To start with, America was a classless society which was ruled by the slogan 'we the people' (Harman, 2004).
So to speak, democracy ruled the land which was more of socialism and not capitalism. It is to be noted that individual's interest always came second to the communal interests'. It therefore comes out clearly, that every individual worked to the benefit of the community as a whole. During this period the constitution was made for moral and religious people and it could not be used by another group. In other words, this constitution was meant to serve the people (Fairclough, 1915-1972). It is to be noted therefore, that the constitution was not a tool to be used by the government to restrain the people but an instrument for the people to control the government.
This era in America was also characterized by a government of force which was meant to be a dangerous servant but a fearful master. This is to say that, an oppressive government was out of question. For this reason, a good government was one that gave the citizens the freedom to regulate their own activities and improvements. It was also meant to guard the labor force and not to take advantage of it. In this connection, power balance was a necessity otherwise the weak could be exploited by the strong.
In fact, the founder fathers were of the idea that whenever governments tend to tamper with the rights and liberties of the people, they always try to destroy the mercenaries.Actually, Thomas West is for the idea that the founders of America had set up aDemocratic government, whose achievement has never been attained by any (Harman, 2004). This is because it combined majority rule with efficient protection of the marginalized. It facilitated prosperity and liberty in a good number of men and women more than any other nation has ever done.
A part from this, slavery was seen as a wrong that needed to be addressed. This is because, they believed for equal rights that applied to all. So to speak, all citizens were viewed to be equal and free in all aspects of life. This assured respect among the citizens which promoted harmony and peaceful coexistences.
It is in this era that America got the framework and foundation to experience freedom and liberty to all.It was during the reign of Franklin D.Roosevelt the 32nd president of America that a series of economic programs were passed. These were responses to the great depression which was focused on assistance, revival and restructuring (Schlesinger, 2003). During this time several government programs were put in place to remedy the situation.
The government program includes the agricultural regulation act which was meant to reflect the strain of the leading major farms organizations.Other programs included resettlement administration, farm security administration and rural electrification administration. These were meant to build new schools, open up new roads and acquire marginal lands to enlarge public forests. These programs were executed by selected government officials, well wishers and some volunteers. It is through this programs that classes cropped up in America (Schlesinger, 2003).
This is because the facilities which were being supplied to remedy the depression were distributed discriminately. For example, the southern states of America tended to pertain standards in an ethnically discriminatory manner, denying help to parents of disadvantaged children. This seriously affected the blacks' families who were the majority in the middle class.Another thing to note is that, child labor ban did not apply to any of those exploitive areas where the youths worked in the agricultural fields. So to speak, the youths in this marginalized communities continued to carry out street trades as their fellow age mates study in school.
This continued to widen the gap between the majority and the minority. Even though, the new deal dollars helped to develop students, it failed to reform the local learning institutions financing system. This created a huge difference between the rich and the poor schools in the municipalities.At around 1981, the republicans managed a great deal in trying to eliminate the middle class in America. In this case the republican agreed that the assistance of the less fortunate will be delivered by the private sector.
This is because they believed that the private sector was more effective in giving a hand to the poor than the government. The republicans also introduced and supported the welfare reform of 1996 which was made a law during Clinton's reign. The party also opposed the single-payer health care system which was in favor of personal interest rather than the state as a whole. Instead it was replaced by Medicare which was concerned with the health of the elderly.
This was better placed because it covered approximately 40 percent of the poor elderly people (Perkins, 1988).Other programs proposed by the republicans to erase the middle class included social security programs. It is through these programs that the republicans were in a position to sensitize preventive measure of disease control. The reason of eliminating the middle class in America was to try and create a society that is not biased, where all the individuals are equal. The likes of the state presidents, Ronald Reagan, Paul Volker' and lobby groups among others perpetuated the dismissal of the middle class.Continuous empowerment of the middle class in terms of intellectual skills is one of the key strategies to be used in strengthening the central class (Strobel & Peterson, 1999).
Another strategy was intensification of social security among the people. An environment that offers moral support equally, irrespective of the social class is as well a vital tool in empowering these classes. Finally those people who lost their jobs and have helpful skills can offer their population services according to their ability. Through this one can be in a position to earn an income for his/her family.
