Introduction
Process philosophy argues that change is inevitable in all real-life aspects and thus no real aspect remains static. As a result, process philosophy has significantly impacted the American government in several ways. The impacts of process philosophy are visible in areas such as the legislature, economy, and social issues. Among the above-named issues, education and marriage have significantly been impacted by government policies originating from process philosophy. For instance, the long-held beliefs by Americans that marriage should only be heterosexual and that higher education should only belong to the elites have significantly changed in recent few years because of process philosophy. Process philosophy has significant impacts on government policies of marriage and education in America.
Process Philosophy and Marriage
For centuries American society and the government have always considered marriage as legal if it only occurs between a man and a woman. Therefore, state and federal governments did not allow other types of marriages such as gay marriages to exist within American society. However, due to gradual changes in attitudes by society over the recent past few decades of the 21st century, gay marriages began gaining societal acceptability despite strong political and religious opposition (Gerstmann, 2017). The opponents of gay marriage argued that the sole purpose of marriage is fulfilling the natural and Godly duty of procreation.
Notably, as the popularity of the LGBTQ movement continued to gradually grow towards the end and beginning of the 20th and 21st centuries respectively several state governments began considering legalizing marriages between same-sex partners. This consideration has rendered insignificance to the moral argument about heterosexual marriages because there are heterosexual marriages that exist for companionship only and not procreation (Gerstmann, 2017). In addition, several couples are parents by child adoption and not through marital sex. Due to the validity of the above arguments many states have gradually accepted to make gay marriages legal recently. Currently, there are only a few southern states that still hold traditional beliefs about marriage and consider gay marriages illegal. The growth in the popularity of gay marriages in America provides evidence of the impact of process philosophy on government policies.
Process Philosophy and Education
Another issue that process philosophy has significantly impacted is the policy of access to education in American higher learning institutions. Early 20th-century education in higher institutions was only accessible to members of the elite class in America. The trending argument behind limiting higher education access to only a certain class of people was that majority of American higher learning because they mainly focused on agriculture and manufacturing jobs which did not many educational skills. However, as the industrial revolution continued to gain popularity in America, the need for more people with managerial skills grew thus compelling America to allow more people to access higher education. The signing of the G.I. Bill in 1944 by President Roosevelt in honor of World War II marked the beginning of government supporting taxpayers with funds to access higher learning (Rudolph, 2021). At this point, process philosophy began to shape higher education in America.
As the American government continued supporting more students with funds to access entry into colleges, the notion that higher education should only be accessible to the elites gradually began losing power. As a result, the government and the majority of American society began championing the democratization of higher education to open learning opportunities for all Americans regardless of their socio-economic backgrounds. The continued support for the democratization of higher education in America led to the signing of 1965, Education Act by President Lydon B. Johnson which aimed at supporting students from low-income families financially (Rudolph, 2021). In addition, the act also marked the start of a student loan program that would support students from all economic backgrounds to join universities and colleges. Therefore, the above financial support for higher education by the government granted the right to higher education to all Americans thus disregarding the traditional belief about colleges and universities being reserved for the elite class (Rudolph, 2021). As a result, the changes mentioned above regarding higher education confirm how to process philosophy impacted the American government policies on higher education.
Conclusion
In conclusion, process philosophy has significantly impacted marriage and education policies in several ways over time. The examples provided in this paper prove that societal beliefs are subject to change and thus the American government must adapt to these societal changes. Arguably, as long as process philosophy continues to exist people should not resist that the traditional beliefs they hold about economic, social, and political issues can inevitably change when the time comes. For instance, the legalization of gay marriage has been ignored for centuries in America but when the time for change came society and the government had no choice but to allow its legalization. Likewise, the elite class believed higher education was their sole entitlement but the need for more skilled labor broke the tradition of giving all Americans the right to education regardless of their socio-economic backgrounds.
References
Gerstmann, E. (2017). Same-sex marriage and the Constitution (3rd ed.). Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
Rudolph, F. (2021). The American college and university: A history. Lexington, MA: Plunkett Lake Press.