Speech On The First Amendment - 1786 Words

Cecilia Long MC 4301 Gilbert Martinez 05/06/2016 Part 2: Final Exam The First Amendment protects any person’s freedom of speech from Congress, state government and local public officials. However, this does not allow individuals to be free in saying anything that they want to say. One example of speech that is not protected by the First Amendment are crimes involving speech. If a form of speech is used to commit a crime such as perjury, harassment or extortion, it will not be provided protection by the First Amendment. Another example is Conduct Regulations. Our government has the right to make laws in regards to the specific conduct used in the speech such as stating when, where and how the speech can be provided. These regulations can be upheld by courts as long as they considered content-neutral and are not constraining the expression of ideas. For example, they are allowed to limit the size of collateral used for speech and are also able to limit the level of sound in speech that can be heard at distinct times. The Society of Professional Journalists’ Code of Ethics strives to secure the â€Å"free exchange of information†. It must be fair, accurate and thorough and also states that integrity is a key factor in being an ethical journalist. The Society asserts four main principles as the foundations to all ethical journalism and promotes their use in practice by all people in all media. The first code is to â€Å"Seek Truth and Report It.† It states that all ethicalShow MoreRelatedThe First Amendment : Uncensored Speech857 Words   |  4 PagesThe First Amendment: Uncensored Speech Centuries ago in American society, individuals were not granted the free will to act and speak freely. First Amendment rights allowed citizens to do so. On a historical outlook, the oppressed fought for the rights of various groups in the United States. Although laws and situations evolve, groups in America continue to face inequality and issues with freedom of speech. There is room for further improvement; freedom for all citizens needs to be fulfilled. TheRead MoreFreedom Of Speech : The First Amendment1412 Words   |  6 PagesOverview of Free Speech Freedom of Speech. The First Amendment. It’s likely the most well-known part of the United States Constitution, and was considered by the founders of our country to be one of the most important pieces of a free society. While in years prior it has generally been agreed upon that free speech - especially political speech - is vital to democracy, today there are some people singing a different tune. There are those who believe that certain offensive speech (or in some casesRead MoreFirst Amendment Persuasive Speech769 Words   |  4 Pages Although the First Amendment addresses the right of free speech, there are still limitations to what one can say or do to express his or her opinions. For example, threats, libel/slander, obscenity, and fighting words are illegal and can result in arrest depending on the extent of the crime. Despite these restrictions, there are some undesirable situations that the First Amendment still covers. These situations are considered unacceptable i n society and can cause disruptions in everyday life. YellingRead MoreThe First Amendment And Freedom Of Speech In Schools1571 Words   |  7 PagesThe First Amendment gives the citizens of the United States their most important rights: the right to freedom of speech, freedom of press, freedom of religion, and the freedom of assembly. Over time these rights have worked themselves into the everyday lives of United States citizens. However, there are still places where our First Amendment rights may be compromised. In the school system, finding a balance of respect and freedom of speech and press is as difficult as learning out to tightrope walkRead MoreThe Actions And Speech Are Protected By The First Amendment Essay1683 Words   |  7 PagesOne of the many battle grounds of debate in the U.S. currently is what actions and speech are protected by the first amendment. Since there is so much that is not directly defined in the Constitution, there is room for interpretation on whether or not certain it is protected by it. One topic in particular is supporting the terrorist group ISIS. ISIS is a group of Muslim extremist based out of Syria. Their goals are to create a radical extremist state, the caliphate, through religious violence (AbuRead MoreFreedom Of Speech By The First Amendment Of The Constitution1657 Words   |  7 Pagesprotected by the First Amendment of the Constitution.† (Literacy, 2005) This definition describes the most important freedom in my eyes. Without freedom of speech, I am unable to be the individual that I strive to be, which is to stick out and be unique, which is why I treasure freedom of speech the most. I am going to take advantage of my freedom of speech and use it to cultivate and progress my business goals in life to make me successful as a woman in the business world. Freedom of speech had to takeRead MoreFirst Amendment and Free Speech Essay1544 Words   |  7 Pagespaper will examine the first amendment’s right to free speech based on three different Supreme Court cases and how there are varying examples of free speech. In the case of Snyder v. Phelps, Snyder sued Phelps, the Westboro Baptist Church, for intentional infliction of emotional distress, invasion of privacy by intrusion upon seclusion, and conspiracy because the