Environmental Discourse Essay

Although environmental concerns have attained increasing currency within society, general coverage by the media fails to recognize that not all environmental discourses are alike. Different ideological strains exist and maintain different assumptions about not just the source of environmental problems, but the kinds of solutions that are necessary to solving environmental problems. In the latter half of the 20th century, when environmentalism arose as a distinct political and social ideology, the form of environmental discourse held by most of its proponents is what is now called deep green environmentalism. Deep green environmentalisms operate under the assumption that the dominant political and social ideologies such as unchecked growth, pervasive consumerism and extreme industrialism and capitalism are inherently flawed and contributive to ecological damage. They believe profound lifestyle changes and a willingness to confront dominant social institutions are needed to keep these problems in check. (Beder, 1991) By contrast, light green environmentalists are more common today: they have a casual concern regarding planetary welfare and do not view environmental protection as a distinct political ideology. They do not seek the political emasculation of industrialism and capitalism but instead emphasize environmentalism as a lifestyle alternative. They choose strategic consumption and a responsible modern living as the means to address environmental issues. As such, light green environmentalists make no pretense of possessing the same subversive aspirations of their dark or deep green counterparts. (Beder, 1991) Today, a new form of environmentalism has emerged: Bright green environmentalism. Bright green environmentalism holds that the guilt of modern living can be reconciled with environmental anxiety and sustainability is possible through tools and technology. The primary assumption is that it is difficult for individuals to go deep green and â€Å"turn their backs† on material luxury, and that the strategic consumption of light greens is ultimately trivial in relation to our ecological problems. To that end, bright green environmentalists embrace new forms of energy production, manufacturing, biotechnology, urban planning and other forms of sustainable design technologies as a means of retrofitting the present capitalist-industrialist mode of life rather than seeking to overthrow it. They celebrate the potential for economic abundance and material plenitude without compromising ecological sustainability. (Steffen, 2006) REFERENCES Beder, S. â€Å"Activism vs. Negotiation: Strategies for the Environment Movement. † Social Alternatives, Vol 10, No 4, pp. 53-56, December 1991. Retrieved on January 26, 2009 from: http://homepage. mac. com/herinst/sbeder/activism. html Steffen, A. (2006, May) â€Å"The Next Green Revolution. † Wired Magazine, 14. 05. Retrieved October 13, 2008 from: http://www. wired. com/wired/archive/14. 05/green. html

The Great American Conflict of Interests

The Great American Conflict of Interests What developed into the civil war between the North and South originated from geological differences, which led to economic and then moral conflicts of interest. The way in which colonists adapted to their surroundings in the early years of the European settlement of America directly affected the way in which their economies would work, the way their people would live and the moral standards by which they would live by. The War Between the States did not just suddenly occur but rather it took nearly two centuries of developmental differences to finally set it off. When the Europeans began to settle the South in the mid 1600s they took notice of how different the land was from the land in the North. The South was an ideal environment for growing crops. Certain colonies primarily grew one type of plant called a cash crop. Thousands of acres of land spread across the continent full of untapped natural resources. Colonies such as Virginia and Maryland had found a cash crop in tobacco (Americans 38). While South Carolina had grown indigo and rice as their staple crops, the people of North Carolina, used the principal exports of wood and wood by-products from its pine forests, (Americans 38) as their main export. Realizing that there was much money to be made in America the southerners started forming large farming communities called plantations. The plantations were mostly self-reliant and highly profitable but needed a large amount of laborers to keep them going. Indentured servitude was usually t! he first choice among plantation owners as the best way to staff the farm and save money. In exchange for usually seven years of labor, a plantation owner would pay the way for an immigrant from a foreign land to America. This is the practice that led to slavery in America. Realizing that it would be even cheaper to just buy slaves for life instea...

