Note on Primary Assignments:
Each week you will submit a Primary Assignment. In many weeks, you can choose between two options for this assignment. Before you opt for which assignment option to answer, you will want to consider which option affords you the best opportunity to demonstrate learning based upon the assigned course materials. All Primary Assignments include a thesis statement, a bibliography (APA style), and the use and citation of three assigned reading articles from the current week and one assigned reading article from a previous week.
Equality of Opportunity
Learning Objective: The Declaration of Independence and the idea that equality is the bedrock of a republic are examined. Please recall that the Declaration of Independence was an assigned reading article in Week One.
Option 1: Write Your Opinion Editorial:
Listed below are two opinion editorial news articles (op-eds). Write an op-ed to respond to the ideas expressed in the articles by Williams or Zarracina. Present a persuasive argument in which you agree or disagree with the author. Your op-ed can be written in the first person and include anecdotal evidence. While the opinion may be your own, construct a persuasive argument using the assigned course reading materials, including the Declaration of Independence, to support your position. Define and anchor your thoughts within the context of equality of opportunity.
Walter E. Williams: America’s founders and the slavery debate, Omaha World Herald, 2019
The case against equality of opportunity, Dylan Matthews, Vox, 2015
OR
Option 2: On the Job!
For this assignment, examine and discuss an incident at work in which the (lack of) equality of opportunity was evident. Be sure to define the term equality of opportunity in your assignment. Your assignment can be written in the first person and include anecdotal evidence. While the perspective may be your own, construct a persuasive argument using the assigned course reading materials, including the Declaration of Independence, to support your position. Define and anchor your thoughts within the context of equality of opportunity.
This Weeks Required Reading / Videos
https://archive.org/details/JusticeWhatIsTheRightThingToDoByMichaelSandel/page/n43
https://etc.usf.edu/lit2go/184/a-lincoln-anthology/4822/the-gettysburg-address/
https://the-eye.eu/public/concen.org/UChicagoPress.Ebook.Pack-2016-PHC/9780226264219.UChicago%20Press.Capitalism%20and%20Freedom.Milton%20Friedman.Nov%2C2002.pdf
https://www.vox.com/2015/9/21/9334215/equality-of-opportunity
https://evonomics.com/people-dont-actually-want-equality-want-fairness/
https://digitalcommons.law.seattleu.edu/sjsj/vol1/iss1/7/
https://mises-media.s3.amazonaws.com/I%20Pencil.pdf
https://mises.org/library/i-pencil-1
https://youtu.be/VcL66zx_6No
Previous Week Required Reading / Videos
https://www.theatlantic.com/magazine/archive/2015/09/the-coddling-of-the-american-mind/399356/
http://content.bellevue.edu/cas/la/400-410-420/id/kss/the-pursuit-of-truth.pdf
https://www.archives.gov/files/press/exhibits/dream-speech.pdf
https://www.theatlantic.com/education/archive/2017/07/why-its-a-bad-idea-to-tell-students-words-are-violence/533970/
https://opinionator.blogs.nytimes.com/2012/06/04/the-harm-in-free-speech/