church set-up protest outside of his military son’s funeral service (Chen et al., 2010). Another side of free speech involves a case whichRead MoreThe Freedom Of Speech Through The First Amendment Essay1156 Words   |  5 PagesAccording to the Bill of Rights, we are afforded the freedom of speech through the first amendment. But this awarding of freedom is only allowed if it goes along with what the general population deems â€Å"normal†. During the middle part of the 1900’s many books were banned on political, religious, and moral views. While our society has changed these issues are still prevalent in today’s public views and opinions of author’s work. These books are not â€Å"normal† and that is why they play an unprecedentedRead MoreThe First Amendment Violates Our Freedom Of Speech814 Words   |  4 Pagesadversities that mold the way we carry out decisions and have an impact on the way we make decisions and view situations. American citizens have the right to vote for our leaders, and it is vital to exercise this freedom. The First Amendment constitutes our freedom of speech, but if not properly exercise our right to vote, how can we justify protesting the outcome of policies. The president serves as an advocate for many political policies. We as American citizens blame the president when thingsRead MoreFree Speech, First Amendment Rights And Terroristic Messages Essay1415 Words   |  6 Pagesthe article because for several reasons: it s importance in the context of this class, and the First Amendment rights of the defendants. Second, my final paper topic was â€Å"Free Speech, First Amendment Rights and Terroristic Messages†. I ve used the article in my paper and presentation, as well I ve particularly valued the case of Tarek Mehanna, 2012 while giving the examples for the Free speech rights and its protection in case of use and distribution of Terroristic Messages . Finally

Henrik Ibsen Thesis Paper - 1049 Words

Ibsen Paper College English Mrs. Wright 2/1/13 Jake Pratt Life presents questions to every person that experiences it. Many of these question will forever remain unanswered. The social and psychological problems and questions that life throws at it attendants are stressed by one of the mid to late 1800 s best problem play authors, Henrik Ibsen. Ibsen spend most of his writing career exploring the human mind. He had a passion for the truth, and due to this he conveyed his thoughts through writing. His time period offered many scenarios for him to write about which still apply to today s society. One of these scenarios is the societal roles that given to people. Ibsen stressed the importance of societal and gender roles in his†¦show more content†¦Are you mad? We are making our living by retailing filth and corruption... (An Enemy of the People, p. 30).The majority follows what Peter has to say, seeing as how society has placed him in a leadership role. The minority follow the doctor. Now, both aspects of the conflict are in full bl ast. Society is forcing these brothers to work against each other, ironically for one main shared purpose. Both of these stories show the affect that society has on communities and individuals, alike. The need for specific people, such as Torvald and the Stockman brothers, to be what society wants them to be creates conflicts that are larger than themselves. It creates problems with others. This is the result of human doing what they do best, make mistakes. The human race evolves over time, both mentally and physically. With these changes come new responsibilities and decisions. When people fail to fulfill their responsibilities, conflicts arise. That is seen in these stories. This is a similar pattern as that of the gender role throughout history. Women were seen as the more submissive gender. This is because human beings made it this way. All of these conflicts and problems that are still to this day present are because of humans. As a race, humans create problems between each ot her because they feel some sort of unearned privilege to be better than others. Henrik Ibsen understood this concept; he loved to explore the minds of humans. That is what made his writing soShow MoreRelatedUnderstanding Morality in Henrik Ibsens The Dolls House and Other Similar Stories1493 Words   |  6 Pages This paper discusses the notion that truly moral people are not only those who follow rules, laws and norms, these society norms and laws are very flexible and change with time. Such people do whatever they wish to do without the fear of being criticized. The essay is based on The Doll House play by Henrik Ibsen. However, other similar stories that support thesis statement include; The story of an Hour by Kate Chopin and The Stranger by Albert Camus. Thesis Statement The thesis statementRead MoreIbsen11859 Words   |  48 PagesLiterature and Performance Christina Kelley Forshey A Senior Thesis submitted in partial fulfillment of the requirements for graduation in the Honors Program Liberty University Fall 2008 Forshey 2 Acceptance of Senior Honors Thesis This Senior Honors Thesis is accepted in partial fulfillment of the requirements for graduation from the Honors Program of Liberty University. ______________________________ Linda Nell Cooper, M.A. Thesis Chair ______________________________ Neal Brasher, M.F.ARead MoreHenrik Ibsen s A Doll House2348 Words   |  10 PagesSe’Naia Simpson Dr. Asabi Final Research paper 5/6/2014 â€Å"A woman cannot be herself in the society of the present day, which is an exclusively masculine society, with laws framed by men and with a judicial system that judges feminine conduct from a masculine point of view.