Thomas Paine: The Legalization Of American Culture

America is composed of diverse groups of religions, ethnicities, and languages. However, largely apparent is the discrimination, controversy, and hostility between groups. Disagreement between individuals within the same town, within the same neighborhood, provokes discord and dismisses the harmonious concord Thomas Paine speaks of. While his characterization of America’s cultural makeup remains true today, Thomas Paine’s characterization of the country’s social interactions is wildly inaccurate. Today, Paine’s description of the people who make up America is still true: “[America is] made up, as it is, of people... speaking different languages, [following] different modes of worship.” In my town, I am surrounded by unique individuals of different ethnic backgrounds-- my close friend who regularly speaks Romanian in his household, my classmate who frequently visits family in Spain, my mother whose parents migrated to Japan decades ago. In my region, I also know of many places to celebrate many religions-- in Portland a Buddhist temple, where a fifteen minute drive South will take me to a Catholic church, and another five …show more content…
Even forget the protests from 2015 and past that advocated the legalization of gay marriage. Still today, groups protest for their human rights. In North Dakota, 2017, Native Americans protest for their land. The Dakota Access Pipeline is to be built in North Dakota, over Native American land, fracking and defoliating the ground where Native history and significance sits for this group. Donald Trump strongly advocates this-- to him, the president of America, the value of the economic benefits overwhelms the disruption of human rights. Paine writes that in his time, “there [was] nothing to render [the people of America] wretched, there is nothing to engender riots and tumults.” Today this characterization is wildly