Reclaiming the American Dream Through Community Service

In his essay, â€Å"Economy,† Henry David Thoreau argues that luxuries do not provide happiness. More specifically, Thoreau argues that luxuries hinder the development of humans; he says, â€Å"Most of the luxuries, and many of the so-called comforts of life, are not only not indispensable, but positive hindrances to the elevation of mankind. With respect to luxuries and comforts, the wisest have ever lived a more simple and meagre life than the poor† (13). In this passage, Thoreau is suggesting that it is wise not to live a luxurious life. In conclusion, Thoreau believes the number of luxuries a person has should not determine if a person has led a good life. In my view, Thoreau’s insight into luxuries and life proves useful in discussing the†¦show more content†¦Today’s consumers also follow the path of these merchants and farmers—the path of ignorance towards humanitarian issues. For example, Apple treats their Chinese laborers not like humans, but like machines, and yet Apple products sell fast and the company has a lot of loyalty. Despite the convenience of Apple products, they are after all just luxurious and inhibit our ability to tackle major problems going on in the world. Another aspect of the traditional American Dream is that we want to make life better for the next generation of Americans. However, it is impossible to deal with major issues in the world because of our obsession over luxuries. Constantly used luxuries such as video games, fiction literature, and television, all provide a false sense of reality, a false reality that does not have all the issues of the â€Å"real world.† We do not actually live because of these luxuries, we are driven away from what is happening right here in America—the hungry, the homeless, and the impoverished. Thoreau believes that we should only have four necessaries in life: â€Å"food, shelter, clothing, and fuel;† Thoreau says, â€Å"for not til l we have secured these are we prepared to entertain the true problems of life with a freedom and prospect of success† (11). What Thoreau means in this passage is that we need to remove all of the luxuries in our life in order to think more clearly about the real issues in America that need to be addressed. By not worrying aboutShow MoreRelatedThe Harlem Renaissance : The New Negro Movement1008 Words   |  5 PagesThe New Negro Movement, also known as the Harlem Renaissance, spanned in the 1920s in which African American culture attained unparalleled political and social recognition despite the ongoing horrors of being black in America. New Negro was coined during the Harlem Renaissance indicating a more open advocacy of dignity and a refusal to submit to Jim Crow laws and racial segregation. The movement weakened the notion of the African diaspora as an event of forced migration isolated in the past andRead MoreThe Reclaiming The American Dream Report1520 Words   |  7 P agesIn the Reclaiming the American Dream report (AACC, 2012), seven recommendations were suggested to meet the needs of the students, as well as having a strong community college system. Hence, these recommendation address redesigning students’ educational experiences, reinventing institutional roles, and resetting the system to create incentives for students and institutional triumphs. 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Dissatisfied with her appearance for an upcoming church service, Maya imagines herself with blonde hair and blue eyes, which were two features associated with the white standard of beauty. For example, Angelou writes, â€Å"I woke out of my black ugly dream, and my real hair, whichRead MoreAnne Hutchinson, Tecumseh And Thomas Jefferson1975 Words   |  8 Pages Anne Hutchinson, Tecumseh and Thomas Jefferson are three very different individuals with unique ideas of freedom. Anne Hutchinson was a woman that sought the freedom to express her religious beliefs in her strict Puritan community. Tecumseh was a Shawnee leader who had high hopes of uniting Indian tribes in order to seek freedom for his people and regain the lands that he believed were rightfully theirs. 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In his article Gerald Nachman recounts how years ago it was a part of being a kid in school to be teased at some point and it made you a stronger person to come through school surviving the process. There has been an increase in the sensational media coverage of violence attributed to bullying. Almost weekly, there are headline n ews items concerning acts of violence committed on school grounds, which involve shootingsRead MoreEssay about The Audacity of Hope: A Rhetorical Analysis2128 Words   |  9 Pagesfinancial success, world peace, or simply hope for some good out of your day. In 2006, Barack Obama wrote the political biography The Audacity of Hope to outline his core political and spiritual beliefs, as well as his opinions on different aspects of American culture. The Illinois senator divided the book into nine chapters, each concentrating on both his own and the United States’ successes and failures in local and state politics. 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The Current Realities Of Poverty And Homeliness - 1155 Words