†(Author Commentary 296) Henrik Ibsen’s A doll house reflect a general household of doll like characters with a wife , husband, three children and a nanny. Nora, wife and mother of three decides to leave her family in pursuitRead MoreThe Transformation of a Woman - Ibsens a Dolls House1437 Words   |  6 PagesThe Transformation of a Woman In Henrik Ibsen’s play, A Doll’s House, the character of Nora Helmer is a woman who undergoes a profound life revelation that results in her becoming a woman with a belief structure and understanding of self that is far ahead of her time. At the beginning of the play, Nora thinks as a woman of her era; her identity is formed as her father’s daughter and continued as a wife to Torvald Helmer. At the end of the play Nora â€Å"discovers her individuality then walksRead MoreEssay Writing9260 Words   |  38 Pageswas due is either a liar or a genius. This document has been formulated to assist you in learning to write effective, intelligent essays. It is divided into the following parts: PART I: Types of Essays PART II: Developing a Thesis from a Topic PART III: Introductions PART IV: The Body Paragraphs PART V: The Rebuttal PART VI: The Conclusion PART VII: Writing an Exam Essay PART VIII: Stylistic Considerations PARTRead MoreBusiness and Management2600 Words   |  11 Pages | | | |The Writer as Reader: Reading and Responding (pp. 11-16). | | | | |The Reader as Writer: Developing a Thesis, Drafting, and Writing an Argument (pp.45-63). | | | | |Reading Literature Closely: Explication (pp 101-114). | | | |

Business Communication for Journal of Healthcare Assistants

Question: Discuss about theBusiness Communication for Journal of Healthcare Assistants. Answer: The essay is based on the self reflection study of the different skills of communication that are based on the generation of information from different diagnostic tools of communication and it will help in focusing on the two issues related to communication that are derived from the different results of diagnostic tools. The two issues related to communication in the development of the personal communication are unclear instructions as well as disagreements in the interpersonal relationships. Furthermore, the essay helps in understanding the literature review that focuses on different important concepts as well as theories that are related to issues in communication. From this reflection process, I have gained proper knowledge on different activities that can be implemented by me in order to reduce as well as tackle the different issues related to communication. There is a proper reflection of different issues of communication in the action plan that is reflected after the literature review. In this assignment, I have particularly used various diagnostic tools in order to analyze my way of communication in different situations of communication. The first tool that has been utilized by me is the questionnaire that is based on the communication, which is self-perceived in nature that helps in indicating the competence of the communication in different situations wherein there is unclear instructions in the workplace (Visser, Deliens and Houttekier 2014). The next tool used in the report is the assertive questionnaire that helps in measuring the diverse situations in the communication process and the behavior of one in the organization as to provide clear instructions (Sharma and Sharma 2017). The third tool was based on the interpersonal relationships that helped in providing information on the tolerance of the individuals in handling the conflicts wherein the other person feels the same thing to be true in nature (Rosenberg et al. 2017). The fourth tool is the report on p roviding clear instructions wherein the listening and the individuals can be examined and properly implemented as well (Saxena et al. 2016). Lastly, the tool that has been used is the willingness of the proper clarity in the communication process is examined (Whittaker et al. 2017). The different results that have been generated from questionnaires were proper and accurate in nature and through this, I am able to recognize the communication preferences and style from the above tools. From the results of the questionnaire that is based on the communication, which is self-perceived in nature, I can understand that I have no issues in understanding the instructions when a person is speaking to me or when there is less number of people in the group. However there will be issues in the communication or there is lack of clarity in understanding the instructions when there is more individuals in the meetings or group discussion as well. The results that have been generated from the assertive questionnaire helps in understanding that I have moderate level of lack of clarity in the communication process while I am attending different meetings. The score that has been gained by me in the communication tests was 75 that fall into category of moderate amount of issues in th e process of communication. The other tool that was based on the disagreements tolerance, therein I have scored 50 that are also moderate in nature and it will require some improvements in these areas. Although the scores for the disagreements in the interpersonal relationship and lack of