Is there anything wrong in offering unauthorized immigrants “a path to citizenship”?

See the general instructions in the Essay Discussion Instructions section of the course menu.

Once you choose which question you’d like to write about, write your essay and post it in the discussion board and also save it as a Word document.

To create your post, click the blue Create Thread button. To be able to read and respond to others’ posts, you will first need to publish your own post. Your first post is the one that will be graded–a blank post WILL be graded if it is your first post in the board. You can save your post as a draft, but it will not be published for students to view, nor will it be queued for grading until you click the Submit button.

When you refresh the board, after you publish your post, it will allow you to view everyone’s posts. If you hover your cursor at the bottom of a post, the button to reply to that student’s post will appear.

Use your course texts to help you respond to the topic, and when you quote and summarize from the course texts, include information about the page reference.

You are discouraged from using additional sources. If you do choose to use an outside source, be sure to cite your source, just as you do when you use the course texts. If you use a quotation or an example from a website, cite the website’s url and the date accessed.

Once you are ready for your classmates to read it, post the thread containing your essay. Then go to the TurnItIn dropbox section here in Blackboard and post your Word document into the dropbox. You do not need to include your response to another student in the file that you upload to TurnItIn.

Finally, read your classmates’ posts. A complete assignment includes your written response to at least one essay besides your own–part of your score is based on your reply to at least one of your classmate’s posts. It should be a meaningful reply that continues the discussion, points out something good about the post, and makes a constructive suggestion for improvement.

Essay Length tips–To answer these topics completely, it takes a minimum of 350 words. Use the topic questions and the scoring rubric to see if your draft responds fully to all parts of the question. A complete thoughtful answer is more important than word count.

Topics for your Essay, Choose one

Topic 1:

Respond to The Moral Dilemma of Climate Change at the top of page 440. Should we pay now to try and rein in global warming and its awful effects, or should we let our kids pay? Do we have moral obligations to future generations, to people who don’t yet exist? If we do have obligations to them, how much should we sacrifice now to do our duty?

Topic 2:

Explain and defend your views on the following: Is there anything wrong in offering unauthorized immigrants “a path to citizenship”? Should children brought into a country illegally ever be deported?

Topic 3:

Respond to Singer or Hardin at the top of page 829. What would be the proper moral response of rich nations to this impending tragedy? Do you favor Garrett Hardin’s approach in which rich countries would not send food aid? Or Peter Singer’s path in which affluent individuals would be obligated to give much of their wealth to feed the hungry? Or a middle way in which the rich would have a duty to give some aid but would also have obligations to themselves and to their family and friends? Explain your view.

This is what a classmate said:This is a topic of conversation where I am torn between as I have personally seen all three sides of the spectrum on whether rich countries do not send food aid, affluent individuals that are obligated to give much of their wealth to feed the hungry, or a middle way in which the rich would have a duty to give some aid but also have obligations to themselves, family, and friends. In regard to the impending tragedy in Africa I feel that the proper moral response would be for the rich nations to deliver food aid. In doing so will prevent mass starvation that will threaten a third of east Africa’s population. I feel with this situation with the drought drying out their fields it would be inhumane not to step in for humanity. The mortality rate will increase due to starvation if rich countries do not intervene. Many of these people will be forced to leave the land they use to live off of so fruitfully and find work where they can to make money to buy food. In doing so they might not be able to make enough money to support their entire family with the limited resources that are available to them.

I believe if rich countries can deliver high quality aid to the most vulnerable it will help end poverty. To me it is morally wrong that if another country has the resources to give to withhold it from those in need. Food is a necessity for survival, and I think that Hardin’s approach is extremely selfish and morally wrong to not send any help to people in desperate need. It was not a choice for the people in Africa to have a natural disaster occur. They are clearly a victim of their circumstances. However, I can understand Hardin’s view because when my family would send aid back home to the Philippines, our extended family started taking advantage of us which is unjust. For instance, we sent money to our extended family because they were starving and then they would utilize the money for items that were not an essential means for survival. This became an ongoing scam for years until one day my father went to the Philippines from the United States and saw where all of our money was going to. This is why I can’t agree with Singer’s approach either because we felt obligated to give our extended family everything in their time of need which resulted in putting my immediate family in the states in a more difficult situation than they were in. My extended family was living a better lifestyle in a third world country than we were with the aid we were providing them. After my own personal experience as to providing aid I believe it is important to find a happy medium where the rich would have a duty to give some aid but obligations to themselves. If you do not take care of yourself, you will be unable to take care of someone else. In conclusion, I believe that it is important to make yourself a priority, but no one should have to suffer when there are enough resources on this earth for all of us to share. It is our responsibility and duty to humanity to look out for each other because the future is unpredictable and human existence is priceless.