Social Psychologist Jonathan Haidts Three Great Untruths are examined: 1) life is a battle between good people and evil people, 2) what doesn’t kill you makes you weaker, and 3) always trust your feelings. Civic engagement is the antidote to the divisiveness and self-centeredness that belief in these untruths fosters.
In June 2019, the Gallup polling organization reported that 23% of Americans viewed immigration as the most important political issue facing the United States. Although we frequently hear American society described as a nation of immigrants, concerns over immigration is not a new topic. In 1896 Senator Henry Cabot Lodge delivered a speech on the floor of the U.S. Senate, titled, The Restriction of Immigration. For this assignment, write a paper of no less than 600 words analyzing and critiquing three arguments presented by Senator Lodge. In your role as an engaged citizen, how would you respond to the views expressed by Lodge? Use specific ideas from the assigned readings in weeks one and two to support your argument.
https://www.nationalists.org/library/america/henry-lodge-speech-1896.html
Week 1 assigned readings:
https://archive.org/details/JusticeWhatIsTheRightThingToDoByMichaelSandel/page/n7
https://www.saddleback.edu/faculty/agordon/documents/Bowling_Alone.pdf
https://www.learningtogive.org/resources/civic-virtue
https://www.archives.gov/founding-docs/declaration-transcript
https://www.newstatesman.com/sites/default/files/combined_executive_summary.pdf
https://www.oecd.org/insights/37966934.pdf
Week 2 assigned readings:
https://www.theatlantic.com/magazine/archive/2015/09/the-coddling-of-the-american-mind/399356/
http://content.bellevue.edu/cas/la/400-410-420/id/kss/the-pursuit-of-truth.pdf
https://www.americanrhetoric.com/speeches/mlkihaveadream.htm
https://www.theatlantic.com/education/archive/2017/07/why-its-a-bad-idea-to-tell-students-words-are-violence/533970/
https://opinionator.blogs.nytimes.com/2012/06/04/the-harm-in-free-speech/