City of God Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words - 1

City of God - Essay Example Importance of education The youth gang involvement in urban crime is as a result of lack of education and lack of social and economic mobility. The Brazilians who engage in crime in the film are undoubtedly uneducated. Like other street occupants in the world cities, these youths in the city of God are held in low esteem. Their occupation is crime, begging and barrow-pushing among others (Bromley, 1982). The elite class refers to these people as ‘parasitic occupants’ with disguised unemployment (Bromley, 1982). These descriptions of the street occupants in most cities and especially the young youths are true, but they do not address the causes of these behavioral patterns in the city. In The City of God, the youth gang that develops engages in drug and crime acts. Most of these acts thrive because of poor planning of the government resources. Unequal distribution of resources, therefore, becomes a major cause of youth indulgence in crime (Bromley, 1982). This is because with unequal distribution of resources denies the poor basics such as education and hence lack of employment in the formal sector. Without education, youths spend most of their energetic years struggling for a daily bread and for them to survive, they engage in drug dealings and organized gang crime. For example, in the film, the viewers meet the impoverished thieves known as the ‘Tender trio’ consisted of Clipper, Goose and Shaggy. ... For example, younger boys led by Li’l Dice collide with them to rob occupants of a certain motel. In what can be seen as initiating Li’l into the crime gang, they leave him outside with a gun where he shoots motel inhabitants. At the scene, two members of the trio are killed. Lack of social and economic mobility Socio-economic mobility is the movement of people from one social class to another or one economic level to another. As discussed earlier, there is a strong correlation between education and one’s economic mobility. In The City of God, the young people are unable to secure jobs that would allow them to enhance their economic status (Bromley, 1982). The fact that the young people who form crime gangs in the movie are not employed is an indication that they are not educated. Their involvement in crime while young is a depiction of a sector of urban youths who are idling and surviving in hardships instead of being in school. This means even their parents are not well off or they are not there to support them. Therefore, lack of adequate planning by the government in educating its youths leads to them being denied the most effective and equal process that would enable them to improve their economic mobility. The results of such negligence are blatantly displayed in the movie as thriving of crime and drug business where youths are eliminating each other as a way of surviving. This is a long term effect in the society. Economic mobility starts with ones parents’ inability to take their children to school. Therefore, family background plays a great role in perpetual poverty in urban towns, and this exposes more youths to criminal acts and drug engagements. The evils

A summary of Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

A summary of - Essay Example Pattakos affirms that despite a vast connection to a large group of friends, the modern socializing platforms are not of certified quality as those in the ancient days described by Aristotle. In his case, Pattakos, an author of the bestselling book internationally Prisoners of Our Thoughts, explains the relevance of every individual having a Facebook account. Pattakos provides detailed evidence while declaring his well-understood thesis in the second paragraph. In his thesis, Pattakos ascertains that electronic media currently replace the enjoyment of the real human contact and interaction. The electric stimuli that are a typical form of shallow friendship as narrow social connections are in contrast to the type of true friendship described by Aristotle (Pattakos 1). Aristotle placed more value on real friendship as an important determinant of a meaningful life. Modern association is largely losing its ascribed meaning as everything becomes digitalized. People including prominent leaders in the world fail to appreciate the role of friendship in shaping their social ties. The author explains the view of Zuckerberg a famous computer expert and Eduardo Saverin, a core founder of Facebook, who disputes the idea of a single soul dwelling in their two bodies. Pattakos seeks to establish the implication of technology such as Twitter on real friendship in modern life and its role in promoting meaningful existence addressed by Aristotle. As a result, the search for knowledge is the primary intrinsic motivation of man. Studies reveal that technological advancement contributes to losing of friends reducing the number of trusted acquaintances that individuals could turn and share vital information. Pattakos utilizes a mixed strategy of questions to make the reader relate to his argument and try to answer the rhetoric questions directly. Use of questionnaires is a crucial strategy for drawing meaningful information that any author is interested in

