0:00 hey there and welcome back to heimler's
0:01 history and furthermore welcome to the
0:02 first video for unit 4 of the ap
0:04 government curriculum this unit is all
0:06 about how we as americans develop our
0:08 political beliefs how we measure those
0:10 beliefs and then how we try to turn
0:12 those beliefs into policy so in this
0:13 video we're going to start by talking
0:14 about the core values of americans and
0:16 how those affect the way we think about
0:18 government and politics so if you're
0:19 ready to get them brain cows milked then
0:21 oh baby let's get to it okay the
0:23 objective for this video is as follows
0:24 explain the relationship between core
0:26 beliefs of u.s citizens and attitudes
0:28 about the role of government okay now
0:30 before we jump in let me just give an
0:31 honorable mention to my view packet it's
0:32 got exclusive videos that are not here
0:34 on youtube and practice questions and ap
0:36 style practice exams and basically
0:38 everything you need to succeed in your
0:39 class and do well on the exam so that's
0:41 something you're into you know get you
0:42 click your finger out and follow the
0:43 link in the description okay so the core
0:45 beliefs of americans what are they well
0:46 as hard as it is to say every american
0:48 believes in the same things the
0:49 following five values are generally
0:51 shared by americans of all stripes
0:53 individualism equality of opportunity
0:56 free enterprise rule of law and limited
0:58 government let me just define each of
0:59 those quickly individualism is a value
1:01 that places emphasis on self-reliance
1:03 and independence americans in general
1:04 are less community oriented compared to
1:06 various eastern cultures which put
1:08 community above the individual no here
1:10 in america it's the big cheese or no
1:12 cheese as nobody says equality of
1:14 opportunity means that we believe that
1:15 every american regardless of their race
1:17 ethnicity sex religion or whatever
1:19 deserves equal footing to go after life
1:22 liberty and the pursuit of happiness we
1:23 believe that there are or at least ought
1:24 not be special classes or hierarchies
1:27 amongst us we are not a people born with
1:28 saddles on our backs bent low for an
1:30 aristocracy to ride upon us with boots
1:32 and spurs okay then we have free
1:34 enterprise which is a value that has to
1:36 do with the government's intervention
1:37 into the economy in general americans
1:39 like it laissez-faire style which means
1:41 that we want as little government
1:42 intervention in the economy as possible
1:44 we get all giddy when we're talking
1:45 about the free market and the forces of
1:47 supply and demand and fourth we have the
1:48 rule of law this means that we believe
1:50 every citizen is equal under the law no
1:52 one has any special privileges there's
1:54 our boy john adams second president of
1:56 the united states who summarizing
1:57 various classical writers said that ours
2:00 is a government of laws not of men in
2:02 other words from a poor farmer all the
2:04 way up to the president no one gets
2:06 special treatment under the law and
2:07 fifth we have the value of limited
2:09 government this is a government whose
2:10 limits are well defined and is
2:12 restrained through the separation of
2:13 powers in the system of checks and
2:15 balances okay so when i was listing all
2:17 those out and defining them you probably
2:18 nodded along if you're an american
2:20 because those are values that are baked
2:22 into our dna but if you were paying
2:23 attention you were probably also going
2:25 well
2:26 and why because even though many
2:27 americans agree on these values in
2:29 principle there are various competing
2:30 interpretations of them now it will be
2:32 far beyond the scope of this video to
2:34 outline all the competing
2:35 interpretations but for our purposes
2:37 it'll be enough to know how the
2:38 interpretations of these values differ
2:40 between conservatives and liberals and
2:42 first a definition of both is an order
2:44 conservatives in general are those who
2:45 cherish established institutions and
2:47 seek to preserve them for the good of
2:49 society and that's why they're called
2:50 conservatives they want to conserve the
2:53 good things that have already been
2:54 established anything that threatens to
2:55 overturn those institutions is seen as a
2:57 threat therefore conservatives tend to
2:59 emphasize smaller government which
3:01 provides fewer services to the public
3:03 liberals in general are those who push
3:04 for new reforms in order to make society
3:06 more just and equitable and that's why
3:08 they're called liberals which is another
3:09 word for free if conservatives want to
3:12 tighten the reins on change in society
3:14 liberals want to let the reins out as
3:15 long as those changes are going in the
3:17 direction of increased justice and
3:19 equity for all so to illustrate this let
3:20 me just give you an example during the
3:21 women's rights movement in the 1960s and
3:23 1970s women called for equal rights with
3:25 men they wanted equal pay for equal work
