Burlington High School
Burlington, Kansas
Teacher: Devra Parker
The Responsibility of an American
By Corey Hugunin
12th Grade
As Americans, we are all born with certain rights and liberties. Every person that is a part of this country has the same rights and the same chances to do something with their lives. All of these things are guaranteed to [Americans] when they are born. But what happens when someone uses the rights that they have to infringe upon another’s rights?
In this great country people make choices everyday, choices that other countries do not offer. ... Our forefathers put together a Constitution that gives all citizens … equal opportunities. [Thousands] of people have fought and died to protect this country because they love the freedom [it offers] and they would rather die protecting it than have the freedom taken away.
One of the problems with the people in our country today is that they abuse the freedoms and the liberties that are given to them. They say, “Hey I’m an American I am better than you.” This is wrong. Putting yourself above and beyond others isn’t going to make them respect you or make them like you; it makes them hate and despise you. I live in a town that has a nuclear power plant. Our school gets money from the plant and we have a very nice school and very nice facilities. I often compare our little town with our country. People hate us because we have nice things. People hate America because we have freedom. It is not my fault or the students in my schools fault that the power plant is here, but we all benefit from it. The thing that I don’t like is that we are always judged because we are from Burlington. Neighboring towns can’t stand us. Most of the people around us don’t even take the time to get to know us before they judge us. In our sports league they label us as spoiled, rich kids. I will admit that there are a few people from Burlington that are stuck up and that do think that they are better than everyone, but that shouldn’t give all of the people from here a bad reputation. America is given the same, bad reputation. Most Americans do not rank themselves better than anyone, but America is hated all over the world because of the few people that do. All of this bragging goes against the common good. It is within the rights of the people according to the first amendment, but I think that it is morally wrong.
Sometimes people get so caught up in worrying about what they can and cannot do. We shouldn’t wonder if what we are doing is going to get us into trouble with the law or if it is within our rights in the Constitution; we should be worrying if what we are doing is taking rights away from other people. Nowadays, it’s more important to make sure we keep ourselves safe and not be concerned about others around us.
I think this country is great and it has so much to offer, we just move too quickly. If we would just take five seconds and try to worry about someone other than ourselves, we could be so much greater.
Yes this country was formed to make everyone in it free and give them all equal rights. But I think we should also think about how we are one nation working for the common good. I think that we should use the Individual liberties that are guaranteed to us by our Constitution to make ourselves better, but first we need to make each other better because that is what this country is for. Take a look at 9/11, for example. When those planes hit, they didn’t just hit New York, they hit all Americans. We rose up together and for that one split moment people quit worrying about themselves. Firefighters lost their lives trying to help others; that’s what I think of when I think of America. It’s kind of like a younger sibling; if you pick on them, it’s fine but if anyone else does it, there is going to be heck to pay. We should all look out for each other and stand up for one another because we are one country, and I feel privileged to wake up every day in the greatest country in the world.
Answers to Questions Regarding the Required Reading
Q1-What do you think Justin Reiter meant by including the following in his essay?
“…if the people are not accustomed to the freedom they will be angered by the inequality.” Were you angered by some of the things Justin said in his essay? Did you agree or disagree?
I agreed with most of the statements that Justin made. Most of the statements that he made about Americans were true. We do strive to be better than others around us and sometimes that tears us apart.
Q2- Explain: “He felt that the common good could be served by each individual pursuing self-interest.” To whom did Chris Carney attribute these feelings?
Chris attributed these feelings to James Madison. Madison is known as the father of the Constitution and is known for fighting for peoples rights.
Q3- In the next to the last paragraph in her essay, Faith Doyle discuses Emperor Diocletian and his Edict of 301. Relate that to the essay topic.
The government wanted everyone to be happy. They made it to where people stopped trading and the government became the soul provider for the people. The people of the country then had to pay higher taxes to pay for the government program. The people eventually went bankrupt and so did the government.
