America: More stew than melting pot

America was once considered the Great Melting Pot. An idea that all who come to this land will become American. That all races will blend together under our creed that "all men are created equal". Instead we have come to learn that America is more of a stew than a melting pot. In a melting pot whatever is put in will melt and into whatever is melted and then become one piece. In a stew all the parts are separate but serve it's purpose. In other words we need to retain some of our own cultures if we want to keep fresh. We don't lose our sense of nationalism; our nationalism is fluid.

Unless you were born here we do not share a common language nor a similar history. Our nation is very young compared to other countries and we can all trace our roots back to another country fairly easily. This is not normal in other countries. Once the next generation is born here they learn their culture from schools. Schools teach us the "American" way of life. Schools teach us our language, our history, and our culture. Now depending in what region of America you are in, your culture will differ (again different than most countries). So what is American nationalism? It's American patriotism.

The fact that we are pretty much free to live our lives the way we want is what separates us from other countries. If I want to be a polygamist who believes that Cthulhu is our savior and that aliens will cause the rapture in the year 2022 I can. I can start a website and even found a church based on that.....but I digress. We are a free country that was founded on a principle that we shall be free from persecution no matter what we believe in. So even though we don't have a true sense of nationalism we are patriotic.       

Power in Government

Power in government is ambiguous. Politicians will point their fingers at someone else when something goes wrong, and claim they are the reason for something that goes great. Politicians have their agendas which is backed by interest groups. Since every issue will have two sides there will be discontent among their citizens.

The federal government is just one massive business and the state government's are acting as smaller subsidiaries. Our local government act as customer service for said business. Like most businesses social media reviews, the more people reviewing, the more negative reviews you are going to get. People are quicker to give a negative review than a positive one. There are more poor/middle class than rich, therefore there will be more resentment towards the government. The rich generally control the power. I feel comfortable saying that those with money in this country control the power.

I side with the sociologists and say that elitist are in control and have the power. Pluralist like to believe power is tied to an issue, but I feel the issues are controlled by those in the elite portion of the stratification system. Wealth, power, and prestige all play a huge part with politics as in the case in New Haven and funding for their public school system. Those with wealth send their kids to private schools and therefore feel that public schools need less funding.

It's hard to suggest the pluralist are correct. In the case of New Haven creating a group Citizens Action Committee to limit the power of mayor's, it was immeasurable to say what influence the group had over the mayor. It's also hard to suggest that those in the committee didn't have their own agendas, and in what part of the stratification system they fit into.