clarity plunge into the moderate category, I have professed myself that I need to show proper improvements in these areas of the process of communication. This will provide benefit to the process of communication as well as to reduce the level of lack of clarity from moderate to low in nature. Furthermore, the interpersonal conflicts are unavoidable in nature and proper decision-making is essential in nature in order to find out the proper way of communicating when there are disagreements in the process of communication and is crucial in nature as well. When I am reflecting on the lack of clarity in the business meetings at office, I faced with a similar situation a couple of months ago wherein I was working as a team member in a particular team wherein the manager of the sales team gave a description of a new product in a new firm in Melbourne. My task was to analyze the issues after hearing the entire description of the new product that has been given by the sales team. I was provided with the job of identifying the issues while the manager will dictate about the findings of the new product. Subsequent to the meeting, I was nervous about how to take the notes so fast and it was difficult for me to articulate the findings with proper knowledge on the specifications of the new product that is required in order to take the notes smoothly without much difficulty. The pressure was high as taking proper notes was a tough job and I had to concentrate on the way of communication, as this will help in making the process easier for me. Alth ough I was ready for taking notes on the specifications of the new product, but there were issues related to lack of clarity in the communication process and I had tension of not understanding the fast dictation of my manager. The other example of issues related to communication is due to the issues in the interpersonal relationship or disagreements in the communication process and it happened in the same firm. I was provided with a task and the specific task did not belong to my genre. However, I completed the entire task without making any complications, as I did not want to end up making the matter complicated. The example of such behavior is to avoid the issues that can crop in to interpersonal conflicts and submissive behavior helped in handling the entire situation in the workplace and communicated with the manager in the same way the manager wanted. My main aim was to avoid the interpersonal conflict in the organization as this could have made the situation worse. Furthermore, reflecting on the entire situation, I wanted to create argument with proper evidences that supported my view but it could have led to some other situation as well. Apprehension in the communication is defined as the fear or anxiety to expected or unexpected situations of communication with different kinds of individuals (). Due to different kinds of barriers in the process of communication, the individuals will refrain one shelf from such oral communication (Viardot 2013). Furthermore, Repiso and Lopez-Cozar (2013) commented that there are different kinds of apprehension in the process of communication that are related to lack of clarity, interpersonal conflict along with different situations. The trait that is related to the anxiety refers to the different individuals who are lacking clarity in different kinds of information but with proper practice, the individual will able to overcome such situation in the future. The anxiety related to the situation is generally caused due to the different social as well as psychological factors (Kellens, Terpstra and De Maeyer 2013). Proper ability to communicate is different from apprehension in communication process. The individuals need to overcome the negative associations that will lead to unpleasant situations in the process of communication (Johnston et al. 2015). Proper clarity of information in the business world is of huge necessity as researched by Kim (2016). The research also helped in concluding that proper clarity and interpersonal relationship is necessary in the business world as this will help in achieving success and proper communication and fluency is necessary in order to attain success. The other research done by Luthra et al. (2014) helped in finding out the effectiveness in the organizational process and the managers needs to acquire proper level of communication apprehension as to influence the decision making process. From the results, it can be analyzed that apprehension in communication helps in influencing the behavior of the individuals in the business world and it will help in increasing the competence in the professional life as well. According to Poulin and Tomaszewski (2014), the conflict in the interpersonal relationship was properly conceptualized and conducted with the process of communication in the setting of the organization. The background and the position of the participants in their respective organization along with the style of communication are the different factors that have huge influence on the formation of the disagreements (). The theoretical framework regarding the conflict in the interpersonal relationship regarding the conflict and disagreement is unequivocal as there are different components that are affecting the entire situation relating to the conflict (Delgado and Repiso 2013). Delgado and Repiso (2013) commented that there are different factors that are related to