Writing Assignment No. 3 - Due Friday, Nov. 6, 2020 Due Friday by 11:59pm Points 100 Submitting an external tool Available Oct 27 at 12am - Nov 6 at 11:59pm 11 days Attempts 0 Allowed Attempts 2 Writing Assignment No. 3 Background: On Canvas under Modules - "Videos" please watch (1) Noam Chomsky: Madison v. Aristotle; and (2) Noam Chomsky: Property Rights. (You need not cite the videos in your essay, but I would like you to consider their content). In weeks 8 and 9, we studied Durkheim and Weber, respectively. In week 10 we will study and discuss Marx. The educational goal of Writing Assignment No. 3 is to invite your application of their work and ideas to your own values and beliefs. I believe it would be too challenging to ask you to address and/or cover the views of all three authors in a relatively short (3-4 page) essay, so the assignment (detailed below) asks that you pick any two of the authors. In drafting the topics from which you are asked to pick one, I wanted to provide a variety of ideological orientations, with the goal of respecting individual differences in your own values and beliefs. I did not want to leave you feeling like the assignment was drafted to box you in or feeling pressured to deliver a particular opinion. Accordingly, there is no "right" or "wrong" answer or hidden clues in the framing of the prompt and topics. In grading your essays, I am interested in your ability to draw on the works of the authors you choose to support the position(s) you take. Also, in your essay, you are free to reject any principles or theories of the authors with which you disagree. If your argument(s) rely on disagreement with a particular author's views, explain why you disagree with his reasoning. Essay Prompt: Pick one of the topics below and two of the three authors (e.g., Durkheim and Marx; or Weber and Durkheim; or Weber and Marx, etc.). As to topic numbers 1 through 4, write an essay expressing your agreement or dis-agreement with the statement and use the work, ideas, and/or theories of the authors you select to either support/ defend or criticize the statement. You are welcome to express partial or qualified agreement (or disagreement) if for example, you decide there are certain portions of the topic on which you choose to write with which you agree and others with which you disagree. Further, you do not need to adopt a pro-/ con form of argument. Structure your essay in a manner you believe effectively organizes and communicates your views. Topic 5 is different in form and is self-explanatory. [Note: Please identify the topic you chose by number. (You do not need to write it out or copy/paste)]. Topics 1) In the United States, our constitutional form of government effectively provides for an equal opportunity of outcome and popular democracy. If income inequality exists, it is mainly because in a capitalist (profit seeking) society there will be winners and losers. The government has effectively eliminated most race and sexual discrimination, and while white supremacism exists it is mostly a fringe movement. 2) Principles of patriarchal white supremacism are rooted in the United States Constitution and a system of laws that prioritizes the Constitution as the ultimate touchstone of the law will necessarily perpetuate patriarchal white supremacist values. The fact that African Americans and Latinx are incarcerated at a higher rate than whites is a natural and probable consequence (rather than an inadvertent or coincidental byproduct) of our constitutional system of democracy. Continued oppression of and discrimination against people of color, females, the poor and the LGBTQ+ community is evidence that the system works as designed, rather than evidence that it is not working. 3) The United States Constitution effectively reflects traditional values and establishes a system that capably blends the challenges of a competitive marketplace with popular democratic principles of equality. The Thirteenth and Nineteenth Amendments and the Supreme Court's decision in Brown v. Board of Education, together with other available examples, support the conclusion that the United States is on a sometimes slow but steady march to realizing its ideals of liberty and justice for all. 4) Elites effectively co-opt the United States government to perpetuate their position and utilize the media and educational system to brainwash citizens (and other residents) with propaganda often assuming variants of, "We live in democratic society where justice is blind, laws are the product of popular democracy, and you can achieve the American dream, so long as you work hard and apply yourself." 5) Utilizing two of the three authors' works, explain your thoughts regarding the interplay between capitalism, democracy and the law, including whether you believe the overall effect is "fair." Include a description of your definition of fair.
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