Throughout the domain, his subjects were reminded of his presence, both by a physical infrastructure and by the legal obligations that were laid on them.
How often do we specifically contemplate being American? Often, I'd say. But it's usually because of a poster of a soldier and how proud of them we should be. Supposedly they're fighting 'to make the world safe for democracy' or 'against terrorism', propaganda phrases meant to automatically induce blind patriotism. Why not more of those infrequently seen signs that say "Your tax dollars at work" on road repair or above a Medicaid building where poor Americans are being given money for food and medical attention or perhaps a poster of a deserving college graduate who has made a great humanitarian contribution because of the availability of federal grants? Why always a soldier? Not everyone feels pride in being a world bully. And not everyone agrees that democracy is the correct form of government for every country. Mostly, yes, we wouldn't have it if we didn't believe it was the best, but for other cultures, it may not be. Economies have thrived under other forms of government. Corruption is rampant in these other forms but it is in ours as well! How many are ready to do something drastic because we don't believe our votes count anymore? How many are certain that a 'good old boy' network is really behind things? Or a conspiracy of Jews undermining the typical white culture? We're hardly allowed to be white, Christian, heterosexuals in this country without apologizing! What happened to the diverse population of this country - the one that said as long as you work hard, you can live your own life and believe what you believe. White Americans believed that, made sure to work for that and give everyone opportunity and now it's only accepted to be anything BUT a white American. The culture was successful, why do we disparage it now? Should we regret working to consider everyone equal under the law?Being American also means having plenty. Are we encouraged to be proud to have enough to share with the poor of the world? How many people are enraged at giving away billions of our hard-earned money to other poor countries because the poor in our own country are going without? Why isn't a donation to another country up for a vote? Yes, we vote for representatives but we should be voting for more specific acts more often, especially when it costs us so much. Charity is meant to be voluntary. Otherwise, it feels like our government is buying intangible power for himself and his cronies with our money and without our consent. Especially when we constantly hear that most of the money never gets further than a beneficiary's government!
The government of Hatti was specifically and totally under the control of the one man, the Labarna, the Great King. I can hardly imagine anyone wanting such a position though he did delegate authority to his family members and representatives - viceroys, magistrates, governors, etc. But all power ultimately derived from the king. In America, all power ultimately comes from the people channeled through the "king", in other words, the President. Too many people no longer believe (have we really ever believed?) that the president is making decisions based on what Americans want but on what he and other government officials can get away with. Unfortunately, we also know that things are going on that we don't and really can't know about, intricate politics, threats, benefits that have to be considered with ramifications that would occur before America could come to a consensus. And how in the world could all these people ever come to a consensus anyway? I'm glad I'm not a politician but we probably all should be more involved instead of being so damned lazy about it.
Quizlet about Hatti's government
password: hattelitelec8
No comments:
Post a Comment