interpersonal communication and it creates conflict at the workplace as well that can be verbal, non-verbal, emotions in listening and communication as well. Machado et al. (2016) commented that there are different styles of communication and there are different factors that affect the process of communication as well that are expressive, argumentative and supportive in nature. These factors have huge impact on the communication process and helps in analysis of the factors that shows the dictation of the managers on their employees in the organization. The positive non verbal kind of communication that is the immediacy may help in preventing the disagreements due to different effects of bringing the positive attitudes and signals as well (Burgess 2017). The immediacy that is non verbal in nature is defined as act of expressing signs that are positive in nature that indicates nodding or smiling while talking or listening to someone (Sharma and Parihar 2016). The other component of the communication that is interpersonal in nature affects emergence of the disagreements is the emotions that are identified by O'Halloran, Worrall and Hickson (2015). According to the findings of Griffin et al. (2016), when a person shows disagreement in a situation in the communication that is interpersonal in nature will be persuaded as the opponent who is adopting the views of the opposition. As it has been stated above, the ability of the individuals to listen is the factor that helps in constituting the interpersonal communication. According to Jense n et al. (2013), there are variations in the behavior of the individuals in the ability to listen along with external stimulus that can affect the listening. After proper identification of the issues related to communication, that needs proper development I created a proper action plan for the next six months in order to overcome such issues. Proper journal has to be maintained, as this will provide benefit in the entire process, this will provide me to keep a proper track of the progress, and the accomplishments will be reflected as well. The journal will be useful tool in order to identify the areas that will act as the framework to view the progress and the areas that need proper improvements as well. I will be having mentor who will help in overseeing the process and the expertise knowledge will help in overcoming the weaknesses as well as the issues that is lack of clarity and help in gaining confidence and strategies for proper presenting. I am hiring Mr. John Wilson as mentor who has professional knowledge on the communication skills and has more than 15 years of experience and he will be able to overcome such communication issues. I will be participating in a month training program and receive advice on gaining clarity in the business meetings and information that are required in the apprehension of communication Proper strategies and practices will be used in order to improve the performance in the communication process (McKenzie-Mohr and Schultz 2014). I will be integrating these kinds of experiences in the action plan as to reduce the apprehension in communication and reduce the level of stress as well in the next business meetings. I want to get properly acquainted about the literature that is based on the apprehension in the process of communication along with the interpersonal conflicts. I have selected books that will help in providing me guidance on the issues relating to communication and apprehension in communication process as well as Management of interpersonal conflicts and Improvement in clarity in business meetings by Donhue. I will try to participate in course related to interpersonal communication as to improve the professionalism and effectiveness in the process of communication at workplace. The course will help in enhancing the proper change in the style of communication in order to reduce the lack of clarity in the information and prepare for the different presentations in effective manger as well. The course will help in monitoring and providing advice as well in understanding the clarity of speech that is required in the workplace. I believe that the best way in order to evaluate the progress after the completion of total of six months will help me in providing feedback from the workplaces and universities about my performance. The communication process is a long and ongoing process and this will help me in enhancing the interpersonal skills in the workplace, as this is required to succeed in the workplace in the future. The process of communication will help me in analyzing the issues that can be faced by me in future as well regarding the interpersonal conflicts in the business. The feedback is an essential component that will help me in understanding the issues that I am facing regarding both the issues and it will help me in improving such issues in the future as well. Particulars 1st July 26th July 10th August 10th September 20th September 10th October 30th October 21st November 10th December Proper maintenance of journals Mentor John Proper mental practices Proper reading of books Course on communication Interpersonal communication course Therefore, it can be inferred that the essay helps in providing a proper brief on the five diagnostic tools related to communication that has been used by me in order to gather proper information relating to the issues related to communication. The two issues related to communication