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Homework answers / question archive / This paper explores the role in which the Government plays in our lives has been slowly getting out of control, and how now, more than ever, the government needs to step back and allow citizens to have more freedom and control over their own lives

This paper explores the role in which the Government plays in our lives has been slowly getting out of control, and how now, more than ever, the government needs to step back and allow citizens to have more freedom and control over their own lives

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This paper explores the role in which the Government plays in our lives has been slowly getting out of control, and how now, more than ever, the government needs to step back and allow citizens to have more freedom and control over their own lives. This involves differentiating between how people think the government is abusing their rights and how they actually are. COVID-19 has unfortunately made it so that the government has had no choice but to get more involved in the way in which people live their lives due to numerous reasons, however as we (hopefully) are beginning to see an end to the pandemic, we need to ensure that the government is able to step back and allow people to exercise their constitutional rights for independence. By contrast, laws that involve women’s sexual reproduction and marijuana are also an extreme infringement on people’s rights, which this paper also explores. The Government’s Role In The Lives Of Their Citizens Government is, and has always been, a necessary aspect to any society. We rely on our government for many things. In the simplest of forms, one could argue that a government exists to protect and serve the people by whom they have been elected. Obviously, this is much more complicated than simply looking out for their citizens. Some might argue for the “government as provider of goods and services that individuals cannot provide individually for themselves” (World Economic Forum, 2017), however this might be considered an outdated principle as individuals have proven more than capable of looking after and providing for themselves. In fact, American society even seems to respect people who rely more on themselves than the government for sustainability. Recent circumstances have meant Unfortunately, due to the COVID-19 pandemic, many citizens throughout the United States have proved that they cannot be trusted to be selfless and/or intelligent enough to protect themselves and others from the deadly disease. As a result, the Government has had no choice but to enforce certain laws that prevent people from spreading the disease, such as the requirement of masks in public places, and issuing fines for those who do not comply. This has been a necessary evil that has been made worse by people’s refusal to understand why this is necessary. This is not to say that the Government has a right to control how people choose to live their lives; in fact the extraordinary circumstances of the past year is the only reason that the Government has been able to do this. However, if the people wish for the government to have less control in their lives, then they need to prove that they are intelligent and capable of doing so, which many Americans have unfortunately not been able to do so. Naturally, the fact that Donald Trump consistently downplayed the severity of the virus, as well as the fact that he himself refused to wear a mask, influenced many of his supporters to think and act in the same way. This has resulted in two scenarios. Firstly, people have become paranoid by the new Biden administration; believing that this new government would lean too far left and begin interfering in people’s lives. Therefore, people have screamed things such as “cancel culture” and “freedom of speech crisis” whenever they feel as if society is limiting what they can or can’t do. An example of this is derived from the fact that certain TV Shows and/or books have been either banned or have ceased production. Many people would point to the government The truth is, the government has very little to do with this; corporations such as Disney and the Dr. Seuss Foundation are the ones who make such decisions. Whilst the government may or may not support this, they do not actually have any say in what these corporations do. Secondly, by fighting the government regulations regarding COVID-19 so hard, people have actually swayed public opinion towards giving the government more control over people’s daily lives. According to the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health, the “share of U.S. adults who support an active government role in society increased by more than 40 percent during the initial pandemic response—up from 24 percent in September 2019 to 34 percent in April 2020” (Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health, August 2020). This shows that people are losing confidence in society as a whole, turning towards Government more and more for control over their daily lives. While the government does indeed need to get less involved in the way people live their lives, one cannot deny that the people themselves have played a partial role in allowing the government to assume control. Having said all of this, the two cases in which the government most certainly needs to step back and allow people the freedom to choose, are in the cases of abortian and the use of recreational marijuana. The argument for whether or not Recreational Marijuana should be made legal on a federal scale has been debated majorly over the past few decades. Whilst certain states such as California and Washington have both fully decriminalized and legalized the use of recreational Marijuana, there are other states such as Utah and Texas in which the laws are mixed in terms of cases and other states such as Idaho and Wisconsin in which the use of Marijuana is completely illegal and could result in fines and jail time. However, since 1969, public support for the legalization of Recreational Marijuana have risen from 12% to 66%, indicating that the idea of legalizing the drug has become increasingly popular as the decades have gone