Essay On “Carter-Reagan-Bush: The Bipartisan Consensus” Essay

1. One of the downsides of the US two-party system is the detachment of the dominant parties from interests and basic needs of ordinary people. If both parties find common ground and begin to work together, covering each other in various suspicious transactions, such as the secretion of bank embezzlement, it will not bode well. Politicians in power in 1960 have completely forgotten about the citizens and that their main concern was to achieve the American Dream for ordinary US citizens, they were only concerned with their race for power. All media, including TV, radio, and newspapers was set to show people that all consuls, senators and other politicians allegedly made history of the US, but in fact they were only increasing their political weight and power. In this regard, the citizens became disappointed about the political system and decided to show public activity in the creation of new policies, in the negative sense. Marginalized groups in society have become more violent, finding scapegoats in their own environment, having increased violence against members of other races, immigrants, single mothers, low-income people and others (Zinn n.p.). On the other hand, political detachment and unwillingness to deal with problems of people in order to improve their lives, has led many citizens who could not sit idly by to start actively participating in political issues with a positive intention. Across the country, inhabited by people that were not mentioned in the press and who were ignored by politicians, there began to increase the number of public organizations that wanted to make a difference. These organizations were actively campaigning to protect the environment and women's rights, to receive a proper health care, to build housing for the homeless, and to decrease the military spending. (Zinn n.p.). Such cohesion and teamwork of people in that difficult times shows that Americans are ready to fight for their American Dream, for achieving social well-being and a decent life, which, in fact, is an undeniable positive effect of the bipartisan system.
2. Ever since the World War II, the USA has paid much attention to the accumulation of military power and to the desire of becoming the strongest and most powerful country, which greatly influenced the cost of the budget on the military. On the one hand, these costs seem to be unreasonably huge, as only during the four years of the Reagan administration about 1 trillion dollars was allocated from the budget for the development of the military complex (Zinn, n.p.). The concept of the American Dream has become increasingly remote. Despite the raise of unemployment, poverty and crime rates, and the increasing difficulty of rearing children, the amounts of money for the troops remained large. Conversely, this fact has allowed the US to be considered one of the most powerful countries in the world, which gained a huge authority among the other countries. So, having a large defense budget can have both positive and negative impact on the American Dream.
3. The idea of ​​bipartisanship looks pretty good relative to the concept of the American Dream nowadays. The Government provides all the necessary facilities for a comfortable and secure life for its citizens. Also, thanks to the actions of both parties in the past, no matter good or bad, they eventually led the US to the level of development that we see today. Inflated spending budget for the military apparatus has brought respect and authority of most countries to the Unites States, so I do not think that it was a wrong decision. In my opinion, many US citizens can confidently say that they have all the conditions to achieve the American Dream successfully.

Works Cited

Zinn, Howard. "Carter-Reagan-Bush: The Bipartisan Consensus." A People's History of the United States. History is a Weapon, n.d. Web. 7 April 2015.