Comparing the Cosby Show and Married with Children Essay

Comparing the Cosby Show and Married with Children - Essay Example Moreover the Cosby Show was an effort to promote better social and cultural values while Married with Children took up non-standard topics for its time. Both shows provided enhanced ratings for their host channels and helped to create new trends in entertainment programming on television. The central theme of both shows provides a startling comparison to the way that social existence is viewed in groups with differing cultural backgrounds within the same society. The Cosby Show was centered on the Huxtable family’s life which was portrayed as a well to do African American household living in brownstone (brown collared apartment building in New York) located in Brooklyn Heights. The father was Heathcliff â€Å"Cliff† Huxtable who was shown as an obstetrician as well as the son of a famous jazz trombonist and was played by Bill Cosby. The mother of the household was Clair Huxtable nee Hanks and was shown as an attorney. The family was shown as affluent in order to garner the thought that well to do African American families existed too in prime time television. Before this it was common to portray African American families as blue collar only. Another aspect of the show that made it different was its ability to handle serious topics as well. For example the Cosby Show dealt with the themes of Theo’s (son of the family) struggle in dealing with dyslexia and was inspired by Bill Cosby’s son Ennis who was suffering with the same problem. Another such issue dealt with was teenage pregnancy when Denise’s (daughter of the family) friend gets pregnant. Although these problems were wrapped up in a comedic overtone, however, discussion on these themes showed that the show was in part educational too. It is attributed that Bill Cosby retained a high level of control over the show’s creative direction and imbued educational concepts in it which reflected his background as an educationist. Moreover the entire show was taped in New York in comparison to Los Angeles where most other shows of the time were being taped. Another major difference created by the Cosby Show was its lack of using racial themes unlike contemporary African American comedy shows such as The Jefferson’s routinely banked on racial tones to augment their comedy. On the other hand The Cosby Show did portray African American themes such as that of the Civil Rights Movement in a positive light and it also promoted Afric an American culture and values. The works of myriad African American musicians and artists were presented through The Cosby Show such as the works of James Brown, Jacob Lawrence, Michael Jackson, Duke Ellington etc. While The Cosby Show was praised for promoting African American culture and for portraying successful African Americans, it also came under fire for representing only a certain segment of the African American population. In contrast the show Married with Children featured a Caucasian family at the centre stage as well as their neighbors. The show is based on the lives of Al Bundy who is portrayed as a once famed high school football player but whose luck has forced him to work as a salesman for woman’s shoes. Al has an acrimonious and at times irritating wife Peg as well as an attractive yet â€Å"bimbo† and rather promiscuous daughter Peg and an unpopular son Bud who is intelligent and crazy for girls. The son Bud is portrayed as the only person to have at tended college in the family. On the side are Al’s neighbors Steve Rhoades and his wife Marcy. Later in the series Marcy gets married to a white collar criminal Jefferson D’

Oliver Cromwell Hero or Villian Essay Example for Free

Oliver Cromwell Hero or Villian Essay Hero = good guy, who did good things, and made life better for all of us. Lots of people (including me) say this. Things we mention to prove it include: 1. He set up the New Model Army which won the Civil War.. 2. He defeated the Scots AND the Irish. 3. He got people to behead the king, and made Parliament the ruler of the kingdom he is sometimes called the daddy of democracy. Hows about that for a hero? 4. He abolished bear-baiting, and punished drunkenness. 5. He allowed Jews to return to start living in England (in this he was way ahead of his time). . He built up the British navy this was the start of Britannia rules the waves. 7. He captured Jamaica from the Spanish the beginning of the British Empire. 8. He was a good, decent family man, who enjoyed a joke and was kind to his children. Villain = bad guy, who did bad things, and made life worse for everybody. Some silly, mistaken people say this. This they mention are: 1. He signed the order that put Charles I to death (and some daft people think this was a bad thing) 2. He took power straight after the Civil War. He made himself Lord Protector and used army officers called Major Generals to rule the country (ie he turned Britain for a time into a military dictatorship) 3. He introduced laws to make people behave in a Christian way some people say he was a killjoy. 4. He put down a rebellion in ireland very cruelly (especially he allowed his soldiers to massacre the Irish soliders when he captured the towns of Drogheda and Wexford).

