Analysis of Essay Should the Obama Generation Drop Out by Charles Murray

Analysis of Essay Should the Obama Generation Drop Out by Charles Murray In the essay Should the Obama Generation Drop Out Charles Murray analyses the ideas of Barak Obama within the educational system. The author provides the suggestions how to improve the current situation and what measures could help developing an educational reform.Advertising We will write a custom critical writing sample on Analysis of Essay Should the Obama Generation Drop Out? by Charles Murray specifically for you for only $16.05 $11/page Learn More Although Murray emphasizes an importance of the reforms of the educational system, the information in his essay provides the description of the inability of many students to deal with college-level material and incapability to pay for the bachelor’s degree instead of suggesting the concrete solutions and adequate reforms of the educational system. The main statement of the essay is that it is not important where a person learned and got the professional skills, it is important what and how one can do t he job. I absolutely agree with this position. As we can see today, majority of students concentrates not on the quality of knowledge and professional skills they can learn, but on the presence of the diploma and the popularity of the school or university. Murray suggests the concept of challenges the basic elements on the higher education and indicates that those ideas should be supported by Obama. Thus, Murray says, â€Å"As president, Mr. Obama should use his bully pulpit to undermine the bachelor’s degree as job qualification† (Murray, 2008). However, although the author proposes the concrete reform, he emphasizes the benefits of the vocational trainings and test which could improve the level of specific knowledge that a worker may need. I disagree that such vocational courses can be more helpful than a full specific education or an additional degree. However, the position of bachelor’s degree as the only one key element of getting a job needs to be improved . Murray claims that the standards of materials used in the process of getting the degree is high and require the special abilities of the students. If some of the students are unable to deal with the college and university sources, it does not mean that they do not have the appropriate professional skills and knowledge.Advertising Looking for critical writing on american literature? Let's see if we can help you! Get your first paper with 15% OFF Learn More Murray says that a century ago students could easily go to work after high school, but today situation is different. Although they prefer to get more knowledge and skills from university, at the same time, they â€Å"treat college as vocational training, not as a leisurely journey to well-roundedness† (Murray, 2008). From my point of view, it is incorrect to suppose that all students consider studying at university as the leisure. Moreover, in the other paragraph the author claims that the level of materials in university can be too high and complicated for a number of people. Therefore, I think that such statement is confusing. Although Murray supposes that his essay can be considered as elitist or pessimistic, I think that those two characteristics are absent. His attitude is absolutely well-grounded and valid. As a realist, the author notices the present problems within the current educational system and claims for their solving. However, as he wants to improve the situation, some specific ideas and possible variants reforms could be appropriate as well. Writing about discharge of the bachelor’s degree as a job qualification, Murray indicates the certification tests as a possible solution. According to Murray, such tests â€Å"would provide evidence that the applicant has acquired the skills the employer needs† (Murray, 2008). Analyzing this idea, I think that this idea is worth to be considered by government. As the result, many young people will be able to p rove their capability to work, skills and competitiveness comparing with those who have the bachelor’s degree. Of course, this statement is valid. However, at the same time the author says that â€Å"certification tests would not eliminate the role of innate ability – the most gifted applicants would still have an edge – but they would strip away much of the unwarranted halo effect that goes with a degree from a prestigious university† (Murray, 2008). Therefore, such measure will not solve the whole problem. But, the author does not suggest other ideas of solution. It seems that Murray only indicates the problem for the government and for President Obama particularly. I think that he should explore this question deeper and elaborate the exact ideas of what reforms could be more effective and why. In the present form, the essay Should the Obama Generation Drop Out gives an answer – yes, but it does not give the practical answers.Advertising We will write a custom critical writing sample on Analysis of Essay Should the Obama Generation Drop Out? by Charles Murray specifically for you for only $16.05 $11/page Learn More Emphasizing the value of professional skills and their domination over the bachelor’s degree, Murray suggests President Obama to use his authority to change the current situation. The bachelor’s degree should not be a key aspect of acceptance or rejection of an employee. Every person should be treated according to one’s professional skills and do not be judged due to the absence of the bachelor’s degree. Although I agree with the main statement, the present essay can be considered as more emotional that informative. The author discusses inability of many students to deal with college-level material instead of suggesting the concrete solutions and adequate reforms of the educational system. Reference List Murray, C. (2008). â€Å"Should the Obama Generation Dr op Out?†, The New York Times. Retrieved from https://www.nytimes.com/2008/12/28/opinion/28murray.html