that has been identified is lack of clarity and interpersonal conflicts that is also known as tolerance for disagreements. Both the theories relate to the theories of the communication that are related to lack of clarity in the process of communication along with disagreement in the process of communication. The interpersonal kind of communication that covers a large area helps in understanding the requirement of the communication at workplace. The focus of the literature review that has been conducted on the different components such as verbal and non-verbal communication, as well as the emotions those are required in the listening and communication process. On the other hand, apprehension in communicat ion helps in addressing the distinct kinds of apprehension in communication and proper ability to communication as well as getting proper clarity in the communication process at workplace. The action plan was created in order to analyze the results and it was prepared based on analysis of the results upon the different results. The action plan helps in understanding the requirements that are essential in understanding the duration of time required for maintain personal journal and the course of communication that will be pursued by me in order to improve my skills in communication process. References Burgess, P., 2017. People with hearing lossremoving the barriers to communication.British Journal of Healthcare Assistants,11(9), pp.444-450. Delgado, E. and Repiso, R., 2013. El impacto de las revistas de comunicacin: comparando Google Scholar Metrics, WoS y Scopus= The Impact of Scientific Journals of Communication: Comparing Google Scholar Metrics, WoS and Scopus.Comunicar,41(2), pp.45-60. Griffin, D.J., Bolkan, S., Holmgren, J.L. and Tutzauer, F., 2016. Central journals and authors in communication using a publication network.Scientometrics,106(1), pp.91-104. Jensen, R.E., Christy, K., Gettings, P.E. and Lareau, L., 2013. Interview and focus group research: A content analysis of scholarship published in ranked journals.Communication Methods and Measures,7(2),pp.126-133. Johnston, M.J., King, D., Arora, S., Behar, N., Athanasiou, T., Sevdalis, N. and Darzi, A., 2015. Smartphones let surgeons know WhatsApp: an analysis of communication in emergency surgical teams.The American Journal of Surgery,209(1), pp.45-51. Kellens, W., Terpstra, T. and De Maeyer, P., 2013. Perception and communication of flood risks: a systematic review of empirical research.Risk analysis,33(1), pp.24-49. Kim, S., 2016. Strategic predisposition in communication management: Understanding organizational propensity towards bridging strategy.Journal of Communication Management,20(3), pp.232-254 Luthra, S., Kumar, S., Kharb, R., Ansari, M.F. and Shimmi, S.L., 2014. Adoption of smart grid technologies: An analysis of interactions among barriers.Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews,33, pp.554-565. Machado, L., Kroll, J., Marczak, S. and Prikladnicki, R., 2016, August. Breaking Collaboration Barriers through Communication Practices in Software Crowdsourcing. InGlobal Software Engineering (ICGSE), 2016 IEEE 11th International Conference on(pp. 44-48). IEEE. McKenzie-Mohr, D. and Schultz, P.W., 2014. Choosing effective behavior change tools.Social Marketing Quarterly,20(1), pp.35-46. O'Halloran, R., Worrall, L. and Hickson, L., 2015. Environmental factors that influence communication between patients and their healthcare providers in acute hospital stroke units: an observational study.International journal of language communication disorders, pp.1-18. Poulin, S. and Tomaszewski, R., 2014. Open access journals in communication studies: Indexing in five commercial databases.Behavioral Social Sciences Librarian,33(1), pp.3-14 Repiso, R. and Lopez-Cozar, E.D., 2013. H Index Communication Journals according to Google Scholar Metrics (2008-2012).arXiv preprint arXiv:1310.7378. Rosenberg, L.B., Greenwald, J., Caponi, B., Doshi, A., Epstein, H., Frank, J., Lindenberger, E., Marzano, N., Mills, L.M., Razzak, R. and Risser, J., 2017. Confidence with and Barriers to Serious Illness Communication: A National Survey of Hospitalists.Journal of Palliative Medicine. Saxena, N., Singh, R.S., Kumar, R. and Agrawal, V.K., 2016. A Review Paper on OFDM: Basic Concept Application.International Journals Digital Communication and Analog Signals,2(2), pp.1-9. Sharma, G. and Parihar, P.S., 2016. Synchronized and Asynchronized Comparative Analysis Channel-Hopping-Based Communication Rendezvous In Cognitive Radio Networks.International Journals Digital Communication and Analog Signals,2(1), pp.21-26. Sharma, M.A.P. and Sharma, D., 2017. Feedback for Effective Learning: Stumbling Blocks/Learning Barriers in Communication between Learning and Teaching.American Journal of Humanities and Social Sciences,5(1), pp.1-10. Viardot, E., 2013. The role of cooperatives in overcoming the barriers to adoption of renewable energy.Energy Policy,63, pp.756-764. Visser, M., Deliens, L. and Houttekier, D., 2014. Physician-related barriers to communication and patient-and family-centred decision-making towards the end of life in intensive care: a systematic review.Critical Care,18(6), p.604. Whittaker, C.E., Forrester, D., Killian, M. and Jones, R., 2017. Can we reliably measure social work communication skills? development of a scale to measure child and family social work direct practice. International Journal of Child Family Welfare.

