Major Problems Facing the
 United States in the 20th Century

• Should or can Americans agree on what are 
  American values, principles, and national priorities?
  
  
• Should there be one common culture that all
  Americans are expected to share and identify with?
  
  
• How can local, state, and federal governments support
  and protect the "public interest" from the selfish,
  greedy hands of special interest groups?
  
  
• Can the federal government solve social and economic 
  problems such as poverty, alcohol abuse, racism, crime
  and violence, and moral decline?
  
  
• Should local, states, and federal governments be
  responsible for protecting and improving the social
  welfare of Americans, such as guaranteeing all
  Americans a decent education, a decent job, a moral
  society, and strong families?
  
  
• Is increasing inequality between the rich and the
   poor a threat to America's middle-class society?
  
  
• Is the growing economic gap between the very rich
  and the poor threatening American democracy
  and freedom?
  
  
• Are dominant national corporations a threat 
  to American democracy and our free enterprise
  economy?
  
  
• Can America survive as a nation of immigrants or
  should America insist on all Americans sharing a
  common culture and common national identity?
  
  
• Should America become an Empire and try to
  impose its value on other peoples and nations?