How Minority Voters Helped Obama Win Reelection

How Minority Voters Helped Obama Win Reelection Americans from ethnic minority groups voted en masse to help  President Barack Obama win reelection. While just 39 percent of white Americans voted for Obama on Election Day 2012, staggering amounts of blacks, Hispanics and Asians backed the president at the ballot box. The reasons for this are multifaceted, but minority voters largely supported the president because they felt that Republican candidate Mitt Romney could not relate to them. A national exit poll revealed that 81 percent of Obama supporters said the quality that mattered most to them in a presidential candidate is whether he â€Å"cares about people like me.† Romney, born into wealth and privilege, apparently didn’t fit the bill. The growing disconnect between Republicans and the diverse American electorate wasn’t lost on political analyst Matthew Dowd. He remarked on ABC News after the election that the Republican Party no longer reflects U.S. society, using a television show analogy to make his point. â€Å"Republicans right now are a ‘Mad Men’ party in a ‘Modern Family’ world,† he said. The rise in minority voters reveals how much the United States has changed from 25 years ago when the electorate was 90 percent white. If the demographics had not changed, its highly unlikely that Obama would have made it to the White House. Loyal African Americans Blacks may be the second largest minority group in the United States, but their share of the electorate is larger than any other community of color. On Election Day 2012, African Americans made up 13 percent of U.S. voters. Ninety-three percent of these voters supported Obama’s reelection bid, down just two percent from 2008. While the African  American community has been accused of favoring Obama precisely because he’s black, the group has a long history of loyalty to Democratic political candidates. John Kerry, who lost the 2004 presidential race to George W. Bush, won 88 percent of the black vote. Given that the black electorate was two percent larger in 2012 than it was in 2004, the group’s devotion to Obama undoubtedly gave him an edge. Latinos Break Voting Record More Latinos than ever before turned out at the polls on Election Day 2012. Hispanics made up 10 percent of the electorate. Seventy-one percent of these Latinos backed President Obama for reelection. Latinos likely backed Obama overwhelmingly over Romney because they supported the president’s Affordable Care Act (Obamacare) as well as his decision to stop deporting undocumented immigrants who arrived in the U.S. as children. Republicans widely vetoed the  legislation known as the DREAM Act, which would have not only protected such immigrants from deportation but also put them on the path to citizenship. Republican opposition to immigration reform has alienated Latino voters, 60 percent of whom say they know an unauthorized immigrant, according to a Latino Decisions poll taken on the eve of the 2012 election. Affordable health care is also a major concern of the Latino community. Sixty-six percent of Hispanics say the government should ensure that the public has access to health care, and 61 percent support Obamacare, according to Latino Decisions. Rising Influence of Asian Americans Asian Americans make up a small (3 percent) but a growing percentage of the U.S. electorate. An estimated 73 percent of Asian Americans voted for President Obama, Voice of America determined on Nov. 7 using preliminary exit poll data. Obama has strong ties to the Asian community. Hes not only a native of Hawaii but grew up partly in Indonesia and has a half-Indonesian sister. These aspects of his background likely resonated with some Asian Americans.   While Asian American voters don’t yet wield the influence that black and Latino voters do, expect them to be a bigger factor in the next presidential election.  The Pew Research Center reported in 2012 that the Asian American community has actually outpaced Hispanics as the fastest-growing immigrant group in the country. In the 2016 presidential election, Asian Americans are expected to make up five percent of voters, if not more.