The Declaration of Independence provided the people of the United States a country, free from British control, the U.S. Constitution gives that nation a set of rules to follow, and Mark Twains As Regards Patriotism examines how these two documents affect the mindset of this country. Groupthink, not a word use in 1900, when Twain penned his essay, is a good analogy of what we would now call what he was speaking about. Psychology Today says, “Groupthink occurs when a group values harmony and coherence over accurate analysis and critical evaluation. It causes individual members of the group to unquestioningly follow the word of the leader and it strongly discourages any disagreement with the consensus.” In As Regards Patriotism, Twain
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Both the Constitution and the Declaration of Independence are used as training tools for children to learn patriotism. The Declaration of Independence trains children to believe in freedom and the Constitution trains children on how to use the freedoms. What middle-schooler cannot recite the most patriotic parts of the Declaration of Independence, what high schooler cannot tell you about the Bill of Rights? This is how patriots are trained. It is when children become adults that this training becomes …show more content…
Whether you are trained from childhood or trained as an adult in order to become a citizen of the U.S. You must be able to state the beliefs written on those documents convincingly or you do not conform and may not be a true patriot. This is what are media tells the politicians, and so those politicians do just that. Mark Twain’s essay, As Regard Patriotism says “There is nothing that training cannot do. Nothing is above its reach or below it. It can turn bad morals to good, good morals to bad; it can destroy principles, it can re-create them; it can debase angels to men and lift men to angelship.” As responsible adults, should we not use our sacred documents as a teaching tool and not a training tool? Because, do we have the right to free speech or has it become only the right to free
Both the Constitution and the Declaration of Independence are used as training tools for children to learn patriotism. The Declaration of Independence trains children to believe in freedom and the Constitution trains children on how to use the freedoms. What middle-schooler cannot recite the most patriotic parts of the Declaration of Independence, what high schooler cannot tell you about the Bill of Rights? This is how patriots are trained. It is when children become adults that this training becomes …show more content…
Whether you are trained from childhood or trained as an adult in order to become a citizen of the U.S. You must be able to state the beliefs written on those documents convincingly or you do not conform and may not be a true patriot. This is what are media tells the politicians, and so those politicians do just that. Mark Twain’s essay, As Regard Patriotism says “There is nothing that training cannot do. Nothing is above its reach or below it. It can turn bad morals to good, good morals to bad; it can destroy principles, it can re-create them; it can debase angels to men and lift men to angelship.” As responsible adults, should we not use our sacred documents as a teaching tool and not a training tool? Because, do we have the right to free speech or has it become only the right to free