Philip K. Howard - Have Rules Replaced Thinking Essays -

Philip K. Howard - Have Rules Replaced Thinking Bound by Rules Date: October 5, 2000 THE DEATH OF COMMON SENSE How Law Is Suffocating America. By Philip K. Howard Have rules replaced Thinking? This is the question that corporate lawyer, Philip Howard, asks of American law throughout his work. He argues that rules are simply not enough and that they cannot supercede human judgment. He believes that the excess of government regulations does not only not protect Americans, but in fact can even immobilize them and their ability to take action. Howard's book makes an undeniable point that common sense has been lost in American law and he pleads for a freedom from rules, yet he lacks in the way of solutions to the problem that he makes so clear. Howard's undeniable point, proving the weakness of big government, is reached by relating endless stories of illogical and inefficient governmental bureaucracy. First, the example of New York City laws forbidding Mother Theresa from opening two multi-storied homeless shelters unless she were to install elevators in the renovated buildings. Also, Howard questions the U.S department of Defense spending $2.2 billion dollars to process paperwork for $2 billion dollars worth of travel. Other examples of ludicrous government control include a 33-page manual describing the qualification and uses of a hammer, and contract bidding procedures that inadvertently but obviously encourage corruption. Howard clearly makes his point, that the abundance of rules interferes with common sense and this makes it difficult for citizens to retain any power to make their own decisions. But then again, who would seriously dispute that? The second section of Howard's book explains how the routine of the law has brought us to the point where people argue, not even about right and wrong, but about whether something was done the right way. He sees government playing a referee role more often then it finds itself being the decision maker. Howard again concludes with the same principle by emphasizing the dangerous side effects caused by using government to solve every problem and regulate every process. In the final section of his book, Howard moves on to explore the rights revolution. This is a recent movement in which government has taken on the role of your rich uncle under your personal control and now everyone can be a part of a discriminated-against minority. Rights now exist for the handicapped, for the poor, the endangered species, and even the left handed. Howard believes that these rights weaken the understanding of authority and responsibility, and forces government to continue to help them. This does not result in bringing minority groups into society; in fact it has prevented citizens from working together and caused even more segregation and competition. Howard concludes this final section by encouraging the acceptance of responsibility and the value of compromising and maintaining a balance. The main flaw in the book is not the recognition of the problem, which should be obvious to most people, but in the solution. So, sure Philip Howard presents a wonderful case that proves our legal system is too big; there are too many laws and rights that are infringing on our freedom and hampering our nations prosperity. But what does he offer for a clearly focused solution? A return to common sense is all that he offers. No list of ramifications that would result from loosening the hold of the government is included. Nor is there even a list of areas where government could loosen its hold. The main difficulty lies in the fact that there are no easy solutions to this problem. If you loosen regulation you allow bad judgment. If you tighten regulation you don't allow good judgment. It seems like Mr. Howard doesn't acknowledge the difficulty or near impossibility of solving this problem. The beauty of Mr. Howard's book is the great challenge that it presents to its reader to find a way, any way to bring this country out its stupidity and back to sanity. Emotions will stir at mention of the book even weeks after you finish it. Anger, frustration, and a desire for an answer will drive you nuts. Perhaps, this was Mr. Howard's exact intention? Perhaps, he only wanted to share his thoughts