Assignment: Equality in America

The authors of this week's essay (essay is below) argue whether or not America is becoming more equal. But the assumption underlying this argument is that equality is a good thing. And, of course, based upon Thomas Jefferson's statement that "We hold these truths to be self-evident: that all men are created equal..," this has been our mantra even if we didn't always apply it...equally.

What about our treatment of other nations? Does our mantra of equality apply to them? This week your written assignment is to resolve the apparent conflict between Thomas Jefferson's statement "that all men are created equal" and the concept of "American exceptionalism." Should we accept one and not the other? Is American exceptionalism - exceptional?

In addition to the arguments on whether or not America is growing more equal and American Exceptionalism in the text book, use at least one more outside source. Your paper needs to be a minimum of 500 words. Use APA standards. You may not use Wikipedia for a source.

This weeks essay:

Is America Approaching Equality Within Society?

What does "equality" mean?

It's a fair question. If we are asking whether or not equality in America has been achieved, is getting better, or getting worse, we need to agree upon a definition of equality, don't we?

For example, women are entering into professions few women would have dreamed about even as late as the 1960s. Medicine (and not only nurses but medical doctors, psychiatrists, dentists - and specialists of all varieties), law, business, first-responders, professional athletics, and most recently, women have won the opportunity to apply for combat roles in the military. Yet, according to the Institute for Women's Policy Research, "In 2013, female full-time workers made only 78 cents for every dollar earned by men, a gender wage gap of 22 percent. Women, on average, earn less than men in virtually every single occupation for which there is sufficient earnings data for both men and women to calculate an earnings ratio" (IWPR, 2014).

So, are we equal yet?

In America, our per capita income levels compare to, say, Thailand, are much higher. According to The World Bank, the Gross Domestic Product (GDP as defined by The World Bank- "GDP is the sum of gross value added by all resident producers in the economy plus any product taxes and minus any subsidies not included in the value of the products. It is calculated without making deductions for depreciation of fabricated assets or for depletion and degradation of natural resources. Data are in current U.S. dollars.") of the United States in 2013 was 53,142 while the GDP for Thailand in the same period was 5,779, a little more than only 10% that of the United States.

Money is one measure that is used consistently. However, are people happier in American than in Thailand? According to the World Happiness Report (yes, there is such a thing), comparing the years 2005-2007 to 2010-2012, Thailand increased it's "happiness" by .527 whereas during that same period the United States went down -.283 (Helliwell, Layard, & Sachs, 2013). And just what makes us happy? We see inequality in incomes growing within the U.S. If money equals happiness, is that reflected in the happiness scale which shows the U.S. also going down in happiness over the last decade?

At the writing of this introduction the events of Ferguson, MO and the shooting of a young, black male have unfolded over the last four months again beg the question - what is equality? Are blacks disproportionately targeted by police officers? If so, is this due to a lack of minority officers on our police forces? Or was Michael Brown, the young man shot to death by (white) police officer Darren Wilson, the cause of the alleged altercation in which Wilson shot him? Are we targeting young, black men disproportionately given the disproportionate number of young black men who are incarcerated compared to young white men?

Despite this tragedy, the "Yes" side of our issue question for the week, "Is America Approaching Equality within Society?" is none other than our current president, Barack Obama. There must be another side to this, or perhaps, another way of thinking about America approaching equality. But, then again, it really comes back to what we mean by equality, doesn't it?

At the writing of this introduction to Week Two, there are 35 states where gay marriage is legal. Yet there are 15 where it is illegal. If in the LGBT world we define equality by the right to marry, surely we have made headway. But for those who believe marriage is only for one man and one woman, has equality been achieved? In the city of Salina, KS, a law was passed in mid 2012 requiring "landlords, any vendor who works for the city, and city parks and buildings to adhere to the anti-discrimination policy" (Wenzl, 2012).

Five months later, in November of 2012, after Salinans successfully gathered enough signatures to put the issue on a ballot, the law was overturned by popular vote. For those opposed to the law in the first place it was a win because "It would open a danger to employers of being sued if they said anything that could be construed as critical of gays, including if they uttered the criticism in the context of voicing their religious beliefs, or in voicing opinions that freedom of speech entitles them to make" said Paul Waggoner, leader of the regional movement against the ban. So, now equality means that people of faith (who don't believe in gay marriage) want the equal right to not believe in gay rights. In this case, one person's equality is another person's fight for religious beliefs.

Is America approaching Equality within Society?

References

• Helliwell, J. F., Layard, R., & Sachs, J. (Eds.). (2013). World Happiness Report 2013. New York: UN Sustainable Development Solutions Network. Retrieved from http://unsdsn.org/wp-content/uploads/2014/02/ WorldHappiness Report2013_online.pdf.

• Institute for Women's Policy Research. Pay equity & discrimination. Retrieved from http://www.iwpr.org/initiatives/pay-equity-and-discrimination.

• The World Bank. GDP per capita (current US$). Retrieved from http://data.worldbank.org/indicator/NY.GDP.PCAP.CD.

• Wenzl, R. (2012) Wichita Eagle. Gay-rights measures fail in Hutch and Salina. Retrieved from http://www.kansas.com/news/politics-government/article1102383.html.

Attachment:- Safeassign_Equality.pdf