Racial discrimination and colonization in literature

Racial discrimination and colonization in literature Frantz Fanon once wrote, â€Å"Colonialism hardly ever exploits the whole country. It contents itself with bringing to light the natural resources, which it extracts and exports to meet the needs of mother country’s industries, thereby allowing certain sectors of the colony to become relatively rich. But the rest of the colony follows its path of under development and poverty or at all events sinks into it more deeply.† The term â€Å"Postcolonialism† refers broadly to the ways in which race, ethnicity, culture, and human identity itself are represented in the modern era, after many colonized countries earned their independence. However, some critics use the term to refer to all culture and cultural products influenced by imperialism from the moment of colonization until today. A work by postcolonial writer attempts at describing the interactions between European nations and the people they colonized. A post colonial reading reveals the characters racism and dis criminatory attitude that drives their action. A post colonial prospective presents a discourse describing an attempt of assimilation of a black man into a white society. One of the major characteristics of the principle of human rights is the fact that each and every human being was born free with equal rights and dignity. Hounding and favoritism of human beings based on ethnicity and race are violations that are very clearly going against this fundamental principle. Discrimination based on race can assume several forms, from the institutional discrimination and severe discrimination to other forms that are covert whereby certain ethnic and racial groups are barred from enjoying similar cultural, political, civil, economic and social rights as other classes of people in the same society. Postcolonial literature is something that cannot be bound by time. Post colonial studies especially theories cannot be made obligatory. It must be properly disseminated and assimilated before it can ever begin to address the issue of the complex cultural investment. The postcolonial literature reveals the characters racism and discriminatory attitude that drives the ir action. It prevails since the time of Shakespeare. Postcolonial Shakespeare for most of the people, means a little evincing an interest in the moor but there are certain specific Shakespearean text that are thought to lend themselves to post colonial reading because of their obvious engagement with the colonial issues of racial and cultural otherness. Tempest and Othello have received this status of most favored text by Shakespeare of the postcolonial label. In Othello, the postcolonial perspective presents a discourse describing an attempt of assimilation of a black man into a while society by marrying a white woman but by the end of the play the protagonist is stripped off from his white construct and is reduced back to the traditional role of a â€Å"moor†. Similarly Shakespeare’s Tempest, is considered a central work in postcolonial theory. It is thought to be, by some critics as an early postcolonial work. Many colonial theorists and critics tend to focus on th e character of Caliban as their centre of discussion. According to the critics, Caliban has been tied to the west’s image of the native people often described as bizarre in their appearance. The natives according to the colonizers are dehumanized and are considered one with nature, similar to that of Caliban’s character in Shakespeare’s Tempest. His character is also easily fooled and intoxicated by the Europeans. Such is the way the colonizers perceive the natives. It is mentioned by theorist Edward Said that the colonizers always considered themselves superior and considered the natives as â€Å"the others†. Racial discrimination has been rampant for many centuries, post colonial literature mainly focuses upon this segment in their discussion. Not only were the Europeans dominating over the natives physically but they also worked at erasing their cultural identity and their past in order to implant their own cultural customs. Racial discrimination is a theme that runs throughout postcolonial discourse, as white Europeans consistently emphasized their superiority over darker-skinned people. This was most evident in South Africa, whose policy of apartheid was institutionalized in national laws. Nadine Gordimer’s novel My Son’s Story is a brilliant example of the trials and tribulations of racially discriminated people. In her novel, Gordimer presents how a black family struggles to survive in a white dominated society. One of the main attractions of the plot is the character of Sonny. It’s his desperation to be one of the white people that sets Gordimer’s story apart from the rest. The character of Sonny has an affair with a white woman Hannah. Through this affair the mere logic of Edward Said is proven, the fact that the white masses dominated over the natives by rearranging their ideology and setting it in such a way that it perceives the white people as their superior in every sense. By Sonny’s affair with Hannah and his obsession with Shakespeare it is proved that his ideology was programmed in such a way that his attraction towards Hannah and Shakespeare are hints of him wanting to be one of the white masses. Unlike Gordimer’s My Son’s Story, there are other novels regarding racial discrimination that present the natives as â€Å"the other† and set the white colonizers as people with superior intellect. Although ironically in each of these novel their lies a hint of destruction that is caused by this very superior intellectual group of people