- Compare prohibition to one of the moral issues of today. What lessons might be drawn from the prohibition’s failure that could be applied to addressing the modern issue you compared it to?
Alcohol prohibition in the United States between 1920 to 1933 was a failure. The prohibition era was termed as the “noble experiment,” which was aimed at reducing the crime rate, corruption, and social problems such as tax burden reduction. Despite its positive objective, the alcohol consumption experiment led to increased organized crimes and corruption rate become rampant. According to Law and Marks, 2020, alcohol prohibition in the last few decades led to increased government expenditure and reduced productivity. Although alcohol prohibition happed long ago, it has a connection with today’s moral issues. The fight against drug misuse is a common phenomenon in the modern era. For instance, the country is characterized by an increased debate about marijuana legalization. In the modern era, the principle of the most common issue includes the honesty and respect level, an individual’s ability to take care of their families while working hard for economic growth. Other moral issues examples include sober moods during productivity hours and kindness to others.
The war against drugs such as marijuana legalization could greatly impact the moral issues in society. Even though marijuana has medicinal value, legalization would lead to misuses, thus increasing immorality in society. In reality, there is a slight difference between alcohol prohibition and marijuana legalization. For instance, during the prohibition era, America prohibited supply and use of alcohol while other countries were still supplying the product, thus making it difficult to control while marijuana issues can be easily controlled since the majority of countries have prohibited its usage. The strategy to prohibit alcohol never involved other countries across the globe; therefore, making the product available, thus increasing the black market (Andrews, 2019). In contrast, marijuana supply is less since a few countries legalized the product, thus making its supply limited.
From the prohibition’s failure, there are several lessons that can be applied in the modern era to address the Marijuana legalization issue. For instance, if some part of the world wants certain products and it is willing to supply such products, then it will be provided as it happened with prohibition case. Similarly, marijuana legalization laws are categorized by popular vote. In order to avoid moral decay like it was with alcohol experiment, several governments have strategized effective legislation which ensures controlled marijuana use thus promoting public health and morals. For instance, the Canadian government has set effective measures to ensure the control of marijuana consumptions.
- What were the three options that people have when they cannot afford the things they want or need? Explain each category, give a detailed example of what a person might do that falls into that category, and then state whether your example would have been effective during the Great Depression and why.
Human life is characterized by moments that are equally important and tarrying. Although these events are different, and they require some person to handle them differently depending on their motive in life. It is not guaranteed that individuals acquire everything they want or need in life. Sometimes thing gets hard, thus forcing individuals to have alternative ways of handling the occurrences. There is three option in which an individual can do in a scenario whereby he/she cannot afford a thing they require in life. The first option is to forget about the needed thing. A study conducted by Temin (2016) stated that “if you cannot afford it, forget about it.” In reality, this is the best slogan that could be adopted on reacting to the thing you cannot afford since it helps individuals to become real and live according to their ability. Generally, if you cannot afford it means that the thing is above your ability; therefore, forgetting about it is considered as the main option. For instance, if a person decides to forgo certain products, then he/she is supposed to channel the available resources to other products which meet their ability—forgoing a product indicating that you have decided to do away with such products completely. Individuals under this category are characterized by the inability to meet the desired product due to inadequate resources. During the Great Depression, the American could have succeeded in the economic downfall if they accepted to change their lifestyle due to their inability to meet the specific standards. The great depression led to economic downfall; therefore, lifestyle adjustment could lead to a positive impact.
The second option in curbing the scenario whereby one cannot afford a thing they want is to change priorities. Individuals fail to afford certain products if their prices are higher than their budget; their changing priorities is always an alternative option. If a person desires a certain product, then there are increased chances that he/she will prioritize such a product. Generally, if a person desires to have certain products, there is always an alternative product which meets their ability, therefore, if alternative A fails such person is supposed to channel the available resources to alternative B. under priority change indicate that individuals can either go for alternative products or ignore other products for the most prioritized product. During the Great Depression, the priority change could have been a suitable option to curb the situation (Cortes & Weidenmier, 2019). For instance, the most affected sectors were heavy industries and farming sectors; therefore, the government needed to focus the resources on alternative sectors such as advanced technology. Citizens and businesses needed to shift or cut their expenditures.
The last option to curb the situation when an individual cannot afford a certain thing; he/she desires to plan to have it in the future. These can only be achieved through adequate research whereby the individual determines the prices of such commodity then he budgets for it. In most cases, individuals can pull resources until it meets the prices for such commodities. Although it a positive way of not giving up, it might take a while to achieve the set desire. During the great depression, the plan to have the desired products could not have worked effectively (Temin, 2016). The country was faced with serious economic downfall, thus making them available resource insufficient. This makes it difficult to save for the future. Individuals suffered due to huge unemployment rates.
- Using the lectures as your source. What was America’s greatest success during World War II? What was its greatest failure? Support your answers
Greatest success during the second world war
Although World war 2 was a serious fight across the globe, America was reluctant to join it. After the Pearl Harbor attack by Japan, the country joined the fights with the objective of protecting its territories. As a country, the fight was significant since it leads to several positive achievements. The greatest success for America during the second world war was the ability to rebuild Europe (Wegmann & Newett, 2020). The Americans set the Marshall plan, which was aimed at rebuilding Western Europe as a result of the second world war. The plan is considered as the greatest achievement for Americans since it jump-started the economy for European countries, thus leading the spread of American goodwill. The move led to peaceful recovering for other countries involved in the second world war, such as Japan. For instance, America helped in Japan’s reconstructions. The great plan led to communism spread, thus leading to a positive relationship between the United States and other Western Europe. The move led to reduced discrimination based on races as well as the expansion of the voting right.