by, and these numbers may indeed continue to rise. Naturally, there are many pros and cons that have been offered towards this argument and the answer is far from easy. “Nearly 600,000 Americans are arrested for marijuana possession annually – more than one person per minute.” (Britannica Procon, November 2018). These are extremely large numbers, which people have fiercely debated is extremely unjust. In terms of arrests and incarceration, the US currently has the largest rate of incarceration in the world. One out of every hundred people in the United States are in jail- “About 0.7% of the United States is currently in a federal or state prison or local jail. If this number seems unworthy of the term “mass incarceration,” consider that 0.7% is just shy of 1%, or one out of a hundred.” (Prison Policy Initiative, January 2020). By legalizing Marijuana on a federal scale, the law enforcement officials of the United States would be able to decrease that number, albeit on a small scale, and no longer need to focus their energy on prosecuting those who utilize the drug. What’s more, those who feel that they have a serious problem in regards to Marijuana, would then be able to seek the help that they desperately need without fear of getting in trouble with the law. Therefore, in this sense, legalizing the use of Recreational Marijuana has the potential to benefit a lot of people and ensure that the taxpayers money is being spent towards the persecution of real criminals. The government has no right whatsoever to tell people whether they can or cannot smoke marijuana, in the same sense that they have no right to tell people not to drink alcohol. The same can obviously be said for abortion. How is the fact that we are still living in a day and age where certain states have governmental restrictions on who can and cannot abort a pregnancy? What gives any system of government the right to decide what a woman does with their body? States such as Louisiana do their absolute best to ensure that everyone but the woman in question has a say in whether or not they are allowed to abort. There have been numerous victories in this case during the past year, however “the right to access abortion established in Roe v. Wade5 is still under attack. Moreover, meaningful access to abortion has never been a reality for many people in the United States, especially women of color. The courts are by no means saviors of reproductive rights; the June Medical decision preserved a status quo in which hundreds of abortion restrictions remain in place across the country” (Center for American Progress, 2020). This is extremely outdated and not the standard of which a free society such as America should abide by. Conclusion Government is there for a reason, and whether the public likes this or not, they shall always be involved in the lives of their citizens in some form or another. Without a government, society would most likely descend into chaos. However, there is little doubt that there are some issues that exist that the government has no right to dictate. Freedom of speech is one of these things, however freedom of speech does not equate to freedom of consequence. In terms of abortion and recreational marijuana, there is absolutely no reason whatsoever why the government need bother themselves with the freedoms of the individual to practice these rights. Because that is exactly what they are; rights. References Initiative, P. P. (2020, January 16). âWhat percent of the U.S. is incarcerated?â (And other ways to measure mass incarceration). Prison Policy Initiative. https://www.prisonpolicy.org/blog/2020/01/16/percentincarcerated/#:%7E:text=We’re%20often%20asked%20what,one%20out%20of% 20a%20hundred. Kempler, C. (2020, November 3). Survey: More U.S. Adults Want the Government to Have a Bigger Role in. Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health. https://www.jhsph.edu/news/news-releases/2020/survey-more-u.s.-adults-wantthe-government-to-have-a-bigger-role-in-improving-peoples-lives-than-beforethe-pandemic.html Recreational Marijuana - Pros & Cons - ProCon.org. (2020, June 3). Recreational Marijuana. https://marijuana.procon.org/ Slaugher, A.-M. (2017, February 13). 3 responsibilities every government has towards its citizens. World Economic Forum. https://www.weforum.org/agenda/2017/02/government-responsibility-to-citizensanne-marie-slaughter/ State Actions Undermining Abortion Rights in 2020. (2020, August 27). Center for American Progress. https://www.americanprogress.org/issues/women/reports/2020/08/27/489786/state -actions-undermining-abortion-rights-2020/ Writing a Personal Position Statement Given all the information you have gained in your research, determine how you feel about the issue. What is the specific problem? How does the issue or problem affect you and your peers, community, school or district, etc? Use the following format to organize your ideas and write your notes. Word process the completed draft of your position statement. Position Statement Format In a position statement you will choose a side of the argument, an issue or position and defend it with specific evidence. Step 1: Identify the problem(s): -talk about how low participation is -how many uneducated people there are when it comes to politics -How people have fought so hard for these rights Step 2: Choose your side and explain your opinion in two or three sentences. For instance, will a proposed change solve the problem or not? Why do you feel this way? This will provide the basis of your thesis or opening statement. My position (am I for or against?): I am for mandatory voting Explanation (because?) -talk about US voting numbers, and how low they are -how so many citizens are uneducated on the subject -citizens who might not have cared before will be forced to educate themselves to make up their minds on who they want to vote for -US voting is only at 55% -Other countries such as Australia have used this technique and it has worked out beautifully with high voting outcome -voting progress can only move forward from there, Citizens will never have to worry about not being able to vote Step 3: Providing evidence to support your ideas. Your position can be based on personal opinion, but it must be