and it is the natives who are represented with humanity. One such work of art is Joseph Conrad’s Heart of Darkness, that represents the natives from the view point of the colonizers. Although it is debated whether Conrad wrote it as a criticism to the colonizers or the natives. Heart of Darkness truly is deserving of its title name. The darkness that is emphasized in the title not only talks about the darkness of the region but the darkness that exists in the heart of the colonizers. The novel depicts some soul shattering images of the natives being tortured and chained by the colonizers. The novel beautifully narrates th e plight of the natives and depicts how the colonizers viewed them. Chinua Achebe’s novel Things Fall Apart is another exemplary example of colonial racial discrimination. Achebe’s novel emphasizes Edward Said’s Orientalist theories, about how the colonizers dominated over the natives by implanting the colonial ideological thinking into the natives. The plot depicts how the natives are made to give up their own culture and customs and follow the colonial way of living. Achebe depicts in his novel how the things fall apart for the natives and their colony, how the natives are driven away from their own sense of identity and individuality. The concept of losing one’s identity has also been taken up by Derek Walcott in his poem The Sea is History. His poem talks about how the natives are clueless about their history, their roots and their identity. The poem depicts the native’s plight of not knowing their past and thus being unaware of their sense of identity. Discrimination was mainly done on the basis of colour, and one of the ways to dominate over the natives was to erase their sense of identity by dominating over their ideology. Since many of the natives culture was in form of orator and not written, it was fairly easy for the colonizers to establish their upper hand over the natives. Some other works that depicts racial discrimination are Coetzee’s novels Waiting for the Barbarians (1982), which is set in an imaginary empire not unlike South Africa, utilizes postmodern strategies and tactics to foreground their status as works of fiction, while at the same time suggesting a political posture t owards a real place and policy, which is, South African apartheid. Also, Salman Rushdie’s novel Midnight’s Children(1981), Michael Ondaatje’s novel The English Patient (1992), Frantz Fanon’s The Wretched of the Earth (1961), Jamaica Kincaid’s A Small Place (1988), Isabelle Allende’s The House of the Spirits (1982), J. M. Coetzee’s Waiting for the Barbarians and Disgrace (1990), Derek Walcott’s Omeros (1990), and Eavan Boland’s Outside History. Two essays that are worth mentioning in this particular genre are: Frantz Fanon’s Black Skin. White Masks and Ngugi Wa Thiongo’s Decolonising the mind. â€Å"When people like me, they like me in spite of my colour. When they dislike me; they point out that it isnt because of my colour. Either way, I am locked into the infernal circle.† This line of Frantz Fanon, a French psychiatrist, philosopher, revolutionary and writer, speaks about how he has been victimized by the same hard blow of hatred by white people. He believed that there is a paralytic judiciary system of whites towards the black. Franz Fanon gives utmost importance to the phenomenon of language. He said, â€Å"White men always claim to posses all knowledge of the world and believe in hallucinating black, because of their own means.† In his book Black Skin, White Masks, Fanon talks about how black race faces the lack of judgment in society and is always abolished out of societal virtues (Fanon, 1967 ). In another book on Colour Prejudice, he begins with the duality in the behavior of a black man towards a white man and towards another black man. His opposition towards such discrimination and racist factor was so strong that it compelled other revolutionaries to take a stand against such injustice firmly. Perceptions as far as the minorities are concerned, which specify that they are weak and inferior are usually planted in the minds of people from the majority group in their early stages of development. The minority group of people, in other words, the racially discriminated people are made to believe such perceptions by their parents, teachers and the society in which they grow in.Racism involves a set of actions or beliefs that considers an individual or a class of people to be inferior as compared to another individual or a class of people, due to their appearance physically, such as their skin color. These are perceptions that are fed in the minds of people and they usually have a lot of negative impacts on the individuals or group of people being considered to be inferior. One of the ways through which, ill-treatment and narrow mindedness against the minority can be eliminated is by reversing such unfounded perceptions. This can be done through increased awareness that all peop le are the same and those simple differences such as height or skin color cannot be adequate reasons for treating some people as less equals as the others and thus oppressed and exploited. The individuals that are racists are simply the product of a society that sponsors and encourages the vice in one way or another. In order to change such a society, there is need for both political and legal change to be shadowed. Politically, the interests of the minority should be well addressed and this can be done through increasing the political representation of the groups facing discrimination. Laws that are aimed at protecting the rights of the minority should be enacted so that anyone violating these rights is to be dealt with severe