1.  Unit III Socratic Seminar

2. Democracy in America

3.  America is a unique exceptional nation. Very different than Europe.  All men were equal, without rank…had the ability to grow…land is the great equalizer. Boundless potential.  “The political consequences of such a social condition as this are easily deductible. It is impossible to believe that equality will not eventually find its way into the political world as it does everywhere else. To conceive of men remaining for ever unequal upon a single point, yet equal on all others, is impossible; they must come in the end to be equal upon all.”

4. Habits of the Heart

5.  “Individualism lies at the very core of American culture.”  Perfect symbol is the cowboy – “…he can never fully belong to society. His destiny is to defend it without ever really joining it….The cowboy can be valuable to society only because he is a completely autonomous individual who stands outside it.”  Individualism cannot exist without being balanced by a sense of community

6. Habits of the Heart  Connection to two real world examples: 1. Most Americans believe that it is the duty of individuals to make it (economically) in the world. That is why it is difficult to pass social programs for the unemployed, poor, indigent, and neglected in society. 2. Communities dying as Americans pursue individual needs/wants at the expense of nurturing their towns.

7. Bowling Alone

8.  https://youtu.be/NCqFZE1-amI https://youtu.be/NCqFZE1-amI  Social capital: social ties that link/hold communities together. These ties create trust.  According to Putnam, social capital is declining. People “Bowl Alone”….kids play on video games by themselves….parents don’t bond. Society is not strengthened…

9. Bowling Alone  Who cares? So what? Is this a danger to our democracy?  Civil society declines when social capital declines. People are less engaged in civic activities in civic society.  “Dense networks of interaction probably broaden the participants sense of self, developing the “I” into the “we””  Less opportunism

10. Culture Wars

11. The Enduring Culture War  Americans are not just fighting about political ideologies. Issues such as abortion, education, history represent a fight over “competing moral ideals as to how public life ought to be ordered and maintained.”  Traditionalist/orthodox vs Progressive  School reforms in North Carolina were scuttled because Christian group said they promoted secular humanism

12. The Enduring Culture War  Over and over we see issues seen through the lens of the culture wars  Examples: fight over AP US History last year  Example: Trump claims of “political correctness” when it comes to Muslims, women, transgender, etc