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Christian Gregg Green Comp. Rhet. 406 10/4/2013

Comments from Christian: The content of paragraphs greatly varies throughout the essay. While the first is highly expositional, the next
few paragraphs become more critical and investigative of American society. Think of the first body paragraph as a sort of foundation upon which I will further some of my later commentary. The ideas of causes and effects are fairly meshed throughout the paper.

America: the land of the free, and the home of the brave. How a country weighed down by hefty politics, insurmountable debt, and increasing dependence upon the national government can uphold this claim in its residents is beyond imagination. Moreover, America is transcending the slippery slope of core value loss into a full-on freefall. The ideals of American individuals have experienced a radical shift since our nations founding, fueled by the misinterpretation of rights as entitlement, an exaggerated disrespect for authority, and preoccupation with wealth. The American people have developed an extreme skepticism in the government due to the perceived shortcomings in policy and execution of laws. This resentment of authority began before the nations founding, while just a few British colonies formed borderline anarchistic thoughts of rebellion. Behind them laid the ideal of the individual being Best served when left unrestrained by authority and unhampered by relationships of domination from its mother country (Brown, The Politics). The relationship was parasitic, never intended to empower those ventured to the Americas. When the colonies became a homogenous paycheck in the eyes of the British, any semblance of good will and individual concern became overridden by the thought of greater revenue, restricting all who presented a danger to the cycle. However, this oversight came at a price, divvied among a people who could not carry the burden of dehumanization. The first thoughts of how far individual influence should extend were born.

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Over the course of time, the average American view of government degraded back into the opinion of the colonists: that the government is harboring too much power, draining individual freedom to pursue political ideas, whether democratic or republican. When Americans found little comfort in governmental matters, they looked to a more tangible form of relief: riches. As a country and people, America is spurred onwards by economic success, leaving nontrending moral values and any self-worth beyond physical wealth out of the individual equation. Individuals have begun to conform to their society instead of adapting around it, So much in the pursuit of short-term happiness and gratification that [they] are willing to endure corruption, degradation, and disenfranchisement (Jacobo, nationofchange.org). In a nation sustained by its proclaimed freedom, it appears contradictory to forgo the pursuit of our given individualistic ideals. Yet, instead of separating from this pursuit, we latch onto the comfort of attuning ourselves to the ever-shifting status quo of society in order to pursue the American Dream of making it rich. We are willing to sacrifice our humanity to gain this. While a salary helps each individual to consistently sate a growing lack of fulfillment in our collective culture, it increases the gap between the individual and their sense of agency, as we become more and more dependent as a society with each dollar. With this fruitless pursuit of individual happiness comes the loss of concern for others. The idea of a modern-day good Samaritan seems too idealistic; even the greatest proponents of individual freedom believed that Democracy will soon degenerate into an anarchy, such an anarchy that every man will do what is right in his own eyes. . . and every one of these will soon mold itself into a system of subordination of all the moral virtues (Jefferson, An Essay on). The introduction of individual rights is followed shortly by the weight of individual responsibilities. While we have the right to free speech, we should not abuse our

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rights, degrading others in order to lift ourselves up. Each man may decide for themselves what they believe to be right and wrong, but, whatever way the individual views an issue, we must uphold the set of laws put forth in order to maintain the rights and protect the equality given to individuals. Modern Americans now feel more entitled to their rights, leaving them unexamined and failing to interpret them. Without individuals possessing concrete moral values, American society has begun its degeneration into Jeffersons proposed individual anarchy. With the rapid growth of individuals leading largely unexamined lives, it is difficult to say where what it means to be American now, let alone in twenty years. The confusion of the rights which made us great along with a preoccupation of skepticism and wealth have all formed the road which we travel. However, America can still be for those truly free, and even for the brave. The ideas represented in our Constitution give way to a larger sense of importance in the individual, and provide a sturdy base in basic human equality. It is simply our duty as Americans to make use of these gifts, each carving our own paths while never losing sight of our innermost values.

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Works Cited Brown, Susan. The Politics of Individualism. Montreal: Black Rose Books, 1993. Jacobo, Caleb. The Essentiality of Individualism in Modern America. December 6, 2012. Nation of Change. October 9, 2013 < http://www.nationofchange.org/essentiality-individualism-modern-america1354804096 >. Jefferson, Thomas. An Essay on Man's Lust for Power. ThinkQuest. < http://library.thinkquest.org/TQ0312848/quotes.htm >