Interview on Themes Unit 1

I decided to interview one of my buddies from marple, Paul Lee, to get a feel of what he knew about the government. So I asked him what the word government meant to him, surprisingly, he gave me a well-rounded response he said, "Government to me is an institution that is meant to protect people's rights while giving the majority of people what they want and what they need". This was a very close definition to the one we learned in class which surprised me because I would'nt have thought he would get so close to it. He must have a government class also. Next I decided to see if he knew any political issues and see which one's he cared about. He says he is most concerned with the debt crises. He says this is one of the key reasons that make the upcoming election so important, he says who ever is elected will have a different plan to solve the situation. The knowledge he has about our country stuns me. I thought he would be somewhere along my knowledge level because I barely know anything about the government and our country.

After that I decided to ask him what he thought about diversity in our country. He responded by saying, "Our diversity is what makes america unique and special. Without diversity, we are not different than any other country in the world". I agreed with him and didn't think he would give such a optimistic answer. Next I asked him if compromise was necessary in a government. He gave me a very quick answer saying that compromise is fundamental in government, its what makes democracy great and nothing would get accomplished without compromise. Then I asked him how government affected his daily life. He answered by saying without the government he would be able to function freely and securely like he does now, he says although there are rules and regulations he must abide to he says hes happy that the government protects him and gives him rights. After that I continued my interview with him and he gave me some great responses. My friend surprised me tonight with all of his smart answers and he acutally wanted more questions to answer which made me laugh. This interview showed me that some people acutally do know alot about the government I never thought he would be one of those people though.