punishment. The minorities themselves have also a role to play in ending prejudice and discrimination against them. They should ensure that they are in the forefront in the campaign against oppression, prejudice and discrimination along racial lines. As African Americans place in today’s new age society has changed over the centuries and along with it so has the focus of African-American literature. Before theAmerican Civil War, the literature primarily consisted of memoirs by people who had escaped from slavery; the genre ofslave narrativescomprised accounts of life in slavery and the path of justice and redemption to freedom. There was an early peculiarity between the literature of freed slaves and the literature of free blacks who had been born in the North. Free blacks had to express their oppression in a dissimilar narrative form. Free blacks in the North often spoke out against slavery and racial injustices using the spiritual narrative. The spiritual addressed many of the same themes of slave narratives, but has been largely ignored in current scholarly conversation. At the turn of the 20th century, non-fiction works by authors such as  W. E. B. Du Bois  and  Booker T. Washington  debated whether to confron t or appease racist attitudes in the United States. During the  American Civil Rights movement, authors such as  Richard Wright  and  Gwendolyn Brooks  wrote about issues of  racial segregation  and  black nationalism. Today, African-American literature has become recognized as an integral part of  American literature, with books such as  Roots: The Saga of an American Family  by  Alex Haley,  The Color Purple(1982) by  Alice Walker, which won the  Pulitzer Prize; and  Beloved  by Toni Morrison achieving both best-selling and award-winning status. Bernice McFadden quoted, â€Å"Dont you know sugar is brown first? White folks couldnt stand the fact that something so sweet shared the same color as the people who cut the cane, slopped the hogs and picked the cotton. So they bleached it to resemble them, and now they have gone and fooled everybody. You included.† Decolonizing a person’s mind is quite difficult to do because it cannot be done. Once the natives have been colonized for certain time period the colonizers history merges with that of the natives. Aijaz Ahmed in his essay wrote that when India was colonized by the British, their language that they shared with the natives became a part of the Indian culture and if the natives wish to ignore that culture in order to decolonize their minds, they are unintentionally discarding a part of their own culture. Doing so, will not accomplish anything and it will only end up fogging the sense of identity in the natives. According to Ngugi Wa Thiongo, in his essay Deco lonizing the mind he writes that, The oppressed and the downtrodden of the earth preserve their rebelliousness: liberty from robbery. However the prevalent weapon wielded and actually daily set free by the imperialism against that combined disobedience is the cultural attack. The effect of a cultural bomb is to destroy people’s faith in their religion, in their speech, in their surroundings, in their inheritance of great efforts , in their harmony, in their capability and eventually in themselves. It makes them want to recognize with that which is furthest detached from themselves; for example, with other peoples’ languages other than their own. It makes them categorize with that which is immoral and backward-looking, all those forces which would end their own life. It even grows chain of doubts about the ethical aptness of struggle. Possibilities of success or conquest are seen as unreachable, unreasonable dreams. The intended results are despair, hopelessness and a c ollective death wish. Amidst this wasteland which it has created, imperialism presents itself as the restore to health and demands that the dependant sing hymns of praise with the regular refrain: ‘theft is holy’. Indeed, this refrain sums up the new statement of belief of the neo colonial bourgeoisie in many independent African states. The classes fighting against imperialism even in its neo-colonial stage and form and have to tackle this threat with the higher and more creative culture of unyielding struggle. These classes have to wield even more firmly the weapons of the struggle contained in their cultures. They have to speak the united language of struggle enclosed in each of their languages. They must discover their various tongues to sing the song: A people united can never be defeated. We have a black president in U.S now , but does it mean that we are witnessing a post racial America ? The answer is no. Present day America is more racially polarized .Racial violence is on the rise. Black people can never realize their potential and goals, unless the thinking of White colonizers is reconceptualized and perceived afresh by which I mean a change in the way the White people perceive their identity vis a vis their country .This reconceptualization is something which Baldwin tries to do in The Fire Next Time. He stresses the importance of mediating one’s own identity and necessity to move away from white mediums of representation. He aims at flipping the power equations and to invert the hierarchies. Going by this vision, it is the white man who is in shackles (trapped in history), who needs to be free for the black people to be free (Baldwin, 1963 ) . Though he is offering a paradigm shift in the sense that he is offering a conception of White men in nonwhite terms, yet he does not do away with the entire idea of the white and the black. White colonizers need to stop seeing each other through the lens of race/colour but as equals.