18.4. Modern us policy.

18.4.1. In 1991 George Bush won public approval for his management of the Persian Gulf War. First the brief war caused oil prices to rise, and war costs put new pressures on federal finances. Second, Bush had promised “no new taxes,” but in fact agreed to raise taxes. Finally, the president clashed with Congress over how to improve the economy and reduce the huge national deficit.

As a moderate “New Democrat,” Bill Clinton in 1992 bucked the trend. He supported centrist, middle-class goals such as efficient government, economic growth, a balanced budget, and health care reform. But Clinton's most important goal—a sweeping reform of the national health care system—failed. Clinton's reputation suffered in 1998 with the revelation of an extramarital affair with a White House intern. Clinton was acquitted by the Senate in February 1999.

18.4.2. At the century's end, Americans were enmeshed in the global economy; tens of millions of American jobs depended on world markets. Many U.S. companies set up operations abroad to reduce labor costs and to ensure access to foreign markets. The global economy also meant that events in markets around the world had a greater effect on financial markets in the United States. Many American investors discovered this effect in the fall of 1998, when stock prices, influenced by markets in Japan, Europe, and around the globe, wavered wildly.

18.4.3. In the last quarter of the 20th century, the United States underwent social changes as well as economic ones. The new diversity reflected rising immigration rates. Immigrants from Asia and Latin America quickly surpassed in number those who came from Europe. The new immigration of the late 20th century differed from that of a century earlier. Economic problems in Mexico spurred still more immigration, legal and illegal. The largest number of illegal aliens in the 1990s came from Mexico, El Salvador, Guatemala, and Haiti. Many others came from Canada, Poland, China, and Ireland.

18.4.5. Critics of immigration policy contended that lawmakers who passed immigration laws since the 1960s had underestimated their effect. They believed that the new immigration created more problems than benefits. They saw high immigration rates as threatening America's common culture, increasing competition for jobs, lowering wages, profiting only employers, injuring labor, and especially harming those at the bottom of the job market.

The experience of the last decades of the century suggests that the pursuit of American ideals—of liberty, equality, and democracy—is a process that rests on conflict as well as consensus.

Lecture 19 social issues, and education and science

19.1. Social issues.

19.1.1. Numerous youth organizations which have been formed in the USA lately unite young people from all the classes and sections of the po­pulation. They have become quite an important factor in the life of American youth.. Depending on their orientation, they fall into several separate categories. The first category embraces hobby and special interest groups and clubs. They are devoted to the pursuit of a single interest: from rock fan clubs, fishing clubs to clubs for those who collect stamps, matchboxes, coins, and old paper money.

19.1.2. Career education and vocational student groups form another category of organizations. They are active on college and university campuses across the country. Their aim is to provide instructions to various occupations and motivational activities for young people fac­ing barriers to success. Many of them stress the development of good work habits, effective public speaking and service to the community.

Those who are interested in programs teaching self-reliance skills and good citizenship, join character-building organizations aimed at the development of the "whole person". Boy Scouts and Girl Scouts of America offer extensive programs for character develop­ment through helping to build confidence, motivation and self-esteem.

19.1.3. Various sports organizations are usually classified according to a particular kind of sport: baseball, biking, bowling, boxing, and so on. Several organizations also provide sports programs for young people with disabilities. Political groups for children are, as a rule, associated with a particular party and support its ideas, like Young Republican Federation, for example. The same concerns religious youth organi­zations which are connected with some denomination (Young Protestants, Young Catholics, etc.).

19.1.4. Greenpeace is also a youth organization belonging to the category of conservation and humane education groups which work for the preservation and wise use of the natural environment and for pro­moting the humane treatment of animals. Greenpeace draws atten­tion to the most dangerous ecological problems in the world today, and protests against atmosphere pollution, sea and soil pollution.

Besides national organizations there exist more than 17,000 local clubs and youth centers which can be found at almost every school or college. Many youth clubs work during the day as well as during the evening.