Carter-Reagan-Bush: The Bipartisan Consensus - Essay Example

 Carter-Reagan-Bush: The Bipartisan Consensus Summary of the chapter Zinn et al. noted that all the national leaders during the 21th century in the United States that is, Jefferson, Jackson, Herbert Hoover and Roosevelt who were Republicans, Democrats, conservatives or liberals were bounded by horizons of enterprise and property and accepted the economic qualities of the capitalistic culture as the necessary value of man (100-102). The chapter displays how Governments have moved from Republicans to Democrats again and again but no party has been capable of going beyond the vision of eliminating cases of poverty, and wars in the State. After the war in Vietnam, the country faced the Watergate scandals that led individuals to be insecurity, family disarray, environmental deterioration, and a growing culture of violence. Bold changes therefore needed to be made in order to solve such fundamental problems but no party candidate had proposed this changes. In recognition of the behavior of the candidates, few voters were willing to practice their voting rights since they felt that the public officials did not care about their welfare and the president was not going to solve their problems. The society was troubled as only the electoral politics conquered television screens and press, and the acts of the presidents, Supreme Court justice, congress members and additional officials were treated as if they were the only individuals that composed the history of the State. The public leaders did not inspire the citizens since they cared about fulfilling their own political interests. Jimmy Carter’s presidency during 1977-1980, gave people hope since it represented the Democratic Party and citizens were hoping that it would recover the disenchanted citizenry (Zinn et al. 120-125). Carter’s leadership disappointed the citizens because despite the few gestures to fight for the rights of the poor and black people and the talks about human rights, he remained in the political historical boundaries of American systems, guarding the corporate power and wealth, sustaining a giant military machine that was used to drain national wealth, helping the U.S. with the right-wing dominations abroad. During the leadership of Reagan and Bush, various reforms were made in the tax systems but the greatest beneficiaries in the leadership were the rich in the society. Arguments about American Presidency Zinn et al. argues that the range of the visions embraced by the contestants in all the major parties is bounded by horizons of enterprise and property, capitalist culture and believes that culture is intensely nationalistic (130). He argues that candidates that contest for presidential positions and other public officials do not care about the interests of people since after the devastating war in Vietnam and the Watergate scandals, the citizens needed candidates that would bring about changes in the economic and social structures. Zinn et al. is advancing that those citizens long for leaders who care about their welfare and who are able to solve their problems in times of crises. According to Zinn et al., presidents in America make false promises to the people when campaigning and when they are elected they ignore the cries of the people and focus on empowering themselves with power and wealth (140). The presidents strive to put themselves at the level of the people in order to gain their trust, for instance, Carter was a millionaire but displayed himself as a simple farmer, he supported the Vietnam war but he displayed himself as a supporter of those that were against the war and to the young rebels he promised to cut their military budget hence appealing more voters. Welchel argued that presidents support other countries in order to benefit their own nations economically and socially as President Carter ensured that South Africa and Chile formed policies that emphasized on human rights hence in the process leaving intact powers that influenced the American business and military World (45-50). Examples Zinn et al. gave an example of the troubling inappropriateness in the civilization when the electoral politics dominated television screens and showing the doings of the presidents, congress members, court justices and other public officials as if they constituted the whole country instead of focusing on the lives of the citizens to see the problems they were encountering (160). Zinn et al. noted something artificial in the way the politicians were carrying out their activities to convince the citizens to trust them but they were not inspiring enough since behind the promises, the rhetoric, the bombast, their major concern was protecting their own political power (165). Public television was supposed to be uncontrolled by the corporate interest but political forums where individuals could express themselves were uninvited and only accepted endless parades of the senators, congressmen, and government bureaucrats. Citizens in America hoped that President Carter would stop the rushing dissatisfaction of the people with the economic system, government and the catastrophic military schemes abroad but he ended up in the historical boundaries in the already existing American system. Zinn et al. illustrated how Carter introduced policies towards the governments that led to the oppression of his own people when he convinced Andrew Young the United Nations Ambassador to ensure good will for the U.S. among the black nations and recommended that South Africa should liberalize their policies towards the black races (175). Welchel noted that administration of Carter had promised to stop the selling of arms to the repressive regimes but when he was elected, the sale of arms was continued (100). This shows that the leaders do not practice what they say as they are only interested in wealth. American Politics The examples portrayed in the case written by Zinn et al. show that American politics and the presidency are focused on satisfying their own interests (180). Presidents in America ensure peaceful negotiations with other countries since it is necessary for their strategic reasons. For instance, President Carter ensured that South Africa was secure for them since the country had U.S. corporate investments that were a critical source for their required raw materials such as diamonds. The U.S. therefore ensured that South Africa had a stable government because oppression of the blacks would create civil wars. The presidents in America such Carter, Reagan and Bush were quick to find business opportunities in various parts of the world in order to boost the economies of scale in their country. President Carter was supposed to restore the faith of the people in the system but instead he made the people lose hope as their economic problems were never solved. The prices of necessities and food were high and unemployment rates increased. The Reagan-Bush administration saved the people from the atrocities of President Carter since they ensured that the rights of the people were heard, and the economy was improved. The major challenge during the reign of President Bush was the problem of pollution where there were problems of contaminated water and the industrial usage of coal and other fuel that contributed to global warming. During Reagan’s leadership the gap between the rich and poor increased, since they were made to pay taxes regularly. Zinn’s argument I feel that Zinn’s argument was not persuasive as he majorly described how the leaders were focused on gaining wealth and power. Most of the events portrayed in the Chapter are about how the leaders supported other developing countries to acquire raw materials such as diamonds, how the tax rates increased, how the industries led to global warming, increased unemployment rates ,killing of individuals that were viewed as threats, and the increased gap between the poor and the rich. The poor citizens in America are extorted for their lack of knowledge on some political issues such as the social welfare and when they are asked questions on the media, they show clearly how they are given little to spend. Welchel stated that during the leadership of the Republican presidencies of Reagan and Bush the supreme beneficiaries of the government policies in the society were the superrich (130-135). Works cited Welchel, Ed. Reading, Learning, Teaching Howard Zinn. New York: Peter Lang, 2009. Print. Zinn, Howard, Anthony Arnove, and Howard Zinn. Voices of a People's History of the United States. New York: Seven Stories Press, 2011. Print Read More