were married to her grave. As an audience we feel very sympathetic towards Juliet now the insults that she has been thrown from both her mother and her father, were terrible. She cannot tell them her secret and as an audience we feel increasingly sympathetic towards Juliet and her seemingly hopeless situation. When her parents have both left, Juliet looks for comfort from the Nurse. The Nurse is someone that Juliet really relies upon for support and guidance. At this particular moment in time, what Juliet really needs is a friend, someone who will help and support her. She cannot turn to her parents for this and since she was very young the Nurse has played this role. Juliet expects the nurse to help as she was all for the marriage to Romeo. She looks to her for guidance and counsel. Previously the Nurse praised Romeo and even encouraged Juliet to marry him. However now she too turns against Juliet. Juliet is furious that the Nurse is completely contradicting what she had said about Romeo in the past. Now she is comparing Romeo to Paris, and in her eyes Paris is far better than Romeo. She now advises Juliet, I think it best you married with the County, whilst she compares Romeo to a dishclout. By the time the Nurse has finished Juliet feels utterly betrayed and is beside herself with fury. As an audience our sympathy is now at its utmost. Juliet is now completely isolated. The person that she has always confided in and relied upon has now betrayed her at the single most important time that she was needed. As things seem to be spiralling out of control for Juliet the audience must begin to sense that things will never turn right for her or Romeo, and are probably beginning to anticipate their deaths. All these circumstances are compounded by the fact that she cannot marry, as she is already wed. She has lost her cousin, who she was very close to and her husband has been banished. She is also unsure of her feelings towards Romeo, as to whether he is a murderer or her lover. Her life has been turned upside down in a matter of days and she is now completely alone. The scene finishes with a soliloquy from Juliet. From this we can see how furious she is with the nurse and how hopeless she believes the situation to be. At the very end of this short soliloquy she puts forward the only two ideas she can come up with. The first idea, her plan A so to speak, is to seek help from the Friar. However her plan B is to take her life if all else fails. If all else fail, myself have power to die. This last line is when tension is at its utmost and so is our sympathy for Juliet. The extent of despair that she is feeling is explicitly exposed, when she begins to contemplate taking her own life. In conclusion, throughout this scene Shakespeare employs many dramatic devices as he builds up the audiences sympathy for Juliet. He does this through his choice of language and vocabulary, the way he isolates her from the rest of the characters and the terrible timing of each situation.

Thrones of Ancient Maya Essay Example

Thrones of Ancient Maya Essay The article that I studied is entitled Thrones and Throne Structures in the Central Acropolis of Tikal as an Expression of the Royal Court, by Peter D. Harrison.In this article it shows that you may use the varieties of reception thrones as evidence of court function.Some other topics are on the source material for the construction of thrones and decoration (or lack of) and reasons for it. Some of the functions that were used from the throne were reception of tribute goods, reception of prisoners involving presence of military guards, reception of visiting dignitaries displaying royalty, ritual divination, and possibly even accession rituals.This wide use of thrones in Tikal was compared to other cultures royal courts, including the court of Louis XIV in France and the royal Inka court of Cuzco.The examiners found that markers of these courts all included the use of livery (clothing showing especially high rank), use of thrones, and the association of church and state. Tikals thron es are the simplest, plainest, least-decorated thrones in the lowlands of Ancient Maya.Highly decorated thrones are smaller and are thought to be less powerful than those in Tikal.We go on to find that even though this was a large city with great political influence and wealth, they seated their highest officials on the plainest of thrones.The author does remind us that even though there seems to be an apparent absence in decoration, there is a variety of form and context of Tikal thrones. It is noted that masonry-constructed benches were a Late Classic (A.D. 650-900) phenomenon in Tikal because there are no Early Classic (A.D. 292-650) examples existing in the Central Acropolis.We find that this is because the native stone to Tikal did not have high tensile strength so they used the medium of wood, which gave way for their famous intricate lintel carvings.When the benches and thrones in masonry form were finally introd