AMOL Big Paper:

Intro ---
Every America has there own definition of their American way of life, a lot has to do with their background and experiences. Every one wants to achieve the “America dream”, but what defines that. We live in a land of opportunity and most want to take advantage of it. Status is very important to most people and it is most of their goals in life to make it to the top. American is supposed to be a place where everyone, people born dirt poor or filthy rich are given the same chances and opportunities to succeed in life. People from other countries have a painted picture in their head that everything is possible; a lot of their perception is influenced by the American and worldwide media. Through observation and interviews of the American people we were able to discuss as a class many of the dominant frameworks of the America way of life. While closely looking at all the aspects of the AWOL we were able to better analyze it and see how much of it is actually true, and what is made up to be more than it actually is.

Through the eyes of an American ---
What is The American Way of Life? At first it seemed like there would be and obvious answer: “2.5 kids, two cars, a white picket fence and a dog.” However, it turns out that its a little more complicated than that, depending on who you ask. In the beginning of the year on the many trips we took walking and observing our surroundings. Through interviews with peers, family members and strangers on the busy New York City streets, I was able to I gathered an overall idea about what the American Way of Life actually is. Although everyone’s definition of the American Way of Life is different, both Fred Taylor and John Fanning, two middle class white men, were able to agree that they thought it was structured around freedom and the right that people have to persue what they love. They felt it is “Important to live the life you imagined and follow your dreams” (Taylor), and that “People should be able to seek what they feel is necessary in life” (Taylor). It’s interesting that the majority of what they said was similar, possibly due to the fact that they went through some of the same struggles in life; both coming form artistic backgrounds.

The American Way of Life is a never-ending cycle, which involves numerous subjects left open for discussion. Living in America in this day and age has been extremely tough. It a melting pot of different cultures all having different views of what the American Way of Life is, and some of the challenges that go along with it. Financially it has become very difficult to support American family lifestyles “at this point in time the economic system is horrible. The Richer are getting Richer, the middle class is becoming smaller and more people are becoming poorer and poorer.” (Taylor) For the most part everyone that I have interviewed felt America was based on “opportunity,” but with the current government opportunity seems to be getting smaller, and one thing seems to lead to another. How much freedom and opportunity do we actually have? Generally speaking the lower class seems to have a much larger struggle. While walking around the streets I interviewed a lower class Hispanic women who said, “If you are born from a poor family life is harder to get by in life. We do not have the access to the best education, which can make or break our careers.”

People claim you can do anything you want in life, as long as you put your mind to it. But how true is that? Although she felt not everyone was able to seek the “American Way Of Life,” it seems that people agree that education and money play a very important role in the socioeconomic status of Americans. “People who are educated do better in this country” (Fanning). Education seems to be a large part of how successful people become in life. Why were people 40 years ago able to support families without graduating from high school or having a college degree? Why has it changed so much? People who get a lower level of education usually are not able to get highly paid jobs.

Does everyone living in American dream the same dream? Is it to“ work hard, start families, try and make money, and pass down tradition and values to the next generation.” (Fanning) Is that the typical American Way of Life? Who is the one who determines the way we choose to live our lives? People all around the world go to great lengths to get to America because of the “freedom” and “opportunity” they hear we Americans have.

Capitalism ---
Capitalism is more complicated than most would understand, there are many different aspects to the way it is run. The official definition of Capitalism is an economic system in which goods and services are produced, distributed and consumed through the mechanism of a free market based deeply on the right to private property and the profit motive. The three major defining concepts of capitalism are Land, Labor, and Capital. These all have a lot to do with the production of a product. Land (the natural world) is the natural resources the product needs. Labor involves all the work necessary to produce and sell the product, lastly Capital which is the resources (the stuff) used to "re-shape" and sell the final product. People who have money to start off are able to get father in life than people who don't. There is a lot of strategy behind capitalism many companies and businesses try to make the most money possible while spending as little as possible this is also known as profit motive. It the seller and the consumer who both try and get the most out of every dollar they put towards the product, the price of their product set according to the market price. That is the highest price the seller will sell their product for and the lowest price the consumer is willing to pay for (buy low, sell high). Based on supply and demand the market price will shift. If demand of a product goes up price and quantity will also go up, if demand goes down so will the price and quantity. If Supply goes up price goes down while quantity goes up, lastly when supply goes up quantity goes down. A free market economy will cause competition between business because the government does not impose regulations with leaves the market to set its own level, this lack or regulation is what is causing the economic crisis occurring right now. Why do people work as hard as they do? Is it because they want to? The invisible hand is what pushes you to do not always what you want, but what you know you have to do in order to provide a comfortable life for yourself and the people in your life (self interest). One of the most common stories you will hear in American is the "Rags to Riches" one. So many people are drawn to the fact that we have upward mobility, where you can start at the bottom with little money but still make it to the top. That motive knowing you can make something of your life encourages people to continue to work.

