Hoagland's Argumentative Essay

I think Hoagland’s main point was how America has changed for the worse over the last half of a century becoming more apathetic, large, and isolated. He tells this through what he is observed over his career of writing for the last fifty or so years. He believes that America used to be a superpower in the world and now is full of millennials to obsessed with media to care about the country or work hard.

First off, I noticed the author definitely did not like where the country is headed. It seemed like he was taking trip down memory lane, while also ranting about the government and how the current generation is super lazy and preoccupied with social media. I also noticed thought that he had a lot of pride for his country through his writing. He calls for the country to return to what it once was when neighbors respected and trusted each other and a handshake sealed a deal and you could not go back on it.

Secondly, I found the author’s comparison of American actions in World War II and the Iraq and Afghan Wars very interesting.
How he was born right after this war and how wars have changed since then. The value we as a country have gotten from wars we have participated has decreased. We won WWII and it was a help to our country as a whole but since then we have only lost and sent our troops off to die it seems. He also fears that our country has lost its power not through military force, but through the respect of surrounding nations, and a loss faith of the people who live here.

Finally, he talks about how the American people used to be able to bounce back from bad things like the Great Depression with World War II.
The author, Hoagland has lived a long life, writing for over fifty years and has seen and written essays on many things. He fears that our country is deteriorating. It used to be a place where people stood up for what they believed, and if someone or something stood in their way they would make sure they were heard. Also, if our American way of life was threatened we would find a way to succeed and defeat our oppressors, like in the American Revolution. Examples of this include the undoing of Communism and the 1960's protests which showed that the American people and government were a force to be reckoned with. The author thinks that our country is currently in a state where we are in an economic recession where we live in fear of the future, instead of being enthusiastic for it and how we can fix it
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This reading relates to multicultural education by discussing how American kids were taught in schools versus today and how we as a country used to be enthusiastic and more able to recover from bad times.

I liked the reading because it was very interesting how he included little tid bits of history along with making his point. I also like the little history lesson we got while the author was trying to describe how we as country have worsened over the years.