Greatest failure for the U.S. during World war 2
The greatest failure for the United States during the second world war was the unpreparedness for the war. Shaw (2017) stated that America’s unpreparedness was clearly demonstrated during the Hawaii (Pearl Harbor) catastrophes. Even though there were no signs for attack from enemies, the country was expected to always remain alert, thus defending its territories. Generally, the Pearl Harbor attack by Japan is considered as the American’s greatest failure since it demonstrated how the country’s intelligence had failed. Also, the country demonstrated its unpreparedness to respond to Japan’s attack. The country responded to the attack a day after the attack was made. Generally, the military was not prepared before attack since they under-estimated the enemy. This failure led to an increased mortality rate of the American soldiers in the war.
- Describe some of the precautions taught to American citizens during the Cold War (use the lecture, but I also suggest watching the CDA video on Bert the Turtle https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IKqXu-5jw60 ). Make a case as to whether these precautions were useful or not and explain why
During the cold war period, American citizens were taught different ways to remain prepared for the nuclear attack. This was after the country becomes nervous over the first atomic in 1949 by the Soviet Union. America was aware of the dangers associated with the fallout and radiations; therefore, they commissioned academic institutions to achieve emotion management. According to “Duck and Cover” (1951), the Americans were supposed not to frighten but take care of the cover. The move is aimed at protecting themselves against any dangers from fire accidents, an atomic bomb, or other bad sunburns. Generally, the precaution taught in the Duck and Cover film is to take cover under tables or next to the wall and away from glasses. Besides, the film encouraged tight cover on their necks and faces. Lastly, it encourages Americans to obey the civil defense workers in ensuring their safety.
The Duck and Cover strategies would have worked in ensuring safety to protect Americans against the Soviet Union. A study conducted by Lewis (2019) indicated the Soviet Union used slightly weaker explosives compared to the one used in the cold war. The Duck and Cover film were aimed at the mitigation of specific threats during the Soviet Union period. The Duck and Cover strategies were inadequate to handle the threat from the nuclear and atomic bomb used in the cold war. The Soviets Union involved fewer atomic bombs, therefore, making it easy to protects using walls or under the table. In contrast, the cold war involved advanced atomic bomb use, which had a great impact, therefore, making it inadequate. The move of Duck and Cover was faced increased criticisms from different individuals as it was viewed as a way of sanitizing nuclear weapons by the government.
- Access Eisenhower’s record on civil rights in the 1950s. Give him a grade (A-F) and then explain, using examples, why you gave him that grade.
In grading, the A is the highest grade, while F is the lowest grade. During Eisenhower’s two-term presidency, the country recorded the highest level of civil rights demonstrations. According to the country’s history, the Eisenhower period experienced substantial progress in the civil right areas. Although Eisenhower supported the move, he never declared it publicly. In most cases, he seemed to oppose discrimination by sympathized more with the white people who never support the move. During his campaign for the presidency in 1952, Eisenhower stated that he supported fairness and equality for all American citizens, but he quickly changed the narrative by indicating that not all evils could be cured through the law (Nichols, 2017). This suggested that the government was not supposed to interfere with the local customs, thus showing less support for civil right acts.
In rating, Eisenhower can be graded at C since he was a limited supported of the legislation which involved the civil right. Besides, he signed the Civil Rights Acts of 1957, which was aimed at ensuring equality amongst American citizens. Other moves that led to positive performance is the 1957 event, whereby he deployed American soldiers to help in integrating the central high school. Lastly, although Eisenhower never supported the move publicly, he was heard severally arguing that Brown judgment in the case was morally right (Simon, 2018). Despite his support on the civil rights movement during his era, Eisenhower criticized African Americans; thus, they were taking the changes fast, something which was not possible. From this, it can be concluded that Eisenhower positively contributed to the success of civil rights during his era.
References
Andrews, M. (2019). Bar Talk: Informal Social Interactions, Alcohol Prohibition, and Invention. Alcohol Prohibition, and Invention (November 18, 2019).
Cortes, G. S., & Weidenmier, M. D. (2019). Stock volatility and the Great Depression. The Review of Financial Studies, 32(9), 3544-3570.
Duck and Cover (1951). Retrieved April 30, 2020, from https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IKqXu-5jw60
Law, M. T., & Marks, M. S. (2020). Did Early Twentieth‐Century Alcohol Prohibition Affect Mortality?. Economic Inquiry, 58(2), 680-697.
Lewis, E. G. (2019). Multilingualism in the Soviet Union: Aspects of language policy and its implementation (Vol. 3). Walter de Gruyter GmbH & Co KG.
Nichols, D. A. (2017). EISENHOWER AND AFRICAN AMERICAN CIVIL RIGHTS. A Companion To Dwight D. Eisenhower, 207-226.
Shaw, A. (2017). World War II Day by Day: The Greatest Military Conflict Exactly as it Happened. Chartwell Books.
Simon, J. F. (2018). Eisenhower vs. Warren: The Battle for Civil Rights and Liberties. Liveright Publishing.
Temin, P. (2016). Great Depression. In Banking Crises (pp. 144-153). Palgrave Macmillan, London.
Wegmann, R. M., & Newett, J. L. (2020). When Complexity Costs Lives: Secondary Goals and Compartmentalized Information in the Second World War’s Greatest Raid. In Historians on Leadership and Strategy (pp. 79-92). Springer, Cham.