Constitution and government---
We studied the constitution and took a deeper look into the meaning behind it, before that it was important to understand the basic concepts.

Pre-Amble
To ensure that America stays free and that Justice is always served, this constitution was created so that laws and rules must be abided by, the constitution serves the purpose of making sure that everyone is unified and domestic peace is kept in place.

• Legislative Branch:
- Made up of Congress, House of Representatives, and Senate
- Makes Tax laws
- Makes laws controlling trade between the United States and other countries
- Representation in senate remains the same, different from the House of Representatives which varies on population of state
- Senate can say yes or no to treaties that president makes
- Approves the production and making of money
- Can declare wars with countries

• Executive Branch:
- Makes sure that laws of US are followed and obeyed
- To be a president, you must be a natural born American and have lived in the US for at least 14 years
- The President has a cabinet that he can turn to for advice. i.e) The Secretary of State and Secretary of Commerce
- The President has the power to approve or disapprove laws that the Congress creates

• Judicial Branch:
- Justices have to be trained in law.
- Supreme Court is made up of 9 justices
- Is The Supreme Court

In the constitution, it states that the supreme law of the land is that all of the decisions are made under the authority of the United States of America. Nothing is based on religion and no test has to be taken in order for a person to qualify for a job in the US office. If this was the case for every situation I think things would be a lot different then they are. This law is supposed to show how the Untied State is not only based on a dominant religion, when Bush was elected president he made the separation between church and state extremely hard to find. Supposedly it does not keep anyone who is not of the prominent religion in the United out of office. It also allows citizens that currently live in the US; practice any religion they choose because there are no consequences. It will not affect them negatively and they can pursue a career in a office of the United States. I think religion had been a huge part of the AWOL for thousands of years and has become a trap, when this law was written I think it was just a cover up tricking people to think that they could believe in anything they wanted and not be effected, but people are judged all the time and discriminated against because of religion preference and beliefs. The constitution was written not to be like any other country assuring people that they were given freedom one of them being the tight to choose and live by their religion.

According to the constitution, the fourth amendment states that the government is not permitted to search a person’s house or take a person’s items with a good reason and a warrant. I think a persons privacy should be respected but I believe it can be broken to ensure the safety of other people/citizens. My only objection is that when the law was written it should have been made more specific, it clearly states that random searches are not allowed. After 9/11 security became more intense and while traveling places more and more random searches started. They were not searching people’s items to make it any less convenient or to intentionally invade their privacy. It was done to ensure the safety of the people around them. Events and situations have taken place in the United States that left a lot of people shaken: terrorist bombings and many alleged plots for future attacks on the US. Looking closely you could conclude that there are exceptions being made towards the 4Th amendment but the reason why are acceptable.

The 12th, 13th, 14th and 15th amendments of the constitution are considered to be extremely crucial because it lead to the US’s change as a government. They introduced the Electoral College and the abolishment of slavery. For many years the white people had all the power, when these amendments where passed the American citizens of color to have more freedom mainly putting and end to slavery. The 12 Amendment changed how both the president and vice president became elected. Instead of electing a president and vice president together they made the decision to put them on separate ballots. Now a day the president makes the decision on who is appointed vice president.

The 13TH, 14TH and 15th amendment are the ones that allowed the United States citizens freedom. When slavery was abolished things seemed to become more diverse, the government now seems to consist of a few different races and backgrounds (Obama). The 14th amendment states that laws can’t be made that rob people of their lives and freedom, the 15th amendment stated that all citizens of any race had the right to vote but women were not allowed that privilege yet. Every amendment was a milestone in American history because they were the first amendments that allowed all citizens (with the exception of women) to be somewhat equal, attempting to bring the country closer.

I think that the amendments where passed around that time because although race was still a heavy weighing issue people were starting to realize that slavery would not last forever. Minorities began to stand up for themselves making it known they too had a voice to be heard. For many years it was the whites that had total control and dictated to everyone “below them”. I think Martin Luther King Jr played a large part in the process of getting equal rights for all people. During the movement, he referred frequently to the constitution and relied on it to help get the idea across to people that all people no matter race should be treated equal. Minorities showed their determination to be free, and probably helped to make it known that many of them weren’t scared of breaking the rules anymore. Although White supremacy was still to be feared, it was slowly becoming less of a threat. Things were changing in the world, and people began to realize that they deserved to have rights that whites only had. More and more Black leaders and speakers began to immerge. Although it would be nice to say we now live in a time where the race card is not played that is not the reality. It has without a doubt become much better but I don’t think it will ever go away completely.