The current realities of poverty and homeliness are much different than what we have come to know. In the past the common view of poverty existed mainly in the dense inner core of economically depressed areas of metropolitan cities. Yet poverty today has taken on a much different meaning. I will show that while poverty still exist in the urban areas it has seen a dramatic shifted in numbers from the urban and rural areas of America to the suburbs. I will also show why suburban residents fare no better than their urban counterparts. Prior to the 1970s the poor was relegated mostly in urban areas and to a degree rural areas, but Kneebone and Berube (2013) shows that the geography of the nation’s poor, however, changed markedly over the ensuing forty years, shifting decidedly away from smaller communities and toward these large metropolitan areas. According to the authors, in 1970 more than half of the country’s poor lived in metropolitan areas, but â€Å"by 2010, 15.3 million poor individuals —55 percent of the metropolitan poor population—lived in the suburbs, almost 2.6 million more than in the cities (12.8 million). Nationally, by the end of the 2000s one in three poor Americans lived in the suburbs, making them home to the largest and fastest-growing poor population in the country† (Kneebone and Berube 2013, 18). The authors show that even before the year 2000 the suburbs of Seattle â€Å"had more poor residents—61 percent of the metropolitan total—than the cities of Seattle,Show MoreRelatedDisability As Defined By The Act1967 Words   |  8 Pagesstock arrangement of all instrumentation may be had. Issued Toward those proper legislatures to welfare from maintaining persons with disabilities. (Office of the Head official for Persons for Disabilities, 2010). Actual causes were used to see that current status Furthermore pervasiveness of. Disabilities. The late globe report card around disability (World wellbeing association. And the planet Bank, 2011) might have been those Caption sourball on realizing those evaluated. Figures about disability

Issue of Problem Facing the Welfare Free Essays

Perhaps no other child-serving systems encounter a higher percentage of children with a trauma history than the child welfare system. Almost by definition, children served by child welfare have experienced at least one major traumatic event, and many have long and complex trauma histories. Children in the child welfare system, especially those in foster care, have a higher prevalence of mental health problems than the general population. We will write a custom essay sample on Issue of Problem Facing the Welfare or any similar topic only for you Order Now Abuse and neglect often occur with concurrent exposure to domestic violence, substance abuse, and community violence. These children also often face the additional stressors of removal from the home, multiple placements in out-of-home care (foster homes, shelters, group homes, residential treatment facilities, kinship placements), and different schools and peer groups. Research shows that exposure to trauma can increase the risk of experiencing multiple types of trauma, known as polyvictimization or complex trauma, with increased likelihood of adverse traumatic symptoms. CWLA is committed to ensuring that children and their families are provided with effective trauma-informed services that lead to their optimal well-being. In the winter of 2012, CWLA will devote a special issue of its journal, Child Welfare, to addressing the effect of child traumatic stress on children, families, operations, and staff within child welfare. Of particular interest are articles that address the following: Trauma-informed, evidence-based innovative practice and policy across the spectrum of child welfare services including prevention of child abuse and neglect, family preservation and support, child and family protection, placement, and permanency services Trauma-informed, evidenced-based mental health practice within the child welfare system (e. g. screening, assessment, and treatment) Trauma and evidence-informed strategies and practices that improve the social and emotional well-being for children involved or at risk of involvement with child welfare who experience trauma and/or exhibit trauma symptoms Culturally responsive models for youth, family, and community engagement in developing trauma-informed child welfare p ractice, policy, and systemic improvement Prevalence and impact of secondary traumatic stress on child welfare staff and evidence-based interventions indicated for secondary traumatic stress Role of cultural issues and cultural competency on developing trauma-informed child welfare ractice, policy, and systemic improvement Data collection, empirical investigation, and evaluation of the effects of identification, referral, and treatment on the safety, permanency, and well-being outcomes of children exposed to traumatic stress involved with the child welfare system Effective cross-system collaborations between child welfare, education, mental health, and juvenile justice systems in identifying and addressing the impact of trauma on children and families served by multiple systems While there are many promising practices emerging regarding the response of child welfare to address child traumatic stress, there is a need to document and share knowledge and experiences more broadly. CWLA is soliciting manuscripts that document and build on these experiences. Research-based articles and conceptual works referencing studies are welcome. Articles that document innovative and promising practices where knowledge is being built are also encouraged How to cite Issue of Problem Facing the Welfare, Essay examples