What's the Story?
The history of the United States can be seen as a persistent debate carried out by citizens’ discourse over four sets of value tensions: law vs. ethics, private wealth vs. common wealth, freedom vs. equality, and unity vs. diversity. These represent the ethos and aims of the nation. The dual or antagonistic nature of each set of values presents an intellectual dynamic necessary to democracy. Understanding, reconciling, and balancing each set of values in creative and productive ways is the genius, and the paradox, of the democratic mind. This case study provides an introduction to these values that are in tension. American history may be seen as an enduring debate over how to balance core values. The republic's vitality depends on the on-going participation of its citizens in that debate.
Values in OppositionThere are the four value pairs that are constantly debated in American society:
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Click the button above to take the survey and see which value you are more inclined to in the Great Debate.
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