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Johnny New
Professor Francis
HUMA-1100
Oct 4, 2014
Essay 1
We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are
endowed by their creator with certain unalienable right, that among these are life, liberty, and the
pursuit of happiness. I believe Thomas Jefferson the author of Americas Declaration of
Independence was completely tight when he wrote this sentence, and his views line right up with
mine. First of all that everyone deserves life, from the second you are born until you prove
otherwise life is a right everyone deserves. I do still believe in war, not all war but sometimes
war is necessary. When a group of peoples, for example Nazi Germany shows the entire world
by their actions that they dont deserve life, then war needs to occur. Secondly everyone deserves
liberty. The definition of liberty is the state of being free within society from oppressive
restrictions opposed by authorities on ones way of life, behavior, or political views. Again, I
believe everyone has the right to liberty until prove otherwise. I believe that jail is sometimes a
necessary part of our society.
My views on citizens responsibilities to the law, community, and country extend quite
far. I believe that we have a responsibility to help the disabled. My brother had a stroke at a very
young age, and it was necessary at the time to treat him differently than other kids. We would
provide more attention to him, give him extra schooling, and help him sometimes with daily
tasks he could not accomplish. If my parents and I had said that he needs to be treated as every
kid during that time in his life, my brother would not have had the amazing recovery he did. This

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is where my belief in needing to help people with disabilities come from. I believe that there are
people who cannot take care of themselves and it is our duty as citizens of this great country to
help them. I believe it is our duty to follow the laws of our country unless we find them unjust.
At which point we should no longer accept them as our government. This was not always my
belief. Until I read civil disobedience by Henry David Thoreau. A statement of his that especially
stood out to me was I cannot for an instance recognize that political organization as my
government which is the slaves government also. Thoreau helped me to realize that when our
government is wrong there are ways to go about it without leaving. When laws are unjust we
should not continue to support our government we should discontinue all the services we receive
from it and declare ourselves more independent. If we use the governments roads then pay those
taxes but try to civilly disobey as Thoreau did. This goes along with y definition of a good
citizen. A good citizen is somebody who helps those who are incapable of helping themselves. A
good citizen also does not just blindly obey the rules, but actively pays attention to what is
happening so he can try to help his government in doing the right thing.
In regard to United States foreign policy I believe it all begins with us. As Lyndon B.
Johnson said Three places where we begin to build the Great Society- in OUR cities, In OUR
countryside, and in OUR classrooms. Notice all begin with have our in them. We cannot expect
to help other countries if our country is in shambles. We need to make our society as close to
great as possible before we can go and try to inflict our beliefs on others. In saying this I believe
that America is also not the policeman of the world and it is not our job to help other countries.
We need to better the poverty and horrible things that our happening in our country before we
can extend the kind of helping hand that I believe is necessary to help the whole world. As
always though there are exceptions. When it comes to Genocide I believe America has to

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intervene and I am very disappointed in America for not always doing so. For example in
Rwanda with the Hutu and Totsi conflict I believe America should have intervened. America
resources at this point need to be concentrated on us. This is not to say we cannot help other
countries I believe we need to first better our own country. Sometimes though our country needs
to put aside what we need to help others who are being persecuted and killed for no good reason
but the color of their skin or what they believe in. Ultimately I believe that it is important as
Americans that above all we try and make our society great, but there are always exceptions in
which it is our responsibility to help those in need. It is foolish to say that America is not a world
power but it is also foolish to say that America is perfect. We need to build a great society in our
country before we can fully dedicate ourselves to building a great society around the world.

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Works Cited
Jefferson, Thomas. Declaration Of Independence. Rose and Weiser 144-146
Johnson, Lyndon. Great Society Speech, 1964. Rose and Weiser 248-251
Thoreau, Henry. Civil Disobedience Rose and Weiser 147-159