3:27 for example and no discrimination based
3:28 on their sex when it came to seeking
3:30 jobs now conservatives when they oppose
3:32 this did so for many reasons but chief
3:34 among them was that encouraging women to
3:35 work outside the home would destroy the
3:37 traditional family structure in which
3:39 the man worked and the wife stayed home
3:41 so conservatives wanted to conserve the
3:43 nuclear family structure that had become
3:45 standard among middle and upper classes
3:47 in the 1950s on the other hand liberals
3:49 saw this change as empowering to women
3:51 and breaking down unjust social
3:52 structures that limited women's
3:54 opportunities and so they wanted to let
3:55 the reigns out on this one so you can
3:57 see based on one little example how
3:58 conservatives and liberals view the
4:00 world differently okay now let's see how
4:02 each of those sides interprets the five
4:04 values that i listed earlier when it
4:05 comes to individualism conservatives
4:07 hold to what's called self-centered
4:08 individualism which emphasizes the
4:10 interest of the individual above the
4:12 interests of society liberals hold to
4:14 what's called enlightened individualism
4:15 which emphasizes the interests of
4:17 society above the interest of the
4:18 individual so in the 1960s when
4:20 president lyndon johnson was rolling out
4:21 the great society programs a chief
4:23 component of which was the war on
4:25 poverty conservatives hated it because
4:27 it took taxpayer money and redistributed
4:29 it to the impoverished that of course is
4:30 a violation of self-centered
4:32 individualism liberals on the other hand
4:34 loved it because they believe that a
4:35 government ought to take care of its
4:37 poor even if it's at the expense of
4:38 those who have more when it comes to
4:40 equality of opportunity conservatives
4:41 believe in the power of meritocracy
4:43 which is to say everyone rises in
4:45 america based on their own toil and
4:47 sweat and that's what conservatives
4:48 would call the american dream everyone
4:50 no matter who you are can make it as
4:52 long as they work hard enough liberals
4:54 on the other hand do agree with the idea
4:55 of a meritocracy but they believe that
4:57 not all groups start that climb in the
4:59 same place so think about it like a race
5:01 conservatives say that everyone ought to
5:03 start at the same place and whoever
5:04 finishes first got there because they
5:06 worked hard they finished last that's
5:07 because they're lazy and they didn't
5:09 work liberals would say wait a minute
5:10 we're all starting at the starting line
5:12 but half of us have broken legs
5:14 therefore if it's going to be fair the
5:16 ones with the broken legs need to start
5:17 closer to the end now i'm already
5:19 getting myself into trouble with an
5:20 explanation like that conservatives
5:21 would probably look at them and say no
5:23 those aren't broken legs and the
5:24 liberals will say yes they are but
5:27 now when it comes to free enterprise
5:28 conservatives want the government to
5:30 stay out of the affairs of businesses
5:32 and just let the free market determine
5:33 what's best liberals on the other hand
5:35 want the government to intervene with
5:36 appropriate regulations to ensure the
5:38 safety and equality of the workplace the
5:40 classic example of this dichotomy is how
5:42 two different presidents approached the
5:43 great depression the conservative
5:44 herbert hoover when the great depression
5:46 began basically just said you know the
5:48 market's going to correct itself
5:49 eventually let's not intervene but when
5:50 liberal franklin roosevelt replaced him
5:52 he got busy quick fast in a hurry
5:54 getting the government way involved in
5:56 correcting the economy all right now
5:57 when it comes to the rule of law
5:58 conservatives tend to see the laws
6:00 themselves as embodying equality and
6:02 therefore they emphasize the letter of
6:04 the law liberals in many cases agree
6:06 that laws embody equality but they
6:07 emphasize the unequal application of
6:09 those laws especially with regards to
6:11 minority groups for example consider the
6:13 civil rights act of 1964 which basically
6:15 outlawed all discrimination based on
6:17 race ethnicity and gender conservatives
6:18 would say look we passed the law and
6:20 that embodies equality for everyone
6:22 liberals would say yeah well we passed
6:23 the law but due to its unequal
6:25 application minorities are still not
6:27 equal and finally when it comes to the
6:28 value of limited government
6:29 conservatives want to define strong
6:31 boundaries of federalism which leads to
6:33 less government interference with
6:34 people's lives liberals to a much
6:36 greater degree embrace the need for
6:37 government intervention in society for
6:39 the sake of the greater good so yeah all
6:41 in all americans agree that these five
6:42 values are things that we all believe in
6:45 but depending on whether you're talking
6:46 to a conservative or liberal you will
6:48 get a very different interpretation of
6:49 those values okay thanks for watching
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