Carter's Speech Questions

What the real threat to America is, according to Carter, and is that threat still with us today?
According to Carter the threat to America isn't one of the things that you would think of first such as inflation, recession or energy shortages. Although there is a problem with using too much energy it is not the type of problem he is reffering to. The problem in America is that people don't have the morals that they once did and have lost confidence in our country and our country's future. We need to restore American values. This problem is still here today. In his speech Carter says "We've always had faith that the days of our children would be better that our own." He also says that people are losing that faith. That is still true today. People do not have the same confidence in America that they had many years ago.


Summarize what Carter is saying about American society, and analyze America today against his critique.
Carter is talking about the changes in American society. He is saying that people don't have the same morals and ambition as they once had. He says that people used to be proud of hard work and strong families but now people care more about the things that they own than they things that they do. People are becomming less respectful of things such as government and schools, 2/3 of American people do not vote and the productivity of American workers is dropping. America today is still changing in the ways that Carter talked about in his speech. There are less people who care about hard work and people are becomming more and more materalistic.




How do the plans differ, and how are they alike? How do their plans reveal what they think the problem really is?
Both Carter and Obama are trying to stop the dependence that America has on foreign oil. They both think that America is too dependent on oil from other countries and that we need to get fuel from our own country instead. Carter wanted to cut dependence on foregin oil in half and use other types of fuels such as coal, sun, oil shale, and plant products. Carter believed that by fixing the energy crisis we could also fix the spiritual and moral problem within America. Obama wants to fix the energy crisis while also creating more jobs in America.