Saturday, February 21st, 2009
View One: Tearing Down the Reagan Myth. Journalist Will Bunch says that the legacy of Ronald Reagan, which is claimed by the right and was so often referred to by Republican presidential candidates in the 2008 election, is not an accurate depiction of Reagan’s presidency.
In his new book, Tear Down This Myth, Bunch argues that the Reagan legacy was created largely by Washington conservatives in the 1990s, who wanted a hero who they could associate with the conservative agenda.
“It’s been very hard for the modern generation of Republicans to develop a leader … who has the kind of charisma that Ronald Reagan has had,” Bunch tells Fresh Air’s Terry Gross. In the absence of that charisma, Bunch says, the next generation decided to “borrow it” from the past.
The Reagan legacy credits America’s 40th president with winning the Cold War and turning the American economy around in the 1980s. But the truth, says Bunch, is that Reagan was a divisive president with only average approval ratings and “virtually zero support from African Americans.” Furthermore, he says, Reagan’s trickle-down theory of economics didn’t save the American economy, nor was the president responsible for “winning” the Cold War.
Despite his criticisms of Reagan’s presidency, Bunch is not without some kind words for the late president: “Ronald Reagan was very successful in connecting with the American people because of his optimism. … He clearly had a strong belief in himself and a belief in America.” Listen here.
View Two: Reagan as Communicator Extraordinaire. Historian Douglas Brinkley considers Ronald Reagan one of the top five American presidents of the 20th century.
Brinkley, who edited of The Reagan Diaries, says that it was Reagan’s ability to connect with the population at large that distinguished him as a leader. In the book’s introduction, Brinkley writes that Americans could see “something of themselves reflected in [Reagan] — a modern American unashamed of the nation’s majesty and his own pride in time-honored traditions.” Listen here
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Sunday, June 29th, 2008
The Breakup of the USSR Makes the US the Leader of the World (Elliot Abrams)
The Breakup of the USSR Signals the End of US World Leadership (Zoltan Grossman)
Write a 1-2 page, single-spaced position paper which adheres to the following:
I. Short Intro with a Thesis (specific, complex and refutable)
II. Summarize the ideas of the author with whom you do NOT concur and explain why his ideas are disagreeable (clearly demonstrate that you have read and understood this author’s ideas). Do not feel compelled to disagree with this author entirely as there surely is some truth to his argument.
III. Summarize the ideas of the author with whom you DO concur and explain how his ideas are superior to the other author (clearly demonstrate that you have read and understood this author’s ideas).
IV. Conclude by restating your thesis and exploring the significance thereof.
Please bear in mind that your goal is to illustrate that you have read BOTH documents and that you have thought about them. Be prepared for a healthy debate in class.
Posted in USH: The Cold War, USH: The Reagan Years, World Civ-Cold War in West, World Civ-Modern Global Dilemmas | No Comments »
Sunday, June 29th, 2008
Reagan’s Presidency DID cause the collapse of the USSR (Edwin Meese III)
Reagan’s Presidency did NOT cause the collapse of the USSR (Daniel Deudney and G. John Ikenberry)
Write a 1-2 page, single-spaced position paper which adheres to the following:
I. Short Intro with a Thesis (specific, complex and refutable)
II. Summarize the ideas of the author with whom you do NOT concur and explain why his ideas are disagreeable (clearly demonstrate that you have read and understood this author’s ideas). Do not feel compelled to disagree with this author entirely as there surely is some truth to his argument.
III. Summarize the ideas of the author with whom you DO concur and explain how his ideas are superior to the other author (clearly demonstrate that you have read and understood this author’s ideas).
IV. Conclude by restating your thesis and exploring the significance thereof.
Please bear in mind that your goal is to illustrate that you have read BOTH documents and that you have thought about them. Be prepared for a healthy debate in class.
Posted in USH: The Cold War, USH: The Reagan Years, World Civ-Cold War in West | No Comments »
Friday, April 11th, 2008
Not since the advent of swing jazz in the 1930s has an American music exploded across the world with such overwhelming force. Not since the Beatles invaded America and Elvis packed up his blue suede shoes has a music crashed against the world with such outrage. This defiant culture of song, graffiti, and dance, collectively known as hip-hop, has ripped popular music from its moorings in every society it has permeated. In Brazil, rap rivals samba in popularity. In China, teens spray-paint graffiti on the Great Wall. In France it has been blamed, unfairly, for the worst civil unrest that country has seen in decades.
Its structure is unique, complex, and at times bewildering. Whatever music it eats becomes part of its vocabulary, and as the commercial world falls into place behind it to gobble up the powerful slop in its wake, it metamorphoses into the Next Big Thing. It is a music that defies definition, yet defines our collective societies in immeasurable ways. To many of my generation, despite all attempts to exploit it, belittle it, numb it, classify it, and analyze it, hip-hop remains an enigma, a clarion call, a cry of “I am” from the youth of the world. We’d be wise, I suppose, to start paying attention.
read this National Geographic article and check out the pictures
Posted in Music, USH: The Reagan Years | No Comments »