Tuesday, 10/4

Starter 15

1. Reflect on yesterday’s panel.  What did you think of our guests’ ideologies? With whom and on what issues did you find yourself agreeing? With whom and on what issues did you find yourself disagreeing?
2. How do you think your reaction to the political beliefs relate to the moral philosophy you most align with and/or least align with?  (Deontology, Libertarianism, Utilitarianism, John Rawls' Justice as Fairness/Equality)

CLASS BIZ
Homework:  BY Thursday's Class-- Please read "The Bill of Rights" by Howard Zinn to understand his call to action for individuals to protect our Bill of Rights.  Do some research on at least ONE of the historical events/references Zinn makes in this essay and be prepared to share out this research on Wednesday.   You should have a minimum of 1 paragraph explaining the historical event ready to turn in at the beginning of class.  We'll be having an informal seminar on this essay.

Honors-- essays due Wednesday, end of the day.

Today's Goals

• Reflect on your own political ideology to perhaps gain more clarity on why you believe what you believe.
• Understand the basic ideas behind the U.S. Constitution and how the philosophical ideals of security, liberty and equality play out in the Constitution.

AGENDA
Discussion about student council campaign poster incident

Review Key Political Philosophy Terms

• Liberalism 
• Protectionism—protecting U.S. domestic products by taxing imports
• Conservativism

FROM WIKIPEDIA
Modern American liberalism is the dominant version of liberalism in the United States. It is characterized by social liberalism and combines ideas of civil liberty and equality with support for social justice and a mixed economy.  The term 'modern liberalism' in this article only refers to the United States. In a global context, this philosophy is usually referred to as social liberalism.
The American modern liberal philosophy strongly endorses public spending on programs such as education, health care, and welfare. Important social issues today include addressing inequality, voting rights for minorities, reproductive and other women's rights, support for same-sex marriage, and immigration reform.
Modern liberalism took shape during the twentieth century, with roots in Theodore Roosevelt's New Nationalism, Woodrow Wilson's New Freedom, Franklin D. Roosevelt's New Deal, Harry S. Truman's Fair Deal, John F. Kennedy's New Frontier, and Lyndon B. Johnson's Great Society. American liberals oppose conservatives on most issues, but not all. Modern liberalism is historically related to social liberalism and progressivism, though the current relationship between liberal and progressive viewpoints is debated.

John F. Kennedy defined a liberal as follows:
"...someone who looks ahead and not behind, someone who welcomes new ideas without rigid reactions, someone who cares about the welfare of the people—their health, their housing, their schools, their jobs, their civil rights, and their civil liberties—someone who believes we can break through the stalemate and suspicions that grip us in our policies abroad, if that is what they mean by a 'Liberal', then I'm proud to say I'm a 'Liberal'."

Franklin Delano Roosevelt in 1941 defined a liberal party as one,
"which believes that, as new conditions and problems arise beyond the power of men and women to meet as individuals, it becomes the duty of Government itself to find new remedies with which to meet them. The liberal party insists that the Government has the definite duty to use all its power and resources to meet new social problems with new social controls—to ensure to the average person the right to his own economic and political life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness."
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American Conservatism is a broad system of political beliefs in the United States that is characterized by respect for American traditions, support for Judeo-Christian values, economic liberalism, anti-communism, advocacy of American exceptionalism and a defense of Western culture from perceived threats posed by creeping socialism, moral relativism, multiculturalism, and liberal internationalism. Liberty is a core value, with a particular emphasis on strengthening the free market, limiting the size and scope of government, and opposition to high taxes and to government or labor union encroachment on the entrepreneur. American conservatives consider individual liberty, within the bounds of conformity to American values as the fundamental trait of democracy, which contrasts with modern American liberals, who generally place a greater value on equality and social justice.
 
The history of American conservatism has been marked by tensions and competing ideologies. Fiscal conservatives and libertarians favor small government, low taxes, limited regulation, and free enterprise. Social conservatives see traditional social values as threatened by secularism; they tend to support voluntary school prayer and oppose abortion and same sex marriage. Some also want the teaching of intelligent design or creationism allowed, as the topics are currently judicially prohibited in public schools. The 21st century has seen an increasingly fervent conservative support for Second Amendment rights of private citizens to own firearms. Neoconservatives want to expand American ideals throughout the world. Paleoconservatives advocate restrictions on immigration, non-interventionist foreign policy, and stand in opposition to multiculturalism.  Nationwide most factions, except some libertarians, support a unilateral foreign policy, and a strong military. The conservative movement of the 1950s attempted to bring together these divergent strands, stressing the need for unity to prevent the spread of "godless communism."
 
William Buckley
“It is the job of centralized government (in peacetime) to protect its citizens' lives, liberty and property. All other activities of government tend to diminish freedom and hamper progress. The growth of government (the dominant social feature of this century) must be fought relentlessly. In this great social conflict of the era, we are, without reservations, on the libertarian side. The profound crisis of our era is, in essence, the conflict between the Social Engineers, who seek to adjust mankind to conform with scientific utopias, and the disciples of Truth, who defend the organic moral order.”
 
Joe Wurzelbacher
“Conservatism is about the basic rights of individuals. God created us. As far as the government goes, the Founding Fathers based the Constitution off of Christian values. It goes hand-in-hand. As far as the Republican Party? I felt connected to it because individual freedom should not be legislated by the federal government.”
 
Survey- Political Compass
Ashley will read about this survey, then y'all will take it

Debrief the results
Talk to a partner about your results.   Summarize your placement in the compass. Did anything suprise  you? 
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TED Talk- Moral Roots of Conservatives and Liberals

1. This guy is speaking to an audience of liberals, so you’ll notice that his rhetoric is pitched to them.
2. HOWEVER…don’t let that fool you.  His underlying point is actually criticizing the group for being so monolithic.  Remember, he’s playing to an audience here.  That doesn’t mean his underlying points are invalid.
3.  This is the point of our project and the exhibition! To step outside our moral matrix in many ways.
4. Tasteless joke about Applebees.  Audience has money, is apparently a little snobby about where they eat (point out class issues)

Watch the TED Talk
Take notes on ‘Ah-has!, I wonder’s and Say What?

Small group discussion 

• Share reactions to the TED Talk and summarize the main points from the talk-- What are the 5 moral foundations? Where do liberals and conservatives overlap? Where do they differ?
• Discuss the ways you see each quadrant of the compass aligning with the moral foundations/roots. 
• Which of the moral foundations do you think you are high in? Low in?
• How do the values of Sec/Lib/Equality map onto the political compass? Onto the Moral Foundations?
• Which of those three values (Sec/Lib/Equality) do you now see yourself most cherishing? Why?