Q4- Kelly Lanier says in her essay: “Even though everyone is born with the same rights here in America; sometimes a person can step on or take away the rights of another person.” Relate the example she gives and give us another one of your own.
Kelly’s example stated that Americans have the right to bear arms but if someone uses that right and kills or injures someone it takes their right of living safe away. All Americans have rights, but you can only take them so far without infringing on someone else’s rights. I agree with her because there are to many people in this country and in this world that are living for themselves and are only out to make themselves better. If everyone would try to make everyone around them better then the world we live in would be better.
Q5- Explain what Joshua Spencer means when he says that “individual liberty is a fragile, yet powerful, asset.” How does he relate individual liberty to dictators? Do you agree with his assessment? Why or why not? Be specific.
Joshua meant that if you are in a dictatorship you are looking for handouts to survive and you no longer need to rely on each other. I agree with him because if you are an individual than you do something differently than other people and they are going to be intrigued by what you do. If everyone is the same then no one needs the people around them and those people wont be appreciated.
Q6-Luck Hall asked “Will we maintain our freedom or destroy it to be safe?” How would you answer that question?
I think that we will maintain our freedom because that’s what our country was founded upon and that is what keeps this country going.
Q7- Some people, according to which student essayist in 1999, suggested that “the Constitution's framers might have 'put greater emphasis on the protection of the community over individual liberty', had they seen the world today.”? She doesn’t agree. Do You?
Molly McGlone was the essayist that wrote this in 1999. I do not agree. I believe that the framers were very concerned with individual liberty. Individualism is one of the main reasons this country was formed so that everyone could be free and not have to answer to a king.
Q8- “Just because a law may achieve desirable results, it should not take precedence over the Constitution.” Do you agree or disagree? Aaron Traffas, discusses the Ban on Smoking in Public Places and the Gun Free School Zones Act. How do you personally feel about these two issues?
Yes, people have the
right to bear arms, but they do not have the right to put others lives in
danger. Smoking around a non-smoker and carrying a gun into places that may
get someone hurt are two things that risk the lives of others.
Q9- Annie St. Romain referred to a book in her essay where “the government regulated every possible aspect of human life from profession to family to emotions.” What was the name of that book? Have you read it?
Yes I have read the giver. The book really opens your eyes and shows you all the freedom that you have around you and makes you appreciate the freedom that you have.
Q10- “As nations grow in size and social complexity, governments claim greater powers to restrain individuals and groups. Those who criticize this development believe that it has gone so far as to threaten the existence of individual liberty. Others believe that only if government is granted such powers, can complex problems be solved.” This quote can be found in Jessie Veit’s essay. Which side of the issue do you support and why?
I do not think that the government threatens the existence of individual liberty. The people who go out and do dumb things to try and make their point are the ones who are threatening the liberties of others.
Q11- Give three examples where personal responsibility would replace the need for laws. Do not duplicate those found in Patrick Karcher’s essay.
If people were responsible enough to drive safely we wouldn’t need seatbelts or speed limits. Also if people were responsible enough to vote we wouldn’t need a minimum age to vote. Drinking is also a big issue in this country. Some teenagers are responsible enough to drink without going over the limit so that is another age that could be lowered.
Q12- It is obvious that Benji Lehman is idealistic. In his essay he claims when the founding fathers “wrote the constitution they put a great emphasis on each person having personal rights as well as individual liberties. The true strength of each and every community falls on the individual. Believing each man, woman, and child will, and can recognize the importance of good responsibility. … These were laws that gave each and everyone of us the opportunity and self-respect to do the right thing.” Benji believed that people would make choices that would serve and benefit their communities. Do you believe that? Please explain.
I think people would if they didn’t have bad examples surrounding them. Young people everyday see things in this world that set bad examples for them so how are they supposed to know what is right and what is wrong? If people did make the right decisions then no one would have any bad examples to learn from, but no matter where you are in the world there are always going to be people that make the wrong decisions.