What are your hopes and dreams? We generally fail to realize that how we are governed has more to say about whether we will ever realize our hopes and dreams. When I sat down to think about this question years ago, it led me to study our founding documents and eventually receive certification to teach […]
How A Bill Becomes A Law
Thank you for returning to Common Sense Civics and Citizenship. This week we take up some important civics lessons and issues that I hope you will find helpful as you listen to and make sense of the news. I know that I benefit from reflection on simple civics when issues on the national scene seem […]
Get To Know Amendments XI- XVII
Informal poll: Raise your hand if you know anything about amendments 11-27. Right. Not many, not many. I teach this material, and I still have to review it each time I present it! These days, it pays to know our rights and the changes made to our original Constitution. Let’s break it down: The Eleventh Amendment […]
Authority and Responsibility Must Walk Together
Did you ever stand alone for something you believed against all odds? These men did precisely that: Algernon Sidney was beheaded for it. John Locke wrote about it. Alexander Hamilton declared it. James Madison did something about it. What deep-seated belief caused these men to stand up against all odds to proclaim their message? It […]
“Why Do Americans Put Up With This?”
Maybe you can help me with a vague answer I gave to a Ukrainian national I recently met up with in the Chicago area. This woman lives with her young teen son and mother and works in the midwest. I’m guessing she has been here about seven years from what she said. She casually but […]
The Right to Protest
This week, my high school students will study and memorize the First Amendment. I have a real-life example of the First Amendment in action to share with the classes, thanks to a note from a non-fan of this educational page. You might find this interchange instructive, as I did. Here goes: The man was on […]
America! Be Who You Are!
Every day seems to bring a new revelation of governments worldwide in crisis mode-either threatening a crisis or experiencing one. What in the world is happening on the planet, you might wonder. I decided to go back to our country’s founding to see what the sentiments were at that time. Perhaps there was some confusion, […]
Choose Freedom
“Vote yourself a farm!” ” A chicken in every pot!” “Turn down the thermostat! Put a sweater on!” “Just buy an EV!” The above are some presidential statements. The first two are campaign slogans. The second two are admonitions by sitting presidents. What do you notice about these statements? The first two are the […]
Truth and Error
How much of what you are hearing is propaganda? How would you know? What methods are practical in discerning truth from error? Who do you believe? What do you believe? Why do you believe it? These are questions I have been asking myself. A few of my young students are hearing things at home and […]
Leadership Qualities
Take a walk around the world in your mind. Don’t people everywhere assume that the rich and powerful get (or take) all the leadership positions? But are they the natural leaders that people follow? In our precarious times, this is an important question. Who has the title of “leader”? Do the people respect and follow […]
War and Restraint
Welcome back to Common Sense Civics and Citizenship. War is on everyone’s mind. The State of the Union was supposed to take the spotlight but it did not. Since the 1990’s, the President’s first SOTU address had an audience of over 40 million . This year, the audience fell below that mark. Viewership on war […]
What Does the Constitution Say About War?
War is on everyone’s mind. The images we see are far from the precision conflicts shown in recent years, for example, Desert Storm. Instead, what we see is reminiscent of scenes displayed on the nightly news during the Viet Nam war. Raw, bone-chilling horrors of war. We can’t help but wonder, what if that were […]
Who Has the Power?
Thank you for returning to Common Sense Civics and Citizenship. The Elected or We the People? Who Has the Power? It definitely is a question for our times as we observe the world around us, liberty’s status, and the people’s response to it. Read on, and see what you think. Also, I hope you are […]
President’s Day
As we celebrate Presidents’ Day, I think about some of our defining moments in history and leadership. What comes to mind is The American War for Independence, The Civil War, World War II, and now. I call today’s defining moment the War on Freedom. I believe whatever defining moments we have in our American history, […]
Equal Justice Under the Law
“Equal Justice Under the Law.” That phrase is engraved on the Supreme Court building. We all want to believe that we will get a fair shake if, heaven forbid, we have to stand trial. Equal justice is still a societal expectation of Americans. However, many are concerned that there is now a two-tiered justice system […]