supported with specific evidence and examples from your research. Use at least 3 pieces of evidence to indicate a good understanding of the topic and your opinion, and why your position is valid. My Idea or Reason This will educate more Americans on what is happening or has already happened in their country My Idea or Reason Look at other countries that have tried this method and see that it has worked for them (Australia 1924, Belgium, Brazil) My Idea or Reason If voting is made mandatory, we can offer incentives to get citizens to participate Supported by or based on (Evidence) -talk about women’s voting right and the struggles they had to face to get those rights. https://www.nps.gov/articles/us-suffrage-timeline1648-to-2016.htm -Talk about John Lewis and his accomplishments when it came to black rights to vote (Voting Rights Act/Bloody Sunday) https://www.britannica.com/biography/John-Lewis-American-civilrights-leader-and-politician -It will force American Citizens to have to educate themselves about who is running and what their thoughts/opinions/beliefs are Supported by or based on (Evidence) -Talk about Australia and the 2 dozen other countries that has tried this method of voting -only 13% of citizens were penalized for not voting in Australia -Talk about adapting a law like Australia has for protecting the rights of adults with disabilities, not medically cleared to vote, or religious views that don’t allow them to participate in voting -you are allowed to write a repeal to the govt as to why you did not vote in hopes to avoid fines https://www.brookings.edu/blog/fixgov/2020/07/24/why-shouldntvoting-be-mandatory/ -more than 90% of Australians turn out to vote whereas America had a 55% turn out rate in 2016 -forced to be educated about candidates https://www.nytimes.com/2018/10/22/world/australia/compulsoryvoting.html -voting is made an easier process for the citizen to ensure everyone can do so Supported by or based on (Evidence) -obviously, people will gravitate to an incentive and have more interest in voting -citizens will want to avoid penalties -studies show that voting is habit forming -look at studies that show money incentives, tax credit incentives, and “lottery” incentives https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/2019/04/04/how-do-weget-people-vote-lets-try-financial-incentives/ Step 4: If there is a problem to be solved, provide a possible solution and explain why you think your solution would work. Solution to the problem: Why I think it would work: Step 5: Write a conclusion. Sum up your opinion and examples about the issue to make your point a final time. Use the space below for your notes or first attempt. -talk about how it is a civic duty that so many people have fought for and how it is our honor to do the things they fought so passionately about for years -only ensures that it will protect our voting rights as American Citizens -we will never regress in the progress that we made (voting equality) -continue to educate our citizens only making our country stronger and smarter -eye opener for those who wouldn’t vote otherwise (habit forming ) As I have stated in my essay, in my opinion, Voting should be mandatory in the US. Although it is a scary thought at first, we can look at the evidence behind how successful it has been in other countries. By incorporating such laws into our country about voting, we will continue to build a stronger society throughout the USA. We can continue to honor what people such as John Lewis have worked so hard to achieve. We will only become more educated about our country and how it runs. We can only continue to move forward with our rights with laws such as mandatory voting put into place. Our voices will be heard more than ever. We can continue to form a habit of being expected to vote every time there is an election. Pretty soon we may not even look at it as if were being forced to do so but take it as our civil duty as American citizens to fulfill the duty of voting. Step 6: Combine your notes into a well-written position statement (essay). Word-process your drafts to make revisions and editing easier; word process your final copy. Use correct spelling, grammar, and punctuation. Remember to support your statements with evidence. Writing a Personal Position Statement Given all the information you have gained in your research, determine how you feel about the issue. What is the specific problem? How does the issue or problem affect you and your peers, community, school or district, etc? Use the following format to organize your ideas and write your notes. Word process the completed draft of your position statement. Position Statement Format In a position statement you will choose a side of the argument, an issue or position and defend it with specific evidence. Step 1: Identify the problem(s): Step 2: Choose your side and explain your opinion in two or three sentences. For instance, will a proposed change solve the problem or not? Why do you feel this way? This will provide the basis of your thesis or opening statement. My position (am I for or against?): Explanation (because?) Step 3: Providing evidence to support your ideas. Your position can be based on personal opinion, but it must be supported with specific evidence and examples from your research. Use at least 3 pieces of evidence to indicate a good understanding of the topic and your opinion, and why your position is valid. My Idea or Reason Supported by or based on (Evidence) My Idea or Reason Supported by or based on (Evidence) My Idea or Reason Supported by or based on (Evidence) Step 4: If there is a problem to be solved, provide a possible solution and explain why you think your solution would work. Solution to the problem: Why I think it would work: Step 5: Write a conclusion. Sum up your opinion and examples about the issue to make your point a final time. Use the space below for your notes or first attempt. Step 6: Combine your notes into a well-written position statement (essay). Word-process your drafts to make revisions and editing easier; word process your final copy. Use correct spelling, grammar, and punctuation. Remember to support your statements with evidence.

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